i started reading that Rigoberta book. got a link below if you're interested. anyway, its a biography where rigoberta first goes through the birth ceremonies of the maya, and what kinda cultural beliefs surround a child's birth.
they have a sort of astrology in the mayan culture. but unlike the chinese tradition where the year defines a personality, and also unlike the greek/roman astrology that dictates the month to be the decisive factor in a person's personality, the mayan believe that the day of the week tells how a person acts.
...interesting how cultures around the world can found a belief on how a person will act in life depending on when the were born. even more interesting is how the beliefs can as easily be created on the day, month, or year you were born.
sounds a bit contrived to me...
anyway. like the chinese, the mayan believe you have the personality of a given animal. something they call the nahual, which i guess could be compared to a totem. they have animals like cats, dogs, horses, sheep, lions, bulls, birds, and even trees. she didn't specifically list out all of the nahual.
and if you also counted the list of animals and plant, and noticed it came out to eight, the mayan actually go off of a ten-day week, something that also isn't very explicitly explained.
but according to rigoberta, tuesday is the worst day to be born on, its the nahual of the bull: someone who is bad-tempered.
better days are monday, wednesday, saturday, and sunday.
sheep is on wednesday and considered to be one of the better days because of your impending mellowness.
she didn't really explain the rest of the animals other than the cat, which will have the child prone to fighting with their siblings.
as custom goes, the parents don't tell the children what nahual they were born under because they don't want the child to blame their behavior on their nahual. like a bull blaming their assholishness on the fact that they are a bull.
so custom dictates that parents don't tell the child what nahual they are until they are about 10 - 12 years old and their personality is supposedly already molded and formed. (i guess mayans grow up quickly.) but the cool part is that once the kid is told their nahual, the parents end up giving the kid their nahual as a gift. well, unless its the lion, then they end up getting something else.
astrology. go figure.
they have a sort of astrology in the mayan culture. but unlike the chinese tradition where the year defines a personality, and also unlike the greek/roman astrology that dictates the month to be the decisive factor in a person's personality, the mayan believe that the day of the week tells how a person acts.
...interesting how cultures around the world can found a belief on how a person will act in life depending on when the were born. even more interesting is how the beliefs can as easily be created on the day, month, or year you were born.
sounds a bit contrived to me...
anyway. like the chinese, the mayan believe you have the personality of a given animal. something they call the nahual, which i guess could be compared to a totem. they have animals like cats, dogs, horses, sheep, lions, bulls, birds, and even trees. she didn't specifically list out all of the nahual.
and if you also counted the list of animals and plant, and noticed it came out to eight, the mayan actually go off of a ten-day week, something that also isn't very explicitly explained.
but according to rigoberta, tuesday is the worst day to be born on, its the nahual of the bull: someone who is bad-tempered.
better days are monday, wednesday, saturday, and sunday.
sheep is on wednesday and considered to be one of the better days because of your impending mellowness.
she didn't really explain the rest of the animals other than the cat, which will have the child prone to fighting with their siblings.
as custom goes, the parents don't tell the children what nahual they were born under because they don't want the child to blame their behavior on their nahual. like a bull blaming their assholishness on the fact that they are a bull.
so custom dictates that parents don't tell the child what nahual they are until they are about 10 - 12 years old and their personality is supposedly already molded and formed. (i guess mayans grow up quickly.) but the cool part is that once the kid is told their nahual, the parents end up giving the kid their nahual as a gift. well, unless its the lion, then they end up getting something else.
astrology. go figure.
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