Danza de los Voladores
The Dance of the Flyers
In Mayan mythology, the creation of the world is associated with bird deities. Covered in feathers, they lay in primordial waters. Using their spirit essence and power to give Earth its creative energy and a heart. Next, the Ceiba tree was planted to separate the sky from the soil, this was the World Tree. This World Tree represents the four cardinal directions; North, South, East, and West. Itself being the fifth cardinal direction.
In this traditional act of the Danza de Los Voladores, 5 “birdmen” climb a 30-meter tall tree that has been taken from the forest with permission from Quihocolo. Tsakáe Kiki — tree selection — was a time-intensive and thoughtful process. This trunk was then taken and placed in a hole that had been filled with offerings. Offerings such as flowers, copal, alcohol, candles, and live chickens and turkeys. These are all crushed as the trunk is erected. This trunk acts to connect the sky with the Earth and the Underworld with the surface world.
One of the five men sits atop the trunk playing the flute, emulating the songs of birds. He starts by first acknowledging the four cardinal directions, beginning with the East since this is where life came from. He then finishes his preparation by bowing backward to acknowledge the sun. The other four, representing the four cardinal directions, intertwine themselves with rope. Through their legs and waist in a thoughtful and practiced manner with the knowledge that many men have died during this ritual. In unison, they jump from 30 meters (98 ft) and spin around the trunk upside down to represent the recreation of the world and the regeneration of life. The flyers circle the pole 13 times each, equalling 52 circuits, the number of years in the Aztec calendar round.
The origin of this ritual is found in the Nahua, Huastec, and Otomi people in Central Mexico. The use of tree trunks is rare now due to the deforestation of the Sierra de Puebla. Now you will see most Voladores performing on permanent metal poles that have been donated from the oil industry. As a ritual that has been reserved for men for centuries, the introduction of women was extremely controversial. The first man to teach a woman how to perform the Danza de Los Voladores was named Jesus Arroyo Cerron. He trained his daughters and later died at age 70 when he fell from the pole during the Cumbre Tajin celebration. Patriarchs believe that this was divine retribution for introducing women into the ritual.
It was extremely complicated to qualify to be a part of this ritual as a woman First, you much go through a series of cleansing practices designed to ask for forgiveness from the gods for being a woman. You must be a virgin without a significant other and abstain from all pre-marital intercourse. If it was discovered that these rules have been disobeyed, the woman is taken to an altar surrounded by incense and candles and punished with bofetadas — quick hard slaps to the face. The number of slaps depended on the severity of the transgression and they were thought to cure the “fever” and sexual nature of the woman.
According to the Totonac myth, this tradition arose during a severe drought that caused starvation and death as a plea for rain. This ritual has been recognized as an Intangible Cultural Heritage by Unesco in 2009 as a concerted effort to maintain its traditional value