Compadores Ritual

The video about The Tree if Life is very interesting because it is about the voladores ritual. This ritual is about a 1500 year old rite that is performed in the video by the Totonac Indians. The Totonac Indians are from Huehuetla, Puebla, Mexico. What happens in the ritual is usually about five flyers climb to the top of the pole and then, hang down by a rope which is wrapped around the pole. Four of five flyer are hanging upside down and rotate around the pole with the rope until they reach the ground. One person stays on the top of the pole and plays the flower drum and flute. The flyers are also known as voladores which means flyers in Spanish. Usually as seen in the video as well, the flyers wear very traditional costumes which are bright in color and is significant to their dance/ritual. Also seen in the movie the costumes are made from feathers from a real bird. In some scenarios the flyers will pose while flying in midair as the rope unravels from …show more content…
I personally saw it in person/live for the first time, but someone who had never seen it can see the ritual be displayed through a video in which that is how I saw it for the second time. Something that I was different in my personal experience was the musical display coming from prerecorded sound heard from speakers. Now through the video it is shown that the instruments are actually being played while the ritual it happening. This music-dance practice means what its original meaning was, which was to talk to the fertility god. It represents that the men are trying to talk to the god for hope of rain to occur. On the other hand this can also mean nothing if you didn’t know the history/myth behind the ritual. I think from watching the video it can serve as an explanation to what the men are trying to do. It also serves that it is possibly a religious belief that may help people think something or an event will