Count Your Freckles

Every Thursday at Celas Maya at 11am (after the morning break) a conference on some topic related to culture, history, politics, etc. is held in the school. I like to go to these events because not only do I learn something not discussed in my classes, but it is a break from grammar and talking. What makes my Celas Maya experience even more intense than my undergrad experience is that at Cornell I shared my intensive classes with classmates. At Celas Maya I am the only student in my class for five hours straight -- it`s exhausting!

Last week our conference was presented by a man who is something of an expert on aspects of Mayan culture. He shared a number of things with us about the birth of children and how the umbilical cord of a newborn would be placed outside in a tree if he was male or placed under one of the rocks used in the cooking fire if she was female. Traditionally this signified the infants relationship to work and life in and out of the home. Overtime midwives, older women in the family, and mothers begin to change this custom in recognition of the fact that women did not work only in the home. These days it is common for an umbilical cord of both a male and female newborn to be hung in a tree. The difference is that a male umbilical cord is placed high in a tree to signify his connection to the sun, while a female umbilical cord is hung lower in a tree to signify her connection to the land.

Something a little bit more fun, which anyone can apply in his or her life is about freckles. Count your freckles. Yes, all of them! Anywhere you have a freckle it counts. For some it may be impossible to count every one, in this case make an estimated guess. Done? Come on, do it! Ok, ready? The more freckles you have the more aggresive you are as a person because you are more like a jaguar. Yes, I have lots of freckles. More than most Guatemaltecas, but fewer than lots of others. How about you?

Now to add to this fun, figure out whether you have more freckles on your left arm, the left side of your face, across and down the right side of your body, and your right leg OR the exact opposite. I will wait............So, which is it? If you have more freckles from left to right you have lots of positive energy. If you have more freckles right to left than you have more negative energy. Quantity of freckles in this instance does not equate more or less energy overall.

Finally know that your freckles are your gifts and your fortune, so you should never think negatively of them or wish them away. In doing so you wish away your gifts and fortune!