‘El’ eclipse ‘de la luna’ brings ‘algunas tradiciones’
Era una tarde in late summer después de cenar. Once the dinner dishes were all lavados y secándose, Canutito sat down en la mesa para hacer su homework. Just then he noticed que Grama Cuca had taken out su rosario de la bolsa de su apron. She sat down cerca de él a rezar with her pocket rosary taken de su delantal.
As Canutito listened to her, grama began praying algo muy extraño en español antiguo. She said: “Luna que no fue eclipsada ni menguantes he tenido, que siempre en este destierro no alumbres el camino. A ti, por piadosa madre, nosotros los más indignos te ofrecemos este santísimos rosario. …”
Canutito stopped trabajando en su tarea and he glanced up at grama. He asked her: “Grama, ¿qué nostros hacemos pray to the moon so that it doesn’t go dark cuando hay un eclipse? Eso es un poco creepy.”
Grama stopped and smiled. “Ay m’hijo,” she said, “no one ever prays to the moon. Cuando yo digo: ‘Moon that was not eclipsed nor has ever waned, may you light our way in this exile. To thee, as our most pious mother, we; the most unworthy, offer this most holy rosary to thee. …”
“Eso hace sound como que you are praying are the moon, grama,” Canutito le dijo. “I thought que nosotros éramos Católicos.”
“Cuando yo hago pray in old Spanish,” Grama Cuca said,
“es sacred language que está lleno de mystical symbolism. The moon representa a la Virgen María who was not diminished by the birth de su hijo and we asked her to light the way para nosotros with her prayers cuando rezamos su rosario.”
“I’m glad que we are not moon worshippers, grama,” Canutito said.
“There were traditions though, m’hijo,” grama went on, “cuando people believed en el poder de la luna. They used to think que during the eclipse de la luna, los babies would be born con birthmarks. Por eso los birthmarks are still called lunares, or kisses of the moon. También creían que los niños would be lunáticos; half-crazy.”
“How did toda la gente avoid having babies con lunares y medios locos, grama?” Canutito asked her.
“Las mamás would tie la llaves de la iglesia around their bellies cuando la luna se eclipsaba,” grama said, “para evitar lunares y lunáticos. In some places they even believed que un viborón se comía la luna; that dark night was called la night of the moon-dragon cuando el Viborón would come eat the moon.”
“So the church keys would deflect los efectos de la luna eclipsada?” Canutito asked her. What about cuando el sol se eclipsaba?”
“Los aztecas believed que el dios Kukulcán was thirsting por sangre,” Grama Cuca replied. “He demanded blood sacrifice when the sun was eclipsed.”
“I don’t think que yo quiero sacrificar mi sangre al sun god, grama,” Canutito thought. We would have to be looking para muchas personas que podíamos sacrificarle al sol. That would be worse que la luna.”
“M’hijo,” Grama Cuca said slyly, “Haven’t you ever wondered por qué we call our own day of worship Sunday? Canutito abrió los ojos muy grandes. …