Text:

Egg Cleansing

Context:

Collector: “What is this egg cleansing and what does it mean to you?“

Informant: “Egg cleansing is when you take an egg, typically a large white egg, and rub it all over your body to cleanse yourself. Any negative energy that currently has a hold in your life, will go into the egg and be absorbed, thus leaving you. After rubbing the egg all over yourself, you’re supposed to crack it in a cup of water and see how the yolk forms. If there’s spikes, or if the yolk looks almost spider-webby, then you did have some negative energy released into the egg. If there are no distinct, or sharp patterns, then there was no negative energy to cleanse from you.“

Collector: “Have these sharp patterns ever occurred from your egg cleansing?“

Informant: “Yes and it was so scary. It happened to be around the time that I injured myself during Volleyball practice and had to be out for the rest of the season. It was first time that I have ever had negative energy reflect in my egg cleanse, so Im glad it worked and healed my leg.“

Collector: “When were you first exposed to egg cleansing?“

Informant: “I’d say around when I was four years old. My grandma would do it to all of her children and grandchildren on Christmas day. She also does it to us when an ill occurrence has befallen us, such as maybe an accident, or just something unlucky.“

Analysis:

This egg cleansing seems to be dependent on the use of the embryo within the egg, transferring the negative energy of one life force to an unborn life force, to purify one over the other. The cracking of the egg is a symbolic release of that energy back into the world. HR’s grandmother comes from a Christian background, and it’s interesting to see the presence of superstitious or magical practices within a religion like Christianity. The presence of egg cleansing likely comes from the fusion of European religion with indigenous practices, or some other ethnofusion of sorts. Latin America is one of the most, if not the most culturally diverse and mixed region in the world. It takes from the practices of Indigenous, European, and African cultures. Within my own Puerto Rican culture, we have a similar use for the egg cleanse, but instead it’s practiced on New Years eve. When the clock hits twelve, the egg that has collected your negative energies is tossed out into the street, signifying a purified beginning of the New Year. This is an example of monogenesis, as Mexican and Latin Caribbean customs share lots in common due to their similar colonized backgrounds.