About 1 in every 800,000 babies are born with part of the amniotic sac still clinging to their face and head. It’s known as being born with a veil, or born with a caul. I was one of those babies.
Being born with a veil is considered very auspicious. It’s supposed to signify that the child will grow up to be lucky, wise and possibly have psychic abilities. They’re supposed to be destined for great things. Alexander the Great was supposedly born with a caul.
According to Wikipedia:
In medieval times the appearance of a caul on a newborn baby was seen as a sign of good luck.[6] It was considered an omen that the child was destined for greatness. Gathering the caul onto paper was considered an important tradition of childbirth: the midwife would rub a sheet of paper across the baby’s head and face, pressing the material of the caul onto the paper. The caul would then be presented to the mother, to be kept as an heirloom. Some Early Modern European traditions linked caul birth to the ability to defend fertility and the harvest against the forces of evil, particularly witches and sorcerers.[7]
A legend developed suggesting that possession of a baby’s caul would give its bearer good luck and protect that person from death by drowning. Cauls were therefore highly prized bysailors. Medieval women often sold these cauls to sailors for large sums of money; a caul was regarded as a valuable talisman.[8]
Other sources say:
Myths say babies born in caul are special. Religious groups and others view caulbearers differently; however, it is believed that their purpose is to serve mankind, guide people to understand themselves and the world within which we live. Many cultures believe that this makes your child a “King by right” and that he or she has some “special” powers. Those powers can range from leadership abilities to natural healers or having greater insight.
I only discovered this fact about myself when I began exploring more of a pagan path. I told my mother of an experience when I thought I had been contacted by my deceased grandfather (her father), and this is when she decided to tell me. She felt it gave more credence to my experience – of course Grandpa can contact you, you were born with this ability.
I’ve also read (on a site called calubearers.org) that many born with a veil are loners, often misunderstood by others around them. They say that people just feel something different about us, that it makes them subconsciously uncomfortable and so we have few close friends. This certainly has been true for me.
And that is about all I know about the phenomenon. Are any of you caulbearers? Do you have any more information? I’d love to hear from you!
Hi, I’m 61 I was born with a veil attached to my face, my Grandmother, my mother, me and my Daughter were all born with one, when I had my Daughter the Dr. that delivered her had never seen this before, when my Daughter was born I never heard her cry I kept asking why she was not crying the Nurse said she has something on her face, I remembered what my mom told me and I said she won’t breath tell you take it off, I told them I had one too when I was born, then I heard her cry they were giving her H2o I ask, I told the Dr, I was told it was called a veil, and that I didn’t know much about it just what my mom told me, I ask if I could have it and the nurse put it in my hand so I could show it to my mom and Husband when they put me in my room, they brought my Daughter in the room at the same time, she still had the markings on her face from the veil and you could see how it was attached to her face, and I showed my mom and Husband the veil in my hand and I was going to keep it and my Husband didn’t want me to and my mom never told me to keep it or I would have, now I wish I had, because mom told me more later in years that you should keep it or bury it, my Daughter now 42 said she would love to have seen what it looked like, she will never know because she had her tubes tied after she had 2 boys and I know her next child would have been a girl and it would have had a veil to, it came from my Grandmothers Blood line.
That is an amazing story, Sandy. Thank you for sharing! I never had daughters, either and neither of my boys had it. I’ve always wondered what it looked like, too!
I was born June, 13,1954, Friday 13 – 1954! At home in my parents bed. I don’t know much except my Momma telling me the story, my older sister, 14 of age, attended the birth. I have experienced pain, joy, but my visions, dreams of thing’s happening before they happen. I have experienced a lot . Some good, some sad.