YANGGEN HUMUYONG I MAPOTGE' NA PALAO'AN AN GUALÅFON, SIEMPRE PIRI' I NENE
If a pregnant woman goes out when the moon is full, the baby will be born with a cleft lip.
Chamorros have many folk beliefs about pregnancy. This is just one of them.
Of course there is no scientific basis for this, and even some elderly Chamorros I talked to (especially the women) dismiss this belief as nonsense. "Håye fuma'tinas ayo?" "Who made that up?"
It's interesting that some older Chamorros are not the only ones with this belief.
Among some Mayans of Mexico, children born with a cleft lip are called "children bitten by the moon."
Others believe if a pregnant mother uses a knife, her child will be born with a cleft lip. It's not hard to see why some people think a cleft lip could be caused by a knife.
Very few of our people believe in this today, judging from all the pregnant Chamorro women who routinely go out at night even when it is a full moon.
At least this belief is mild and tame compared to some cultures who believe that a child with a cleft lip is possessed or cursed by evil spirit. Thank God our folk belief didn't go that far.
No comments:
Post a Comment