Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times
We had a total lunar eclipse tonight, February 20, 2008, viewable from both North and South America. My Mexican mother-in-law called my wife and told her not to go outside during the eclipse and to close all the windows so that no moonlight came into our home. Responding to my wife’s Americanized disbelief, my mother-in-law told her a tale of a long time ago when a distant relative had a miscarriage for failing to heed the pregnancy/eclipse warnings.
At about the same time, I was driving home from work and called my wife from my cell phone to warn her about the lunar eclipse—something I had remembered from my Mexican upbringing. She responded, “too late, my mom already called me to warn me.” We both tried but could not remember the Mexican reason for not going outside during an eclipse while pregnant.
Even though its probably just a Mexican myth passed down from generation to generation, I told my wife not to take any chances with our baby. We both stayed inside and I closed all the shutters and all the blinds like a good Mexican husband. As long as I could help it, no moonlight was coming in! Better to be safe than sorry. I love my Mexican culture and its effects on me! 🙂
I was curious, so here is what I found online about the Mexican Folk Beliefs regarding pregnancy, eclipse and other natural and supernatural things:
Burk et al. (1995) point out several Mexican American folk beliefs commonly identified in the literature that are culturally associated with “imbalances, nature and the supernatural” (p.44).
1. A primary example of this is the belief described by Burk et al. (1995) “that exposure of a pregnant woman to an eclipse will cause her infant to have a cleft lip or palate. The belief originated with the Aztecs, who thought that an eclipse occurred because a bite had been taken out of the moon. If the pregnant woman viewed the eclipse, her infant would have a bite taken out of its mouth. An obsidian knife was placed on the woman’s abdomen before going out at night to protect her. This belief remains intact hundreds of years later, the only difference being that today a metal key or safety pin is used for protection”(p.44).
Other Mexican folk beliefs include:
2.‘susto:’ (fright sickness) resulting from an emotionally traumatic event such as an accident or death;
3.‘mal de ojo:’ (evil eye) an illness usually affecting children, caused by excessive admiration or covetous looks by others without touching the child;
4. ‘caida de mollera:’ (fallen fontanelle) believed to be caused by handling an infant improperly, such as bouncing roughly, dropping, or removing from the breast or bottle abruptly;
5. ‘antojos:’ (cravings) the belief that an infant may have characteristics of an object that the mother craves during pregnancy if the craving is not satisfied (eg, the infant may have strawberry spots if the mother craves but dos not eat strawberries); and
6. ‘cuarentena:’ (40 days) the period following birth during which certain dietary and activity restrictions are observed to allow the mother time to recover from pregnancy, to bond with the newborn, and to prevent certain illnesses from occurring later in life (Burk et al., 1995, p.44).
Question: Have you heard of any other Mexican Folk Beliefs regarding Pregnancy?
18 comments
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February 22, 2008 at 9:22 pm
soledadenmasa
I haven’t heard of others about pregnancy. I guess growing up in a house with only male siblings meant I wouldn’t hear it. I guess I have to wait until I have a child on the way to hear them from my mom and/or my suegra.
Sustos don’t pertain only to pregnancies! I’ve gotten many a time in my years. I last had one when I was really worried about someone close to me and I felt helpless. I couldn’t sleep that whole night because I was up, vomiting, all night.
Another thing I’ve heard often is “los biles” (biles). Sustos lead to imbalances of biles and I have to drink specific drinks and I also have to avoid some in order for the biles to get back to balance. What I have to drink is based on what caused the imbalance. If fear caused my imbalance, I cannot drink milk.
Do you think that the Mexican fixation on balance be based on the Mesoamerican concept of duality? I think it can. It was passed down generation by generation, from Mesoamericans to mestizos and the mestizos passed it down to their children and on and on, never knowing the roots. Interesting stuff.
February 23, 2008 at 8:44 pm
TacoSam
S, thanks for your comment. I have also heard of sustos and biles as it relates to other things besides pregnancy. I think the concept of duality is present in many cultures around the world, not just Mesoamerica. One example is the ying and the yang that has been around for thousands of years in the Chinese culture. If you have time, check out the writings of Joseph Campbell. He was a professor at Sarah Lawrence and his field of expertise was Comparative Mythology. It is so interesting to see the same myths that have started around the world in different cultures, even if there was no communication between those cultures.
March 2, 2008 at 6:25 pm
Estrella Luna
“mal de ojo”
My mother always said if you look at a baby too long make sure you shake their little hand or touch their hair in order to create some type of interaction, or else the mother may think your giving the child the evil eye. Now when I see women lightly shaking the toes, hands or little fat legs of babies are they doing this because they truly want to interact with the child or are they afraid of what the mother may think if they don’t.
July 21, 2009 at 8:44 pm
Tina
My grandma called and said that there was going to be a lunar eclipse. Sha told me to get safety pins and pin them on my shirt in front of my belly, or pin key’s to the front of my belly. I laughed but you know with us being mexican we have to take these old wives tales seriously…. Our aunt sisters must know something…. And I’m not taking any chances with my new baby to be….
July 22, 2009 at 11:36 am
Meredith
I just finished studying pregnancy in Jalisco – specifically prenatal beliefs and behaviors. There is a crazy long list of things that could happen from a susto, corajes, nervios, being preocupado – basically all emotions pass to the baby, as well as illnesses. The eclipse thing was very interesting. It didn’t matter if the participants in my study were from Guadalajara or a very tiny ranchito (or anywhere in-between), most of them protected for an eclipse with something red and something silver/metal. Usually they put safety pins along the waist of their underwear, but also wore something red or tied a red sash around their bellies. I heard a lot of stuff, though, like stringing keys and taping coins to the belly. One woman (I did not meet her) put red crepe paper all over herself. The two women telling me the story got a big chuckle out of that – don’t think that was a very common practice, she was being a little over cautious.
The cuarentena is generally a 40-day period observed all over the world. Some speculate that it is ubiquitous because it roughly coincides with the time a woman bleeds following childbirth. Many of the women I spoke with said that avoiding “cold” foods is important during the time (such as pork). There seemed to be agreement on what should and should not be eaten. This has to do with the duality y’all were talking about, but it derives from the humoral theory of hot/cold, expulsion/retention, etc. Like you said, dualism is prevalent around the world. The humoral theory of illness was already present pre-Conquest, but was also something the conquistadors adhered to as well, coming from the Mediterranean. So it, too, doesn’t originate from just one place. In fact, some women still believe that regulating your body temperature – or keeping it in a state of equilibrium is important during pregnancy. Once you have given birth, you are in a cold state and need to stay wrapped up to prevent “aire” – also, your womb and pelvic bones are open and need to be massaged and manipulated back into place. This notion is also quite common around the world. In fact, in Malaysia they practice mother-roasting where women literally lay on makeshift beds over a fire – supposedly for 40 days, but like in all places in the world there is considerable variation since most people have other children and household duties.
Very cool subject! 🙂 Hope you are now a proud papa for sure!
March 18, 2010 at 5:50 pm
manuel
well growing up and even now… as i am 18… my parents and siblings are BIG believers of this nonsense.. here are some of the wierdest…
-Milk and cuecumbers together WILL make you VERY ILL…
-excessive lemon intake will make your blood turn into water?
-This is one that is the topic in the family most of the time… My sister has a 3 month old baby… the baby will be woken up by any little thing… he is a light sleeeper… my parents tell my sister that to cure this… they must scream his name and wake him up (if asleep) while crossing a bridge over any body of water… also to to say a prayer while crossing the baby…( like catholics do) its wierd but they seem to believe it strongly…
-That if you walk barefoot while its cool or cold… you will get -un fuego- or a cold sore..
-one that scared me throughout my childhood was that if i pointed directly at a rainbow.. i would get a wart on the finger i used…
WIERD HUH?!
January 14, 2013 at 11:55 pm
felipe
They are all true.
April 15, 2014 at 12:32 am
Mario
I think what your parents meant by your second example was not that the blood would literally turn into water but rather “thin” out your blood. So if your a diabetic.. Proli want to stay away from that. And by the way this stuff is not “nonsense” your mom practiced all of those beliefs with you and I’m assuming you turned out okay. BE PROUD OF YOUR HERITIGE BRO. MANY PEOPLE DONT EVEN HAVE A CULTURE TO CALL THEIR OWN. I just had my first baby 2 days ago with a white American. Y yo soy in Mexicano muy orgulloso. Even she tells me how nice it is to have traditions passed down from generation to generation and welcomes them all with an open mind. She doesn’t have to agree with them all. But like I said BE PROUD OF YOUR HERITAGE AND WHERE YOU COME FROM. I don’t think mexican people are gullible per say or easily made to believe things that may sounds a little funny. I think mexican parents love and want to keep their babies so safe they will follow through with these beliefs just to “play it safe” I know I do when it comes to certain things.
April 24, 2011 at 8:45 pm
selene
My sister in law and husband also always say that whenever the baby sleeps near a body of water, when we leave i should call him by his name or his soul might stay there. pretty weird, but i do it just in case…also we should percinar him so he wont drown.
August 18, 2011 at 4:29 pm
Lisa Zamora
I’ve heard of each n every1 of this. I strongley belive in this. My grandpa told me tht i was pergo, i didnt want to belive him so i got this pain in my tummy n the next day i went to the docotrs n i was. He even told i was going to have a girl. Also us Mexican belive tht when ur pergo n yew carry a baby boy and he like’s yew means your going to have a girl but if the boy is cryin when you carry him your going to have a boy. And when u carry a girl and she likes yew your haven a boy but if she starts crying your have a girl… So far me n my boyfriend and mother in law think im haven a girl cuz my lil borther in laws r always around me n my bby sobrina crys a lot wit me.
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November 13, 2012 at 10:12 am
Alex
Anybody ever heard of science? It’s that thing we use to stop ourselves from believing in ridiculous myths.
April 26, 2013 at 12:01 am
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February 1, 2018 at 4:26 pm
Mónica Sáenz
Empacho vaginal “vaginal clogging”. This is common in Michoacán. Women should abstain from sexual intercourse for 40 days after giving birth for fear of this illness. Fever, depression, progressive loss of strength until you die. It is cured by drinking three tall glasses of human semen during three consecutive days. One man, so a folk legend killed his wife in this way in order to marry a young woman. She died because he would not give her the glasses of semen.
Also, a menstruating woman or one who has just given birth is in a very dangerous state called “open body”, cuerpo abierto. During this state she should abstain from opening the fridge, going to funerals and sex. Opening the fridge causes “Aire”, a disease which twists your body or parts of it and freezes it in contorted positions or grimaces. Going to funerals causes “cancer de los muertos” which makes you for. And sex gives you “empacho vaginal”, as we have said.
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