March 18, 2012
Dear friends:
For the last 15 years, the towns of Angangueo and Ocampo have given farewell to the Monarchs by organizing different cultural events every place separate in their downtown areas. This year, they jointly held an event. It was performed in El Rosario itself, which I think was really nice and perhaps more proper.
Let me explain the significance of this spectacular event:
"Los Voladores de Papantla" (The Flyers of Papantla) is one of the most popular pre-Hispanic dance ceremonies in México. It tells the story of a town in Veracruz, a state in the southeast our country that's going through a severe drought that has killed many of their inhabitants, animals and crops.
In desperation, a group of old wise men in town orders the youger men to look for the highest trunk of tree in the forest. Five men climb to the top of the trunk. Four men face the four cardinal directions--north, east, south, and west--and they represent all bird species on earth.
The man at the center performs a combination of dance and music as a claim for forgiveness and generosity from the protective gods. He pleads to the gods to provide rain and fertility to the soil. The higher the trunk, the more possibilities that our prehispanic gods would listen to our claims.
At the end of the ceremony, the four men representing all bird species on earth throw themselves down from the pole to the open air, representing the agony of birds. (Of course, they are perfectly attached by special ropes from the top.) The atmosphere at the entrance of the sanctuary was spectacular!
As I traveled to the sanctuary, I had witnessed signs of what might be a very dry season in our region. The soil looks dry, and water is very scarce in streams that come down from the mountains. These pictures show a main river from El Rosario that crosses downtown Angangueo.
With lots of tourists coming over to enjoy the last days of Monarchs in our sanctuaries, butterflies still crowd the sky and form average to even thick, heavy clusters in a few trees. A considerable number of them have already started their way indeed.
Eduardo, 17, is a high school student who was born and lives in El Rosario. He is working as a guide and he told us, "Monarchs will stay with us for a couple of weeks more. Then the final leave will take place."
Your local reporter,
Estela Romero
Angangueo, Michoacán, México.
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Los Voladores de Papantla
