Quinceañeras or commonly called Quince Años is one of the most beloved and precious moments in any young girls life. Looking into the elaborate and exquisite ceremony, one wonders where it all began, what does it all mean and why do Hispanics celebrate Quiceañeras. and see the history and cultural value of the Quince Años celebration.
Quiceañeras has its roots buried deeply embedded in Mayan and Aztecan history. In Mayan and Aztecan history, we learn that at the age of about fifteen, young women were considered mature enough to wed and begin a family as well as take on adult responsibilities. Their mothers formally acknowledged this coming to sexual maturity as they were directed in how to fulfill their duties as a wife, to obey the decorum and dictates of society as well as various forms of celebrations that to this day remain elusive to modern man.
In the more elite circles of this society, daughters were sent to a temple to serve or to be educated as a priestess. At either rate, women by this age were considered experts in duties of womanhood or entered into training for the priestess profession, but the entrance into the position of woman was one that was highly regarded and welcomed by all those within their culture. What we do know is that with the invasion of Spaniards and the conquest of South America, the traditions and religions became blended and the traditional Quiceañera as we know it today was born.
The traditional Quinceañera is a celebration of a young Hispanic woman coming to the age where her family acknowledges and celebrates with her that she is now a young woman and no longer a child. The Quiceañera celebration is a time of affirming of faith, family traditions, good morals, and preparedness to take on adult roles within the family.
Quiceaneras is celebrated through out Latin America in many various forms and styles. It remains the fairy tale dream for many young Hispanic girls, who dream of the day when all their family and friends will join in recognition and celebration of the day that they are held in the bosom of love and softly carried across the threshold of maturity, set down, with their feet firmly planted in the richness of tradition, faith and history.
The traditional gifts given to the Quinceañera have as much meaning as do the differing traditions of the ceremony.