Outside of my psychology classes, one college course that I really enjoyed was a Cultural Anthropology class called Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion. Counter to the Philosophy of Religion course, which stuck mostly to the world’s major religions, this Anthropology class featured the religion and culture of tribal peoples.
One of the things that really stuck out in that class for me was the discussion we had about one such tribe where the members called their children not by their given names, but by names that sounded harsh and cruel. The professor explained that these people believed that calling their children by these cruel names would protect them because demons and monsters would not learn their true names and therefore could not hold power over them or lure the children to their doom.
We see this idea represented in Celtic Tales and Legends with the idea that you want to keep your true name hidden as to not allow the fae to obtain power over you. I’m sure you can find it elsewhere, as well. The anime film Spirited Away, directed by Hayao Miyazaki is another example of this.
It did not occur to me until many years later–not until having children of my own– that there may be some wisdom to this practice. Not that I believe monsters will spirit away my children, but then the phrase from the Disney animated Hunchback of Notre Dame echoes in my brain, “What makes a monster, and what makes a man?”
We don’t exactly live in the safest place; nor the safest time period. The local news has reported several times in the past few years about human trafficking rings, and although the police have been cracking down on this very serious issue, far be it from me to set a few precautions of my own.
For example, my children know to scream, bite, wrap their arms and legs around the person’s ankles and make themselves difficult to move and easily seen and heard. They know to loudly yell, “This is not my Mom [Dad]!” and draw attention to themselves in any way they can. If presented with a person that claims to be picking them up on my behalf, they know to say “I’ve met all my mom’s friends and I’ve never met you.” All of these things are meant to make them less appealing to someone who might be trying to grab them because although I try to keep my kids close at all times, let’s face it. there will always be instances where something may go wrong.
So since the real monsters are all too often human, I’ve taken to calling my kids something other than their names in public. The names I’ve chosen are not harsh or cruel, but the nicknames I call my children in public are intentional in that my kids will think it’s odd that the nickname would be coming out of anyone else’s mouth besides their mother.
Maybe that’s just me being paranoid, but I like to think it might be an added layer of protection in case someone is listening in, eyeing my kids, and waiting for me to turn my back.
Because let’s face it. They are pretty great kids.
