THE INTI RAYMI SACRED RITUAL Part Two

This ceremony was started inside the CORICANCHA in the presence of the SUN representation that was made of very polished gold that at the SUNRISE was reflected with a blinding brilliance.

Then the INCA, along with his noblemen, went toward the great Plaza through the INTI ' IQLLU or STREET of the SUN (present-day LORETO street) in order to witness the LLAMA SACRIFICE.
The WILLAQ UMA (High Priest) had to perform the LLAMA sacrifice offering a completely BLACK or WHITE LLAMA.
With a sharp ceremonial golden knife called TUMI he had to open the animal's chest and with his hands pulled out its heart, lungs, and viscera, so that observing those elements he could foretell the future. Later, the animal and its parts were completely incinerated.

After the sacrifice, the High Priest had to produce the SACRED FIRE. Staying in front of the SUN he had to get its RAYS in a CONCAVE GOLD MEDALLION that contained some soft or oily material in order to produce THE FIRE that had to be kept during the next year in the CORICANCHA and the ACLLAWASI (House of Chosen Women).

Subsequently the priests offered the SANQHU that was something like "HOLY BREAD" prepared from maize flour and blood of the sacrifice LLAMA; its consumption was entirely religious.

When all the ritual stages of the INTI RAYMI were finished, all the attendants were positioned in the SOUTH-WESTERN Plaza's sector named KUSIPATA (present day Plaza del Regocijo) where after being nourished, people were entertained with music, dances and abundant chicha.
In the present day, the INTI RAYMI is staged annually in SACSAYHUAMAN on JUNE 24 with the participation of hundreds of actors wearing typical outfits.

THE INTI RAYMI SACRED RITUAL Part One

The 'Feast of the Sun" or "Inti Raymi" was the most important, biggest, magnificent and spectacular festivity carried out in the INCA Times.

The reason was to worship  the "APU INTI" (Sun God). Every year, the celebration was performed on JUNE 21, that is, IN THE WINTER SOLSTICE of the SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE, in the great Main Plaza of CUZCO city.

Since the INCAS considered themselves descendants of the Sun, the worship had to be done annually. The Festivity was carried out by THE END OF THE POTATO and MAIZE HARVEST. They performed the ritual as an act of thankfulness for the abundant crops or otherwise in order to ask for better crops during the next season. To keep the blessing and asking the Sun not to abandon its children, the quechuas performed diverse rituals, given the fact that during the solstices the Sun is located in the farthest point from the earth or vive versa.

The preparations were carried out in the CORICANCHA (Sun Temple), in the ACLLAHUASI (House of chosen Women), and in the HUACAYPATA that was the NORTH-EASTERN sector of the great Main Square. 

Some days before the ceremony, all the population had to practice fasting and sexual abstinence. Before dawn on JUNE 21st, the Cuzquenian nobility, presided over by the Inca and the WILLAQUMA (High  Priest), were positioned on the HUACAYPATA (the Plaza's Ceremonial Portion), the remaining noble population were positioned on the KUSIPATA (South-Western portion).

The MALLKI (Mummies of the noble ancestors) were brought and they were positioned in privileged sectors so that they could witness the ceremony.

At SUNRISE, the population had to greet the SUN GOD with the MUCH'AY, that was the act of sending forth resounding kisses offered symbolically with the fingertips.

Then, people sang in tune solemn canticles in a very low voice that after a while were transformed into their WAKAY TAKY (weeping songs), arriving like this to an emotional and religious climax.

Subsequently, the INCA (The Son of the Sun) placed in his two hands TWO Golden Ceremonial Tumblers called AKILLA containing AQHA (chicha= maize beer) which were prepared inside the ACLLAWUASI (House of chosen Women).

The beverage of the TUMBLER in the RIGHT HAND  was offered to the SUN and then POURED into a GOLDEN CHANNEL COMMUNICATING the PLAZA with the SUN TEMPLE.

The INCA DRANK a sip of CHICHA from the LEFT HAND holding the second TUMBLER, and the remaining amount of CHICHA was then drunk in sips by the noblemen close to him. 

Later the drink was offered to every attendant. 

The symbolic performance of this ritual was aimed to maintain the harmonic energy placed in the hand of the INCA in relation to the cosmic energy placed in the Sun God by the Creator.

THE ASTRAL BODY ACCORDING TO THE INCAS

Bible teachings enable us to become aware that CHRIST must be born within. There is a distinction between the CHRIST which is born within us, our true saviour, and the cosmic CHRIST, the Christ without. This cosmic Christ helps us in the task of having Christ born within; however, it is our task to form the Christ within, the 'soul body" which is the vehicle humanity will need to live in the New Jerusalem.
The same concept was shared by the INCAS. They believed in the "astral body"or "soul body" because of the ability it conferred upon the one who has it to traverse the 'starry" regions.
The soul body was considered the 'living stone." In a similar way, it is regarded in the Bible as  the "wedding garment" that Christ speaks of in the Gospel of Matthew, also the "soul body" that Paul mentions in the First Epistle to the Corinthians, or the "diamond soul" spoken in some of the ancient philosophies.
The INCAS understood the concept of the threefold Spirit, the threefold Body and the threefold Soul.
The threefold Spirit were known as : -the "Divine Spirit" aspect;  -the "Life Spirit" aspect; - the "Human Spirit"  aspect.
The threefold body consisted of : -a "Dense Body," which is visible;  -a "Vital Body," which was made of ether, it was the vital instrument for specializing the energy of the sun and manifested as a brilliant light surrounding our visible body;  -a "Desire Body," which was the emotional nature. It was also manifested as a type of energy emanating from our physical body in a manner different than the Vital Body.
The threefold Soul consisted of : - the "Conscious Soul," extracted from the Dense Body, which was emanated from the Divine Spirit aspect;   - the "Intellectual Soul," extracted from the Vital Body which was emanated from the Life Spirit aspect;  - the "Emotional Soul," extracted from the desire Body which was emanated from the Human Spirit aspect.
In the Book of Daniel, we can observe how the Assyrian king is trying to control all these regions using only selected beings able to travel through the places in which they were not able to do so, since the chosen ones were trained to do so in a very meticulous way by the "Creator."

VIRACOCHA, the quechua name of the "CREATOR." Part 2

His people kept this precept for some time. But some of them were weakening the connection given the fact that the dark spirits of pride and covetousness were taken over their spiritual bodies.
These people transgressed the precept and provoke the immediate falling from its places. The vibration that was suppose to be maintained broke from the source.
Viracocha had to confound them in order to preserve the rest of the people, leaving them without his protection. Falling through their sin, Viracocha cursed them.
Some were turned into stones, others into other things. Some were swallowed up by the earth, others by the sea.
A flood came over, which they called UNU PACHACUTI, which means "WATER THAT OVERTURNS THE LAND."
They say that it rained 60 days and nights. All but three humans were destroyed but, from these survivors, the human race once again sprang forth.
The world was still in darkness, though, so Viracocha made the sun, moon and stars from the islands in the centre of Lake Titicaca.
There alone remained some vestiges of those who were turned into stones, as a memorial of the event, and as example to posterity, in the edifices of PUCARA, a fortress city, located at 60 leagues from CUZCO.

VIRACOCHA, the quechua name of the "CREATOR." Part 1

According to the belief of the people of the Andes, they affirm that in the beginning, and before this world was created, there was a being called VIRACOCHA.
He created a dark world without sun, moon or stars. In the first book of Moses commonly called Genesis, in the first verses it is described a world full of darkness upon the face of the deep blackest hole.
The complete name of this being was VIRACOCHA PACHAYACHACHI which means "CREATOR OF ALL THINGS."
He first created the whole world in the spiritual realm. A race of giants formed, but their greatness were measured according to their size. It meant that the consciousness of the universe in the spiritual realm was evolving from these powerful forces.
 It is confirmed in the Book of Moses when he mentions that the waters brought forth swarms of living creatures, forming the great sea monsters together with every living creature that moved, according to their kind. He is describing the formation of these forces in the spiritual world.
Not only this race of giants were formed in the water, also birds were allowed to fly above the earth across the firmament of the heavens.
This race of giants were spiritually painted and sculptured  by VIRACOCHA. In other words, they were first an idea, then became reality through his thought. He did it just to see if it would be well to make real men of that size in the physical world. Men came after in the image of the Creator and they lived in a world full of darkness.
Viracocha ordered them to live without quarreling, and use their time in the pursuing of knowledge and service to him. They had to maintain a clear spiritual connection, and to achieve that, Viracocha gave them a certain precept which they were to observe. It was something like a hidden code. If they failed to do so then a pain of being confounded followed, breaking the source of its connection immediately. It is compared to as a type of vibration that the mind should identify only if the precept was followed rigorously.

The PLEIADES and the INCAS.

Astronomy played a key role in the powerful social organization of the INCA empire, in order to maintain such a vast territory under one rule.
Following the demise of the earlier HUARI and TIAHUANACO cultures, the INCAS took a sacred oath of moving the energies that governed those empires into a safe place. The city of CUZCO was laid out in a radial plan which mimicked the sky and pointed to specific astronomical events on the horizon.
The most important events involved certain risings and settings of the Sun, Moon, and Stars.
The PLEIADES star cluster developed a specific language when it rose or set, it signaled the start of the INCA year.
The PLEIADES were known to them as "The Seven Kids" after the seven brightest stars in the cluster. The INCA were able to see 13 stars due to the clear atmosphere at the high altitude of CUZCO.
They built carefully oriented pillars on hills overlooking CUZCO, and when the Sun rose or set between the pillars, it meant that it was the right time to plant at a specific altitude. If we reason this logic in term of power, they were able to capture important energies the needed to maintain the harmony between the cosmos and the land.
A whole range of pillars was employed so that the most accurate TIME-KEEPING record was possible for the high altitudes, the valley floor, and everywhere in between. The QUIPUS were the only method of recording this information they used and still is used by the local people.
They ritually made sacrifices to the Sun asking him to rise in the proper place for planting in the spiritual realm and the physical realm.
The astronomers built observatories where they capture the first and the last rays of the Sun through a series of specially placed windows. Their chief observatory was called "CORICANCHA", or "GOLDEN ENCLOSURE", and was covered completely in gold. A golden Sun disk faced the rising Sun.
The city of CUZCO in the Andes Mountains was the spiritual and political heart of the INCA empire.
When the Europeans (Spaniards) entered in this sacred city they felt uneasy. Many got goose bumps, tingles, warm rushes and a strange sense of fear. They panicked and declared that the INCAS were evil possessed people.
To hide their greed  for the precious gold they saw in front of them they portrait themselves as sheep trying to help the INCAS to maintain the power over the extensive land. As soon as the INCA fell for it they kill him and the whole empire lost the cosmological harmony that once they enjoyed and maintained with their whole heart.

The Milky Way to the Incas meant a Portal to the Otherworld.

The INCA EMPIRE controlled the largest territory in the history of the New World. Its dominion enclosed the lands from Chile to Ecuador, from the south to the north, and from the west to the east.
To the INCAS, the MILKY WAY was referred to as a RIVER flowing through the world of the stars.
The VILCANOTA River was its hologram running in its terrestrial land from the southeast to the northwest through the heart of PERU.
The VILCANOTA and the MILKY WAY were considered twins. Each are said to be the mirror images of one another as if they were entities connected somehow in different planes.
The INCAS believed that the orientation of the Milky Way run southeast to northwest; and during the twilight periods of the soltice, a CROSS was formed in the sky. This CROSS touched the four points on the horizon in which the sun rose and set during the equinoxes. This Cross divided the stars into FOUR separate directional quarters, forming the FOUR quarters of the territory that the Incas controlled, which they called "The Tawantinsuyu" which means "The land of the four quarters."
The INCAS believed that the souls of the deceased went to the "UPPER WORLD" which they called the "HURIN PACHA."
This world was visited by the living souls in the night while they were sleeping. They believed that dreams were the views of the eyes of the soul. It was possible because of the Milky Way which was the Portal to heaven from the ones who still were bound to a life in the earth.
The Portal had channels of energy in specific location in each quarter of the empire in which the priests took the offerings from the INCA and his people to the entities who were in charge of this type of communication to maintain the harmony in the empire and a clear connection with higher powers.
The timing of the INTI RAYMI celebration in the ritual calendar was an exact coordination with the time that the Milky Way aligned with the Vilcanota River. They believed that it was the time in which Heaven and Earth reconciled and the sun rose and set in the Milky Way, and the people came to celebrate this reconciliation, in other words Heaven and Earth came together in a complete harmony bringing order and peace in the whole universe.