The Inca Empire consisted of a central government with the Inca at its head and 4 quarters, or Suyos: Chinchaysuyo (NW), Antisuyo (NE), Contisuyo (SW), and CollaSuyo (SE). The 4 corners of these quarters met at the center, in the sacred city of Cuzco as a symbolic connection between the Cosmos and Earth, and Sky and Earth, where the 4 compass directions meet. At this point travel and correspondence was made between Higher and Lower Realms. Communications from Lower Realms ascended to Higher ones and Blessings from Higher Realms descended to Lower Ones and were disseminated to all. Cuzco functioned as the Navel, the World's point of beginning, and as the preeminent center of the Sacred Energy that encompassed Religion and Politics.
Cuzco was essentially governed by the Sapa Inca, and his close royal lineage of relatives. Each Suyo was governed by an Apu, a term of great esteem used for men of very high religious status and for venerated Mountains. Cuzco and the 4 Suyos were grouped into Upper (Hanan) and Lower (Hurin) religious divisions districts. There were likely more than 86 districts, with more than 48 in the highlands and more than 38 on the Coast.
The most populous of the Suyos was Chinchaysuyo that encompassed the former lands of the Chimu Empire and much of the Northern Andes. At its largest extent, the Suyo extended through much of modern Ecuador and just into modern Colombia. The 2nd smallest of the Suyos was Antisuyo which was located NorthWest of Cuzco in High Andes. Collasuyo was named after the Aymara-speaking Colla People and was the largest of the quarters in terms of area. This Suyo encompassed the Bolivian Altiplano and much of the Southern Andes, running down into Argentina and as far South as the Maule River near modern Santiago, Chile. Contisuyo was the smallest of the Suyos and was located along the Southern Coast of modern peru, extending into the Highlands towards Cuzco.
The Wiphala, a square emblem, used as a flag, represents the Peoples of all the Andes. The emblem is composed of a 7-by-7 square patchwork in 7 colors, arranged diagonally. The precise configuration depends on the particular Quarter (Suyo) represented by the emblem. The color of the longest diagoanl line (7 Squares) determines which of the 4 Quarters (Regions) the flag represents: White for Collasuyo, Yellow for Contisuyo, Red for Chinchaysuyo, and Green for Antisuyo.
The 7 colors of the actual Wiphala originate from the visible spectrum. The significance and meanings for each color are as follows: -Red: The Earth and the Andean Man. -Orange: Society and Culture.
-Yellow: Energy. -White: Time. -Green: Natural Resources. -Blue: the Heavens. -Violet: Andean Government and Self-determination.
The stepped Inca Cross (Chacana), made up of an equal-armed cross indicated the Cardinal Points of the Compass and a superimposed square. The square represented the other 2 levels of existence.
The 3 levels of existence were: -Hanan Pacha, the upper world inhabited by superior entities. -Kay Pacha, the world of our everyday existence. -Urin Pacha, the underworld inhabited by the spirits of the dead, the ancestors, their overlords, and various entities having close contact to the Earth plane.
The hole through the centre of the Cross was the gate by means of which the Shaman would transit the Cosmic Vault to the other levels. Cuzco was the symbolic representation of the hole, the center of the Incan Empire, and the Southern Cross constellation.
The geometry of the symbol has a high degree of symmetry. It can be drawn from a circle. A square is inscribed in the circle, with the corners tangent to the circle. This forms the middle step of the ladder. A smaller square (tilted 45 degrees) is made from the midpoints of the large square.
Connecting the midpoints of the small square and extending the lines to the edge of the Circle will form the arms of the Cross. A small Circle is made from the diameter of the Cross Lines.
Monday, February 29, 2016
Wednesday, February 24, 2016
VIRACOCHA, THE CREATOR GOD
Viracocha is the great Creator deity in the pre-Inca and inca mythology. He is the substance from which all things have been created, and symbolically is intimately associated with the Sea. Viracocha created the universe, sun moon, and stars; also the Creator of Time by commanding the Sun to move over the sky; and civilization itself. He was represented as wearing the Sun for a Crown, with Thunderbolts in his hands, and Tears descending from His Eyes as Rain.
According to a myth, Viracocha emerged from Lake Titicaca during the Time of Darkness to bring forth Light. He was Pure Energy, and His appearance was described as a man of medium height, radiant, because of the powerful energy that He emanated, and dressed in a White Robe symbolizing His Virtues, and the robe was secured round the waist. He always carried a staff and a book in his hands.
He made Mankind by breathing into stones. Before Man came into existence, He created giant entities with enormous power but brainless. They were the ones who inhabited the land around the Lake. When the brainless giants displeased Him, a great flood came and destroyed all of them, saving only two of them to bring civilization to the rest of the World. Then Viracocha made the two new better ones beings from smaller stones. This two beings were Manco Capac and Mama Ocllo. The symbolism of these two powerful forces were understood as "the splendid foundation," and "mother fertility." This two forces founded the Inca Civilization carrying a golden staff (Tapac-Yauri) symbolizing the Virtues that had to be developed as seeds planted in a very rich soil. The Creator eventually disappeared across the Pacific Ocean (by walking over the waters), traveling North, and never returned.
He, then, was known as a Wanderer because He wandered the earth disguised as a beggar, teaching his New Creations the basics of civilization, as well as working numerous Miracles. It was thought that Viracocha would re-appear in times of trouble.
The name "Viracocha" have several meanings in the quite distinct language of the Andes (Quechua) derived from common ancestral roots. 'Vira' means "Foundation" or "Base"; in other contexts "Fat" of the land or sea, in the sense of fleshiness controlled by the human , the way in which any excesses produced by Nature were distributed as the very sign of Life Preservation, Good Health, Strength, and Beauty of the Land and his People. 'Cocha' means "Lake, Sea," or "Reservoir." Also Viracocha's many epithets include "Great, All Knowing, Powerful," etc.
According to a myth, Viracocha emerged from Lake Titicaca during the Time of Darkness to bring forth Light. He was Pure Energy, and His appearance was described as a man of medium height, radiant, because of the powerful energy that He emanated, and dressed in a White Robe symbolizing His Virtues, and the robe was secured round the waist. He always carried a staff and a book in his hands.
He made Mankind by breathing into stones. Before Man came into existence, He created giant entities with enormous power but brainless. They were the ones who inhabited the land around the Lake. When the brainless giants displeased Him, a great flood came and destroyed all of them, saving only two of them to bring civilization to the rest of the World. Then Viracocha made the two new better ones beings from smaller stones. This two beings were Manco Capac and Mama Ocllo. The symbolism of these two powerful forces were understood as "the splendid foundation," and "mother fertility." This two forces founded the Inca Civilization carrying a golden staff (Tapac-Yauri) symbolizing the Virtues that had to be developed as seeds planted in a very rich soil. The Creator eventually disappeared across the Pacific Ocean (by walking over the waters), traveling North, and never returned.
He, then, was known as a Wanderer because He wandered the earth disguised as a beggar, teaching his New Creations the basics of civilization, as well as working numerous Miracles. It was thought that Viracocha would re-appear in times of trouble.
The name "Viracocha" have several meanings in the quite distinct language of the Andes (Quechua) derived from common ancestral roots. 'Vira' means "Foundation" or "Base"; in other contexts "Fat" of the land or sea, in the sense of fleshiness controlled by the human , the way in which any excesses produced by Nature were distributed as the very sign of Life Preservation, Good Health, Strength, and Beauty of the Land and his People. 'Cocha' means "Lake, Sea," or "Reservoir." Also Viracocha's many epithets include "Great, All Knowing, Powerful," etc.
Friday, February 12, 2016
COTOPAXI, A DANGEROUS VOLCANO.
Cotopaxi is one of the South America's most famous Volcanoes and one of its most active one. At the moment, it started to show superficial activity (minor steam emissions) from the crater and sporadic gas emissions with minor amount of ash since August 2015. It was dormant for over 70 years, which is an unusual long interval in its recent history. It is part of the chain of Volcanoes around the Pacific Plate known as the Pacific Ring of Fire.
Cotopaxi means "Neck of the Moon" in the local language. The Mountain was sacred to the Andean People during the time of the Inca Empire. It was worshiped as "Rain Sender," that served as a guarantor of the Land's fertility, and at the same time its summit was revered as a place where the gods lived.
The majestic, snow covered symmetrical, loftiest and most mischievous strato-volcano of the Eastern Cordillera of the Ecuadorian Andes is located in the LataCunga Canton of Cotopaxi Province, about 50 km (31mi) South of Quito and in a very straight line from the Port of Guayaquil. It is the 2nd highest Summit in Ecuador reaching a height of 5,911m (19,393 ft). It is one of the world highest Volcanoes.
Its explosions are the most frequent and disastrous.
The Chillos Valley Lahar from Cotopaxi Volcano's NorthEast slopes is the largest known "debris flow" in the Northern Andes formed 11,700 years ago. It descended River Systems and flowed 326 km North-NorthWest to the Pacific ocean and more than 130 km East into the Amazon Basin. The massive avalanche occurred around 4,500 years ago.
In 1534 the Spanish invaders were trying to take control over the Ecuadorian Land. It is reported that during the confrontation on the flanks of Cotopaxi, the Volcano started an eruption and filled the air with hot ash. The locals viewing the event as a divine sign from their god stop the confrontation and ran directly to the refuge locations prepared in advance to protect themselves in this kind of event. They already knew that the Empire days were over and the invasion of the land was a punishment given to the land because of the civil war in which they were engaged. The Spanish who had no experience with volcanic activity were terrorized and fled in fear. A lahar from the eruption destroyed the Contiega Village.
Cotopaxi erupted more than 50 times since 1738.
In 1738, the flames of Cotopaxi rose 1/2 a mile, above the brink of the crater. In 1742, two lafger explosive eruptions occurred in December 1742, producing ash fall, and destructive lahars. In 1744, the roarings of this Volcano were heard at the distance of 600 miles and a major eruption started in May producing extensive ash fall 7-10 cm thick 10 km West of the crater. In 1766 several small to medium-sized explosions occurred damaging the town of Latacunga and the fall out of coarse pumice West of the Volcano destroyed several farms.
On April 4th,1768, one of the largest historical eruptions occurred. A large explosion took place and generated a high ash plume, heavy ash fall and pyro-clastic flows. The quantity of ashes ejected at the mouth of Cotopaxi was so great, that it was dark from morning to afternoon. Large bombs were falling at great distances.
In 1803, an explosion took place preceeding by the sudden melting of the snows. At the Port of Guayaquil which is 52 leagues distant in a straight line from the crater, the noise of the Volcano was heard day and night, like a continued discharges of a battery; and the sounds were distinguished even on the Pacific Ocean. In 1853, four large eruptions occurred between January and September. The explosions produced high eruption columns, heavy ash fall, pyro-clastic flows and lahars.
One of the largest eruptions in historic times began on July 3rd, 1880. A powerful explosion sent an ash column of 6 km(20,000ft) height above the crater in less than a minute. In 1903-04, a medium size eruption started on 26 September, 1903 and lasted until December 1904. The eruption occurred from the central vent and produced tall ash plumes, pyro-clastic flows and lahars. The eruptions in 1905 and August 1906 consisted in small ash explosions.
The last significant eruption was in 1907 and produced ash explosions and small pyro-clastic flows but no lava flows.
The Volcano has often produced lahars during eruptions melting the snow on the upper flanks. The lahars have eroded Valleys in all directions from the Summit as far as the base of the Volcano.
The modern strato Volcano was built above the scar left by a major debris avalanche which destroyed an older formation about 5000 years ago.
The form of the Cotopaxi is the most beautiful and regular of the colossal Summits of the High Andes. It is a perfect Cone, which covered with a perpetual layer of snow, making it as one of the few equatorial glaciers in the World, notwithstanding it lies near the equator. The glacier part starts at the height of 5,000 m (16,400 ft). At its summit, Cotopaxi has an 800x550 m wide crater which is 250 m deep.
Cotopaxi shines with dazzling splendor at the setting of the Sun, in the most picturesque manner. This covering of snow conceals from the eye of the observer even the smallest inequalities of the soil; no point of rock, no stony mass, penetrating the coat made of ice, or breaking the regularity of the cone's figure.
A rare high altitude Hummingbird (Oreo-tro-chilus Chimborazo) has been discovered to live on the slopes of Cotopaxi between 13,000 and 15,000 ft where it nests on protected cliffs.
Cotopaxi means "Neck of the Moon" in the local language. The Mountain was sacred to the Andean People during the time of the Inca Empire. It was worshiped as "Rain Sender," that served as a guarantor of the Land's fertility, and at the same time its summit was revered as a place where the gods lived.
The majestic, snow covered symmetrical, loftiest and most mischievous strato-volcano of the Eastern Cordillera of the Ecuadorian Andes is located in the LataCunga Canton of Cotopaxi Province, about 50 km (31mi) South of Quito and in a very straight line from the Port of Guayaquil. It is the 2nd highest Summit in Ecuador reaching a height of 5,911m (19,393 ft). It is one of the world highest Volcanoes.
Its explosions are the most frequent and disastrous.
The Chillos Valley Lahar from Cotopaxi Volcano's NorthEast slopes is the largest known "debris flow" in the Northern Andes formed 11,700 years ago. It descended River Systems and flowed 326 km North-NorthWest to the Pacific ocean and more than 130 km East into the Amazon Basin. The massive avalanche occurred around 4,500 years ago.
In 1534 the Spanish invaders were trying to take control over the Ecuadorian Land. It is reported that during the confrontation on the flanks of Cotopaxi, the Volcano started an eruption and filled the air with hot ash. The locals viewing the event as a divine sign from their god stop the confrontation and ran directly to the refuge locations prepared in advance to protect themselves in this kind of event. They already knew that the Empire days were over and the invasion of the land was a punishment given to the land because of the civil war in which they were engaged. The Spanish who had no experience with volcanic activity were terrorized and fled in fear. A lahar from the eruption destroyed the Contiega Village.
Cotopaxi erupted more than 50 times since 1738.
In 1738, the flames of Cotopaxi rose 1/2 a mile, above the brink of the crater. In 1742, two lafger explosive eruptions occurred in December 1742, producing ash fall, and destructive lahars. In 1744, the roarings of this Volcano were heard at the distance of 600 miles and a major eruption started in May producing extensive ash fall 7-10 cm thick 10 km West of the crater. In 1766 several small to medium-sized explosions occurred damaging the town of Latacunga and the fall out of coarse pumice West of the Volcano destroyed several farms.
On April 4th,1768, one of the largest historical eruptions occurred. A large explosion took place and generated a high ash plume, heavy ash fall and pyro-clastic flows. The quantity of ashes ejected at the mouth of Cotopaxi was so great, that it was dark from morning to afternoon. Large bombs were falling at great distances.
In 1803, an explosion took place preceeding by the sudden melting of the snows. At the Port of Guayaquil which is 52 leagues distant in a straight line from the crater, the noise of the Volcano was heard day and night, like a continued discharges of a battery; and the sounds were distinguished even on the Pacific Ocean. In 1853, four large eruptions occurred between January and September. The explosions produced high eruption columns, heavy ash fall, pyro-clastic flows and lahars.
One of the largest eruptions in historic times began on July 3rd, 1880. A powerful explosion sent an ash column of 6 km(20,000ft) height above the crater in less than a minute. In 1903-04, a medium size eruption started on 26 September, 1903 and lasted until December 1904. The eruption occurred from the central vent and produced tall ash plumes, pyro-clastic flows and lahars. The eruptions in 1905 and August 1906 consisted in small ash explosions.
The last significant eruption was in 1907 and produced ash explosions and small pyro-clastic flows but no lava flows.
The Volcano has often produced lahars during eruptions melting the snow on the upper flanks. The lahars have eroded Valleys in all directions from the Summit as far as the base of the Volcano.
The modern strato Volcano was built above the scar left by a major debris avalanche which destroyed an older formation about 5000 years ago.
The form of the Cotopaxi is the most beautiful and regular of the colossal Summits of the High Andes. It is a perfect Cone, which covered with a perpetual layer of snow, making it as one of the few equatorial glaciers in the World, notwithstanding it lies near the equator. The glacier part starts at the height of 5,000 m (16,400 ft). At its summit, Cotopaxi has an 800x550 m wide crater which is 250 m deep.
Cotopaxi shines with dazzling splendor at the setting of the Sun, in the most picturesque manner. This covering of snow conceals from the eye of the observer even the smallest inequalities of the soil; no point of rock, no stony mass, penetrating the coat made of ice, or breaking the regularity of the cone's figure.
A rare high altitude Hummingbird (Oreo-tro-chilus Chimborazo) has been discovered to live on the slopes of Cotopaxi between 13,000 and 15,000 ft where it nests on protected cliffs.
THE INCA STATE, TAWANTINSUYO, THE HIGHEST IN THE WORLD.
The Inca State, or Tahuantinsuyo, was the largest religious, political, and military enterprise of all.
It reached from Carchi in Northern Ecuador to Mendoza in Argentina and Santiago in Chile. Its scouts (Chasquis=Runners) roamed even wider, as recent discoveries has shown.
The Incas expanded and projected on earlier, pre-Incan solutions and adaptations. In the process they applied many techniques that worked well on a smaller scale but became inoperative in a much larger scale. Other techniques were reformulated in such ways that their original outline was barely recognizable.
The places of worship, not build by men, but natural places made of piles of stones, which have the appearance of small temples were preserved. These were said to be the residences of the Spirits, who from there supervised the human labor. Priest and Priestesses were allowed to serve in those places and served as intermediaries between deities and men.
They kept an old Andean Method of no treating the Land as a physical possession instead they were suppose to create from it revenues for the continuity of their religious Orders and their Princes. It involved setting aside acreage and demanding from the conquered peasantry not tribute in kind but rather labour on the fields during the specific seasonal times set up by Nature. The land produced enough for everybody and the excess of goods were kept in storages to be used for the times of hail, frost, and drought. In other words the work force was able to do their job coping with the weather patterns in which the Sun played a very important role. They used the non-planting time for instructions inside buildings to protect themselves from the extreme weather. When the applied method worked in harmony they immediately developed another in order to continue the production and at the same time making it a subject of study and the subsequent teaching had to be passed on to the ones in charge for the next generations of planters and growers.
The Inca State at its zenith did not breach this tradition. Since the needs of the population increased the acreage was expanded through such public works as irrigation and terracing.
There are 2 significant achievements in the Andean agricultural endeavor:
-First, given the wide range of geographical circumstances, there were thousands of quite different ecologic pockets, each with its own micro-environment to be understood and planted. Dozens of crops, with literally thousands of varieties, were domesticated. It is this multiplicity of minutely adapted crops and the domestication of the alpaca and the llama that made the Andean Mountains habitable to millions.
[Population in the Central Andes has always lived between 8,000 and 13,000 feet (nearly 3 mi) above the sea level, where the abode of cold and silence is present. It is admirable how men could live in places in which particular hardships are faced starting from the intenseness of the cold, the violence of the storms, the noises of tempests heard from beneath and then discharging themselves, but their strength and courage presented in them in the pursuing of their goal with unshaken intrepidity surpassed the fear and became heroes in their own personal way first and after that level in a collective way.]
-Second, the high altitude, with 200, even 300 frost-threatened nights a year, that represents a challenge to any agricultural system, was developed there, on slopes with extreme steeps, with precipices on all sides, but a light vapor, suspended in the lower Regions of the Air, needed to be concealed for the growing and preservation of the goods.
On the high, cold plains, known in the Andes as "Puna," there are only 2 seasons: Summer every day and Winter every night. By alternating using the freezing temperatures of the nocturnal winter and the hot sunshine of the daily tropical summer, Andean peoples developed preserves of freeze-dried meat, fish, and mealy tubers (charqui, chuno) that kept indefinitely and weighed much less than the original food. The giant warehouses that lined the Inca highways were filled with these preserves and used to feed everyone.
The Inca did not increase productivity neither the usual labor hours, instead they preferred to magnify on an imperial scale the patterns of reciprocal obligations of the use of the Land familiar to everyone from earlier times.
The Incas did not interfere too much with life of the many local groups that they had incorporated into Tawantinsuyo. Most of the cultures that existed in Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, and Chile before the Inca expansion can be identified.
Although human occupation in the Central Andes began over 20,000 years ago, the beginings of agriculture and population growth are much more recent. Within the last 8,000 years a specialized desert-and-highland agriculture was developed.
The emergence of Andean Civilizations was the result of a profound and intimate knowledge of their environmental conditions. They developed a set of values that started from a desire to minimize risks but that soon became an elaborated religious, economic, and political ideal.
Every Andean Society or Order, regardless the size, -be it a tiny, local ethnic group of 20 villages in a single Valley or a large Kingdom - tried to control simultaneously a wide variety of ecologic stories up and down the Andean Mountains sides.
There would not be competition for their control instead it was a join labor of coexistence for long periods of time. The agricultural process in each site were treated as permanent, not seasonal establishments. Since more than one Highland area or Principality had maice or coca-leaf oases in a given coastal or upland Amazonian Valley, they traded a lot avoiding in that way any thought of personal gain.
Some of the locations (Coastal or Upland) were many days' march from the religious core of the Empire. If the group of peasants were small, the herders or salt winners above the core, and the maize and coca-leaf cultivators in the warm area below, would only be 3 or 4 days away. If the unit grew large and could mobilize and maintain several hundreds of young men, then the areas placed high and low could be 10 or even 15 days' walk away from the religious core.
These ethnic groups, many of which were tricked by the Europeans to side with them to break the Inca power, were still easy to locate and identify in the 18th century (Wanka; Canari). In isolated parts of Ecuador (Saraguro, Otavalo) and Bolivia (Chipaya, Macha) this can still be done today.
It reached from Carchi in Northern Ecuador to Mendoza in Argentina and Santiago in Chile. Its scouts (Chasquis=Runners) roamed even wider, as recent discoveries has shown.
The Incas expanded and projected on earlier, pre-Incan solutions and adaptations. In the process they applied many techniques that worked well on a smaller scale but became inoperative in a much larger scale. Other techniques were reformulated in such ways that their original outline was barely recognizable.
The places of worship, not build by men, but natural places made of piles of stones, which have the appearance of small temples were preserved. These were said to be the residences of the Spirits, who from there supervised the human labor. Priest and Priestesses were allowed to serve in those places and served as intermediaries between deities and men.
They kept an old Andean Method of no treating the Land as a physical possession instead they were suppose to create from it revenues for the continuity of their religious Orders and their Princes. It involved setting aside acreage and demanding from the conquered peasantry not tribute in kind but rather labour on the fields during the specific seasonal times set up by Nature. The land produced enough for everybody and the excess of goods were kept in storages to be used for the times of hail, frost, and drought. In other words the work force was able to do their job coping with the weather patterns in which the Sun played a very important role. They used the non-planting time for instructions inside buildings to protect themselves from the extreme weather. When the applied method worked in harmony they immediately developed another in order to continue the production and at the same time making it a subject of study and the subsequent teaching had to be passed on to the ones in charge for the next generations of planters and growers.
The Inca State at its zenith did not breach this tradition. Since the needs of the population increased the acreage was expanded through such public works as irrigation and terracing.
There are 2 significant achievements in the Andean agricultural endeavor:
-First, given the wide range of geographical circumstances, there were thousands of quite different ecologic pockets, each with its own micro-environment to be understood and planted. Dozens of crops, with literally thousands of varieties, were domesticated. It is this multiplicity of minutely adapted crops and the domestication of the alpaca and the llama that made the Andean Mountains habitable to millions.
[Population in the Central Andes has always lived between 8,000 and 13,000 feet (nearly 3 mi) above the sea level, where the abode of cold and silence is present. It is admirable how men could live in places in which particular hardships are faced starting from the intenseness of the cold, the violence of the storms, the noises of tempests heard from beneath and then discharging themselves, but their strength and courage presented in them in the pursuing of their goal with unshaken intrepidity surpassed the fear and became heroes in their own personal way first and after that level in a collective way.]
-Second, the high altitude, with 200, even 300 frost-threatened nights a year, that represents a challenge to any agricultural system, was developed there, on slopes with extreme steeps, with precipices on all sides, but a light vapor, suspended in the lower Regions of the Air, needed to be concealed for the growing and preservation of the goods.
On the high, cold plains, known in the Andes as "Puna," there are only 2 seasons: Summer every day and Winter every night. By alternating using the freezing temperatures of the nocturnal winter and the hot sunshine of the daily tropical summer, Andean peoples developed preserves of freeze-dried meat, fish, and mealy tubers (charqui, chuno) that kept indefinitely and weighed much less than the original food. The giant warehouses that lined the Inca highways were filled with these preserves and used to feed everyone.
The Inca did not increase productivity neither the usual labor hours, instead they preferred to magnify on an imperial scale the patterns of reciprocal obligations of the use of the Land familiar to everyone from earlier times.
The Incas did not interfere too much with life of the many local groups that they had incorporated into Tawantinsuyo. Most of the cultures that existed in Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, and Chile before the Inca expansion can be identified.
Although human occupation in the Central Andes began over 20,000 years ago, the beginings of agriculture and population growth are much more recent. Within the last 8,000 years a specialized desert-and-highland agriculture was developed.
The emergence of Andean Civilizations was the result of a profound and intimate knowledge of their environmental conditions. They developed a set of values that started from a desire to minimize risks but that soon became an elaborated religious, economic, and political ideal.
Every Andean Society or Order, regardless the size, -be it a tiny, local ethnic group of 20 villages in a single Valley or a large Kingdom - tried to control simultaneously a wide variety of ecologic stories up and down the Andean Mountains sides.
There would not be competition for their control instead it was a join labor of coexistence for long periods of time. The agricultural process in each site were treated as permanent, not seasonal establishments. Since more than one Highland area or Principality had maice or coca-leaf oases in a given coastal or upland Amazonian Valley, they traded a lot avoiding in that way any thought of personal gain.
Some of the locations (Coastal or Upland) were many days' march from the religious core of the Empire. If the group of peasants were small, the herders or salt winners above the core, and the maize and coca-leaf cultivators in the warm area below, would only be 3 or 4 days away. If the unit grew large and could mobilize and maintain several hundreds of young men, then the areas placed high and low could be 10 or even 15 days' walk away from the religious core.
These ethnic groups, many of which were tricked by the Europeans to side with them to break the Inca power, were still easy to locate and identify in the 18th century (Wanka; Canari). In isolated parts of Ecuador (Saraguro, Otavalo) and Bolivia (Chipaya, Macha) this can still be done today.
Friday, February 5, 2016
THE "RELIGION" THAT EUROPEANS BROUGHT TO THE NEW WORLD.
Pedro Cieza de Leon was the First Chronicler of Peru. He wrote about its History and Description of their Empire and the Land. His writings were found later in the Vatican Library.
He left his homeland when he was 16 moved by the accounts that the sailors of the epoch brought about the New World. A world without diseases. A world where its people found a way of life totally different that the one in which this individual was brought for.
Cieza de Leon was born in Llerena, a Town in SouthEastern Extremadura, Spain, less than 60 mi (96 km) from Portugal, to a family of Jewish "conversos." Although recently converted from Judaism to Catholicism, the family enjoyed good social standing in the Region thanks to their "NetWorks" and "Business dealings."
In the time of the Arabs the Town of Llerena was called Ellerina, a place contested between Arabs and Christians. It was definitively occupied in 1243 by Pelayo Perez Correa, Master of the Order of St. James of the Sword, to whom Ferdinand III of Castille had entrusted the Reconquest of Sierra Morena.
The Order of St. James of the Sword, was founded in the 12th century. Its initial objective was "To Protect" the pilgrim of St. James' Way and to defend "Christendom."Entrance to the Order was not difficult at the beginning. Once the Re-conquest was finalized, an applicant who wished to join the Order had to prove in his first 4 last names that he, his parents, and his grandparents were of noble descent by blood and not by privilege, and had never worked in manual or industrial labor. The prospective member then had to live 3 months in the galleys and reside for a month in the Monastery to learn "The Rule." The Order operated convents for friars and for nuns. Many classes of people were permanently disqualified from membership due to their origins.
The Order's insignia is a red cross resembling a Sword, with the shape of a Fleur-de-lis on the hilt and the arms. The Sword represents the chivalrous character of the Apostle St. James and his martyr ways, since he was decapitated with a sword. Its shape originated in the era of The Crusades, when the Knights took with them Small Crosses with sharpened bottoms to stick them in the ground and carry out their daily devotions.
The Order was divided into several Provinces. The most important ones being Castille and Leon because of their number of Properties and Vassals.
At the Head of each Province there was a Military Commander with Headquarters in Segura de la Sierra, Castilla and Segura de Leon, Leon. The Province of Leon was divided into 2 parts, Merida and Llerena; in each of them there were various "Encomiendas," which were the most important internal subdivision of the Order. The "Encomiendas" behaved as local Units directed by a Knight Commander. It could place the Headquarters or residence of the Knight Commander in a Castle or Fortress or in a small Town and was the administrative or "Economic Center" in which the rents of the Estate and Properties relevant to that "Encomienda" were paid and received. The "Encomienda"had to support the Knight Commander and the other Knights living there, and to pay a "certain number" of Spearmen, who had to be "properly equipped" and take part in Militia Actions they were called to by their Master. All of them formed the "Army" retinue of the Order.
The Revenue of the Order came from Land, Pastures, Industries, Toll and "Right of Way," Taxes, and Tithe. The Order still operates under the Protection of the Spanish Crown. (The English, Spanish, Austrian, and Russian Crowns belonged to the same family nucleus in which the Crowns were and still are protected by the intermarriage of them).
In the list of Grand Masters of the Order of James (Santiago), in the final incorporation into the Crown of Spain under the Reign of Charles I, we find "The Catholic Monarchs."
The Catholic Monarchs is the "join title" used in the writing of History for Queen Isabella I of Castille and King Ferdinand II of Aragon. They were both from the House of Trastamara and were 2nd cousins, being both descended from John I of Castille; on marriage they were given a "Papal Dispensation" to deal with consanguinity by Sixtus IV. They married on October 19, 1469, in the City of Valladolid; she was 18 years old and Ferdinand a year younger. This marriage united 2 Kingdoms under One Crown. The Title of "Catholic Monarchs" was bestowed by Pope Alexander VI in 1494, in "recognition" of their "defense of the "Catholic Faith" in their own way within their "Realms."
The "Catholic Monarchs" ordered the expulsion from their Lands of all Jews and muslims. People who converted to Catholicism were no subject to expulsion, but between 1480 and 1492 hundreds of those who had converted were accused of secretly practicing their original religion, then arrested, imprisoned, interrogated under torture, and in some cases burned to death. The last trial was held in 1818. Ten of thousands of Jews emigrated to other lands.
The "Catholic Monarchs" authorized the expedition of Christopher Columbus, who was given the name of "Admiral of the Ocean Sea" by the Monarchs as a way of giving him power to obtain new territories for them. The colonies Columbus established, and the Lands obtained by invasion in the Americas in later decades, generated an influx of wealth into the Unified Crowns of Europe, leading them to obtain more power and centralizing it in the Crown of Spain, from the end of the 16th century until the mid-seventeen century, not even a third of the length of time that the Incas hold their own power in the Tahuantinsuyo.
Isabella ensured "long-term" political stability by arranging strategic marriages for each of her 5 children. First-born daughter, Isabella, married Afonso of Portugal, forging important ties between these 2 neighboring countries, enduring peace and future alliances. Second daughter Joanna, married Philip the Handsome, the son of the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I, ensuring an alliance with a powerful, far-reaching territory with an eye of future political security. John, the only son, married Margaret of Austria, maintaining the ties with the Habsburg Dynasty, from which the catholic Monarchs relied heavily. Maria, the number 4 daughter, married Manue I of Portugal, strengthening the link forged by her elder sister's marriage. Catherine, the number 5 daughter, married Arthur, Price of Wales and heir to the throne of England, in 1501; he died at the age of 15 a few months later, and she married his younger brother shortly after he became Henry VIII of England in 1509.
Isabella died in 1504 and Ferdinand remarried Germaine of Foix in 1505. Germaine's father was John of Foix, Viscount of Narbonne and son of Queen Eleanor of Navarre. Germaine's mother, Marie of Orleans, was the sister of King Louis XII of France.
Charles V was the eldest son of Philip the Handsome and Joanna (Juana) the Mad in the Flemish Region of Belgium, City of Ghent, in the East Flanders Province, in 1500. In the late Middle Ages, Ghent became one of the largest and richest cities of Northern Europe. Archaeological evidence shows human presence in the Region of the confluence of Scheldt and Leie Rivers going back as far as the Stone Age and the Iron Age. The culture and courtly life of the Burgundian Low Countries were an important influence in his early life. Charles spoke several vernacular languages: fluent in French, and Flemish, later adding an "acceptable"Castilian Spanish required by the Castilian Court as a condition for becoming a King of Castile. Also he spoke a decent German, though he never spoke it as well as French. During his reign, the territories in the Americas were considerable extended and incorporated into his Empire. Charles was convinced of his divine mission to become the Leader of Christendom, and saw Islam as a significant threat. Charles suffered from an enlarged lower jaw, a deformity that became considerably worse in later Habsburg generations. It was caused by the family's long history of inbreeding, which was commonly practiced in royal families to maintain dynastic control of Territory. He struggled to chew his food properly and consequently experienced bad digestion for much of his life. As a result, he usually ate alone. He also suffered from epilepsy and was seriously afflicted with gout, caused by a diet consisting mainly on red meat. In his retirement, he was carried around the Monastery of St. Yuste in a sedan chair. A ramp was constructed to allow him easy access to his rooms.
He held so many titles that because of his illnesses he was forced to abdicate to many of them.
He was member of the Order of St. James and was also granted membership to the Order of the Garter,
founded in 1348, the highest Order of Chivalry in England. It is dedicated to the image and arms of Saint George, England's patron saint.
Tuesday, February 2, 2016
CAJAMARCA, THE CITY OF THE INCA BATHS.
Cajamarca had long been one of the oldest cities in South America Highlands. The city and its surroundings have been occupied by several cultures for more than 2000 years.
The Inca Bath District is one of the 12 Districts of the Province Cajamarca in Peru. It is centered on a spa which uses the Water from Thermal Springs.
Near Caxamalca, at a near distance, across the Valley, columns of Vapor are seen rising towards the heavens, indicating the place of the famous Baths, frequented by the Inca Clan. The Inca kept a small house with a number of rooms. A great tank very well made of hewn stone had two pipes of water, one hot and the other cold. The water was tempered whenever the Emperor or his wives wished to take a bath. No one else dare to enter the water, under penalty of death.
A Hot Spring is a Spring produced by the emergence of geothermal heated GroundWater that rises from the Earth's crust. In general, the temperature of Rocks within the Earth increases with depth. Because heated Water can hold more dissolved solids than cold water, warm Hot Springs often have very high Mineral content, containing everything from simple Calcium to Lithium, and even Radium.
Cajamarca City, the capital and largest city of the Cajamarca Region, is located in the Northern HighLands of Peru at approximately 2,750m (8,900ft) above sea level on an inter- Andean Valley irrigated by 3 main Rivers : the Mashcon River, San Lucas River and Chonta River; the former two join together in this area to form the Cajamarca River.
Cajamarca has a subtropical HighLand climate. It is semi-dry, temperate, semi-cold with presence of rainfall mostly on Spring and Summer.
The city is also surrounded by a very fertile Valley and is well known for its dairy products, which makes the city and important trade center of agricultural goods.
Mining activity is also done in the surroundings. Yanacocha is an active gold mining site 45 km North of the city. It is considered to be the 4th largest gold mine in the World, which has boosted the economy of the city since the 1990s, but at the same time the mine activity have provoked a negative impact on wild life, plants, or livestock. The mining operation use large quantities of a dilute cyanide solution, contaminating the water sources, leading to the disappearance of fish and frogs and illnesses among cattle, air pollution and loss of medicinal plants.
The mine is co-owned by NewMont (based in Greenwood Village Colorado USA, one of the World's largest producers of Gold)/BuenaVentura (Peruvian Partner). NewMont is the World's largest producer of Gold.
The Conga Project in the hands of NewMont was suspended in November 2011. In 2012, protesters expressed concerns about perceived impacts of the project on the local water supply. On December 4th
the President Humala granted the country's armed forces extra power for 60 days, including the right to make arrests without warrant. Opponents of the project pointing the risks for ecosystem and water resources had the result that several of president Ollanta Humala's ministers resigned.
Cajamarca is a Quechua word meaning "Town of thorns" or "Cold Place," depending on the source.
The Inca Bath District is one of the 12 Districts of the Province Cajamarca in Peru. It is centered on a spa which uses the Water from Thermal Springs.
Near Caxamalca, at a near distance, across the Valley, columns of Vapor are seen rising towards the heavens, indicating the place of the famous Baths, frequented by the Inca Clan. The Inca kept a small house with a number of rooms. A great tank very well made of hewn stone had two pipes of water, one hot and the other cold. The water was tempered whenever the Emperor or his wives wished to take a bath. No one else dare to enter the water, under penalty of death.
A Hot Spring is a Spring produced by the emergence of geothermal heated GroundWater that rises from the Earth's crust. In general, the temperature of Rocks within the Earth increases with depth. Because heated Water can hold more dissolved solids than cold water, warm Hot Springs often have very high Mineral content, containing everything from simple Calcium to Lithium, and even Radium.
Cajamarca City, the capital and largest city of the Cajamarca Region, is located in the Northern HighLands of Peru at approximately 2,750m (8,900ft) above sea level on an inter- Andean Valley irrigated by 3 main Rivers : the Mashcon River, San Lucas River and Chonta River; the former two join together in this area to form the Cajamarca River.
Cajamarca has a subtropical HighLand climate. It is semi-dry, temperate, semi-cold with presence of rainfall mostly on Spring and Summer.
The city is also surrounded by a very fertile Valley and is well known for its dairy products, which makes the city and important trade center of agricultural goods.
Mining activity is also done in the surroundings. Yanacocha is an active gold mining site 45 km North of the city. It is considered to be the 4th largest gold mine in the World, which has boosted the economy of the city since the 1990s, but at the same time the mine activity have provoked a negative impact on wild life, plants, or livestock. The mining operation use large quantities of a dilute cyanide solution, contaminating the water sources, leading to the disappearance of fish and frogs and illnesses among cattle, air pollution and loss of medicinal plants.
The mine is co-owned by NewMont (based in Greenwood Village Colorado USA, one of the World's largest producers of Gold)/BuenaVentura (Peruvian Partner). NewMont is the World's largest producer of Gold.
The Conga Project in the hands of NewMont was suspended in November 2011. In 2012, protesters expressed concerns about perceived impacts of the project on the local water supply. On December 4th
the President Humala granted the country's armed forces extra power for 60 days, including the right to make arrests without warrant. Opponents of the project pointing the risks for ecosystem and water resources had the result that several of president Ollanta Humala's ministers resigned.
Cajamarca is a Quechua word meaning "Town of thorns" or "Cold Place," depending on the source.
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