The Legend of Mischievous Aluxes

“Hey, my little boy,” echoed the sweet lullaby voice of Evelyn. “Tonight, I will tell the legend that your father once told me. As you know, all stories begin with birth. The birth of light, the birth of water, and the birth of the Earth. One day, the ground erupted, and the first people were born from wax out of it. This material was not so durable, and humans from honey were born in a short time. But honey was too sweet. Insects took it apart in no time. Then came the clay people, but even this material was not strong enough and easily crushed by the pressure of rocks. Later, people of wood emerged, but fire mercilessly turned them into ashes. And then came the maize people. Their strength and intelligence grew stronger every day.”

“Long time ago an entire another civilization arose in Mesoamerica. They were the rubber people, called the Olmecs. They worshipped various gods but honored the great God of the mountains and volcanoes. They built a tremendous rectangular pyramid with stepped sides more than 111 feet high and made entirely of clay. To the other gods were dedicated colossal heads carved from stone nine feet tall. Just when the Olmecs thought their greatness had reached the heights of their creators, something happened that they had never expected. Strangers arrived on the shores of Mesoamerica. They were looking for a new home after the depths of the sea had swallowed up the old one. The children of mythical Atlantis were warmly welcomed guests, but this was not enough for them. War broke out. The ancient Mayans wanted to wipe out the Olmec civilization completely, absorbing its scientific achievements, art, gods, and even the game of the ball. When the last rubber man died at the hand of the maize man, the volcano roared in agony and spewed its lava.”

“Why, mommy? Why did they do that to rubber people?”

“I don’t know, sweetie. They were robbing and destroying the owners of these lands. Even under such circumstances, the world was given a new birth. An unfortunate rubber mother sacrificing her own life brought new life into this cruel world. A half-blood of rubber and maize people was born. A boy named Apo never saw his mother, knew her love, or was ever acknowledged by his cruel father. He had no home. The whole Mayan nation despised this child only because of his origins. He was beaten and humiliated daily, but no one dared to kill him lest their hands get dirty with the half-breed’s blood. One day, a hungry boy stole a bundle of corn. He was chased. Stones were thrown at him. And he kept running. He ran as far as he could see. Apo, trying to hide, fled into the forest at Laguna Om. Night fell stealthily, and the boy got lost in the dark, mysterious forest. Out of the darkness, dozens, if not hundreds, of emerald eyes stared at him. The boy had heard that the spirits of the forest don’t like uninvited guests, especially maize men. As the child-like creatures surrounded little Apo, the moment of truth arrived. The boy knelt down and gave up his most precious possession, a bundle of corn. The children of the forest, often called as bloodthirsty Aluxes by the locals, turned out to be quite the opposite. They were kind, fair, and often enough engaged in mischief. No one even noticed how, one day, a ten-year-old boy went missing. The Aluxes took him into their family and taught him magic tricks.”

“Mommy, I'm going to be ten next year. Will they come for me?” Johnny’s voice trembled.

“No, of course not, sweetie. You'll be here with mommy and daddy. We love you so much and we'll always be here for you,” she said so softly as if her voice was a light breeze of warm wind.

“Sometimes, the Aluxes would come to the farmers and offer their protection against any pests, whether insects, animals, or even humans. All they asked in return was a small favor the farmer must pay when the time was right. Alas, most farmers turned out to be unscrupulous. They built little houses on their land for the Aluxes, and when the time came to fulfill the promise, the farmers nailed up the doors and windows to imprison the luck-bringing children of the forest forever. Yet Apo decided to stand up for his new and only family. He visited all the farmers with an offer to willingly let his people go, but they refused. After that, Apo used magic beyond mischievous tricks to wreak havoc and disease. Crops died, farmers got sick, and the Aluxes got their freedom one way or another.”

“As time passed, the Mayans began to honor and bring gifts to the children of the forest each evening. When morning came, after a long night lit by the brightest full moon in Mayan history, a miracle occurred. A boy stepped out of the forest and performed truly amazing miracles. With a single whistle, he lifted vast quantities of wood and stone into the air. And with a whole melody of whistles, houses began to build themselves just as the great new pyramids did. With a magic whistle, he built impressive palaces, shrines, four-meter-high sacbe, and pyramidal temples. He showed wonders in all the villages that were on his path. He stopped at a place with the best view. When the maize people had the tallest 70-meter pyramid of La Danta built right before their eyes, they named the boy their supreme shaman. Around La Danta’s pyramid in the middle of the jungle, the entire city of El Mirador was eventually built, with a colossal population of 80,000 souls at the time. The prosperity of the whole Mayan civilization was spreading at an unprecedented pace. The cultivated lands yielded so much corn that hunger was forgotten. Observatories were built to study the stars, calendars were created, and zero as a whole number in mathematics was invented for the first time. The supreme shaman was widely respected by the people but hated by the rulers of many Mesoamerican city-states. The rulers understood they could not turn the masses against the shaman and kill him. People worshipped him and sacrificed themselves for him. The only way to kill a shaman was to tear out his heart. It was impossible because of his healing magic. In the end, the rulers conspired and, under cover of night, they kidnapped the sleeping shaman. Tied upside down and with the gag in his mouth, the shaman was carried day and night as if he were some kind of prey to the festivities. The minions of the rulers traveled 170 miles from El Mirador to Labna. The path led to a magical arch that was a portal to the looking-glass world. Rulers wanted to lock up the unsuitable Apo forever, and they succeeded. The arch was sealed with blood, and all the Aluxes were slaughtered.”

The nine-year-old Johnny was already falling asleep, but he was still trying to memorize every word his mother was saying. The words were getting blurrier and more various. Resounding more as an echo.

“The great Mayan empire grew increasingly weaker over the years. Drought and volcanoes made the land infertile and dangerous. The city-states were utterly divided and governed by distinct hereditary rulers. A loud whistle sounded in Labna one day, and an all-consuming flash of light formed a new archway. Out of this arch emerged a shaman who called himself Apocal. He surrounded himself with new acolytes who believed in the legends about him. With them, he ascended the steps of La Danta’s pyramid. The descendant of the ruler, who had imprisoned him, was executed in the most horrible way. The shaman ripped the still-beating heart from his enemy’s chest and ate it to destroy the victim’s soul and all memories of him. It didn’t get any better after that. The shaman shared his visions from the looking-glass world. All the maize people heard that they were in danger of the world’s end. It was urgent to please the God of War with mass sacrifices. Blood poured out all over the Mayan cities for years. Soon, new people arrived from the north, whom all the maize people mistook for nothing more than barbarians. All except the supreme shaman. He saw potential in them. They were men of blood who called themselves Mexica. While the successor rulers of the Maya struggled to end large-scale sacrifices, the shaman enlightened the blood people. He showed descendants of the mythical Aztlan a vision in which an eagle sat on a cactus and ate a snake. In 1325, the future Aztecs saw the sign alive, and the shaman’s whistle helped them establish the city of Tenochtitlan on an uninhabited island in the middle of Lake Texcoco. The locals did not like the island much because of the abundance of snakes, but it was only an advantage for the Aztecs since snakes were more of a delicacy than a threat. The Maya soon stopped mass sacrifices, but it was too late. The Aztec empire rose and absorbed everyone on its path while the Mayan empire gradually decayed. Mayan blood sacrifices were never close to the sophistication and quantity of the Aztec rituals.”

“The time for change had arrived. New conquerors in iron clothes, on horses, and with firearms showed up. A full-scale invasion throughout Mesoamerica was launched. When the hour came to defend Tenochtitlan, Apocal was betrayed by the newly united hereditary rulers of the Mayan, Aztec, and other northern chiefdoms. The shaman’s soul was imprisoned eternally in the various treasures of the chiefs. The treasures were lost and buried. The sacrifices ended, and all the previously great empires fell. Only ruins remained.”