The Inca Religion was capable of incorporating the religious features of most absorbed cultures along their territory. The setting for their beliefs throughout the whole Empire had been preordained over the previous two thousand years. Two principal foundations governed it : a general recognition of certain Creator deity and a whole pantheon of natural forces (related spirits, minor deities and demons).
The main religious novelty introduced with Inca domination was their demand to be recognized as direct descendants of the Sun god (Inti). As such, they had no need to destroy Huacas and oracles of the conquered cultures; on the contrary, certain sacred sites were recognized as intrinsically holy, and as powerful places for communication with the spirit world.
There were distinct layers in the Inca religious beliefs : -the highest level. -the astral level. -the earthly level.
The highest level corresponded to Viracocha, the Creator god who brought Live (Sacred Consciousness) to the World.
Below this, the astral substance. Before incarnating into the physical level, the descending soul was thought to have a journey through the astral layers collecting enough forces used as a vehicle to incarnate into matter. The planets and all the manifestations in the cosmos were considered to be the physical bodies of some very large beings. The spirits of them were the celestial gods: -The sun as the head. -The moon. -And certain stars, particularly, The Pleiades.
The earthly level corresponded to the man world, and at the same time, the manifestation (mirror) of all the forces that existed in the spiritual world.
Everything was thought to have a soul and was considered part of the whole astral substance from which each of these celestial gods took a part of it. From each of these gods came channels of interaction between the individual human being and their surroundings and between groups of individuals and their surroundings, making a whole sacred balanced forced capable of unify the whole Empire.
The position of the planets and any movement in the celestial world was acknowledged with extreme care because it had a direct correlation to the Earth balance and the seasons. Andean agriculture was based on this calendar and, since food grown at such altitude required a very balanced climate and an enormous strength in manpower, they were and still are the best in the world in achieving it.
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