Why should you cut your hair on Candlemas Day?

In Cuba, popular tradition dictates that on February 2,Candlemas day, people must cut their hair so that it grows healthy and strong, with the blessing of the Virgin (Mary, Mother of God).

That is why many devout Cubans, that day, go to hair salons, barber shops or take out the scissors at home and touch up the ends of their hair, their beards and some people even take advantage and have a manicure.

Where does the tradition of cutting your hair on Candlemas Day come from?

Thedevotion to the Virgin of Candelaria He arrived in Cuba with the Spanish emigrants. On February 2, a transcendental event in the life of the Virgin Mary is celebrated, her purification after becoming a mother and the consecration of Jesus, son of God.

The liturgical festival is many years old. Its origin is in a Jewish law that dictated that every firstborn male must be presented in the temple of Jerusalem. Joseph and Mary went there, 40 days after the birth of Jesus.

The Catholic Church takes advantage of this day to bless the candles or candles that will be needed throughout the year. It is a ceremony with a unique message about maintaining physical light and also spiritual light.

In itCandlemas day Not only are the ends of the hair cut so that it grows healthy and strong, the plants are also pruned so that they re-emerge vigorously. The date marks the time of renewal, purification, cleansing and this could have settled in the popular imagination as the time to cut off the old to see the rebirth.

Virgen de la Candelaria is Oyá for the Yorubas

In Cuba there are many devotees of this representation of the Virgin Mary and we even have a town that bears her name, Candelaria, a municipality in the Province of Artemisa in the west of the country. The saint adored by many Cubans is also the patron saint of Morón, in Ciego de Ávila.

In the Yoruba tradition theVirgen de la Candelaria is syncretized with Oyá, the fearsome goddess who lives in the cemetery. She is the owner of the tornado. Many religious people see in it the end and the beginning, because with its wind it uproots everything in its path and at the same time shows the power of human beings to rebuild.

Curiously, one of the weapons of Oyá is the black Iruke, a stick or bun of hair, made of horsehair or tail, which is tied to a rope of bone, wood or metal. The Yoruba goddess uses that tool to dominate the egguns (dead).

Cutting your hair on Candlemas Day: Who maintains the tradition?

We Cubans have emigrated to the most remote places in the world. In the distance some traditions disappear, especially if you live in big cities, where cutting your hair requires appointments and planning and the daily dynamics do not allow certain rituals to be maintained.

However, the tradition has not disappeared in the popular imagination. In the towns of Cuba manygrandmothers, mothers and aunts, they set aside a few minutes on this day to cut the ends of the hair of the little ones at home and let a few snips fall into their own hair, so that there is no lack of joy, good fortune and the blessing of the Virgin on this day of her purification. .