Hello Hive friends, I hope you are all well. Recently, an aunt from the province of Corrientes, my mother's sister, visited me and brought me a taba as a gift. I thanked her very much for her gift and, as I held it, I couldn't help but reflect on the meaning of this very peculiar object. For the gauchos, taba was much more than a simple game; They saw it as something sacred, a direct connection with the mysteries of destiny. The belief was that, by throwing the taba, you were not only playing with luck, but you were also invoking the spirit of your ancestors, who, in their wisdom, tilted fate in your favor or against you.
I thought of the taba as a mystical object, as a kind of amulet loaded with superstition and spirituality, I even compared it with an ancient rune or with the symbol of Yin and Yang. Each culture perceives luck from its own perspective, and in the case of the gauchos, that bone was almost a portal to the uncertain and the spiritual. It was then that my imagination took flight, and I began to think about how an Argentine gaucho from the 1800s and one from today would view fate in their respective moments in history.
Let's go back to the 1800s, when a gaucho named Don Vicente traveled through the pampas with his faithful horse and his facón on his belt. For him, luck was not something he took lightly, and the taba was his amulet. The gauchos believed that the taba kept the secrets of destiny; Each launch was a message from the ancestors, a kind of divine sign. Let's imagine Don Vicente, under the shade of an ombú, closing his eyes and murmuring words of respect before throwing the taba. He knew that by throwing that bone, he was invoking the spirits of the field, who determined the outcome of each twist and fall.
With a whisper that could barely be heard, Don Vicente said: “May destiny be favorable to me or may it leave me its teaching.” The bone spun in the air, catching the last ray of sunlight before falling to the ground. For Don Vicente, if the tree fell on its face, it was a sign of good omen; Otherwise, it meant that he had to stay alert, as something important was coming. It was as if luck itself was speaking to him.
His companions at the stove watched in silence, convinced that the taba brought with it the will of the ancestors. Some said that the taba was blessed, that each fall brought with it a message, and no one dared to play it without first asking permission within themselves. The taba, at that time, not only dictated the fortune of a moment, but the course of a life.
Now let's move to the present day, where Don Nico, a modern gaucho who lives in the city, receives the same taba that belonged to his grandfather. For him, this bone has a special value, and although he does not believe in witchcraft or sorcery, he carries it as his lucky talisman. Don Nico laughs when his friends talk to him about superstitions, but deep down, he feels that there is something to the girl. He knows that it is a symbol of connection with his roots and that, in some way, it represents fortune.
One Friday night, in a club, someone asks Don Nico to take out the tabacco and throw for “everyone's luck.” With a smile, Nico takes out the bone and, although he does not admit it, he mentally repeats his grandfather's phrase: “May destiny be fair.” He throws it to the ground, and the bone takes a mysterious turn before falling on its face. His friends celebrate their good fortune, laughing and joking, but Don Nico remains silent for a moment, looking at the table. He feels that, somewhere, his grandfather is watching him, and he smiles with the same faith he felt in the old days.
These days, the taba no longer represents the same mystical power as in Don Vicente's time, but for some, like Don Nico, it remains a reminder of roots, faith, and the mystery that surrounds luck. Although modern life has changed many things, the essence of taba and its connection with the spiritual remains strong.
With this story, I wanted to explore how something as simple as a bone can become a mystical symbol that spans generations. The taba, with its load of faith and superstition, continues to be, for many, a reminder that there are mysteries in the universe that we will never fully understand. Maybe that's the true magic of luck: never knowing exactly how or why it turns in our favor or against us.
