Hoochlipoochli

Professor John Shaw goes in search of the elusive Aztec God, but finds Lucinda Loveless and inner peace instead!

“So, Bentley tells me that you are going to the Yucatan.  What are going to do there?” Bill asked his friend and colleague.

       John Shaw shifted in his chair and glanced at the map of Central America on his wall.  “I’m going in search of the great Hoochlipoochli.”

       “The great what?”

       “Hoochlipoochli.  He is the great God of the Aztecs, but not much is known about him.  I’ve been given a grant by the University to go to Mexico to research this God.”

       “How did you get them to fund such a foolish expedition?”

       “Promised my life away to various projects no one else wanted to do.”

       “Maybe you should stay in Mexico.”

       “I just might.  I am hoping to find enough to write a book about.  If I do find enough info I won’t need to come back to work.”

        “And you are hoping this book will give you world wide fame like Joseph Campbell or Jane Goodall?”

        “Yes, I am gong to revolutionize Mythological Studies.”

        “How?

        “By bringing back Hoochlipoochli himself.”

        Bill gave his friend a strange look, but said nothing.  Shaw was known for his eccentricities.  He had, after all, researched the worship of Elvis. 

        John Shaw packed up his belongings and headed off to Mexico a week later.  He was a confirmed bachelor of fifty, so it was not a huge deal to be gone for weeks or even months at a time.  No one cared if he disappeared for years at a time, so he was not in a hurry to get home.  He was happy in his routines of research work and travel.  Who had time for nuisance of love? It only got in the way of life’s more secure pleasures.  A good book and a glass of bourbon was all he needed to keep him happy.  Until now that is.

        When he arrived on the Yucatan Peninsula, he traveled on foot into the jungle to find a local holy woman.  He was told by natives in the village that she would be the one to lead him to Hoochlipoochli. A day’s hike from the last village was where the holy woman lived he was told.  She was isolated in her own little shack on a hill. 

        “Hello!” John Shaw called.  There was no reply, just the chatter of the animals around him.  He knocked on the hurt door and waited.  Shaw sighed.  The staggering heat and long walk had worn him out.  He was definitely feeling his age.  He wasn’t twenty any more, that was for sure.  This holy woman better be around here somewhere he thought.  I’m starving and exhausted. If she isn’t here, I don’t know what I will do!  “Hello!” he called again.

        A native woman dressed in shorts and a tank top appeared behind him out of nowhere.  “Who are you?” she demanded to know in English.

        He spun around; surprised to see her and that she spoke English so clearly.  “I am John Shaw, Harvard Graduate and world renowned expert on Mythology.”

       “That doesn’t mean nuttin.  What you want?”

       “To speak to the holy woman.”

       “She not wanna speak to you.”

         “She knows I am here?”

         “She know everything.”

         “So she knows why I am here then?”

         “Yeah.”

         “So why did you ask me what I wanted?”

         “She not tell me everything. That is why she holy and I helper.”

         “Tell her that I need to speak with her.”

         “I tell her nuttin.”

         “Not much help then are you?” he muttered under his breath.  “Is she in there?” he asked pointing to the hut.

         The native woman shook her head and muttered to herself.  Shaw knocked again, but this time the door swung open.  A beautiful woman dressed in a white blouse and shorts stood before him.  Her pale blond hair was pulled back into a pony tale and her face was tanned by the sun.  “She told I didn’t want to speak to you.  Don’t you listen?”

         “It’s urgent that I speak with you.  I’ve come a long way.”

         “What do I care?”

         “Please, have some compassion. I walked all day to ask you this.”

         “Ask away, but I shall give you no answers.”

         “Please Ma’m. I would like to know about the great God Hoochlipoochli.”

         “Maybe Hoochlipoochli doesn’t want you to know about him.  Good day,” she replied shutting the door.

         He put his foot in the door to stop her from slamming it in his face.  “I must say, you are quite rude.  At least let me come in to rest and eat a bite.”

         “You are the rude one coming to my house demanding answers and food.  If I were back in America, I’d call the police.”

         “Here there are no police.  There is only the cat that I am a tired and hungry traveler.”

         “So you are,” she said slamming the door on his foot.  He yelped and pulled away. She shut the door so hard that entire hut shook. 

          Shaw turned to the native woman, who smiled and said, “See, she not wanna talk to you.”

         “So, what do I do?”

         “The misses has her reasons.  You figure them out and you talk to her.”

         “I guess all I can do is stay here and hope to wear her down eventually,” Shaw said with a sigh. He sat down on the step of the hut as the native woman disappeared.  He was now alone.  Shaw wiped the sweat from his forehead.  This was going to be more difficult than he thought.  The sun began to set as he leaned up against the door.  His eyes slowly closed.  Despite being hungry and uncomfortable, he was able to fall fast asleep. 

        The next morning when the sun rose, Shaw stood up and stretched.  Every muscle in his body ached.  It had not been a good night.  He noticed that someone had placed a plate full of food before him, so he sat down to eat his breakfast.  He paused for a moment, thinking the food might be poisonous, but then decided to was too hungry to care at that moment.  Shaw ate quickly and then stood up.  He turned and knocked on the door once again.  There was no answer, but he swore that he could hear music coming from the hut.  Shaw waited an hour or so and then decided to leave.  He headed back to the village in the hopes of gaining some information on this woman�"anything to get her to talk to him.

         Once back in the village he was laughed at for they all knew that the woman would not speak to him.  She never spoke to anyone he found out.  This holy woman was named Lucinda Loveless and she came to the jungle about five years ago to study Hoochlipoochli and had never left.  No one knew what she did or even cared to find out.  It was said that she had been blessed some how, but no one knew exactly how.  She knew many things, but it was only the most worthy who could learn what she had to teach.  Shaw had to prove himself worthy he decided.  So, after buying some food and other supplies, he purchased some gifts for Ms. Loveless and headed back to her hut in the jungle. 

      He arrived a day later at her door step with a bouquet of rare flowers, a candy bar and a bottle of sparkling water.  He knocked again.  The native woman magically appeared behind him.  “You again?”

      He looked up.  “Yes, I’ve come with gifts for Ms. Loveless.”

      “No one call the misses that. She simply goes by she.”

      “Will she see me now?”

      “Nope.”

      “Tell her I brought gifts.”

      The native woman held out her hands and Shaw put his gifts in her open hands.  She closed her hands over them and said with a smile, “She not take gifts, but I do.”

      Before he could protest, the native woman had disappeared again.  Empty handed, he tried knocking again.  Much to his surprise, the door opened.  “Yes?” Lucinda Loveless said calmly.

     “I came to give you some gifts, but it seems as if your friend has unburdened me of them.”

     “Deva?”

     “Is that her name?”

     “Yes.  Well, I am not bought by useless tokens of insincere flattery.”

     “I’m sorry.  It is just that I’d really appreciate if you’d take the time to talk to me.”

     “No, I’m sorry that you have wasted your time.  Now leave me alone so I can focus on my music.”  She slammed the door and left Shaw standing on the step alone once more.

      Shaw lay down in front of the hut and waited.  He wasn’t going to let years of research and days of walking go to waste.  Shaw could be as stubborn as Lucinda, if not more.  Yep, this was man who had searched for the elusive leader of the Elvis Cult known as ELP or Elvis Lord Presley.  Shaw laid there starring up into the trees.  Why did this woman want to keep Hoochlipoochli a secrete he wondered.  He knew that Hoochlipoochli was first mentioned in a play written in 1949 by George Bernard Shaw.  The play was called Buoyant Billions and it was Shaw’s last full length play.  Hoochlipoochli was worshipped by natives of Mexico and Central America.  There were no pictures or descriptions of his role or duties.  The only thing that was known was that he was all-powerful and good.

      Music came from the hut again.  He couldn’t tell if it was Lucinda playing it or if it came from some sort of radio.  Whatever it was, it was pretty damn good.  The music relaxed him and took him away.  Shaw melted into the jungle and music.  He was one with them.

      Several days later, the door finally opened again.  Lucinda Loveless poked at the sleeping Shaw with her walking stick.  He grumbled and rolled over.  She poked him again, this time harder.  Shaw suddenly sat up and said, “What? Oh.  Finally.”

      “Come with me,” she said stepping over him.  She started into the jungle sure that Shaw would catch up to her.

       Sure enough, Shaw jumped up and followed.  When he caught up to her, he asked, “So are you taking me to see Hoochlipoochli?”  She said nothing.  “So how far is it? Will he talk to me? What does he look like?”  Still no reply.

       They walked for several hours.  In the middle of the jungle she stopped. “Hoochlipoochli,” she declared.

       “What? Where is he?” Shaw asked.  He looked around but could see no temple and no person.

       “Hoochlipoochli is all around you.  In the trees, in the ground, in the sky and in the water.”

       “Hoochlipoochli�"is he a man?”

       “As much as you are a man.  Hoochlipoochli is in me and you and Deva.  He is in everybody.”

       “Like Elvis,” Shaw smiled remembering a song he’d once heard.

       “Not exactly.”

       “Is Hoochlipoochli a spirit?”

       “Hoochlipoochli was made up by an Irish Playwright affectionately known as GBS to those who study him.  The God Hoochlipoochli doesn’t exist except in the form of an idea.  You, of all people, should understand.  This God is just a name for the inner deity�"the God or Goddess within you.  Now will you leave me alone?”

        Shaw was silent for a moment.  “The music you play….What is it?”

       “What?”

       “The music.  Its beautiful.”

       “Thank you,” she said sincerely flattered.  She was silent for a long time and her expression changed.  “Are you coming on to me?”

        “I don’t know.  I guess I could be.  It has been so long since I flirted with anyone, I am not sure I remember how.”

        “What do you call camping outside my door for three days?”

        “Perseverance.”

        “I call it love.”

        “Whoah.  Hold on a minute.  You can’t just decide that I love you because I was determined to talk to you.”

        “Shut up and enjoy the silence.”

        Shaw stood silent and took a deep breath.  After a few minutes a peace filled his mind and heart.  He looked at the lush green trees to Lucinda.  He closed his eyes and the heat of the jungle radiated from him and suddenly he felt the music coming from within him.  His head spun and he knew nothing more.

        When he opened his eyes again, he saw Lucinda putting a wet cloth over his forehead.  “What happened?” he asked.  Her touch was surprisingly gently and sweet.

       “You fainted.”

       “Nonsense.  Men do not faint”

       “Nonetheless, the power of Hoochlipoochli was too much for you.”

       Shaw sat up.  “That was Hoochlipoochli?”

       “The life-force, God, The Great Spirit, Zeus, Shakti, Buddha or Elvis.  Whatever you want to call it.”

        Shaw was silent.  “You mean it is as simple as that? Just feeling it?”

       “Yep,” she said helping him to his feet. Together they walked back to her hut.  As they walked, Lucinda told him of her adventures and how she came to find Hoochlipoochli.  It had been an accident actually.  She had come to search for another God named Huitzilopochtli who was real.  Because of her incredibly bad spelling the only material she could come up with was from the 1949 play.  After years of coming up with nothing, Lucinda read the entire play and suddenly it made sense. “The native in the story was talking about spirituality, not religion.  It doesn’t matter what you call anything.  The only thing that matters is what is in here,” she said explained as she pointed toward her heart. 

      Shaw nodded and agreed.  “I’ve studied so many cultures and myths, but they all come to the same conclusion.  It didn’t hit me until now though.  What I’ve been looking for all these years was right in front of me and inside of me.”