Massau’u

10″ X 20″ mixed media on canvas
© 2021 Sandra Ware

Massau’u is come
The Spirit of Death
His corpse face terrifying

What need for fear?
It is but a mask afterall
That hides the visage of youth

It is change that is the terror
For comfort has grown beneath the mask
Now outgrown its purpose

You are not the mask,
not the rot,
nor the decrepitude of your own creation

See that the harvest is done
See that the field lies fallow
Be brave, though green shoots may come at a price

Rip off the mask
Be young!

© 2021 Sandra Ware

Massau’u is a complex figure in the spiritual world of the Hopi. He is the God of Death, the Skeleton Man with corpse-like face. And though he is sometimes portrayed as a trickster and comical character, he is above all the great spiritual being who greeted the Hopi after their emergence into the Fourth World. He is ever their teacher and benefactor.

In one version of the legend, the Hopi emergence into this present world is accompanied by a frightening rumbling that heralds the coming of Massau’u. Some of the people are at first terrified by his hideous face; but he sits down with them and removes what is only a mask. His appearance is now of a handsome young man.

Massau’u explains that he has been appointed by Sotuknang, the God of Manifestation, to be the Lord of the Fourth World –caretaker, guardian, and protector. He promises that the Hopi will prosper in the new world for as long as they live simply and with a profound spiritual connection to the land.