Queen Moo's Talisman: The Fall of the Maya Empire

								

The Master of the dance wears a stiff circular cap, surrounded by
upright peacock feathers that sway with every movement, towering above
all the dancers, and about his shoulders is a string of big sea-shells.
From his neck hangs a metallic representation of the sun, in whose
centre is an all-seeing eye within a triangle, from which depends a
large tongue, symbol of power and wisdom.
One man carries a white flag on which is painted an image of the sun,
and a man and woman on their knees worshiping it. Three men, apart from
the dancers, play a clarionet, a sacatan, and a big turtle-shell
beaten with deer-horns. The Master marks time with a rattle, and in his
other hand has a three-thonged whip like the flagellum of Osiris in
Egypt; throughout the performance he remains standing close to the
flag-staff.
Each dancer holds in his left hand a fan of turkey feathers whose
handle is a claw of that bird; and in his right a small rattle made of
a calabash shell, fancifully painted, containing pebbles and dried
seeds. These rattles remind us of the sistrums used anciently in the
temples of Egypt.
Around the pole on which the flag is furled, the dancers walk three
times, with solemn tread, groping their way as if in darkness. Suddenly
the flag is unfurled, the sun appears, all draw themselves up to their
full height, raise their eyes and hands, and utter a unanimous shout of
joy.
Now the dance commences, round and round the pole they go with various
steps and motions, not graceful, but energetic and full of meaning. The
dance is intended to represent, among other things, the course and
movement of our planet around the sun. The chief and the dancers sing
alternately:



                       “Take care how you step!”

                       “We step well, O Master!”
The melody and strange accompaniment are impressive and stirring, the
rattles being particularly effective, now imitating the scattering of
grain, then by a brisk motion of every arm sending forth a sound like a
sudden rainfall on parched leaves, or a thunder clap in the distance,
uniting with a shout raised by the dancers at the conclusion of each
chorus. The fans, kept in motion, are emblematic of refreshing breezes.
The flag on the pole is undoubtedly a modern addition, simply to
indicate what the dance originally was; of old, the pole itself
represented the central orb; as the round towers did in Ireland,
Persia, and India; the conical stones in Phoenicia; the pyramids and
obelisks in Egypt, etc.—for in America, as in those countries, sun
worship was the religion of the people.
Finally, the expression “Will Supreme” in the opening line of the poem
is used in the sense of the Maya word UOL (or will) as applied by the
Mayas of ancient times to the First Great Cause. This subject has been
fully treated elsewhere by Dr. Le Plongeon.
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Footnote 1:


These Indians were in May, 1901, subjugated by Mexican troops, under