THE ANDEAN STAR SNOW FESTIVAL / CUYLLUR RIT'I.

The Star Snow Festival (Cuyllu Rit'i) is a festival known to the local descendants of the ancient population of the Andes as a celebration of the stars.
In particular this Festival celebrates the moving of the Pleiades. It falls in a period of time when the Pleiades constellation, or Seven Sisters, a 7-star cluster in the Taurus constellation, disappears from view in April and reappears in June. Metaphorical, due to the star's disappearance from the night sky and reemergence approximately 2 months afterwards is a signal that our planes of existence have times of disorder and chaos, but also return to order, the time of transition from old to new and the upcoming harvest and therefore a time of abundance, and the New Year, that begins on the Winter Solstice.
For this reason the Inca astronomers cleverly named the Pleiades "Cullqa"or storehouse in their local language (Quechua = Runa Simi= Human's language).
This outlook coincides with the recent Pachacutec or Inca Prophecy literally translated from 2 words "Pacha" meaning "time and space," and "Cutec" meaning "return," and altogether means "return of time," "change of time" or "great change or disturbance in the social or political order." The prophecy therefore represents a period of upheaval and cosmic transformation. An overturning of the space/time continuum that is already affecting consciousness. A reversal of world. A cataclysmic event separating eras in time. The Pachacutec also speaks of the tumultuous nature of our current world, in particular the environmental destruction of the earth, transforming and returning to a new world of balance, harmony and sustainability. This will happen as we freely change our way of thinking and become more conscious of the upcoming events, the death of an old way of thinking about the world in which we live, and an elevation to a higher state of consciousness and in this way we can describe ourselves not as who we were, but who we are becoming as a whole.
The Festival attracts a large number of peasants from the surrounding Regions, divided in 2 halves: -Paucar-Tambo groups Quechuas from the agricultural regions to the North West of the sanctuary, and -Quispe-Canchis groups which include Aymaras from the pastoral regions to the South East.
Both halves make an annual pilgrimage to the feast bringing large troupes of dancers and musicians in 4 main styles: Ch'Uncho, Colla, Ukuko, and Ma'Chola.
The Festival takes place in late May or early June, to coincide with the Full Moon, one week before the Christian Feast of Corpus Christi. The celebration consists of a number of processions and dances in and around the shrine of the Cuyllu-Rit'i. The main event for the locals who still celebrate their old spiritual beliefs is the rising of the Sun on the Monday morning where tens of thousands kneel down to the First Rays of Light as the Sun rises above the horizon.
The Incas followed both Solar and Lunar cycles throughout the year. However the cycle of the Moon was of primary importance for both agricultural activities and the timing of the Festivals.