Motherhood: The Holy Offering

This past February I received 3-separate grants and was blessed with the opportunity of traveling to Belize to further my studies in the Arvigo Techniques of Maya Abdominal Therapy. While I did enjoy the training, what I loved most about traveling to Belize, was the opportunity to just –be– with the land, this place where the body of wisdom known as ‘Maya Abdominal Therapy’ originates.

What is often taught in history books about the Maya people, and even what is taught at the Mayan pyramid sites themselves, is in relation to ‘human sacrifice.’

I have always questioned the –truth– of these ‘human sacrifices’: Did they really happen at all? Were these ways introduced from outside people? WHY is ‘human sacrifice’ the main focus of popular history in regards to the incredibly beautiful, complex, and intelligent Maya culture?

As I began to internally question these things on a deeper level on the land of the Maya nation, I began to receive answers that I had not before…

Inside a small museum in Chetumal, Mexico, dedicated to Mayan culture, I found in a small corner, a small plaque, underneath a small fertility symbol, that read:

          “Sacrifice… as in the self-sacrifice of having children…”

At that moment, something clicked for me as a woman, as a Mother and as a midwife:

Ancient fertility ceremonies from around the world, often involved an element of SACRIFICE, an element of death; with a recognition that from death comes life. To ‘sacrifice,’ is to dedicate as a holy offering.

There is an inherent sacrifice in becoming and being a Mother. And ancient fertility ceremonies re-minded all of our people of this truth.

Beginning with pregnancy and birth, we sacrifice our bodies- offering our bodies as a holy place for Life to grow and be born from. Our lives ‘as we knew them’ become rearranged to accommodate the needs of the new Soul that is entering.

As Mothers, we are then ‘postpartum’ for life. Pregnancy and birth PERMANENTLY ALTER us not just energetically, but physiologically as well. The old in us dies to give life to the new: newborn babies are born, newborn Mothers are born.

As Mothers, we offer our vital, life energy, to raise our children, the next generation of humans that will caretake our precious Earth.

AS MOTHERS, THE SACRIFICES WE MAKE EACH AND EVERY DAY FOR OUR CHILDREN, ARE OUR HOLY OFFERINGS TO LIFE ITSELF.

It is not my place to define nor judge the ‘human sacrifices’ we are taught about in relation to Mayan history. My place, my purpose, my participation, is in this great ‘RE-MEMBRANCE’ of our innate power as women and as humans.

When we honor and respect the incredible work we do each day through our Mothering (be that Mothering our children or Mothering our life’s work), we bring dignity back to the holy title of ‘MOTHER.’

Copyright Rachelle Garcia Seliga, CPM

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