Traditional Inca medicine boast a very high level of bio-diversity that has led to a proliferation of many types of plants and herbs used for healing purposes. The natural process of healing involves two major factors, one is the use of an array of plants that grows at each altitude with an unique climate, and the other is spirituality.
Plants and Herbs have been the basis for countless medical treatments used by healers in the Andean Highlands through much of pre-Incas cultures, then the Incas and is still widely used today. The Andean people have been living in much the same way for centuries, practicing agriculture and animal husbandry. They have proven themselves to be remarkably resilient and proud of their traditions. They differ slightly between regions.
Healers have an incredible wealth of knowledge about the properties and uses of natural medicine and the plant world around them that grow in thousands in the High Lands and claim to be able to cure various and diverse conditions. Diagnosis is reached through spiritual means and a treatment is prescribed, usually consisting of a herbal remedy that is considered to have not only healing abilities but also a spiritual significance. Though the practitioners are extremely knowledgeable about a wider scope of herbs and plants, nearly everyone of the locals knows how to treat basic health issues with plants. Even the young children are able to identify different plants and their uses, in addition to where to find it. Because of the immense varieties of medicinal plants and herbs, it is impossible to categorize each and every plant used in the Andes and all their purposes
The Andean traditional medicine has the belief that illness is not derived from chance occurrences, but through spiritual or social imbalance. There are a number of practices that Andean healers undertake. One such practice is called "shipment" (despacho). It is a small kit made up by the healer specifically for a particular person. The healer tailors the "shipment" to the specific needs of that person, depending on the symptoms and illness. This kit contains coca leaves, other herbs, and small gifts like wine, sugar, or flowers. it is essentially an "offering" to the Apus' spirits (mountain deities) and Mother Earth (Pachamama) for healing and protection. These thoughts and practices are part of the Andean concept of nature, who respect its laws and entreat the masculine or feminine spirits for help. Andean relates the human suffering, requests, and thanksgiving with the cosmos. In the "shipment" ceremony, the healer packages the offering, taking great care in doing so. Then the package is rubbed over the patient's body while chanting for favor from the "Apus." After the prayers, energies are drawn out of the patient's body, and the healer burns the "shipment." The smoke carries those prayers and issues to the Apus, where they will hopefully take heed and lend protection and healing.
Any description of Andean medicine would be incomplete without mention of the coca plant. This plant is one that has been grown in the Andes for at least 10,000 years in the High Lands. It represent more than just a plant to the Andean people: it is the most sacred of all plants. Its most ancient role in its usage is in religious and shamanistic rituals, as its chemical components help the brain to open up to the subconscious level enabling deep trances being in control by the spiritual power of the medium.
Chewing coca leaves is part of everyday life and helps to maintain healthy lungs due to the effect of thin air in the breathing process of people who live in the High Lands. Just as they did in very ancient times, today people carry small bags around with them containing the leaves, which they periodically put in their mouths. They chew and suck on the leaves, creating a ball with the saliva.
The coca leaves are used in a great deal of health potions, starting with making a tea by boiling the leaves and is known as: "mate de coca." The health benefits of the tea are particularly for internal problems like digestion and also for psychological stress and depression.
The most notable benefits of coca leaves are: -reduction of muscular exaustion. -Hunger and Thirsty reliever. -Increases endurance. -Acts as an anesthesia. -Rich in vitamins B1, Riboflavin, C, Calcium.
-Alleviates respiratory problems associated with high altitude. -Helps pain from rheumatism, external sores, and headaches.
Many people misunderstand the cultural practice of using coca leaves. They are not addictive and have countless benefits for health.
We have a small list of the popular plants and herbs used by the Andean people: -Tuna Cactus, treats stomach ache. -Verbena (Cruz), herbal bath, headaches, children misbehavior (crunch up and put juice on head). -Wild Tobacco, insecticide and sore feet (cut it up, sprinkle alcohol, dry it). -Cypress Tree, sap good for toothache. -Mint (Muna), stomach ache, colds, heartache, diziness. -Moye, for cough, seeds good for asthma, cold sores. -Yerba Santa, detoxifying intestines and stomach, babies bath. -Membrillo (Quince), lots of vitamin C, enhanced nutritional purposes for children. Alizo, leaves good for headaches, small tumors (grind up and apply with alcohol), bark good for diarrhea. -Shirapoco, for cough (flower). -Chilca, for fractures, make dough with muna, wrap up and in days it will re-calcify. -Cat's claw (Una de gato), good for kidneys, liver (boil stem). -Grapevine seed, treat cancer, powerful antioxidant. -Chupasangre, grind up and place on bruises, drink for kidney health. -San Pedro Cactus, for cuts. -Rosemary, for intestinal problems, cholesterol, insomnia, sensitive gums. -Orange Tree Leaf, for stress, also purifies kidneys. -Geranium, elevates fertility.
Sunday, February 12, 2017
Tuesday, February 7, 2017
THE INCA WEALTH WITHOUT MONEY.
The Inca Empire is the only one advanced civilization in history to have no class of traders, and no commerce of any kind within its boundaries. In fact, they had no marketplaces at all, even though the empire was the largest one that South America had ever known.
Centered in Peru, the empire stretched across the Andes' Mountain tops and down to the shoreline, incorporating lands from today's Colombia, Chile, Bolivia, Ecuador, Argentina and Peru -all connected by a vast highway system whose complexity surpass any in the Old World. The region in which they flourished was characterized by extreme droughts known to be the cause of extinction of cultures that existed before them. Also climate fluctuations were a constant hazard.
The Incas were master builders and land planners, capable of extremely sophisticate agriculture in the high mountains. Some years ago a group of archaeologists took core samples in Cuzco Valley, Peru, and found evidence for thousands of years of agriculture in the area, including animal husbandry, most likely llamas, alpacas and vicunas.
The Inca society was so rich that it could afford to have hundreds of people who specialized in planning the agricultural uses of newly-conquered areas. They focused their technological and cultural institutions around food and production and land management. They built terraced farms on the mountain sides whose crops -from potatoes and maize to peanuts and squash- were carefully chosen to thrive in the average temperatures for different altitudes. The development of major irrigated terracing technology was necessary in these regions to obviate conditions of seasonal water stress, thereby allowing a very efficient agricultural production at higher altitudes. They also farmed trees to keep the thin topsoil in good condition. The outcome of these strategies was greater long-term food security and the ability to feed large populations. Food was their coin; pure labor structured their economy. All the laborers and the rest of the people in the empire were well fed, and did not spend a dime.
The Inca architects were equally talented, designing and raising enormous pyramids, and irrigating with sophisticated waterworks such as those found at Tipon, and creating enormous Temples like Pachacamac along with mountain retreats like Machu Picchu.
And yet, despite all their productivity, the Incas managed without money or marketplaces. They did not promote any type of trading class inside Inca society, and the development of individual wealth was not possible since the Mind was dominated by the spirit of their Creator God Viracocha. He was the owner of everything and the controller of all the universal forces acting in each level of existence.
When the Incas noticed a lack of any essential product that was not produced locally, they developed several strategies, such as establishing colonies in specific production zones for particular commodities and permitting long-distance trade. The production, distribution, and use of commodities were centrally controlled by the Inca government. So the Inca did engage in exchanging or bartering trade, but only with outsiders -not among themselves.
Each citizen of the empire was issued the necessities of life out of the state storehouses, including food, tools, raw materials, and clothing, and needed to purchase nothing. With no shops or markets, there was no need for a standard currency or money, and there was nowhere to spend money or purchase for necessities. Instead of paying taxes in money, every citizen was required to provide labor to the state. In exchange for this labor, they were given the necessities of life.
Nobles and their courts were trained to fulfill other religious purposes involving higher degree of power required to maintain the harmony between the different levels of existence. They owned and governed specific properties with specific locations and their families or estate managers were trained to continue in it in order to maintain its power crucial to the stability of the Inca and the empire. Indeed the Temple at Pachacamac was basically a well-managed estate that belonged to a dead Inca noble.
The outstanding example that the Incas show to the World is the fact that money is not a necessary factor to develop a successful, sophisticated, and extremely wealthy empire. Its major goal was to prevent starvation rather than to foster trade.
Centered in Peru, the empire stretched across the Andes' Mountain tops and down to the shoreline, incorporating lands from today's Colombia, Chile, Bolivia, Ecuador, Argentina and Peru -all connected by a vast highway system whose complexity surpass any in the Old World. The region in which they flourished was characterized by extreme droughts known to be the cause of extinction of cultures that existed before them. Also climate fluctuations were a constant hazard.
The Incas were master builders and land planners, capable of extremely sophisticate agriculture in the high mountains. Some years ago a group of archaeologists took core samples in Cuzco Valley, Peru, and found evidence for thousands of years of agriculture in the area, including animal husbandry, most likely llamas, alpacas and vicunas.
The Inca society was so rich that it could afford to have hundreds of people who specialized in planning the agricultural uses of newly-conquered areas. They focused their technological and cultural institutions around food and production and land management. They built terraced farms on the mountain sides whose crops -from potatoes and maize to peanuts and squash- were carefully chosen to thrive in the average temperatures for different altitudes. The development of major irrigated terracing technology was necessary in these regions to obviate conditions of seasonal water stress, thereby allowing a very efficient agricultural production at higher altitudes. They also farmed trees to keep the thin topsoil in good condition. The outcome of these strategies was greater long-term food security and the ability to feed large populations. Food was their coin; pure labor structured their economy. All the laborers and the rest of the people in the empire were well fed, and did not spend a dime.
The Inca architects were equally talented, designing and raising enormous pyramids, and irrigating with sophisticated waterworks such as those found at Tipon, and creating enormous Temples like Pachacamac along with mountain retreats like Machu Picchu.
And yet, despite all their productivity, the Incas managed without money or marketplaces. They did not promote any type of trading class inside Inca society, and the development of individual wealth was not possible since the Mind was dominated by the spirit of their Creator God Viracocha. He was the owner of everything and the controller of all the universal forces acting in each level of existence.
When the Incas noticed a lack of any essential product that was not produced locally, they developed several strategies, such as establishing colonies in specific production zones for particular commodities and permitting long-distance trade. The production, distribution, and use of commodities were centrally controlled by the Inca government. So the Inca did engage in exchanging or bartering trade, but only with outsiders -not among themselves.
Each citizen of the empire was issued the necessities of life out of the state storehouses, including food, tools, raw materials, and clothing, and needed to purchase nothing. With no shops or markets, there was no need for a standard currency or money, and there was nowhere to spend money or purchase for necessities. Instead of paying taxes in money, every citizen was required to provide labor to the state. In exchange for this labor, they were given the necessities of life.
Nobles and their courts were trained to fulfill other religious purposes involving higher degree of power required to maintain the harmony between the different levels of existence. They owned and governed specific properties with specific locations and their families or estate managers were trained to continue in it in order to maintain its power crucial to the stability of the Inca and the empire. Indeed the Temple at Pachacamac was basically a well-managed estate that belonged to a dead Inca noble.
The outstanding example that the Incas show to the World is the fact that money is not a necessary factor to develop a successful, sophisticated, and extremely wealthy empire. Its major goal was to prevent starvation rather than to foster trade.
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