X’tabai: The Femme Fatale of the Yucatan

The legend of X’tabai is a tale of jealousy and vengefulness. The story of two women, one promiscuous, but kind and the other pure, but cruel, has been told across the Yucatan Peninsula for decades. It is said that the malicious spirit lures men to their demise with her beauty as she roams the earth in her afterlife. In tonight’s episode of Kolcha Tuesday, News Five’s Britney Gordon dives deeper into the legend that has impacted the lives of many who grew up in rural Belize, inspired authors and even earned itself a movie. Here is that report.

 

Aurelio Sho, Encountered X’tabai

“Upon approaching, we felt the cold seed and this huge no-good feeling at all, they’re like your normal self is fighting this different encounter, and then we realized that there was no one, no we didn’t see no one. And then we realized that immediately on the dock, that we saw some footprints, but instead of that of a human, we saw something like a turkey and something else different, like two different. Like you could see the footprints walking all the way to the end of the dock and it was really fresh and you could see like the turkey or the chicken, and then when we saw that we look at each other and we just run all the way home.”

 

 

Britney Gordon, reporting

If you were to see a beautiful woman with long black hair, beckoning you over on the side of the road, would you think twice about approaching her? What if the woman was cloaked in white and had one foot of a turkey and the other of a goat? Then the thought may cross your mind that you are looking at the spirit of X’tabai, the femme fatale, luring you to your death. David Ruiz, a Belizean storyteller, details the legend.

 

 

 

David Ruiz, Belizean Storyteller

“It comes from that pre-Hispanic Mayan culture which represents A princess, a man princess in ancient Yucatan, who, who is hexed by another lady because of jealousy, no? She was a, she was being courted by one of the noblemen and the other lady, gets jealous and hexes Princess Sulay, X’tabai. And from there she’s doomed to roam the planet’s eternity in search of a suitor, of a male suitor and that’s where it comes to us as the lady that in the temptress that attracts men.”

 

 

 

 

The vindictive spirit is known for targeting men because even though she lived as Utz-colel, a pure woman, she died with an evil heart. Unlike her counterpart Xkeban who, although promiscuous and shunned by society, embodied characteristics of good and kindness. Aurelio Sho says that he encountered X’tabai twice in his youth. He detailed the second encounter to us where he stumbled upon a woman brushing her long black hair while he was crossing the Blue Creek Bridge at four thirty in the morning.

 

 

 

 

Aurelio Sho

“I stopped to watch and then, but when you stop for that few seconds of trying to make that connection, that is where it lets out that. I don’t know. I don’t want to call it evil spirit or whatever, but.”

 

Britney Gordon

“That negative energy?”

 

Aurelio Sho

“The energy was so overwhelming, and it started to compete with yours. And then that’s how, when they start to bring you down, the cold seed.  I feel like all my hair stand up, and it’s quite an encounter. Honestly you get really afraid, and immediately then and there, I realized that was the X’tabai and in no time, it’s like somebody spray a perfume where just a very strong scent of a natural something, like a perfume, that’s what it let out. And then like in no time, that there is nothing in the river, but then you know that it’s the X’tabai.”

 

According to legend, those who are lured by X’tabai don’t typically live to tell the tale, as she turns herself into a snake and devours her captive. Sho says he was fortunate both times because he was taught how to recognize malicious spirits.

 

Aurelio Sho

“Growing up you learn a lot of things from your grandparents, from your parents and especially learn to survive and traditional knowledge. So you would have, I would know what to do and what to, you say your lee prayer if find yourself being trapped or to be overcome by any of these things, and I think this is the uniqueness of our culture. We adapt and we learn to live in harmony with nature.”

 

 

 

X’tabai is so solidified in Belizean culture that a movie depicting the character was produced in 2012 by the late Matthiew Klinck through the production company Make-Belize Films. It starred nearly an all-Belizean cast and was filmed within the country. Klinck’s former business partner, Horacio Guerrero. told us about the role of X’tabai in the film.

 

 

 

 

Horacio Guerrero, Director, Make-Belize Films

“The plot of the story is we have these students that escaped their village in San Antonio because a curse has been placed on the village and the people are in fever, some are dying. And then the village is locked down by the government because they’re afraid for it to spread. And then these group of adventurous students escape into the jungle to see if they can find the cure or how to break that curse from the X’tabai. And of course, from there, everything escalates and they go into the jungle and they start, you know, meeting with the demon and having, you know, all these encounters. Then, you know, you see if they, they find the, Break the curse of the X’tabai.”

 

 

 

Guerrero explained that Klinck’s vision for the movie was to create something that would capture the attention of and resonate with Belizean audiences.

 

Horacio Guerrero

“He needed something where the audience would be captivated and something that was, that all Belizeans would know about. So upon his arrival here and talking to people, he saw that folklore was something that Belizeans are very much into. And everybody, you know, across the board, doesn’t matter, Mestizo, Creole, Garifuna, everybody kind of knows about folklore. And the X’tabai just seemed to be that creature, that, that monster that would captivate.”

 

Britney Gordon for News Five.