Cockroaches as wedding gifts?
October 5, 2010 4:44 PM   Subscribe

Are there any cultures that give two live cockroaches as wedding gifts?

An ESL student of mine brought up this story during a discussion about the problem of bedbugs and cockroaches in Toronto. She claimed a family in her building was given cockroaches as a symbol of fertility and soon their place was totally filled with them. I was skeptical because it sounded like a racist attempt to blame pest problems on one group of people. Is this a made-up story or does it have any toehold in truth? She didn’t say which culture she was referring to.
posted by prairiecatherine to Society & Culture (7 answers total)
 
In some strains of Mexican culture, it's a tradition for the bride and groom to have a wedding day dinner that includes fried crickets, which is a fertility and good luck symbol.

Perhaps your student has his symbolism wrong, and it's risen to the level of urban myth.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 4:59 PM on October 5, 2010


Best answer: And crickets are/were kept as pets and good luck symbols in China, I believe.
But not cockroaches. Does our student know the difference? She may not have any point of reference for crickets, perhaps?
posted by SLC Mom at 6:16 PM on October 5, 2010


Reaching way back in my memory here...I'm not certain about the wedding day but I recall on a trek through Tulum the guide telling us that the Mayans used to use bejeweled cockroaches as an engagement ring of sorts. It would be all blinged up, with a gold chain and pin attached to it, then to the clothing. I can't recall if only women wore this or if men would too. Either way, I can't stand cockroaches, so thank FSM I'm not Mayan.
posted by moitz at 9:00 PM on October 5, 2010


Oh, it should be mentioned, said cockroach would be alive and free to roam it's host within the constraints of it's chain. I'm getting the heebie-jeebies thinking of this.
posted by moitz at 9:01 PM on October 5, 2010 [1 favorite]


I recall on a trek through Tulum the guide telling us that the Mayans used to use bejeweled cockroaches as an engagement ring of sorts.

They are not cockroaches, but a kind of beetle called maquech or maquesh. Cockroaches are just as despised in Mexico as in other countries.
posted by clearlydemon at 8:52 AM on October 6, 2010


The links are broken, but possibly related to this FPP?
posted by Gable Oak at 8:58 AM on October 6, 2010


@clearlydemon: thanks for the correction...I see big bug, it sees the bottom of my shoe. That's usually about the end of that interaction. I don't generally hang around long enough to find out what it was.
posted by moitz at 9:39 AM on October 6, 2010


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