The legend of the sorrow-relieving dolls, figures that alleviate sorrows

This beautiful tradition promotes a very healthy psychological habit that we should work to achieve every day: downloading worries from the mind to clear dreams.

According to the tradition of the Mayan Indians of the Guatemalan highlands, When children have fears or nightmares at night, they tell the weight-removing dolls before going to sleep. Then they put them under the pillow and, by dawn, the worries have disappeared.

The weight remover dolls are wonderful remnants of a traditional legend originating from Guatemala. According to this traditional custom, whose exact origin is unknown, the doll will worry about the problem instead of the person, allowing the person to sleep peacefully.

So, When the person wakes up, they will do so relieved of the worries that kept them awake.which will have remained in the doll, which will have to be caressed so that the pain it carries does not hurt.

“The sorrow dolls take away the sorrows I have, I tell them very quietly and they cure them in silence. And under my pillow my dolls always sleep and if I have any pain I wake up without it. And I, who never believed in amulets or sorcerers, explain to me what I am doing telling sorrows to dolls.”

-Tontxu-

A nice and tender tradition to relieve worries

Although there are many types, the sorrow-relieving or sorrow-relieving dolls They usually measure 10 to 20 millimeters. They are made by hand from a base of wood or wire. Their face is usually made of cotton, cardboard or clay and their clothes can be made with wool or aguayo cloth, typical of Guatemala.

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At the origin of Guatemalan culture, These figurines were intended to relieve children’s nighttime anxieties, but today they are also common in the lives of adults.. They are usually collected in boxes or cloth bags in groups of 6, one for each day of the week, giving the option of resting for a day. They usually come with the following instructions:

* Focus on worry or grief at bedtime.
* Tell the doll what we want her to take.
* Place the pain remover under the pillow.
* A few caresses on the doll’s tummy so that your sorrows don’t hurt her and in the morning, they will have disappeared!!!

The dolls are used as weight removers and as amulets, offering the possibility of releasing daily suffering in a natural way. This beautiful tradition promotes a very healthy psychological habit that we should work to achieve every day: downloading worries from the mind to clear dreams.

The fact of physically transferring, although in an imaginary way, our worries and regrets one by one, can be a very useful resource to manage the anguish that is generated by problems. This also helps us feel empowered to manage our anxiety and not give way to insomnia.

“Ramón the worryer”, a children’s story that talks about weight-lifting dolls

Such is the force of tradition, that There are beautiful stories that talk about the usefulness of these dolls to help children control their emotions, manage their fears and manage their anxiety. Nowadays, when children are under great stress, these stories and these types of legends can help them deal with what they feel.

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“Ramón the worryer” is a story by Anthony Browne that has gone around the world, bringing the traditional legend of the Guatemalan weight-lifting dolls to millions of homes around the world. It is a very well-known story, but we want to share it with you in case it had not reached you.

The story, which is presented in full in the video, talks about a boy named Ramón who has dozens of worries that prevent him from sleeping.. After trying almost anything, his grandmother tells him about the weight-removing dolls that alleviate her pain… Enjoy it!!