THE INCAS AND THEIR PROFOUND SPIRITUALITY.

The Incas of Peru are one of the most admired of ancient civilizations. An amalgamation of Cultures that left no written records, undertook one of the most rapid religious, cultural and territorial expansions ever seen in about two centuries.
Their culture became extinct due to their Civil War and at the same time the cruelest episode of Spanish colonial history. They arrived in 1532, captured the Inca leader Atahualpa with the help of the ones loyal to Huascar, his brother, whom he assassinated, and executed him a year later. The Spanish goal was to obtain the land without regard of the Spiritual Principles that the Incas had. After fighting a number of Battles bravely during the following 40 years, including the one in which Pizarro was killed in 1541, their last leader Tupac Amaru II was executed in 1572, and the 16 million of inhabitants were effectively decimated by sickness (smallpox) and gold and silver mine work (starvation) done at 3000 to 5000 metres above sea level.
Cuzco, the capital of the Inca Empire, at 3330 m above sea level, retains still a remarkable tranquility. It welcomes now hundreds of tourists each day and it certainly test the cardiovascular health of the human body. Although the problem of uneven wealth distribution is a disease that the Spaniards left throughout the country, local people continue with their customs as if the spirit of the Incas continue in them.
Machu Picchu was hidden to the World until 1911. Its "discovery" by Hiram Bingham is just a good story. He came from a family of Public Service tradition. Both parents were "missionaries." Bingham was a Yale graduate and History lecturer at the university. He travelled to Peru in 1909 with the aim of studying "Simon Bolivar's independence struggle." When he arrived to Cuzco, he became fascinated by the Inca architecture. Immediately he returned to Yale and asked for funds to form an expedition to study all the Mountains Routes that the Incas had. The expedition arrived to Peru 2 years later. He took the narrow llama trail down to the Ur-Ubamba Gorge. A friendship with the local people during the time he spent there led him to the Jungle-covered ruins covered in a hazy spiraling mist. The ruins were not inhabited for much more than a century before the Empire fell. What was the exact purpose of the summit city is uncertain and at the same time part of its mystique.
The 5 main areas of the city are related to main points of energy of the human body.
The Sacristy is an area used to communicate with people and the North Stone is a compass that mark the path of the stars, therefore oracles were received and then were communicated to the trained ones in charge of those types of energies. It function like a human throat.
The Temple of the 3 Windows was used as a receptor of cosmic energies and healing purposes. It function like the solar plexus in the human body.
The stones in the area were used as chairs so people were able to sit on them, and like a clock at each hour, certain frequencies related to specific energies were received and helped the ones in need of them. There were different type of Priests to cover the different days. This was the city's gut.
The Puma being the base of the city and related to the base of all energies, was the city's spiritual heart.
Fires were burnt and vine leaves were left to give more heat to the energies that worked in the heart.
The Palace of the Princesses supplied a very strong energy able enough to protect the city from the malignant forces of the different realms. Like a firefighter this was the sacral part of the city.
The Inti-Huatana (Sun-Tier) from where the Priests and Chosen Ones addressed the rest of the people in the square below. The large stone was placed strategically there to connect to Mother Earth's energies and channel them onto the stone. The rock face had deep caverns of crystals that enhanced the energy, and when the Priests or the Chosen Ones touched the stone and stood on it they would spread their hands out to enrich the soil, mother earth and the people. This functioned like a crown.

168 SPANISH MEN REALLY CONQUERED THE INCA EMPIRE?

The demise of the Inca Empire was one of the most important event in the colonization of the South American lands. When the Europeans started to have contact with it, the Empire was already in the process of decline.
At the time of the Emperor Huayna Capac, the son of the previous ruler, Tupac Inca Yupanqui, and  grandson of Pachacutec, the Emperor who had begun the dramatic expansion from its base in the area around Cuzco, Huayna Capac continued the expansion. He took Inca armies into what is now Ecuador, and had to put down a number of rebellions during his reign. By the time of his death, his legitimacy was as unquestioned as was the primacy of the Inca power.
Many parts of the Empire maintained distinctive Cultures and these were at best restive participants in the Imperial Project. The large extent of the land and the extremely difficult terrain in the highlands, and the fact that all communication in between the regions (Lowlands, Highlands, Coastal lands, and the Jungle) and travel had to take place on foot or by boat, challenged the effectiveness of the religious administration of the Empire. Huayna Capac relied on his sons to support this effectiveness.
He had legitimate (born of his sister-wife, under the Inca religious law) and illegitimate (born outside of the Law) children. The two of them were religiously and historically important and played a pivotal roles in the demise of the Empire.
Prince Tupac Cusi Hualpa (also known as Huascar), was the son of Coya Mama Occllo of the royal religious line.
Atahualpa was an illegitimate son born of a daughter of the last independent King of Quito, one of the states conquered by Huayna Capac, his father, during the expansion of the Empire. He spent more time with his father during the years when he was in the North with the Inca army conquering Ecuador.
The Empire spanned a considerable distance, extending SouthWard from the Patia River in Sothern Colombia to the Maule River in Central Chile, and EastWard from the Pacific Ocean to the edge of the Amazonian Jungles. The land of the empire covered the most challenging and Mountainous Terrain on Earth.
Before the arrival of the Europeans, this vas Highland area varied in cultures and climate. The Inca allowed many areas of the Highlands to be governed under the control of local leaders, who were watched and monitored by Inca officials. However, under the religious and administrative mechanisms established by the Emperor, all parts of the Empire were united under the direct control of the Inca.
The population at that time numbered more than 16 million.
When the Europeans arrived at the borders of the Inca Empire in 1528, they spent 4 years of preliminary "exploration" and "information" about the political situation of the Empire which was in the midst of a Civil War between the sons of the late Inca Huayna Capac.
The Europeans saw all of it as a great aid in their enterprise of invading and then possessing the land. Playing the role of good samaritans, they mixed themselves with the locals and introduced to the New World, new species of animals and with them all the diseases that were familiar in the Old World. Smallpox and other types of virulent diseases, unknown to the people of the mountains, easily incubated in them and killed them in great numbers in short period of time. The invaders were immune because they developed the antidote inside their own bodies given the fact that they were exposed to those virulent diseases for so many generations. The date of the appearance of the smallpox in the Old World is not settled. It evolved from a rodent virus between 68,000 and 16,000 years ago. Transmission occurred from one person to another through prolonged face-to-face contact with an infected person or infected bodily fluids.
The population of the Empire including the Inca Huayna Capac and his eldest son and designated heir, Ninan Cuyochic, died of smallpox before he could nominate the new heir. Millions died in short period of time. The fate of the Empire then was already settled and what happened after was  just the final chapter of it.
168 men under Francisco Pizarro together with a great number of locals, fighting for the restitution of the Inca power to the royal family, ambushed and captured the Inca Atahualpa in 1532 in the city of Cajamarca. It was the first small step in a very long campaign that took decades of fighting but ended anyway in Spanish victory in 1572 after 40 years of fighting for the control of the land.

THE MOUNTAIN PASSES IN THE ANDES.

The longest continental Mountain range in the World is The Andes. It stretches from North to South through 7 countries of South America. Right from the far North of Venezuela all the way to Argentina, the massive Mountain range spans over 4,300 miles.
While traveling through the Andes, the inhabitants come across breathtaking Mountain passes. Here we are mention just a few:
-The Jama Pass, the Northern most road border crossing between the countries of Chile-Argentina, at approximately 4,200 m/ 13,800 ft above sea level.
-The Condor Pass (Pico El Aguila), Venezuela, a road pass that offers a stunning views of the Valleys and Mountains along its way, at approximately 4,118 m/ 13,510 ft above sea level.
-The Cut Pine (Pino Hachado) Pass, is a road border crossing between Chile and Argentina. It is bordered by the towns of Las Lajas in Argentina, and Liucura in Chile, at approximately 1,884 m/ 6,181 ft above sea level.
-The Pass of the Line, is a highway tunnel under construction. The Line will pass the Central Mountain Range of the Andes connecting the Regions of Quindio and Tolima in Colombia, at approximately 2,779 m/ 9,117 ft above sea level.
-Ticlio Pass is the highest point of the Central Andean road of Peru. It is located at approximately 4,818 m/ 15,807 ft above sea level.
-The San Francisco Pass witness a fabulous Lake and Mountain views  as you pass through. It is at approximately 4,748 m/ 15,577 ft above sea level.
-The Chungara Pass is a rugged Mountain highway connecting the two countries of Chile and Bolivia, at approximately 4,680 m/ 15,350 ft above sea level.
-The Abra del Acay Pass is the highest point on Argentina's National Route 40. It is located at an altitud of 4,972 m/ 16,312 ft.
-The Black Water Pass is closed much of the winter season and inaccessible most of the time. It is located on the border of Chile and Argentina, at approximately 4,780 m/ 15,680 ft above sea level.
-The Sico Pass connects Chile and Argentina at apprfoximately 4,092 m/ 13,425 ft above sea level.

PACHACUTEC, THE MIGHTY EMPEROR.

Pachacutec was the 9th Sapa Inca of the Kingdom of Cuzco which he transformed into the Inca Empire (Tahuantinsuyo). In Quechua Pachacutec means "He who shakes the Earth."
During his reign, Cuzco grew from small Kingdom into an Empire. He began an era of conquest that, with 3 generations, expanded the Inca dominion of the High Lands of the Andes from the Valley of Cuzco to nearly the whole of Western South America.
As part of his vision of a statesman and warrior chieftain he conquered many ethnic groups and states, highlighting his conquest of the Collao that enhanced the prestige of the Inca Pachacutec. Due to the remarkable expansion of their domains he was considered an exceptional leader.
Numerous kurakas do not hesitate to recognize his skills and identify him as "Son of the Sun."
The kurakas were the head of the clans or family units that held religious authority. They mediated between the supernatural sphere and the mortal realm. They were responsible for making sure the spirit world blessed the mortal one with prosperity, and were held accountable should disaster strike, such as drought. They descended from the previous generation and his authority was granted by the Inca.
Pachacutec reorganized the Kindom of Cuzco into an Empire. He sent spies to Regions he wanted in the Empire who reported back on their religious and political organization, military might and wealth. He then sent messages to the leaders of these lands extolling the benefits of joining the Empire, offering them presents of luxury goods and promising riches as subjects rulers of the Inca. Most accepted the rule of the Inca peacefully. The ruler's children were brought to Cuzco to be taught about Inca religious and administration systems, then return to rule their native lands. This allowed the Inca to teach the former ruler's children into the inca nobility, and later marry their daughters into families at various corners of the Empire.
It was traditional for the Inca's son to lead the army. Pachacutec's son Tupac Inca Yupanqui began conquests to the North and continue them as Inca after Pachacutec's death. His most important conquest was the Kindom of Chimor, the Inca's only serious rival for the Coast of Peru.
Tupac Inca Yupanqui's son Huana Capac, grandson of Pachacutec, added significant territory to the South. At its height, Tahuantinsuyo included Peru, Bolivia, most of Ecuador, a large portion of Chile, and extended into corners of Argentina and Colombia.
Tahuantinsuyo was a patchwork of languages, cultures and peoples. Economic productivity was based on collective labor which was organized in order to benefit the whole community.

THE INCAS ORIGIN MYTHS

The Inca had 4 types of origin myths. In one of the Inca creation myths The Ayar Brothers emerged from a Cave called Pacari-Tambo, meaning "pacari," "to dawn/to be born," and Tambo meaning "inn, lodge."
The House of Production was located on the Hill called Tambo Toco, a Quechua word meaning "niche, hole or gap in the wall." It had 3 windows. The Tribe of the Maras emerged from one of the Windows (niches), called Maras-Toco. The Tribe of Tambos emerged from the other end Window (Sut'i T'oco). Manco Capac, his 3 Ayar brothers, and his 4 Mama sisters, emerged from the chief Window in the middle (Capac Toco). Then the place was flooded by Lake Titicaca. Some believe that the 8 Inca brothers and sisters came from the Tiahuanaco Culture, given the fact, that the culture was suddenly ended, and through the Hill of Tambo Toco they were saved. The 8 came out of Pacari-Tambo and went to their shrine of Huanacauri, coming from Collao towards the city of Cuzco.
The Inca Pachacutec (the World Shaker) visited the site and had a deep respect for the locality and showed his feeling by Festivals and Sacrifices. He placed doors of gold on the Middle Window, and ordered that from that time forward the locality should be respected by all, making it a Prayer Place and a Holy Shrine. The land that Pachacutec unified was about the size of the 13 colonies of the United States in 1776 all of them placed in low lands. Pachacutec dominion and conquest consisted of about half the high lands of the Andes Mountain Ranges. He reorganized the Kingdom of Cuzco into an Empire, the Tahuantinsuyo.
In another origin myth the Sun god Inti ordered Manco Capac and Mama Ocllo to emerge from the depths of Lake Titicaca and found the city of Cuzco. They travelled by means of underground Caves until reaching Cuzco where they established Hurin Cuzco, or the 1st dynasty of the Kingdom of Cuzco.
The Sapa (the only one paramount leader) Inca also known as "Apu"(divinity) was the sole ruler of the Kingdom and later, the sole Emperor of the Inca Empire. The origin of the position was tied to the mythical establishment of Cuzco. The position was hereditary, with son succeeding father.
In the 3rd origin myth, an Inca Sun god told his wife that he was lonely. She proposed to create a civilization to acknowledge him as a Master and keep him company. He saw this as a wise plan and carried it out. The Inca was born from Lake Cuzco and populated the Andes and worshiped their Sun god.
In the last origin myth, Manco Capac, who was the son of the Sun, and his sister Mama Ocllo, the daughter of the Moon, were sent by the Sun to look for a place to build an empire. They were to tell when they were at the right place by carrying a special rod with them at all times. Wherever the rod sank into the ground, this was where they were to create a new city. The rod sank into the ground in Cuzco.
The knowledge of these myths is due to oral tradition, since the Incas did not use writing skills to express their thoughts.

CUZCO, THE MYSTICAL CITY OF THE INCAS.

Cuzco is a majestic and ancient city located on the South East of Peru, and in the Eastern End of the Knot of Cuzco, near the Andes Mountains, at an elevation of around 3,400 m (11,200 ft), near the Ur-ubamba Valley. The Valley encompassed the heartland of the Inca Empire.
The Valley was formed by the Ur-ubamba River, also known as Vilcanota River in the Aymara language meaning "House of the Sun." The Valley is fed by numerous Rivers which descend through adjoining Valleys and Gorges. The Valley was very appreciated by the Incas due to its special geographical and climatic qualities.
The word "Cuzco" is derived from the Quechua word "Qusquwanka" meaning "Rock of the Owl."Also, the city is known as the "City of the Solar Puma."
Cuzco was inhabited by the Killke people sometime around 900-1200 before the Incas arrived. It then became the capital of the Inca Empire.
The sacred center of Cuzco was conceived as a stylized sacred puma. Designed by Pachacutec Inca Yupanqui (after Cuzco was destroyed in a war with the Chanca), the head of the puma is represented by the mighty fortress of Sacsayhuaman, the heart by the main square of Huacaypata and the tail, the Pumaq Chupen ("Tail of the Puma"), by the convergence of the Huatanay and Tullumayo Rivers.
Cuzco represented the Center of the Inca Universe. More than 300 of the most important Huacas (power source) in the area around Cuzco were conceived of as lying along 41 ceke lines (line of living energy running through the earth). These lines radiated outward from the Coricancha, the principal Temple of Incan state religion, and extended to the horizon or beyond. Cekes helped to coordinate social relations among people, as well as to organize sacred space.
Later in 1533, the city was taken by the Spaniards. They were astounded by the beauty of the city and the delicacy of its excellent stonework. But what really caught their attention was the great Temple dedicated to the Sun, with its gleaming golden plates. The Spaniards however, destroyed many of the inca temples and palaces, leaving only the walls to serve as a base for their new edifices. This created the unique mixture of Incan and Spanish architecture we see today.
Cuzco became the center for Spanish colonization in the Andes. Along with the spread of Christianity throughout the region.
On May 21, 1950, Cuzco was hit with a major earthquake, resulting in substantial damage to the colonial-era buildings 250 to 350 years old, particularly the Dominican Priory and Church of Santo Domingo. It occurred without warning of foreshocks and was followed by only a few weak aftershocks. Many of the buildings that were destroyed in this earthquake had previously been damaged during  the 1941 earthquake. Surprisingly, the Incan architecture withstood both earthquakes.

THE MEANING OF THE INCA CROSS, CHACANA.

The Inca Cross (Chacana) is a strong Incan religious symbol and the most holy and complete geometric design formed by superimposed geometric shapes representing the 3 levels of existence: Hanan Pacha (Upper World inhabited by the higher gods), Kay Pacha (the world where we live on), Uku Pacha ( underworld inhabited by the spirits of the dead).

The symbol is often found in old places that belonged to the Old Cultures in The Andes of Peru and Bolivia. It was understood as an axis made of stairs in which only the permitted and trained ones were allowed to ascend or descend through it.

The Inca Cross represents the Constellation of the Southern Cross which is to be seen on the Southern Hemisphere. They considered it as the Centre of the Universe in which all the universal forces converged to it or diverged from it.
The 4 main stars of the Southern Cross are Acrux (Alpha Crucis), bottom; Becrux (Beta Crucis), left; Gacrux (Gamma Crucis), top; and Delta Crucis, right. 

The Incas used the Cosmic Cross in their architectural design of many buildings, temples, and artifacts such as The Condor Temple in Machu Picchu. In The Temple of the 3 Windows, the half Inca Cross is to be seen in the middle, and when the sun shines, the shadow forms the other half of the Cross. 

The oldest representation of the Cross was found in the Bolivian Andes within the archaeological area of Tiahuanaco. Other many productions of The Cross have been found in the ruins of Machu Picchu, Pisac, and Ollantaytambo.

The Quechua word "Chacana" is based on the word "chacay," which means "to cross," "to bridge," "stairs," in other words "a inter-dimensional passage."

The top left represented the Past, Present, and Future. The top right represented the Hanan Pacha (Upper World of Light and sophisticated energy. Stars, Divine Creatures, and gods); Kay Pacha (The Earth made of different Light and heavy energy, the here and the now, Mother Earth, People"s lives); Uku Pacha (The Underworld made of such heavier energy, not the place of Hell but the place of Death). 

The bottom left represented Peace, War, and Intelligence. The bottom right represented the holy animals (Condor in the dominion of the sky, Puma as a powerful land animal, and Snake as the representation of the lower world of the animals).

The center hole represented the Inca capital Cuzco, the center of the Inca Empire. The people who lived there were able to interchange between the worlds, or understand the 3 levels of the universal life interchanging with the 4 elements and at the same time in the middle of the whole universe.

The 4 sides symbolized the 4 cardinal points of a compass (North, South, East West), and undirectly relating to the sun god or highest diety; the 4 elements (Earth, Water, Fire, Air); and the 4 big stars in the South Cross Constellation.

The 12 corners of The Cross dictated the Inca's calendar composed by 12 months, each of 30 days. Each month  had its own Festival. 

WHY THE INCAS WORSHIPED THE PLANET VENUS.

Astronomy played a key role in the Inca culture, particularly due to the importance of agriculture. 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 Incas were a horizon-based culture.
The most important events involved certain risings and settings of the Sun, Moon and Stars. They recognized several groupings of stars, such as the Pleiades and Orion's Belt.  Pleiades were called the "7 Kids" after the 7 brightest stars in the cluster. The Incas were actually able to see 13 stars due to the clear atmosphere at the very high altitude of Cuzco.
Each earthly animal had a corresponding animal star or group of stars in the heavens that protected the animal.
The Incas understood the annual movement of the stars and planets making them able to predict the seasons. The Inca built carefully oriented pillars on very high mountain tops overlooking Cuzco, and when the Sun, Moon and Stars,  rose or set between the pillars, then it was a perfect time to plant at a specific altitude.
A whole range of pillars were employed so that the most accurate time-keeping was possible for the high altitudes, the valley floor, and everywhere in between. The spirits of the Sun, Moon and Stars were believed to be absorbed and reflected in a form of sacred energy powerful enough to create the force of life over certain locations in the volcanic terrain that surrounded them. Temples were built in those particular places to link them to the movement of the planets and the stars. The Temple of the Sun, for example in Machu Picchu has a stone called the Inti-Watana that is mounted on a platform. The 4 faces of this particular stone are aligned with the 4 cosmological directions: North, South, East, and West. The stone casts particular shadows during solstices and equinoxes. Another visible evidence of the Inca knowledge about solstices and equinoxes are the 8 towers on either side of the city of Cuzco, 4 of which faced the rising, and 4 the setting Sun.
The feminine spirit of the planet Venus was believed to be a servant of the Sun and was ordered to go ahead of or behind the Sun, but always remain close. She was the goddess who cared for princesses, girls and flowers. Also people gathered after sunset to await the rising of the planet. As she approached in the early hours before dawn, the wall between the world of the shadows and the world of the living, as they believed, became thinner making the people able to communicate with their dead loved ones, that were in their journeys to eternity, sending them a message of reassurance that they still loved and remembered them.
They also knew about summer and winter solstices, leaving a very visible evidence of this by building 8 towers on either side of the city of Cuzco,  4 of which faced the rising, and 4 the setting Sun. They verified the equinoxes by means of very richly carved stone column, which stood in the middle of the court of each of the temples. When the equinoctial season was at hand, the qualified priests made daily observations of the shadow cast by this column. A wide circle was drawn about the entire space of which this column constituted the center, and across the middle of this circle they drew a line from East to West, between 2 points which very long experience had taught them how to locate.
The Incas were familiar with the backwards or retrograde rotation of the planet Venus. The planet rotates 3 times on its axis in 730 earth-days, while the Earth goes twice around the Sun in the same period of time, making Venus and the Earth be locked in a 3:2 tidal resonance. Every 2 years, the exact portion of the planet Venus faces Earth.
To the Incas, objects in the heavens had a replica and deep connection with earthly life. They were aware of Venus' spinning from East to West. In other words, if we arrive to Venus in the morning, the Sun would be in the West and would set in the East in about 4 earth-months later. A day on Venus lasts 243 earth-days, and a year lasts  225 earth-days. Unlike most of the planets in the Solar System, Venus has almost no axial tilt.
The Incas' knowledge of astronomy allowed them to make complex calendars. Their knowledge was so advance that scientist and researchers' knowledge of today is somewhat limited compared to them.