La Siembra del Nombre – An Aztec naming ceremony

I think it was my Marissa, her new godmother, who first heard about the Aztec naming ceremony called :La Siembra del Nombre (the planting of the name.) My son and daughter-in-law wanted to celebrate my grand daughter Violeta’s first birthday with a naming ceremony and this idea felt right.

Finding information about it was not easy but I enlisted the help of my friend, Adela C. Licona, Professor of Rhetoric at the University of Tucson. She, in turn, asked her colleagues to assist in her detective work and within a day or two we were able to put together the bits and pieces they unearthed to create a unique and memorable event.

I tried to bring the tradition to life in the speech I made:

La Siembra del Nombre

The Planting of the Name

Violeta Aida June

The Aztecs believed that your name determines who you will be and how you will fare in life.

In the Navajo tradition, the person who first hears a child laugh is granted the privilege of naming him or her. Since it seems that this beautiful child before us was born laughing she could have easily been named Consuelo, Mai Ling, Bin Noor or Colette , depending on who was in the delivery room.

Her parents, however, chose the name: Violeta Aida June

Violeta Aida June – Violetas are vibrant in color, but also both delicate and rare.

Violeta Aida June – Aida was my mother’s name and this child has inherited my mother’s charisma, joyfulness, twinkling mischievous eyes, and her raised eyebrow. She will grow to question all things, be discerning, and also experience great joy.

Violeta Aida June – We trust that she will also have the common sense, simple elegance, and the good and strong heart of her other great grandmother Lady June Kennedy-Goode and her grandmother Christine. From me, I hope she inherits my determination, passion and love of my heritage.

Today Violeta Aida June receives yet another name, the Mayan name Lol-Be.

Lol-Be means “flower of the road” and we pray that as she travels through life, she will be protected from evil as she both reveals and discovers the wonders of the world.

Violeta Aida June Lol-be is the product of two exceptional people who have themselves lived up to their own names. Victoria is a winning multi-faceted and multi-talented woman, at once traditional and hip. Rodrigo was named for El Cid and has his sense of honor and leadership qualities.

Her godparents, Aaron and Marissa Sanchez, knowing the symbolism and import of her name, should help guide her. In Mexican tradition, it is also their duty to teach the child their crafts. So may she grow up to be a great cook and excellent boos like her godfather Aaron and have the style and organizational and managerial skills of her godmother Marissa.

My father believed that it is now Violeta’s duty to develop these talents that her antepasados, her grandparents, godparents, and parents are passing on to her to the fullest of her fullest, and that she should use them wisely.

Rodrigo and Victoria will now plant her name- the soul seed of Violata Aida June Lol-Be’s life. May it grow in beauty and bounty and may it now fertilize the land.

As a provocative aside I would like to tell you that 15 minutes before the ceremony was to be held, it was pouring rain with more thunderstorms predicted. I took out my big butcher’s knife and stuck into the soft earth of my garden and within minutes the rain completely stopped and never came back until the party ended. Country people in Mexico believe in this and so do I. This is the second party this old folk’s remedy saves the day.