I just got back from spending a month in the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. It was a great trip and I found myself delving into some interesting stuff while I was there.

A race of tiny people called aluxob (the only one is Alex) live in the jungles and cenotes of Yucatan. Do you assume I’m talking about ancient folklore? I’m not sure…

I had some personal experiences with one about 4 years ago at home in Puerto Aventuras (a beach town in the Riviera Maya) and wanted to dig a little deeper into the experience. So I interviewed the local Mayans to see what they had to say.

Let me tell you about my first experience:

I lived in a nice condo on the ocean and my daughter, Sarah, and her Mexican boyfriend, Javier, were staying with me. Some strange things were happening in the house.

• In the middle of the night I repeatedly heard someone yell my name right in my ear and it woke me up and practically sent me through the roof. Sarah and Javier experienced the same thing.
• The blender and other small appliances turned on in the middle of the night.
• As I walked down the hall, I felt a slap on my leg just above the ankle.

All of this was weird, but not too worrisome (except flying out of bed to turn off the blender in the middle of the night. I hate that adrenaline rush). The children were experiencing everything that I was and several times Javier said: “You have a year
alux.”

Of course I didn’t take it seriously.

Until the footprints appeared in the hallway.

This hallway went to my daughter’s room. My bedroom was on the other side of the house. When I got up early one morning and walked past him, I saw water on the floor all the way to my daughter’s bedroom. I assumed that Sarah had taken a shower and was dripping all over the hallway. Floors can be very slippery, so I started to remind her not to drip water everywhere, but as soon as I walked into the hallway I saw that she wasn’t just dripping water, it was little wet footprints.

“I told you, you have a alux,Xavier said.

IT’S OKAY. I believed.

Later I went to see a close friend of mine, Crescent. She is from Canada and also lived in the Mayan Riviera in Mexico with her Mayan husband. They own a dive shop. I asked Crescent if she knew anything about a alux. She said no, but that she would ask her husband, William.

“Oh yeah,” (Imagine hearing this for a long time) said William.

And then he proceeded to tell how fishermen see the tiny wet footprints on their boats early in the morning. Mind you, he hadn’t mentioned anything about the wet footprints in my hallway.

IT’S OKAY. So now I’m sure that a alux it is a real creature, not just a myth. But what exactly IS a alux?

Enter this most recent trip and many interviews..

I discovered it when I first asked the locals if they knew about the aluxThey were reluctant to say anything. But after sharing my story, they perked up and were very open. Some shared their own stories and some thanked me for sharing mine. Apparently even sharing stories is considered a noble thing and I loved being a part of that. Also, I want to point out that I had these conversations in Spanish. Most of these people speak Maya. All operate daily in Spanish and most speak limited English. I think that speaking in Spanish was comforting for them and encouraged them to share more freely.

Things I discovered:

1. Alex It lives throughout the peninsula, but especially in the jungle. Not so many live in the tourist areas of Quintana Roo next to the beach (commonly known as the Riviera Maya). The haciendas and old towns in the interior of the state of Yucatan are plagued with them. are considered the guardians of the jungle

2. They are small people, about 18 centimeters tall. I have read online about their ability to turn into animals, but no locals confirmed it. However, they said they hide in rocks and cenotes and some said they can change shape and actually appear as rocks.

3. Most of the time they are invisible to us, but sometimes they get caught in their natural form.

4. When asked if they are spiritual or corporeal, people answered that they are not. they are AIR. This is very interesting and I am currently trying to learn more about it. People also said that they are NATURAL or NATURAL. Does this mean that they are elemental beings (fire, air, earth, water)? I also heard a story of a human form created from water (called Kanan Sayab which literally means jungle guardian but it is also considered guardian of the springs) walking through the ruins in Coba. Wow… so much to track!

5. They love to play. Sometimes the Mayans find small toys lying around the house. If they are not happy, they throw small stones or sometimes hit you.

6. If they are happy, they will take care of their house or farm (My dad). They can be very good and useful if they are respected correctly.

7. Farmers build them houses to keep them in their fields. Tea alux they will guard the four corners of the field and if someone comes to steal something, they will surround the thief so that he cannot escape.

8. In Costa Rica they are called elf.

9. VERY GOOD STORY. The city of Cancún was building a new bridge outside the airport and it kept collapsing. The local Mayans went to the city and told them that they had a alux. So the city hired a Mayan shaman to contact the alux and know what to do. Tea alux said he wanted a house, so the city built a beautiful alux pyramid-shaped house under the bridge. They were then able to complete the work on the bridge. It still stands today without a problem and the pyramid house is there lit up at night and beautiful for all to see as they leave the airport and head to the beach strip on vacation.

10. If you have a alux in your house and you want him to go away, you (or preferably a Mayan shaman, called j man) can do a ceremony with herbs and plants (I hope to learn more about this) including burning incense made from the resin of the copal tree.

I have more questions about him alux. I have read that they dress like the ancient Mayans. Some of the people I interviewed have seen them or have stories of family members who have seen them. I forgot to ask what they were wearing, but I’ll go back and see if I can track it down. I also want to know more about its nature. What does it mean that they are AIR?

In my interview I also heard a story about different beings called gnomes (pronounced in the Spanish way name is) were described as larger than a aluxhaving horns, having a nasty nature, carrying knives, causing children to get hurt and argue, wearing black hats, and needing to be evicted by a ceremony done including a Bible. I wonder if they too air or are Earth?

We have a lot to learn.

Health

Laura