What´s in the name?

Carolina Amalia Amor.... Doesn´t it sound nice? Who would change her name when her last name means love? Me, me, me!!!!!! Yep, you read this right. Ten years ago, when I got married, I decided to take my husband´s last name - Boggs. I was following my country´s tradition of taking the husband´s name when you get married instead of deciding to remain Amor. I still remember my dad telling me.... you are a Boggs now, Amor no more! That was shocking for me at the time but I was happily married and it was the tradition to take a husband´s name so why would I break the tradition? I had already broken so many rules by being a witch in a Catholic family and not getting married in the church so why wouldn´t  I follow at least one tradition and take my husband´s name? 

When I arrived in Miami with my secret envelope from the embassy, I remember the officer telling me I had to go to this office at the end of the hall and I was like... darn it... I knew it, there was something weird in this envelope they gave me and told me not to open, lol! I was only 23 years old and I was so scared! I spoke the language but I was so shy and so small at the time. I remember the lady that did my fingerprints and completed my paper telling me when she saw my papers... oh you are keeping your Amor name, that´s such a nice name! Little did I know that she was an angel in my path trying to warn me that I would regret changing my name many years later. 

When I went to the social security office, I still remember the lady in the office tearing the paper in pieces when I signed Amor and saying "You are not that one anymore, sign your new name." Those words will remain in my mind forever because I was still that one... I was very much that one.... but in order to fit in, in order to blend, I took a different name so I would not stand out. People would not even realize I was Latin, I look pretty much American with my blonde hair, white skin and green eyes. 

When I became an American citizen was the first time I was fully Carolina Boggs and no hint of Amor anymore. The only place that I had my maiden name was my green card and I had to give that one away when I went to the ceremony and they told me "You are not an Alien anymore". Really? But I do come from another planet, lol!!!!!!  If I look at my American herstory, I can see it is filled with I am not that..... you fill it... You are not Amor anymore... You are not an Alien anymore..... You are not.....

It is time to break this pattern and claim who I really am. Now I´ve been living in this country for 10 years and during those 10 years I have become a strong and powerful woman that knows the power of names and she is ready to claim her own. I am ready to go to court and get my maiden name back if that´s what it takes because I am definitely Carolina Amalia Amor and I am very proud of my name. It shows my roots, it shows my nationality, it shows my core.

One of my coworkers is getting married and she is taking her husband´s name... When I heard this, I was like - are you sure? And she was totally sure she wanted to take that name. I still wonder why we women are so eager to get rid of our own essence and name and use our husbands´. I know I was very young when I got married and I did not think how important my own name was. Now looking back, I know that if I would ever be to get married again, I would not take anybody´s name because mine is perfect. This is who I am. This is my essence and my family tree. Names have power. Do you know the power of your name? 

Many blessings,

Lady Carolina Amor

Presiding Priestess of Circulo de Isis
www.circulodeisis.org
Member of the Archdruid Union
https://sites.google.com/site/fellowshipofisiscentral/fellowship-of-isis-foundation-union-triad---archdruid-union
Founder of Tienda Roja
https://www.facebook.com/groups/441201419296609/