I have been Pagan for some years now and am coming to the point where as a latina i need to start considering or planning a quinceanera.
The quinceanera is a rite a passage from a little girl stepping into womanhood on her 15th birthday. The celebration would start with a catholic church mass usually and as part of the ceremony i would be given a holy book or bible and a rosary or cross or necklace containing a picture of la virgin de guadalupe. I would also be blessed by a priest infront of all my family.
I come from a family that is proudly mexican and catholic but i am the first born american and first ever pagan in my bloodline. My relatives are open minded about crazy american ideas, but are devout roman catholics. So i dont know how it would work out with having a pagan quinceanera since there has probably never ever been one before because a majority of them are traditionally christian and meant to be a rite of passage in God's eyes. My family would judge me for being pagan, but not shun me. Im already the too american daughter of the family whose spanish is very bad XD
So how would i make this work?
I dont want to just skip the whole religious part and just have a spoiled 15 birthday party. I want the celebration to be a rite of passage or coming of age where i step into womanhood. I want to have the grand ball with my chambelanes and damas and ceremony of the 15 candles. I want to keep some latin traditions of it, but how can i when i am pagan and not catholic?
My mum knows i am not catholic, she even let me not take confirmation classes at the church because i was not comfortable being christian. However, she doesnt know that im pagan. I dont think she even knows what paganism is because she grew up in a country where the religion was all the same. Though she is very open minded, i still have not told her i want a pagan quinceanera. I need to figure out first how im going to make it work before i tell her anything. So....
How can i make this work? A quinceanera without the christian part? Im calling out to all people here, especially any latina or hispanic women who have come across this problem /.\