Why Do the Tajin Flyers “Fly”?

By “Awake!” correspondent in Mexico

MAYBE you were among the thousands at the World’s Fair in New York city in 1964-1965 who saw these Tajin flyers in action. Or perhaps as a tourist you have been entertained by them in the famous resort city of Acapulco, or while staying at an elegant hotel in some other city in Mexico. Or have you witnessed this daring and breathtaking performance by descendants of the Totonacos in the native setting where it began, in the vicinity of Papantla, about two hundred miles to the northeast of Mexico City in the state of Veracruz?

If so, you may wonder how this strange spectacle ever got started and why it is perpetuated down till now. It seems to be a combination of acrobatics and religious ritual.

Long before the Spaniards invaded Mexico and brought with them their European religion and culture, the Totonacan empire flourished, some say as long ago as 739 C.E. And, like so many other ancient people, they, too, greeted the arrival of the spring equinox, corresponding to March 21, with a celebration. A special feature of this annual event among the Totonacos was the festival of the Tajin flyers. It was held at a time when the sun was closest to the earth and so this fact was thought to be responsible for awakening renewed energy in men, animals and plants. It was a time of year when more marriages were held among the Totonacos. Actually, this celebration of the Tajin flyers was one of the main features of a fertility festival.

A Hand-Me-Down of Sun and Sex Worship

The ceremony began when these people went out and looked for a tree of strong wood and very tall, approximately 115 feet (35 meters). Upon finding an appropriate tree, they would dance around it while their chief spoke to Oluhuicalo, the “god of the mountain,” asking his forgiveness for cutting the tree down​—the prayers and dancing being accompanied by rhythmic flute and drum music.

Four days later they would cut down the tree, trim off the branches and bring the pole to the site of the festival, where it was planted in a hole about six feet ( two meters ) deep. But before the actual planting, they would place in the hole a turkey (later they used a black hen), four eggs, some alcoholic beverage, flowers and incense.

Dancing around their newly planted tree, they would invoke special favors of Cahuimin, the “wind god.” Then five chosen men would climb to the top, these men previously having been purified by special rites. Today this preparation on their part includes going to the Catholic church and taking Communion. They begin their climb at high noon, first the four flyers, and then the chief, who serves as the priest.

The rope in olden times was made of rattan called rabo de coyolite, but now heavy Manila rope is placed around the tree to form a ladder to the top. Scholars say that the meaning is similar to Hindu beliefs, namely, that the rope wound around the tree represents the succession of the vertebrae of the spinal column through which the sexual energy ascends to the cranium​—in this case, to the top of the tree where there is placed a platform called manzana, meaning “apple.” This platform is constructed in such a way that it will turn around on the top of the tree. At the four corners of this platform are four ropes that are tied to the four flyers, who are launched into space at the right moment.

In pre-Spanish times the flyers were dressed like birds. Today their costume has been modified somewhat, and is embellished with embroidery and with spangles and glass beads. They have a headpiece that is designed and colored to represent the sun.

The fact that they are four in number means that they represent the four cardinal points of the compass and also represent the four primary elements​—earth, water, air and fire—​considered by them to be the four basic parts of everything.

The chief, acting as priest, stands in the center of the platform. He is the soloist, and, as such, invokes the sun with his flute and dancing for about fifteen minutes. When the flyers take off, this priest, seemingly oblivious to the danger, continues his song and dance at the top of the pole in a most precarious position more than a hundred feet in the air, bowing in all four directions, starting with the east, where the sun is born. He greets the sun with elevated face, since the sun at the moment is at its zenith, and in this way he feels closer to this superior force that he deifies, all the while playing his flute and beating his small drum made of deer leather.

As the platform is rotated, the four flyers are launched into space head first, flying downward toward the earth. But not before the long ropes reaching nearly to the ground have been securely fastened around their ankles. As they fall earthward they must make thirteen turns around the tree. Thirteen multiplied by four is fifty-two, the length of their traditional cycle of years and which marks the start of a new sun and the rekindling of the sacred fire in their temple. As part of their sex worship, every fifty-two years fire borers presumably cause male and female wood to have “intercourse,” resulting in the birth of new fire. All such traditions go back to the practices of ancient Babylon on the banks of the Euphrates, the common cradle of many forms of Babylonish religion that are found in so many false religions today.

Changes in Keeping with the Times

At the present time, racially speaking, there are very few pure-blooded Totonacos still living, since the great majority are mixed with other races. And with the mixture the new generation has forgotten many of their old traditions and have acquired new ones, or they have mixed the old with the new.

The flight, for instance, is performed not only from cut-down trees more than a hundred feet high, but often from steel poles of lesser height. Spotlights with colored filters add glamour and showmanship to the spectacle. Also, they do not fly just once a year as it used to be with their ancestors, but they perform as many times as they are requested during the year. This is in connection with other religious dances in a “ritual to the sun,” or to give color to some other pagan celebration, such as the Catholic Corpus Christi celebration in the month of May. Or, just as entertainment, they perform for the money.

In short, the flight of the Tajin flyers today is not limited to fertility rites connected with sun worship, but is also staged to enhance other pagan celebrations and for commercial gain.