An Excerpt from Uxua Daughter of the Jaguar by Gina Martin
Uxua’s First Blood ritual was as all others before and after. She entered the Blood Lodge which was was crowded with the menstruating women of the Temple and her family. She was drawn forward and was helped to remove her vest and tunic. Naked, she stood in the center of the Lodge and accepted the annointings of sacred oils from every woman there. The last to anoint her was her mother, Serta, who looked very solemn as she touched Uxua’s eyelids and palms with the scented oil.
“May you always see beauty in all its forms. May your hands do the work of the Goddess,” Serta said softly. she met Uxua’s gaze and both smiled slow smiles, identical in nature. Uxua felt a bond that she hadn’t even known she had with this woman who gave her life.
“Thank you, Mama,” she replied. But Serta looked away, and Uxua felt the thread snap.
The following days were filled with the songs of the Blood Lodge, the laughter of women at ease in their bodies, and the periodic visits from the elders, the crones of the Temple, who though they no longer bled, served the community as the wisdom keepers. They shared with Uxua all the knowledge that she would need to have ownership of her body. They taught her the ways of health and hygiene, of pleasure, of how to exert her autonomy over the choices to bear children or not. They sometimes told her funny stories of their exploits with lovers, their sorrows over children lost or never found, their reflections on the choices they had made, and how those choices had molded their lives.
The other women in the Lodge listened in, for the stories and wisdoms of the elders could never be heard too often. Uxua had never been very willing to be attended to or fussed with. But in the Lodge, she let the others brush and braid her hair, massage her belly and back to alleviate pains, and paint beautiful symbols all over her arms and legs with ground cacao powder. Days and nights blended together in a dreamy haze. As each woman finished her bleeding, she came to kiss Uxua farewell and leave the Lodge to return to her outer life.
Uxua and Talo are twins born under the light of the myth of origin. Twins such as they are tested and considered to fulfill the prophesies of their people. Taken to the temple of Ix Chel at a young age, the twins must see if fate and destiny are the same thing. Is Uxua the right person to become the Incarnation of the Goddess? She is bold and confident, and yet not given to following the rules. Can the unbreakable bonds of twinship be the strength she will need to become the Most High, the One Who Speaks as the Goddess? When the Jaguar chooses her , will she say yes?
Let Our Daughters Hear These Stories
Uxua: Daughter of the Jaguar (Daughters of the Goddess) Kindle Edition
by Gina Martin (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
Part of: Daughters of the Goddess (7 books)
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