Rite of flying

The rite of flying is a native Mesoamerican religious manifestation. Its origins date back to the Middle Preclassic Mesoamerican period, found representations of this ritual in the funeral ceramics of the cultures of the West (Colima, Jalisco and Nayarit). He then moved to other towns, most likely related to the gladiatorial sacrifice and fertility cults. Survives today among the Nahua and Totonac of the Sierra Norte de Puebla and Veracruz Totonacapan.

In 2009 he was declared Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.

A small wooden base, a cross, a pin (also called apple) that will unite and enable rotation, and an attached ladder: In celebration accompanied by dances and music a trunk or "flying stick" where several parts fit is used to the post. At the ends of the cross ropes holding the flying dancers symbolizing the cardinal directions, north, south, east and west, the foreman that represents the center stand.

A further 20 meters on top of the structure, the foreman, a character who plays a drum and flute, and coordinates the ritual is located. Each signal that the foreman does is a type of acrobatics, one of them each flying dancer leaps into the void, fastened at the waist, stomach and holding fast to the legs and turns 13 times each silmulando down by 13 skies sun god, which multiplied by four flying gives the result of 52, since this number is the symbol of the 52-year cycle of the Mayan calendar or Xiuhmolpilli. It ends when participants begin to open the circle to the ground. If spectators applaud any of the flying bend the legs and feet touching hands, this being a very difficult maneuver that can only last a few seconds, rarely doing some dancing shows great courage dare to launch without any mooring waist, making a circle with the loop so as not to untie and introduce only one leg, this is a very dangerous maneuver, do to innovate and distinguish themselves from other groups. The dancers wear very colorful costumes representing tropical birds.

The ritual of flying is not limited to dance, since obtaining and installing the post carries great solemnity, as this is cut in areas outside the region of the community, this requires another ritual dance of flying has a lot of sounds, which are the number of indigenous languages spoken in our country, but like languages not all sounds are danced by flying, because over the years our ancestors not communicate other wings generations .