Llamas have been selectively bred as a high altitude pack animal. High in the Andes Mountains, they have been helping people carry their wares for thousands of years. Their thick coats of wool and honed survival instincts enable them to thrive in one of the most extreme climates on earth.
The Inca empire depended on the llama to transport trade goods, root crops, and building materials to extremely difficult locations throughout the Andean highlands.
The lost Incan city of Machu Pichu, perched on a high saddle, between two jagged mountain peaks, 2,000 feet above the mighty Urubamba River, was the preferred site of pasture land for the llamas.
They were revered by the Pre-Inca and Inca civilization. It is the second most depicted form in Andean art, next to the sun.
The llama is a member of the camel family, and is one of the oldest domesticated animals in the world. They are perfect low-impact, high altitude pack animal. Their leather padded, two-toed feet and natural agility give them a sure-footed step akin to mountain goats. Their wild relatives are the Andean guanacos and vicunas.
The height of a full-grown, full-size llama is 1.8 meters/5.9ft tall at the top of the head, and can weight between 130 and 200 kilograms/290 and 440lb. Llamas typically live for 15 to 25 years, with some individuals surviving 30 years or more in their natural habitat.
Llamas, when used as pack animals, they can carry about 25 to 30% of their body weight. They are usually saddled with loads of 50 to 75 pounds. Under such weight they can cover up to 20 miles in a single day along the mountain highlands.
Llamas are willing pack animals but only to a point. An overload llama will simply refuse to move. They lie down on the ground and may spit, hiss, or even kick at their owners until their burden is lessened. Llamas are also used as a food source and fiber, and as a guard animal. Those uses still continue today. The llama has been found to be unique in this capacity.
Because the Andean lands are in their natural state and free of commercial pesticides and fertilizers the meat produced by the Llama is all natural and full of nutrients. The Llama's ability to efficiently utilize the low grade, sparse forage common to the semi-arid Andean mountains establishes its validity as a meat animal. Llamas, like cows, regurgitate their food and chew it as cud. They chomp on such wads for some time before swallowing them for complete digestion. Llamas can survive by eating many different kinds of low grade forages, and they need little water. These attributes make them durable and dependable even in sparse mountainous terrain. Other species of domestic meat animals cannot efficiently utilize the same amount of forage because they require higher quality and quantity.
Llamas contribute much more than transportation to the Andean communities in which they live.
The Quechua people eat the Llama meat both fresh and dried. The dried meat called "charqui" is the original form of what is referred to in today world as "jerky" The meat is lean, low fat, and nutrient dense. Its taste is similar to the taste of grass fat beef.
The llama's fiber is quite versatile and exceptional in its performance, easily maintained, and comfortable. Leather is made from their hides, and ropes, rugs, and fabrics from their wool. The wool is very soft and lanolin-free. (Lanolin is a wax secreted by the sebaceous glands of wool-bearing animals)
The llama's excrement is dried and burned for fuel. Their tracks and droppings are similar to an elk's, and have little impact on fragile wilderness trails. They exemplify the "leave no trace" wilderness ethic.
Llamas are great hiking companions. They are alert, and curious. They walk at a comfortable pace for humans and their keen senses of smell, hearing, and sight often point out a distant herd of other animals.
Lamas are very intelligent and can learn simple tasks after a few repetition. Selectively bred for gentleness, for over five thousand years, a well trained llama will eagerly follow adults and children alike. They are very social and can live with other llamas as a herd. The llama's territorial nature, protective instincts, and self-sufficient combine to make the animal an effective guard animal. The llama will not attack predators invading the territory, but will actually move the flock/herd to the most defensible position available.
Friday, January 26, 2018
Tuesday, January 23, 2018
THE ORIGEN OF ANDEAN VOLCANOES.
Tectonic pressures and volcanic activity gave shape the earth. The Andean Mountains were lifted up from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.
The Andean mountain system is the result of global plate-tectonic forces during roughly the past 65 million years that built upon earlier geologic activity. About 250 million years ago the crustal plates constituting the Earth's land-mass were joined together into a super-continent. The subsequent breakup dispersed plates outward, where they began to take the form and position of the present-day continents. The collision or convergence of two of these plates -the continental South American Plate and the Oceanic Nazca Plate- gave rise to the mountain-building activity that produced the Andes mountain structures. The Andes host more volcanoes that have been active during the past 10,000 years than any other volcanic region in the world. The Andes also host the highest peaks in the Western Hemisphere. The highest of them is Mount Aconcagua (6959 meters/22,831ft) on the border of Argentina and Chile.
The prominent mountainous belt making up the Andean chain (Cordillera de los Andes) stretches approximately 8,900 kilometers (5,500mi) North to South from Venezuela to Patagonian Chile along the Western margin of South American continent. They separate a narrow Western coastal area from the rest of the continent, affecting deeply the conditions of life within the ranges themselves and in surrounding areas. They are not a single line of formidable peaks but rather a succession of parallel and transverse mountain ranges (cordilleras) and of intervening plateaus and depressions. Distinct Eastern (Cordillera Oriental) and Western (Cordillera Occidental) ranges are characteristic of most of the system. The directional trend of both ranges generally is North to South, but in several places the Eastern range bulges Eastward to form either isolated peninsula-like ranges or such high inter-montane plateau regions as the High Plateau (Altiplano), occupying adjoining parts of Argentina, Chile, Bolivia , and Peru. The Andes is also known as the "backbone" of South America.
The Andean Volcanism occurs within the Andean Volcanic Arc which is the Earth's longest but discontinuous continental-margin volcanic arc, along the Andes. It consists of 4 main distinct zones that are separated from each other by inactive volcanic gaps: -Northern, Central, Southern, and Austral.
-The Northern extends from Colombia to Ecuador. Of the volcanoes in this zone, 55 are in Ecuador, while 19 are in Colombia.
-The Central extends from Peru to Chile and forms the Western boundary of the High Plateau (Altiplano). There are 44 major and 18 minor volcanic centers that are considered to be active. Jaw-dropping details litter the landscape. It has been that way for over 10 million years. It has also been very dry weather in the area known as the Altiplano-Puna Plateau for at least a few millions years as well. It is the home of the Atacama Desert.
-The Southern extends roughly from Central Chile's Andes at Santiago to the Aysen Region, South of Chile.
-The Austral zone extends South of the Patagonian Volcanic Gap to Fire Land (Tierra del Fuego) archipelago.
The Andean volcanoes structure derive from the local geology (Nazca plate and Brazilian Shield).
The Pacific Ocean is being consumed here as much as 10 centimeters per year. The sub-duction zone is clearly seen as a deep trench off the coast. As the oceanic plate steeply subducts towards the mantle, it pushes the continental plate up and so has formed the second highest mountain chain on Earth.The sub-ducted plate melts easily at depth. In this process, it is rather helped by being well hydrated after millions of years underneath the Pacific Ocean; the water content reduces the melting temperature.The melt trickles up and collects in large magma chambers, which feed the many Andean volcanoes.The eruptions recycle both the oceanic crust and the Pacific water sub-ducted with it.
Another factor is the climate. The Andean mountains' climate is both wonderful and inhospitable. In the heights, the temperatures are mild, rarely cold, and most of the time clear sky. The cold Ocean currents keeps the climate dry; there are only a few months each year with some rain.
On the other side of the mountains begins a wetland, the Amazon and the Pantanal, where rain is a way of life, coloring the whole area in green. This way of life makes a tremendous contrast to the way of life in the West in which the dryness has formed a desert coloring the whole area in brown.
People live along the River Valleys and their agriculture is based on run-off from the high mountains.
The Andean mountain system is the result of global plate-tectonic forces during roughly the past 65 million years that built upon earlier geologic activity. About 250 million years ago the crustal plates constituting the Earth's land-mass were joined together into a super-continent. The subsequent breakup dispersed plates outward, where they began to take the form and position of the present-day continents. The collision or convergence of two of these plates -the continental South American Plate and the Oceanic Nazca Plate- gave rise to the mountain-building activity that produced the Andes mountain structures. The Andes host more volcanoes that have been active during the past 10,000 years than any other volcanic region in the world. The Andes also host the highest peaks in the Western Hemisphere. The highest of them is Mount Aconcagua (6959 meters/22,831ft) on the border of Argentina and Chile.
The prominent mountainous belt making up the Andean chain (Cordillera de los Andes) stretches approximately 8,900 kilometers (5,500mi) North to South from Venezuela to Patagonian Chile along the Western margin of South American continent. They separate a narrow Western coastal area from the rest of the continent, affecting deeply the conditions of life within the ranges themselves and in surrounding areas. They are not a single line of formidable peaks but rather a succession of parallel and transverse mountain ranges (cordilleras) and of intervening plateaus and depressions. Distinct Eastern (Cordillera Oriental) and Western (Cordillera Occidental) ranges are characteristic of most of the system. The directional trend of both ranges generally is North to South, but in several places the Eastern range bulges Eastward to form either isolated peninsula-like ranges or such high inter-montane plateau regions as the High Plateau (Altiplano), occupying adjoining parts of Argentina, Chile, Bolivia , and Peru. The Andes is also known as the "backbone" of South America.
The Andean Volcanism occurs within the Andean Volcanic Arc which is the Earth's longest but discontinuous continental-margin volcanic arc, along the Andes. It consists of 4 main distinct zones that are separated from each other by inactive volcanic gaps: -Northern, Central, Southern, and Austral.
-The Northern extends from Colombia to Ecuador. Of the volcanoes in this zone, 55 are in Ecuador, while 19 are in Colombia.
-The Central extends from Peru to Chile and forms the Western boundary of the High Plateau (Altiplano). There are 44 major and 18 minor volcanic centers that are considered to be active. Jaw-dropping details litter the landscape. It has been that way for over 10 million years. It has also been very dry weather in the area known as the Altiplano-Puna Plateau for at least a few millions years as well. It is the home of the Atacama Desert.
-The Southern extends roughly from Central Chile's Andes at Santiago to the Aysen Region, South of Chile.
-The Austral zone extends South of the Patagonian Volcanic Gap to Fire Land (Tierra del Fuego) archipelago.
The Andean volcanoes structure derive from the local geology (Nazca plate and Brazilian Shield).
The Pacific Ocean is being consumed here as much as 10 centimeters per year. The sub-duction zone is clearly seen as a deep trench off the coast. As the oceanic plate steeply subducts towards the mantle, it pushes the continental plate up and so has formed the second highest mountain chain on Earth.The sub-ducted plate melts easily at depth. In this process, it is rather helped by being well hydrated after millions of years underneath the Pacific Ocean; the water content reduces the melting temperature.The melt trickles up and collects in large magma chambers, which feed the many Andean volcanoes.The eruptions recycle both the oceanic crust and the Pacific water sub-ducted with it.
Another factor is the climate. The Andean mountains' climate is both wonderful and inhospitable. In the heights, the temperatures are mild, rarely cold, and most of the time clear sky. The cold Ocean currents keeps the climate dry; there are only a few months each year with some rain.
On the other side of the mountains begins a wetland, the Amazon and the Pantanal, where rain is a way of life, coloring the whole area in green. This way of life makes a tremendous contrast to the way of life in the West in which the dryness has formed a desert coloring the whole area in brown.
People live along the River Valleys and their agriculture is based on run-off from the high mountains.
Monday, January 22, 2018
THE DEADLY POWER OF HUAYNA-PUTINA.
Huayna-Putina is located in a volcanic upland in Southern Peru's Moquegua Region, 80 kilometers (50mi) South East of Arequipa. The volcano is part of the Central Volcanic Zone, the segment of the Andes running through Peru and Chile.
One of the largest cataclysmic eruption, like no other, in historical times, and that the Andes has ever witnessed over the past 2,000 years, took place at Huayna-Putina from February 19 to March 6, 1600. It caused a short-term cooling that sent societies around the world reeling, as sulfur released into the upper atmosphere blocked the sunlight from reaching the surface.
The majestic mountain as it use to be is not there. In its place there is a double crater in the ground, several kilometers across, with thick ice on one side and an opening in the other side to a majestic river valley. The debris is evidence of a violent past but it gives little hint of what was there before.
The name of the volcano came after the event. Part of the name came from El Misti, which was called Putina (pu=blow, tina=furnace) at the time. The other part relates to Huayna Capac, the mighty one. He was the emperor under whom the Inca empire reached its expansion's peak. He died before his time in the smallpox epidemic brought by the foreigners which preceded the time of the arrival of the small group of Spaniards led by Francisco Pizarro.
Before the arrival of the foreigners, Andean people usually offered sacrifices to the volcano mountains, to appease the anger of the god of the death, Supay (associated with miner's rituals). He was the ruler of the Inca underworld (Uku Pacha) as well as a race of demons. The Andean people did not repudiated Supay but, being scared of him, they invoked him and begged him not to harm them. Any disruption in the maintenance of peace in relation to the three levels of Inca existence indicated an upcoming disaster.
A century later, when the unnamed volcano erupted, the whole area was populated by foreigners that obtained rights to the land through their own crown at the cost of decimating the Inca population.
A few days before the eruption, a booming noise and a fog-like gas being emitted from its crater, was reported , By February 15, the activity had noticeably increased, as earthquakes began to occur, the most severe of which measured over 8.0 on the Richter scale.
By February 18, seismic activity occurred three or four times every fifteen minutes. On February 19, the volcano erupted violently, having the appearance of an enormous fire and sending volcanic ash into the atmosphere. The atmospheric spike of acid as a result of the eruption was higher than that of Krakatoa (Indonesia, 1883).
One hour after the eruption, the volcanic ash began to fall from the sky, and within 24 hours, Arequipa was covered with 25 centimeters (10in) of ash. Asfall was reported 250-500 kilometers (160-310 mi) away, throughout Southern Peru and in what is now Chile and Western Bolivia. Some people did not see the sun for months, and agricultural production was devastated for the next two following years.
The chilling effects of the eruption were substantial and were felt worldwide. In Northern Hemisphere, 1601 was the coldest year in six centuries, leading to a famine in Russia. In Estonia, Switzerland, and Latvia, there were bitterly cold winters in 1600-1602; in France, the wine harvest came late (1601), in China, peach trees bloomed late. Additionally, wine production also collapsed in colonial Peru and Germany, in 1601.
In Japan, Lake Suwa (Kiso Mountains), in the central region, had one of its earliest freezing stage in 500 years. The Lake is the site of an interesting natural phenomenon, "the God's Crossing." It has a natural hot spring under its surface. When the Lake's surface freezes in winter, its lower waters still move and circulate around it. This results in ice pressure ridges forming in the surface ice, reaching heights of 30 centimeters (0.98ft) or more. Local tradition holds that the ridges are formed by the gods crossing the lake, when traveling between the various buildings of the Suwa Grand Shrine.
In general, the larger the volcanic eruption, the bigger the cooling effect and the longer the effect lasts.
Scientists categorize eruptions according to the Volcanic Explosive index, a parameter that depends on factors such as how much material is thrown from the peak and the height of ash plume that's produce.
The Huayna-Putina eruption of 1600 falls in VEI category 6, which denotes an eruption with a volume greater than 10 cubic kilometers and a plume height that exceeds 25 kilometers.
Since 1601, there have been five category 6 eruptions, including Laki (1783), Krakatoa (1883) and Pinatubo (1991). However, none of these events spawned adverse societal effects on a global scale as Huayna-Putina did.
One of the largest cataclysmic eruption, like no other, in historical times, and that the Andes has ever witnessed over the past 2,000 years, took place at Huayna-Putina from February 19 to March 6, 1600. It caused a short-term cooling that sent societies around the world reeling, as sulfur released into the upper atmosphere blocked the sunlight from reaching the surface.
The majestic mountain as it use to be is not there. In its place there is a double crater in the ground, several kilometers across, with thick ice on one side and an opening in the other side to a majestic river valley. The debris is evidence of a violent past but it gives little hint of what was there before.
The name of the volcano came after the event. Part of the name came from El Misti, which was called Putina (pu=blow, tina=furnace) at the time. The other part relates to Huayna Capac, the mighty one. He was the emperor under whom the Inca empire reached its expansion's peak. He died before his time in the smallpox epidemic brought by the foreigners which preceded the time of the arrival of the small group of Spaniards led by Francisco Pizarro.
Before the arrival of the foreigners, Andean people usually offered sacrifices to the volcano mountains, to appease the anger of the god of the death, Supay (associated with miner's rituals). He was the ruler of the Inca underworld (Uku Pacha) as well as a race of demons. The Andean people did not repudiated Supay but, being scared of him, they invoked him and begged him not to harm them. Any disruption in the maintenance of peace in relation to the three levels of Inca existence indicated an upcoming disaster.
A century later, when the unnamed volcano erupted, the whole area was populated by foreigners that obtained rights to the land through their own crown at the cost of decimating the Inca population.
A few days before the eruption, a booming noise and a fog-like gas being emitted from its crater, was reported , By February 15, the activity had noticeably increased, as earthquakes began to occur, the most severe of which measured over 8.0 on the Richter scale.
By February 18, seismic activity occurred three or four times every fifteen minutes. On February 19, the volcano erupted violently, having the appearance of an enormous fire and sending volcanic ash into the atmosphere. The atmospheric spike of acid as a result of the eruption was higher than that of Krakatoa (Indonesia, 1883).
One hour after the eruption, the volcanic ash began to fall from the sky, and within 24 hours, Arequipa was covered with 25 centimeters (10in) of ash. Asfall was reported 250-500 kilometers (160-310 mi) away, throughout Southern Peru and in what is now Chile and Western Bolivia. Some people did not see the sun for months, and agricultural production was devastated for the next two following years.
The chilling effects of the eruption were substantial and were felt worldwide. In Northern Hemisphere, 1601 was the coldest year in six centuries, leading to a famine in Russia. In Estonia, Switzerland, and Latvia, there were bitterly cold winters in 1600-1602; in France, the wine harvest came late (1601), in China, peach trees bloomed late. Additionally, wine production also collapsed in colonial Peru and Germany, in 1601.
In Japan, Lake Suwa (Kiso Mountains), in the central region, had one of its earliest freezing stage in 500 years. The Lake is the site of an interesting natural phenomenon, "the God's Crossing." It has a natural hot spring under its surface. When the Lake's surface freezes in winter, its lower waters still move and circulate around it. This results in ice pressure ridges forming in the surface ice, reaching heights of 30 centimeters (0.98ft) or more. Local tradition holds that the ridges are formed by the gods crossing the lake, when traveling between the various buildings of the Suwa Grand Shrine.
In general, the larger the volcanic eruption, the bigger the cooling effect and the longer the effect lasts.
Scientists categorize eruptions according to the Volcanic Explosive index, a parameter that depends on factors such as how much material is thrown from the peak and the height of ash plume that's produce.
The Huayna-Putina eruption of 1600 falls in VEI category 6, which denotes an eruption with a volume greater than 10 cubic kilometers and a plume height that exceeds 25 kilometers.
Since 1601, there have been five category 6 eruptions, including Laki (1783), Krakatoa (1883) and Pinatubo (1991). However, none of these events spawned adverse societal effects on a global scale as Huayna-Putina did.
Friday, January 19, 2018
INCA PISAC.
Pisac is a Peruvian village, 28 kilometers away from Cuzco, Peru, in the Sacred Valley of the Incas, along the Vilcanota River. Its large market is opened every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday, an event that attracts heavy traffic of people.
One of the Sacred Valley's finest remaining Inca archaeological site, is the beautiful ruins at Pisac at 3,347 meters above sea level. The citadel lies in the mountainside high above the village, on a triangular plateau with a plunging gorge on either side, atop a hill at the entrance to the valley, at its Eastern end. The main part of the ruins is 20-30 minutes down the mountainside. To walk from town, a steep 4 kilometers trail starts above the West side of the church. It is a two-hour climb and 1 1/2 hour return. The citadel is 3.5 kilometers away from the village of Pisac.
The ruins are spread out over a large area and follow a long mountain top crest and constructed from exquisitely carved pink granite. They are separated along the ridge into 4 groups: Pisaqa, Inti Watana, Calla-Casa, and Quinchi-Raqay.
The Inti Watana group are the ones further down the mountain and includes the Temple of the Sun, baths, altars, a ceremonial platform, water fountains, and an Inti Watana (a ritual stone associated with an astronomical clock and a calendar).
The Temple of the Sun is built on a huge protruding spur of volcanic rock, carved into a "hitching posts for the sun." The angles at its base served to define the changes of the seasons. It was aligned with the sun's position during the winter solstice. The stone held the position of the sun along its annual path in the sky. At midday on the equinoxes the sun stands almost above the stone, casting no shadow at all. On June 21, the stone casts the longest shadow on its Southern side and on December 21, a much shorter one on its Northern side.
Calla-Casa, which is built onto a natural spur and overlooks the Sacred Valley, is known as the citadel, the core fortified side of the town considered its defensive core.
The archaeological complex is surrounded by a vast sweeping agricultural terraces which harmoniously blend into the natural curvature of the landscape. The Inca constructed the most impressive an important agricultural sector on the site. Agricultural terraces were built on the steep hillside, around the South and East flanks of the mountain in huge and graceful curves, joined by diagonal flights of stairs made of flagstones set into the terrace walls. They created the terraces by hauling richer topsoil by hand from the power lands. The terraces enabled the production of surplus food, more than would normally be possible at altitudes as high as 11,000 ft. The terraces are still in use today.
With religious, military, and agricultural structures, the site served a triple purpose. It defended the Southern entrance to the Sacred Valley, while Choque-Quirao (buildings and terraces at levels above and below the truncated hill top, Sunchu-Pata), defended the Western entrance, and the fortress at Ollantay-Tambo defending the Northern.
The sanctuary of Huanca, site of a sacred shrine, is also near Pisac village. Pilgrims travel to the shrine every September. The Huanca people, after fierce fighting, were conquered by the Inca Pachacutec and incorporated into the Inca Empire. Their language differed significantly from the Incas' Quechua.
Willka Raymi meaning "greatgrandson" or "lineage," is a celebration that is held annually on August (24th) in the archaeological complex. It is the representation of the traditional offering ceremony to the Mother Earth (Pacha-Mama).
The Machu-Condor -Sanqa, meaning "the cliff of the Old Condor,"on the border of the district, lies on the right bank of the Vilcanota River. The mountain is about 4,200 metres (17,780 ft) high.
Pisac was once the site of a vital Inca road which wound its way through the Sacred valley to the borders of the Eastern Jungle. This made it an important connecting route for the Inca Empire and the city of Paucar-Tambo, giving to Inca Pisac a strategic controlling point, because of its elevated position.
There were 24,000 miles in the Inca road system that linked mountain peaks and tropical lowlands and crossed rivers and deserts. Even today the roads runs through Andean communities in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, and Chile.
One of the Sacred Valley's finest remaining Inca archaeological site, is the beautiful ruins at Pisac at 3,347 meters above sea level. The citadel lies in the mountainside high above the village, on a triangular plateau with a plunging gorge on either side, atop a hill at the entrance to the valley, at its Eastern end. The main part of the ruins is 20-30 minutes down the mountainside. To walk from town, a steep 4 kilometers trail starts above the West side of the church. It is a two-hour climb and 1 1/2 hour return. The citadel is 3.5 kilometers away from the village of Pisac.
The ruins are spread out over a large area and follow a long mountain top crest and constructed from exquisitely carved pink granite. They are separated along the ridge into 4 groups: Pisaqa, Inti Watana, Calla-Casa, and Quinchi-Raqay.
The Inti Watana group are the ones further down the mountain and includes the Temple of the Sun, baths, altars, a ceremonial platform, water fountains, and an Inti Watana (a ritual stone associated with an astronomical clock and a calendar).
The Temple of the Sun is built on a huge protruding spur of volcanic rock, carved into a "hitching posts for the sun." The angles at its base served to define the changes of the seasons. It was aligned with the sun's position during the winter solstice. The stone held the position of the sun along its annual path in the sky. At midday on the equinoxes the sun stands almost above the stone, casting no shadow at all. On June 21, the stone casts the longest shadow on its Southern side and on December 21, a much shorter one on its Northern side.
Calla-Casa, which is built onto a natural spur and overlooks the Sacred Valley, is known as the citadel, the core fortified side of the town considered its defensive core.
The archaeological complex is surrounded by a vast sweeping agricultural terraces which harmoniously blend into the natural curvature of the landscape. The Inca constructed the most impressive an important agricultural sector on the site. Agricultural terraces were built on the steep hillside, around the South and East flanks of the mountain in huge and graceful curves, joined by diagonal flights of stairs made of flagstones set into the terrace walls. They created the terraces by hauling richer topsoil by hand from the power lands. The terraces enabled the production of surplus food, more than would normally be possible at altitudes as high as 11,000 ft. The terraces are still in use today.
With religious, military, and agricultural structures, the site served a triple purpose. It defended the Southern entrance to the Sacred Valley, while Choque-Quirao (buildings and terraces at levels above and below the truncated hill top, Sunchu-Pata), defended the Western entrance, and the fortress at Ollantay-Tambo defending the Northern.
The sanctuary of Huanca, site of a sacred shrine, is also near Pisac village. Pilgrims travel to the shrine every September. The Huanca people, after fierce fighting, were conquered by the Inca Pachacutec and incorporated into the Inca Empire. Their language differed significantly from the Incas' Quechua.
Willka Raymi meaning "greatgrandson" or "lineage," is a celebration that is held annually on August (24th) in the archaeological complex. It is the representation of the traditional offering ceremony to the Mother Earth (Pacha-Mama).
The Machu-Condor -Sanqa, meaning "the cliff of the Old Condor,"on the border of the district, lies on the right bank of the Vilcanota River. The mountain is about 4,200 metres (17,780 ft) high.
Pisac was once the site of a vital Inca road which wound its way through the Sacred valley to the borders of the Eastern Jungle. This made it an important connecting route for the Inca Empire and the city of Paucar-Tambo, giving to Inca Pisac a strategic controlling point, because of its elevated position.
There were 24,000 miles in the Inca road system that linked mountain peaks and tropical lowlands and crossed rivers and deserts. Even today the roads runs through Andean communities in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, and Chile.
Wednesday, January 17, 2018
THE CORICANCHA.
The religious complex of Coricancha was built as the crown jewel of beauty in the Inca capital city of Cuzco. It is situated at 11,150 feet above sea level in South East Peru.
Coricancha was the most sacred site in Inca religion and considered the very centre of the Inca world. The site was also known as "the Golden Enclosure" and was dedicated to the highest god, Viracocha the Creator god.
In the shadows of the Peruvian Andes, with thin air, rocky slopes, that wouldn't seem to be a likely place for the center of Inca doctrine, the Coricancha cemented the symbolic importance of religion in the task of uniting the divergent cultural practices. Anyone seeking to thrive under these conditions would need to be equipped with a tremendous capacity of success. The Incas had this capacity in abundance, and were able to tame the harsh landscapes to create the largest empire in South America before the arrival of the Europeans.
When the Inca Pachacutec, the 9th ruler, assumed the Inca throne, he began to reform the city capital of Cuzco by restructuring the street grid, which remains to this day. The construction of the complex is attributed to him. During his reign a massive conquests was made and the Inca empire went on to control an area extending from modern-day Colombia to Santiago, Chile.
The city capital, Cuzco, itself was deliberately laid out to represent a puma, and the Coricancha located in the animal's tail, was considered the holiest site of all. In typical Inca symmetry the second most important sacred site in the city was the fortress of Sacsay-Huaman, located at the head of the puma. The effective organization of the city played a large part in Pachacutec success. The lay-out of the site, as seen from above, resembled a sun with rays shining out in all directions. These were the sacred cosmic roads (ceques) of which 41 of them led to an impressive 328 sacred sites. The complex was also built where the city's two great rivers of Huantanay and Tulla-Mayo met.
The Coricancha was constructed using the Inca's distinctive masonry style. The massive walls of the complex were built from large stone blocks finely cut and fitted together without mortar. The large curved Western wall is particularly noted for its form and elegant, regular masonry. Most walls also leaned slightly inwards as they rose in height. Many trapezoid doorways and windows allowed access and light to enter the interior spaces and a broad band of gold was added mid-way height around the walls.
The interior buildings were of one floor and had thatched roofs. It consisted of 4 main chambers, each connected to a different entity: moon, stars, thunder, and rainbows. The doors were covered in gold sheets, as were the interiors and exteriors and the inner side of the perimeter wall that was even said to have been studded with precious stones especially emeralds. Almost all was filled with a great quantity of gold, with one chamber containing a giant sun disc, reflecting the sunlight that illuminated the rest of the temple. The disc was aligned so that during the summer solstice it illuminated a sacred space where only the emperor himself was allowed to enter and sit in there.
The location of the temple within the city was very important. It was placed at the convergence of the 4 main highways and connected to the 4 cardinal points of the empire through the 4 quarters that formed the body of the land named "Tahuantinsuyo," meaning 'the land of the 4 quarters."
The Coricancha housed more than 4,000 priests, and the position of the temple in relation to the nearby Andean mountains meant that the temple functioned as an enormous calendar. Shadows were cast by stones, placed on the foothills of the temple, marking out the solstice and equinoxes. The observation marked a very important religious celebration.
When the Europeans arrived, after taking Cuzco, and declaring the city their center of operations, they demolished most of the upper part of Coricancha melting down its gold plating and its sculptures sent back to Europe. The Europeans then, using the same stone foundations, built a cathedral on the site. Centuries later, an earthquake in 1950 completely destroyed the cathedral but left the stone foundations of the temple intact. The cathedral has been rebuilt since then on top of the same Inca foundation and while visitors are prohibited from climbing on the original temple walls, they have the freedom to roam on the grounds of the temple site. The golden sun disk has been replaced by sunbathers.
Today, Coricancha still has an important place in the city, however, modern Cuzco has expanded greatly so that the original puma design in nearly impossible to make out.
The clever design of the Coricancha golden temple is the centre-piece of an empire that revolutionized city planning in South America.
Coricancha was the most sacred site in Inca religion and considered the very centre of the Inca world. The site was also known as "the Golden Enclosure" and was dedicated to the highest god, Viracocha the Creator god.
In the shadows of the Peruvian Andes, with thin air, rocky slopes, that wouldn't seem to be a likely place for the center of Inca doctrine, the Coricancha cemented the symbolic importance of religion in the task of uniting the divergent cultural practices. Anyone seeking to thrive under these conditions would need to be equipped with a tremendous capacity of success. The Incas had this capacity in abundance, and were able to tame the harsh landscapes to create the largest empire in South America before the arrival of the Europeans.
When the Inca Pachacutec, the 9th ruler, assumed the Inca throne, he began to reform the city capital of Cuzco by restructuring the street grid, which remains to this day. The construction of the complex is attributed to him. During his reign a massive conquests was made and the Inca empire went on to control an area extending from modern-day Colombia to Santiago, Chile.
The city capital, Cuzco, itself was deliberately laid out to represent a puma, and the Coricancha located in the animal's tail, was considered the holiest site of all. In typical Inca symmetry the second most important sacred site in the city was the fortress of Sacsay-Huaman, located at the head of the puma. The effective organization of the city played a large part in Pachacutec success. The lay-out of the site, as seen from above, resembled a sun with rays shining out in all directions. These were the sacred cosmic roads (ceques) of which 41 of them led to an impressive 328 sacred sites. The complex was also built where the city's two great rivers of Huantanay and Tulla-Mayo met.
The Coricancha was constructed using the Inca's distinctive masonry style. The massive walls of the complex were built from large stone blocks finely cut and fitted together without mortar. The large curved Western wall is particularly noted for its form and elegant, regular masonry. Most walls also leaned slightly inwards as they rose in height. Many trapezoid doorways and windows allowed access and light to enter the interior spaces and a broad band of gold was added mid-way height around the walls.
The interior buildings were of one floor and had thatched roofs. It consisted of 4 main chambers, each connected to a different entity: moon, stars, thunder, and rainbows. The doors were covered in gold sheets, as were the interiors and exteriors and the inner side of the perimeter wall that was even said to have been studded with precious stones especially emeralds. Almost all was filled with a great quantity of gold, with one chamber containing a giant sun disc, reflecting the sunlight that illuminated the rest of the temple. The disc was aligned so that during the summer solstice it illuminated a sacred space where only the emperor himself was allowed to enter and sit in there.
The location of the temple within the city was very important. It was placed at the convergence of the 4 main highways and connected to the 4 cardinal points of the empire through the 4 quarters that formed the body of the land named "Tahuantinsuyo," meaning 'the land of the 4 quarters."
The Coricancha housed more than 4,000 priests, and the position of the temple in relation to the nearby Andean mountains meant that the temple functioned as an enormous calendar. Shadows were cast by stones, placed on the foothills of the temple, marking out the solstice and equinoxes. The observation marked a very important religious celebration.
When the Europeans arrived, after taking Cuzco, and declaring the city their center of operations, they demolished most of the upper part of Coricancha melting down its gold plating and its sculptures sent back to Europe. The Europeans then, using the same stone foundations, built a cathedral on the site. Centuries later, an earthquake in 1950 completely destroyed the cathedral but left the stone foundations of the temple intact. The cathedral has been rebuilt since then on top of the same Inca foundation and while visitors are prohibited from climbing on the original temple walls, they have the freedom to roam on the grounds of the temple site. The golden sun disk has been replaced by sunbathers.
Today, Coricancha still has an important place in the city, however, modern Cuzco has expanded greatly so that the original puma design in nearly impossible to make out.
The clever design of the Coricancha golden temple is the centre-piece of an empire that revolutionized city planning in South America.
THE MYTH OF THE INCA ORIGIN.
The Incas tied their mythic origins to a place called the "Inn" or "the House of the Dawn" located near Pacari-Tambo and their authority to their mythological associations to "the Island of the Sun" in Lake Titicaca.
Pacari-Tambo refers to a village of the same name located 26 kilometers South of Cuzco.
The Inca are said to have emerged from one of the 3 caves or windows from a nearby mountain named "Tampu-Toco"(House of Openings or Windows).
The original Inca consisted of 4 pairs of siblings or spouses. The first ancestral spouses to emerge from the "central window" called "rich window" were Ayar Cachi and Mama Huaco.
The name Ayar Cachi means "ancestor salt." Salt (cachi), the spice of sea-water and at the same time the bottom of Lake Titicaca (the top is fresh water), harbors symbolic connotations to water fluidity and the circulation of underground water or subterranean water, as is widely conceptualized among the people of the Andes.
Through the underground passages the mythological ancestors descended into from the Island of the Sun in Lake Titicaca to Pacari-Tambo, both were part of a subterranean water system. On reaching the valley, they went to the top of a sacred hill called Huana-Cauri. There Ayar Cachi took out his sling and hurled sling stones in 4 directions, and they struck so hard they knocked down the surrounding hills, creating ravines.
The sling stones were not perceived as weapons, but as a symbolic way to represent the mythological creation of the Valley of Cuzco.
The Inca linked their mythology to the world of the heavens, in that realm the Inca perceived Viracocha the Creator god as a man made up of stars with a sling in his right hand and dressed in shining garments who gave off lightnings when He whirled his sling or wanted rain.
Lightning associations to later veneration of Viracocha the Creator god, appear to have been absorbed from the earlier religious beliefs and rituals related to the Gate Way or Staff God, of Tiahuanaco and Wari civilizations. To the Incas, lightening was the major divine force in the heaven realm, it was believed to control thunder and, by extension, all climatic forces, particularly rain, hail, and rainbows.
The so-called "Warrior relief" below and surrounding the image of the weather and sky related deity Thunupa, has been found to record various celestial cycles. It appears to be that the natural world exists in multiple temporal cycles, some tied to an annual subsistence round and others to the periodicity of cosmological cycles. Thus multiple modes of a historical and mythological past are real and in that they coexist and continually contribute to the ongoing process of life.
Pacari-Tambo refers to a village of the same name located 26 kilometers South of Cuzco.
The Inca are said to have emerged from one of the 3 caves or windows from a nearby mountain named "Tampu-Toco"(House of Openings or Windows).
The original Inca consisted of 4 pairs of siblings or spouses. The first ancestral spouses to emerge from the "central window" called "rich window" were Ayar Cachi and Mama Huaco.
The name Ayar Cachi means "ancestor salt." Salt (cachi), the spice of sea-water and at the same time the bottom of Lake Titicaca (the top is fresh water), harbors symbolic connotations to water fluidity and the circulation of underground water or subterranean water, as is widely conceptualized among the people of the Andes.
Through the underground passages the mythological ancestors descended into from the Island of the Sun in Lake Titicaca to Pacari-Tambo, both were part of a subterranean water system. On reaching the valley, they went to the top of a sacred hill called Huana-Cauri. There Ayar Cachi took out his sling and hurled sling stones in 4 directions, and they struck so hard they knocked down the surrounding hills, creating ravines.
The sling stones were not perceived as weapons, but as a symbolic way to represent the mythological creation of the Valley of Cuzco.
The Inca linked their mythology to the world of the heavens, in that realm the Inca perceived Viracocha the Creator god as a man made up of stars with a sling in his right hand and dressed in shining garments who gave off lightnings when He whirled his sling or wanted rain.
Lightning associations to later veneration of Viracocha the Creator god, appear to have been absorbed from the earlier religious beliefs and rituals related to the Gate Way or Staff God, of Tiahuanaco and Wari civilizations. To the Incas, lightening was the major divine force in the heaven realm, it was believed to control thunder and, by extension, all climatic forces, particularly rain, hail, and rainbows.
The so-called "Warrior relief" below and surrounding the image of the weather and sky related deity Thunupa, has been found to record various celestial cycles. It appears to be that the natural world exists in multiple temporal cycles, some tied to an annual subsistence round and others to the periodicity of cosmological cycles. Thus multiple modes of a historical and mythological past are real and in that they coexist and continually contribute to the ongoing process of life.
Tuesday, January 16, 2018
THE INCA's EQUILIBRIUM.
For the inhabitants of the Andean region of today, in order to maintain peace, they have to maintain a careful equilibrium between themselves and the surrounding environment and continue to established principle of exchange among the neighboring communities and cultures.
This concern for equilibrium is carried over into the view that Incas had about the universal forces controlling the balance of the whole world in its three dimensions: upper, middle and lower regions.
According to this view, the universe is held in balance by opposing forces of existence and nonexistence. Existence symbolizes the struggle for the stability of matter, while nonexistence deals with the disintegration of that same matter. A mere equilibrium, however, cause only a static universe. The Incas strived for an animated cosmos and they achieved this with a system of exchange. This combination of equilibrium and exchange is expressed by the Quechua word 'anyi', meaning 'balance and reciprosity,' According to this Inca knowledge the whole universe was understood as 'anyi.'
Through these elaborated concepts in their religion, the Incas were able to define the basic divisions of the universe, maintain them in harmony, and establish a means of exchange among them.
Another aspect of these equilibrium was the male and female relationship of forces. In a drawing of the universe by an inhabitant of the Andean mountains, the man and the woman standing in the middle of the design constitute the focal point of the diagram. It illustrates the centrality of humans to the cosmos and the essentiality of both sexes as complementary forces. Moreover, the upright figures symbolize a bridge between the earth and the sky. According to the Incas, the human body was believed as an axis through which the power of life can flow.
The Incas established their empire, Tahuantinsuyo, following these principles. The Quechua name means "the land of the 4 quarters": Chinchay-Suyo to the North, Colla-Suyo to the South, Anti-Suyo to the East, and Conti-Suyo to the West. At the center of the four quarters was Cuzco, the capital, with the Inca ruler and the temple Coricancha. From Cuzco four roads led toward each of the quarters.
These roads had a religious significance that went far beyond their value as means of communication.
They marked relevant astronomical phenomena with natural features along the horizon. Lightning had an important significance with reference to the celestial real. The 'ceque' system or divine roads were astronomically aligned and marked solar and lunar passage, the cycles of Venus, and the lunar calendar of 328 days based on 12 month-cycle.The rainy and dry seasons were also related to the position of the Milky Way, while periods or phases of the moon with respect to the position of the sun determined the planting of the crops. Therefore the structural and organizational properties that were projected into the sky resulted in a systematic integration of celestial bodies and cycles and hence their integration into the overall Inca equilibrium.
The Inca empire therefore was set up to reflect this equilibrium and balance of the heavenly sphere that played a central role to them. At its center stood the temple Coricancha, the shrine to the Creator of all things (Viracocha) underlying the principle of bringing balance and harmony to the world.
Monday, January 15, 2018
THE INCA WAY OF CONTROL.
The Incas were very successful in creating a religious state with a perfectly and quite simple pattern: a vast empire that functioned like one immense body of people among many in the long and wide Highlands of the Central Andes.
Cosmology and the human body were deeply interrelated in Inca's beliefs, according to the symbolic systems derived from this interrelationship. They perceived the gift of life as an association of patterns connected in a way with the ones in which the universe functioned.
After a period of unification and conquest of about 4 centuries, every man, woman, and child, living in the land, had a place to live and the knowledge to perform the steps they needed to take or perform in order to maintain the pattern and rhythm of the whole body.
The Incas were able to build an empire extending over 4,300 kilometers along the Andes from present-day Southern Colombia to Northern Chile and Argentina, and encompassing a population of approximately ten million.
The Incas exercised control over their vast territory by extending the Andean practice of reciprocity of goods and services among individuals and communities throughout the land. As long as they fulfilled their obligations with regard to the state religion, the subjects were free to retain their local beliefs. In fact, Inca religion, like Inca government, developed from long-standing Andean traditions.
The Inca believed that the human body was the mediator of cosmic structures and processes through its own structures and processes. Also the human life cycle and the agricultural life cycle were observed deeply and studied and then carefully followed because their survival depended on the harmony between the universal forces acting in each of its regions (Upper, Middle, Under, worlds). The Inca myths and rituals both expressed and enacted this corporeal and cosmic order.
The Inca Empire as a body was called Tahuantinsuyo (Four Quarters). It was divided into 4 regions, each one governed by a designated individual trained in all the crafts and knowledge of the religion law, then a descending series of officials were in charge down to the level of a kin group of individuals holding a piece of land in common. The land was treated as a property of nature and whoever was in charge had to guard the proper use of it. At the head of the empire was the Sapa Inca who was held to be the mediator between the 3 levels of existence (heaven, earth and the underworld).
The Inca ruled from the city of Cuzco (Peru), the administrative and religious centre of the empire. All the sons of local leaders from throughout the empire were sent there to be instructed in the all the arts and religion, also they needed to learn the official (Quechua) language, and the use of the quipus (a device based on knotted strings). The Incas had no writing, but kept an extensive data, from traditions to statistic stored on these recording machines (quipus).
During the reign of Huayna Capac, a bitter battle over who was to become the next Inca, as well as a devastating smallpox epidemic brought by the Europeans invaders in the 1530s threw the empire into chaos. The Europeans took advantage of the mayhem.
The civil battle for control arouse between 2 half-brothers. The one named Huascar, was the son of the Inca's wife in Cuzco, the other named Atahualpa, was the son of a concubine, daughter of a high rank official in the Northern territories. Atahualpa won the contest and killed his brother. It was a this point that the Europeans burst into the Tahuantinsuyo and captured Atahualpa through a ruse. The devastated state of the empire after the epidemic disease, and the presence of dissatisfied Inca subjects shattered the Inca pattern of survival and broke up its body. The unsatisfied ones, trying to restore harmony, helped the foreigners, which in turn they had already elaborated a deceitful plan (they only wanted to be rich). The same local people expecting to gain peace helped the foreigners to perform their plan without knowing the real craving they had. The initial Andean perception of the foreigners was that they were sent by a divine force to help them to restore the needed harmony. The outcome was that Atahualpa was tried and executed, after the foreigners collected an enormous ransom in gold for his promised release. Much of the gold from Coricancha was stripped, and despite the payment, they kill him.
The most important factor, however, was the shattering of the Inca pattern, scattering its people, and breaking up the body. Millions of men and women who had existed only as parts of a great cause , suddenly found themselves with the inability to continue the life as it was before the civil war. To act on its own, the body needed its head, and the head was captured and assassinated. The social structure which worked so well to integrate the empire into a hierarchical whole, now it is disintegrated, leaving l the Inca's subjects unequipped to deal with the nightmare of chaos, now acting through the audacity of the small group of foreigners that at the end killed the whole body.
The Andean people confronted a radically different image of life. While the conquerors destroyed the Inca civilization and imposed a new culture on its former inhabitants, however, many of the Inca principles have managed to survived in the Highland of the Andes to the present day. This principles are universal and will never fade.
Cosmology and the human body were deeply interrelated in Inca's beliefs, according to the symbolic systems derived from this interrelationship. They perceived the gift of life as an association of patterns connected in a way with the ones in which the universe functioned.
After a period of unification and conquest of about 4 centuries, every man, woman, and child, living in the land, had a place to live and the knowledge to perform the steps they needed to take or perform in order to maintain the pattern and rhythm of the whole body.
The Incas were able to build an empire extending over 4,300 kilometers along the Andes from present-day Southern Colombia to Northern Chile and Argentina, and encompassing a population of approximately ten million.
The Incas exercised control over their vast territory by extending the Andean practice of reciprocity of goods and services among individuals and communities throughout the land. As long as they fulfilled their obligations with regard to the state religion, the subjects were free to retain their local beliefs. In fact, Inca religion, like Inca government, developed from long-standing Andean traditions.
The Inca believed that the human body was the mediator of cosmic structures and processes through its own structures and processes. Also the human life cycle and the agricultural life cycle were observed deeply and studied and then carefully followed because their survival depended on the harmony between the universal forces acting in each of its regions (Upper, Middle, Under, worlds). The Inca myths and rituals both expressed and enacted this corporeal and cosmic order.
The Inca Empire as a body was called Tahuantinsuyo (Four Quarters). It was divided into 4 regions, each one governed by a designated individual trained in all the crafts and knowledge of the religion law, then a descending series of officials were in charge down to the level of a kin group of individuals holding a piece of land in common. The land was treated as a property of nature and whoever was in charge had to guard the proper use of it. At the head of the empire was the Sapa Inca who was held to be the mediator between the 3 levels of existence (heaven, earth and the underworld).
The Inca ruled from the city of Cuzco (Peru), the administrative and religious centre of the empire. All the sons of local leaders from throughout the empire were sent there to be instructed in the all the arts and religion, also they needed to learn the official (Quechua) language, and the use of the quipus (a device based on knotted strings). The Incas had no writing, but kept an extensive data, from traditions to statistic stored on these recording machines (quipus).
During the reign of Huayna Capac, a bitter battle over who was to become the next Inca, as well as a devastating smallpox epidemic brought by the Europeans invaders in the 1530s threw the empire into chaos. The Europeans took advantage of the mayhem.
The civil battle for control arouse between 2 half-brothers. The one named Huascar, was the son of the Inca's wife in Cuzco, the other named Atahualpa, was the son of a concubine, daughter of a high rank official in the Northern territories. Atahualpa won the contest and killed his brother. It was a this point that the Europeans burst into the Tahuantinsuyo and captured Atahualpa through a ruse. The devastated state of the empire after the epidemic disease, and the presence of dissatisfied Inca subjects shattered the Inca pattern of survival and broke up its body. The unsatisfied ones, trying to restore harmony, helped the foreigners, which in turn they had already elaborated a deceitful plan (they only wanted to be rich). The same local people expecting to gain peace helped the foreigners to perform their plan without knowing the real craving they had. The initial Andean perception of the foreigners was that they were sent by a divine force to help them to restore the needed harmony. The outcome was that Atahualpa was tried and executed, after the foreigners collected an enormous ransom in gold for his promised release. Much of the gold from Coricancha was stripped, and despite the payment, they kill him.
The most important factor, however, was the shattering of the Inca pattern, scattering its people, and breaking up the body. Millions of men and women who had existed only as parts of a great cause , suddenly found themselves with the inability to continue the life as it was before the civil war. To act on its own, the body needed its head, and the head was captured and assassinated. The social structure which worked so well to integrate the empire into a hierarchical whole, now it is disintegrated, leaving l the Inca's subjects unequipped to deal with the nightmare of chaos, now acting through the audacity of the small group of foreigners that at the end killed the whole body.
The Andean people confronted a radically different image of life. While the conquerors destroyed the Inca civilization and imposed a new culture on its former inhabitants, however, many of the Inca principles have managed to survived in the Highland of the Andes to the present day. This principles are universal and will never fade.
Saturday, January 13, 2018
THE INCA'S JOURNEY.
The Incas of Peru are one of the most remarkable admired empire of ancient civilizations. Wherever a traveler goes throughout the Andean mountains, the desert, or the jungle, the spirit of the Incas seems to be there.
Since very ancient times the Andean Mountains have been places of authority and fear, ruled by dark forces that needed to be respected and harmonized with the help of the inhabitants using the area as dwelling places. One reason for that is the value of the mountains to human existence as a spring of welfare and fertility, as the birthplace of rivers, as a place where herbs and medicinal plants grow and as a source of materials to edify houses and tools. In other words, mountains were, are and will be an intuitive feeling of connectedness with nature.
For the communities of Andean people, the 'apu' mountains spirits did not fade away following the demise of the Inca Empire, -in fact, they are very much alive. The highest mountains are still considered the most sacred places. Many modern Peruvians, especially those born and raised within the communities, still hold beliefs that date back to the Inca times. They still make offerings to the 'apus' to maintain the harmony needed in order to survive.
It was during the 15th century that the Incas undertook one of the most rapid cultural and territorial expansions ever seen. It has been difficult to date its start, for they left no written records. Two centuries later, victims of the cruelest episode of European colonial history, Inca civilization ceased to exist.
Under Francisco Pizarro's leadership, the Europeans arrived in 1532, bringing with them a devastating smallpox epidemic that threw the empire into chaos. Before their arrival disputes over who was to become the next Inca arose between two step brothers since the one in line died from smallpox. Taking a great advantage of the situation, the foreigners captured Atahualpa, the Inca leader who crown himself the emperor after killing his brother, and executed him a year later. After fighting a number of battles bravely but in vain (including the one on which Pizarro was killed in 1541), their last leader Tupac Amaru was executed (dismembering his body in 4 opposite directions, being pulled away by 4 horses) in 1572, and the civilization effectively decimated.
Inca religion was one of the main concerns of the foreigners since their arrival to the Inca Land, and its understanding was vital to successfully win the population's mind. They observed that the Incas were a very religious people; and their religious beliefs were deeply embedded in their everyday life,everything they did had a religious meaning. Inca religion for them was a large melting pot of beliefs.
The Europeans learned the Inca language and by tricking the locals with mythological appearances, they understood the religious position of the Sapa Inca. He was believed to be the intermediary between the three levels of existence that in many ways intertwined. whatever happened in the physical world had its counterpart in the spiritual world. Also the Incas and the earlier civilizations believed in life after death, and the responsibility of every human being in treat with respect every situation brought by destiny. The foreigners exploited that belief in a very deceitful way. They took advantage of the fact that the population were submissive and through it gained a great number of locals adhered to their authority. Then, acting as saviors, they found a way to get Atahualpa apprehended.
The belief of the three levels of life experience is still alive and represented through the condor, the puma, and the snake. The condor, the world's largest bird with a wingspan of 6 to 10 feet, connects the person to its own spirit, and points the way to ultimate freedom. The puma, a black nocturnal hunter, able to hunt in deep water, rarely seen in day light, represent the manifest self, the embodiment of wisdom in daily life. The snake of the jungle represents our inner self and the ability to transform it through reflection and self-awareness. We align this trilogy in our own being in order to grow and model wisdom in this life.
In Machu Picchu, also, the trilogy of life is alive and pointed out by being symbolized in the site itself:
- First, it is bounded by 4 sacred mountains corresponding to the 4 cardinal directions of the Chacana Cross. In the saddle between North and South-facing mountains is the center of the town where most of the religious practice and rituals take place now and were done in the past. The condor represents this level.
- Second, the Urubamba River below with strong winds around the foot of the East-West, facing the mountains in a U shape, separates them from the North-South and provides the nourishing waters that brings life into the Sacred valley. The snake represents this level.
- Third, the Andean people, who live in there today and lived in the past, as a spiritual society, are devoted to maintain the harmony through love, self-knowledge, and work, in service to the fulfillment of their beliefs. The puma represents this level.
Seeing how these Andean people attempted to align nature, self and spirit with the universe, we can understand why the Europeans destroyed everything they found because of fear of being cursed by the spiritual world. Their way of understanding how the world was made of was limited and forcing to submit the Andean people to their authority diminished the spiritual nature and purpose of the Andean life to a complete different view of it.
Now, the study of Inca tradition is still possible through the customs and legends of the today Andean people. They are able to document the Inca view of the cosmos, the creation and design of it credited to Viracocha, the Creator god, as well as of time, space and the role of humankind in it.
Since very ancient times the Andean Mountains have been places of authority and fear, ruled by dark forces that needed to be respected and harmonized with the help of the inhabitants using the area as dwelling places. One reason for that is the value of the mountains to human existence as a spring of welfare and fertility, as the birthplace of rivers, as a place where herbs and medicinal plants grow and as a source of materials to edify houses and tools. In other words, mountains were, are and will be an intuitive feeling of connectedness with nature.
For the communities of Andean people, the 'apu' mountains spirits did not fade away following the demise of the Inca Empire, -in fact, they are very much alive. The highest mountains are still considered the most sacred places. Many modern Peruvians, especially those born and raised within the communities, still hold beliefs that date back to the Inca times. They still make offerings to the 'apus' to maintain the harmony needed in order to survive.
It was during the 15th century that the Incas undertook one of the most rapid cultural and territorial expansions ever seen. It has been difficult to date its start, for they left no written records. Two centuries later, victims of the cruelest episode of European colonial history, Inca civilization ceased to exist.
Under Francisco Pizarro's leadership, the Europeans arrived in 1532, bringing with them a devastating smallpox epidemic that threw the empire into chaos. Before their arrival disputes over who was to become the next Inca arose between two step brothers since the one in line died from smallpox. Taking a great advantage of the situation, the foreigners captured Atahualpa, the Inca leader who crown himself the emperor after killing his brother, and executed him a year later. After fighting a number of battles bravely but in vain (including the one on which Pizarro was killed in 1541), their last leader Tupac Amaru was executed (dismembering his body in 4 opposite directions, being pulled away by 4 horses) in 1572, and the civilization effectively decimated.
Inca religion was one of the main concerns of the foreigners since their arrival to the Inca Land, and its understanding was vital to successfully win the population's mind. They observed that the Incas were a very religious people; and their religious beliefs were deeply embedded in their everyday life,everything they did had a religious meaning. Inca religion for them was a large melting pot of beliefs.
The Europeans learned the Inca language and by tricking the locals with mythological appearances, they understood the religious position of the Sapa Inca. He was believed to be the intermediary between the three levels of existence that in many ways intertwined. whatever happened in the physical world had its counterpart in the spiritual world. Also the Incas and the earlier civilizations believed in life after death, and the responsibility of every human being in treat with respect every situation brought by destiny. The foreigners exploited that belief in a very deceitful way. They took advantage of the fact that the population were submissive and through it gained a great number of locals adhered to their authority. Then, acting as saviors, they found a way to get Atahualpa apprehended.
The belief of the three levels of life experience is still alive and represented through the condor, the puma, and the snake. The condor, the world's largest bird with a wingspan of 6 to 10 feet, connects the person to its own spirit, and points the way to ultimate freedom. The puma, a black nocturnal hunter, able to hunt in deep water, rarely seen in day light, represent the manifest self, the embodiment of wisdom in daily life. The snake of the jungle represents our inner self and the ability to transform it through reflection and self-awareness. We align this trilogy in our own being in order to grow and model wisdom in this life.
In Machu Picchu, also, the trilogy of life is alive and pointed out by being symbolized in the site itself:
- First, it is bounded by 4 sacred mountains corresponding to the 4 cardinal directions of the Chacana Cross. In the saddle between North and South-facing mountains is the center of the town where most of the religious practice and rituals take place now and were done in the past. The condor represents this level.
- Second, the Urubamba River below with strong winds around the foot of the East-West, facing the mountains in a U shape, separates them from the North-South and provides the nourishing waters that brings life into the Sacred valley. The snake represents this level.
- Third, the Andean people, who live in there today and lived in the past, as a spiritual society, are devoted to maintain the harmony through love, self-knowledge, and work, in service to the fulfillment of their beliefs. The puma represents this level.
Seeing how these Andean people attempted to align nature, self and spirit with the universe, we can understand why the Europeans destroyed everything they found because of fear of being cursed by the spiritual world. Their way of understanding how the world was made of was limited and forcing to submit the Andean people to their authority diminished the spiritual nature and purpose of the Andean life to a complete different view of it.
Now, the study of Inca tradition is still possible through the customs and legends of the today Andean people. They are able to document the Inca view of the cosmos, the creation and design of it credited to Viracocha, the Creator god, as well as of time, space and the role of humankind in it.
Saturday, January 6, 2018
THE SALT MINES OF THE ANDES.
The salt mines, known as Salinas de Maras, in the Sacred Valley, are at 3,200 meters above sea level, near the small town of Maras.
The salt mines traditionally have been available, without putting a price over it, to any inhabitant of the Andes wishing to harvest salt. The owners must be members of the community that act as guardians of the mines. The size of the salt pond assigned to a family depends on the family's size. There are many unused salt pools available to be farmed. Any prospective salt farmer need only to locate an empty and unmaintained pond, learn how to keep a pond properly within the accepted communal law, and start working as a farmer.
The mines have been a source of salt for the Andean people since very ancient times. The exposure of the extremely salty water at the surface level to the heat of the sun at that altitude level, causes the water to evaporate, leaving the crystal salt behind.
The highly salty water obtained in Maras comes from a local subterranean stream. The flow of the stream runs into a complicated system of tiny canals that are naturally channelled inside the earth after its bubbling composition of salt and water emerges to the surface at a spring that is a natural outlet of the underground stream, situated on a hill above the salt mines.
The flow then is directed into an intricate system of tiny channels constructed in a way that the water runs gradually down onto the several hundred ancient terraced ponds.
The extremely salty water now irrigates a huge number (6,000) of small and shallow salty pools strategically dug into the mountainside. All the pools are necessarily shaped into polygons with the flow of water carefully controlled and monitored by the pond's keeper. The altitude of the ponds slowly decreases, so that the water is able to flow in a controlled way through the myriad branches of water-supply canals and be introduced slowly through a notch in one side-wall of each pond.
The proper maintenance of the adjacent feeder channel, the side walls and the water-entry notch, the pond's bottom surface, the quantity of water, and the removal of accumulated salt deposits requires close cooperation among the community of users and the pond's keepers.
The salt is mined through the evaporation of the brine (mixture of salt and water) channeled into the pans, a process that has been practiced for centuries by the Andean people.
Though the salt pans themselves are man-made, the extremely salty water comes from a subterranean natural water spring which is mixed with salt deposits from prehistoric salt lakes. Over millions of years, tectonic plate movement has buried the deposits deep beneath the mountains: the salt has found its way out from the underground level by mixing itself with the natural spring of water resulting in a flow of brine (a mixture of salt and water).
As water evaporates from the sun-warmed pools, the water becomes supersaturated and salt precipitates as various size crystals onto the inner surfaces of the pond's earthen walls and on the pond's earthen floor. The pond's keeper then closes the water-feeder notch and allows the pond to go dry. Within a few days the keeper carefully scrapes the dry salt crystals from the sides and bottom of the earthen pool and place the dry crystals into a suitable vessel. When all the crystals are removed, the keeper reopens the water-supply notch, the pan is filled again with the mixture of salt and water (brine). Then the pond's keeper carries away the salt crystals. The color of the salt crystals varies from white to a light reddish or brownish tan, depending on the skill of the individual worker.
Today, 6,000 salt pans exist near Maras, and each one is no more than 13 square feet and less than 1 foot deep. Each pan is owned and mined by a local family of the Maras community, and the salt is collected and traded in local market places or nearby towns.
It is believed that the salt pans were originally designed and constructed by a civilization that predated the Inca time. However, the Inca saw the opportunity of harvesting the salt of Maras and expanded the salt pans further up the mountainside. The way of the mining process was designed by the Incas and the whole community still agreed that the cooperative system has to be maintained in the exact way that the Incas did.
The salt mines offer overwhelming view when seeing from above access road. The large amounts of salt deposits are in the middle of the Andes Mountains, known as the heart of the Andes..
The salt mines traditionally have been available, without putting a price over it, to any inhabitant of the Andes wishing to harvest salt. The owners must be members of the community that act as guardians of the mines. The size of the salt pond assigned to a family depends on the family's size. There are many unused salt pools available to be farmed. Any prospective salt farmer need only to locate an empty and unmaintained pond, learn how to keep a pond properly within the accepted communal law, and start working as a farmer.
The mines have been a source of salt for the Andean people since very ancient times. The exposure of the extremely salty water at the surface level to the heat of the sun at that altitude level, causes the water to evaporate, leaving the crystal salt behind.
The highly salty water obtained in Maras comes from a local subterranean stream. The flow of the stream runs into a complicated system of tiny canals that are naturally channelled inside the earth after its bubbling composition of salt and water emerges to the surface at a spring that is a natural outlet of the underground stream, situated on a hill above the salt mines.
The flow then is directed into an intricate system of tiny channels constructed in a way that the water runs gradually down onto the several hundred ancient terraced ponds.
The extremely salty water now irrigates a huge number (6,000) of small and shallow salty pools strategically dug into the mountainside. All the pools are necessarily shaped into polygons with the flow of water carefully controlled and monitored by the pond's keeper. The altitude of the ponds slowly decreases, so that the water is able to flow in a controlled way through the myriad branches of water-supply canals and be introduced slowly through a notch in one side-wall of each pond.
The proper maintenance of the adjacent feeder channel, the side walls and the water-entry notch, the pond's bottom surface, the quantity of water, and the removal of accumulated salt deposits requires close cooperation among the community of users and the pond's keepers.
The salt is mined through the evaporation of the brine (mixture of salt and water) channeled into the pans, a process that has been practiced for centuries by the Andean people.
Though the salt pans themselves are man-made, the extremely salty water comes from a subterranean natural water spring which is mixed with salt deposits from prehistoric salt lakes. Over millions of years, tectonic plate movement has buried the deposits deep beneath the mountains: the salt has found its way out from the underground level by mixing itself with the natural spring of water resulting in a flow of brine (a mixture of salt and water).
As water evaporates from the sun-warmed pools, the water becomes supersaturated and salt precipitates as various size crystals onto the inner surfaces of the pond's earthen walls and on the pond's earthen floor. The pond's keeper then closes the water-feeder notch and allows the pond to go dry. Within a few days the keeper carefully scrapes the dry salt crystals from the sides and bottom of the earthen pool and place the dry crystals into a suitable vessel. When all the crystals are removed, the keeper reopens the water-supply notch, the pan is filled again with the mixture of salt and water (brine). Then the pond's keeper carries away the salt crystals. The color of the salt crystals varies from white to a light reddish or brownish tan, depending on the skill of the individual worker.
Today, 6,000 salt pans exist near Maras, and each one is no more than 13 square feet and less than 1 foot deep. Each pan is owned and mined by a local family of the Maras community, and the salt is collected and traded in local market places or nearby towns.
It is believed that the salt pans were originally designed and constructed by a civilization that predated the Inca time. However, the Inca saw the opportunity of harvesting the salt of Maras and expanded the salt pans further up the mountainside. The way of the mining process was designed by the Incas and the whole community still agreed that the cooperative system has to be maintained in the exact way that the Incas did.
The salt mines offer overwhelming view when seeing from above access road. The large amounts of salt deposits are in the middle of the Andes Mountains, known as the heart of the Andes..
Friday, January 5, 2018
THE MYTH OF THE SACRED VALLEY.
The Sacred Valley stretches between the towns of Pisac and Ollantay-Tambo, North West of Cuzco, boasting a rich concentration of archaeological sites. It starts 15 km North of Cuzco and stretches about 100 kilometers between Cuzco city and Machu Picchu.
Many travelers ride the train through the Sacred Valley on a visit to the Southern Peruvian Highlands: a route that connects the city of Cuzco to Machu Picchu. The fortress of Ollantay-Tambo and the ruins of Pisac, both stand on terraced mountainsides overlooking Andean towns. The ruins at Chinchero, Maras, and Moray are also there.
Pisac is 2,715 meters above sea level, 33 kilometers North West of Cuzco. The Inca citadel and the colonial town with its traditional handicraft market are there. The impressive Inca citadel is seated on a precipituous mountain above the town. It extends to 4 kilometers. The citadel involves a ceremonial spiritual centre with the Sun Clock (Inti Watana), temples showing perfect stone masonry, several water canals, ceremonial baths, military zone, residential zone, as well as loads of Inca's tombs placed in holes on a cliff.
Ollantay-Tambo is 2,000 meters above sea level, and the last still a live Inca town. It has been continuously populated for over 700 years. Its streets are paved with cobblestones and you can see many authentic water channels all across the town. The Inca complex is surrounded by precipitous terraces that had also a protecting purpose.
Chinchero is 3,160 meters above sea level, a small town just 28 kilometers far away from Cuzco. It is surrounded by the snowy peaks of Salkantay, Soray, and Veronica. The entire site is surrounded by many Inca agricultural terraces. Beautiful textiles and handicraft are also found in their daily market.
Moray is 3,500 meters above sea level, an archaeological site 50 kilometers North West of Cuzco and just a short distance of Maras village. Many extraordinary terraces formed by circular depressions are found here. The largest of them is around 30 meters deep. The purpose was to create different temperatures that enabled to study effects of different climatic conditions on crops and after that its cultivation. For that reason, Moray is considered to be an Inca's agricultural experimental site as well as a prototype of the first green house.
The altitude and the valley topography together create vistas of striking beauty as well as distinct weather patterns characterized by warm days, cool nights, high precipitation between November and March, and dry conditions during the rest of the year.
The Urubamba/Vilcanota River runs through the valley, and its flow was thought to mimic the shape of the cosmic Milky Way. The Urubamba originates in the mountains of Puno region and its upstream is called Vilcanota, which means the "House of the Sun." The river then flows North-West for 724 kilometers and it changes its name to Urubamba in the Convencion province.
The natural history of the Sacred Valley (Urubamba Valley) is a tale of mighty glacial rivers carving through solid ground to shape one of the most environmentally diverse basins in the Andean Highlands.
From the flat floor of the fertile valley, hills and mountains climb higher and higher to elevations where snow accumulates year round. Elevations range between 2,790 meters (9,000 feet) on the valley floor to 5,000 meters (16,000 feet) and above at the highest peaks (considered the apus, or divine spirits).
Pre-Inca and Inca civilizations constructed terraces on the steep sides of the valley's hills, transforming the region into an agricultural breadbasket. The best Peruvian corn is cultivated in the valley.
The Incas later used the valley as a religious center and an agrarian laboratory to experiment with crops imported from the distance regions of the empire at different altitudes. Almost everywhere we look there are ancient agricultural terraces, some of them still in use. It is a constant reminder that people have lived and thrived in this valley for a very long time.
The Sacred Valley is considered "sacred"because of the number of worshiping sites concentrated therein and for its central importance in the economies of past and present populations. Today it is home to more than 65,000 permanent inhabitants grouped into rural andean communities, making 10% of Cuzco's total regional population.
The Quechua communities in the Sacred Valley continue to be the guardians of centuries-old practices. In food, dress, music, dance, myth and legends, they preserve the ancient rites and customs that provide a link between the ancient history of the valley and the contemporary life in the Andes.
Many travelers ride the train through the Sacred Valley on a visit to the Southern Peruvian Highlands: a route that connects the city of Cuzco to Machu Picchu. The fortress of Ollantay-Tambo and the ruins of Pisac, both stand on terraced mountainsides overlooking Andean towns. The ruins at Chinchero, Maras, and Moray are also there.
Pisac is 2,715 meters above sea level, 33 kilometers North West of Cuzco. The Inca citadel and the colonial town with its traditional handicraft market are there. The impressive Inca citadel is seated on a precipituous mountain above the town. It extends to 4 kilometers. The citadel involves a ceremonial spiritual centre with the Sun Clock (Inti Watana), temples showing perfect stone masonry, several water canals, ceremonial baths, military zone, residential zone, as well as loads of Inca's tombs placed in holes on a cliff.
Ollantay-Tambo is 2,000 meters above sea level, and the last still a live Inca town. It has been continuously populated for over 700 years. Its streets are paved with cobblestones and you can see many authentic water channels all across the town. The Inca complex is surrounded by precipitous terraces that had also a protecting purpose.
Chinchero is 3,160 meters above sea level, a small town just 28 kilometers far away from Cuzco. It is surrounded by the snowy peaks of Salkantay, Soray, and Veronica. The entire site is surrounded by many Inca agricultural terraces. Beautiful textiles and handicraft are also found in their daily market.
Moray is 3,500 meters above sea level, an archaeological site 50 kilometers North West of Cuzco and just a short distance of Maras village. Many extraordinary terraces formed by circular depressions are found here. The largest of them is around 30 meters deep. The purpose was to create different temperatures that enabled to study effects of different climatic conditions on crops and after that its cultivation. For that reason, Moray is considered to be an Inca's agricultural experimental site as well as a prototype of the first green house.
The altitude and the valley topography together create vistas of striking beauty as well as distinct weather patterns characterized by warm days, cool nights, high precipitation between November and March, and dry conditions during the rest of the year.
The Urubamba/Vilcanota River runs through the valley, and its flow was thought to mimic the shape of the cosmic Milky Way. The Urubamba originates in the mountains of Puno region and its upstream is called Vilcanota, which means the "House of the Sun." The river then flows North-West for 724 kilometers and it changes its name to Urubamba in the Convencion province.
The natural history of the Sacred Valley (Urubamba Valley) is a tale of mighty glacial rivers carving through solid ground to shape one of the most environmentally diverse basins in the Andean Highlands.
From the flat floor of the fertile valley, hills and mountains climb higher and higher to elevations where snow accumulates year round. Elevations range between 2,790 meters (9,000 feet) on the valley floor to 5,000 meters (16,000 feet) and above at the highest peaks (considered the apus, or divine spirits).
Pre-Inca and Inca civilizations constructed terraces on the steep sides of the valley's hills, transforming the region into an agricultural breadbasket. The best Peruvian corn is cultivated in the valley.
The Incas later used the valley as a religious center and an agrarian laboratory to experiment with crops imported from the distance regions of the empire at different altitudes. Almost everywhere we look there are ancient agricultural terraces, some of them still in use. It is a constant reminder that people have lived and thrived in this valley for a very long time.
The Sacred Valley is considered "sacred"because of the number of worshiping sites concentrated therein and for its central importance in the economies of past and present populations. Today it is home to more than 65,000 permanent inhabitants grouped into rural andean communities, making 10% of Cuzco's total regional population.
The Quechua communities in the Sacred Valley continue to be the guardians of centuries-old practices. In food, dress, music, dance, myth and legends, they preserve the ancient rites and customs that provide a link between the ancient history of the valley and the contemporary life in the Andes.
Thursday, January 4, 2018
THE ANDEAN CROSS.
The ancient Incas, wise ancestors of modern Andean people, were living in harmony with all life that surrounded them. They believed that all living creatures had their energy and consciousness unable to be measured or estimated by any means, and it was necessary to accept and respect all of them as a part of the whole process of existence.
Traveling through this very religious community of people, the Andean people, we are sure to hear a lot of stories, legends, and myths, told by locals about three worlds, three levels of consciousness, which are represented by an ancient Andean Cross, a sign called Chakana.
The Andean Cross symbolizes three universes: the underground world of the dead ancestors; the earthly world of the present, here and now; the heavenly abode of the gods.
The inverted lower level symbolizes the kingdom of the dead, as well as the depths of the earth, the place where everything originates: rivers, trees, mountains, and caves.
The Incas believed that death was not the end but rather the beginning of a new cycle. Their ancestors past to them the belief that time is non-linear, and everything is governed by its cycle that ends and begins again.
Each of the three levels of the Andean Cross is represented by a sacred animal:
-The first level is represented by a Snake. The ancient Incas believed that in the way the snake changes its skin, when a person is dying, he/she is just exchanged his/her body to a new one. Also, in the same way as a snake changes its skin and as a result of that process every year becomes more mature and wise, we shall try to recognize our dark side and find answers to the most difficult questions, and grow wiser by changing our old ways to new ways of thinking.
-The second level is the habitat of the living people, in which everything is interconnected: humans, animals, and nature. Everything has its own energy and humans must take care of it by living in harmony with nature and with other living beings, since the time in this level is only a temporary passer-by in which he/she comes and then goes back home. This level is represented by a Puma, the master of the Amazon and the snow-capped mountain peaks, able to dive underwater and then climb up to the highest mountains. The animal possesses a thick skin allowing its body to live in its natural environment remaining nearly invisible. His sight and hearing and keen sense of smell is extremely developed. It is well versed in the wild thanks the long tail that keeps the animal balance easy to maintain, moving its body smoothly and almost silently. Thanks to these characteristics, Puma became revered among pre-Inca and Inca civilizations. The animal was perceived as a mythical creature, linking the underworld, the world of the living, and the upper world all together. It was believed that a resident of the Andes had a life purpose and that was to reach the state when he/she is equal to Puma. It means able to adapt to different environmental and harshly living conditions, to become invisible to wild animals, to be strong, courageous and determined to go to a new cycle, a new level of existence.
-The third level is the realm inhabited by the deities, the most esteemed, after the supreme god Vira'Cocha. The supreme god was worshipped as a loving father giving life to everything, as a protector , and as the source of the energy that give life-impulse and life-giving fire. This level is represented by a huge Condor bird, which has three-meter wingspan, lives very high up on the rocks in the Andes mountains and contemplates everything from the high above. It symbolizes Air, and its wings and feathers -climbing to freedom. The Condor carries the spirit of a dead person to heaven, the Upper World, and is a messenger of the gods. To achieve the status of a Condor, a person must change himself/herself, to give up his/her old mentality, change himself/herself like the Condor does when the bird painfully looses all its feathers and grow new ones, to achieve wisdom and stability, then the way home will be opened for him/her.
Traveling through this very religious community of people, the Andean people, we are sure to hear a lot of stories, legends, and myths, told by locals about three worlds, three levels of consciousness, which are represented by an ancient Andean Cross, a sign called Chakana.
The Andean Cross symbolizes three universes: the underground world of the dead ancestors; the earthly world of the present, here and now; the heavenly abode of the gods.
The inverted lower level symbolizes the kingdom of the dead, as well as the depths of the earth, the place where everything originates: rivers, trees, mountains, and caves.
The Incas believed that death was not the end but rather the beginning of a new cycle. Their ancestors past to them the belief that time is non-linear, and everything is governed by its cycle that ends and begins again.
Each of the three levels of the Andean Cross is represented by a sacred animal:
-The first level is represented by a Snake. The ancient Incas believed that in the way the snake changes its skin, when a person is dying, he/she is just exchanged his/her body to a new one. Also, in the same way as a snake changes its skin and as a result of that process every year becomes more mature and wise, we shall try to recognize our dark side and find answers to the most difficult questions, and grow wiser by changing our old ways to new ways of thinking.
-The second level is the habitat of the living people, in which everything is interconnected: humans, animals, and nature. Everything has its own energy and humans must take care of it by living in harmony with nature and with other living beings, since the time in this level is only a temporary passer-by in which he/she comes and then goes back home. This level is represented by a Puma, the master of the Amazon and the snow-capped mountain peaks, able to dive underwater and then climb up to the highest mountains. The animal possesses a thick skin allowing its body to live in its natural environment remaining nearly invisible. His sight and hearing and keen sense of smell is extremely developed. It is well versed in the wild thanks the long tail that keeps the animal balance easy to maintain, moving its body smoothly and almost silently. Thanks to these characteristics, Puma became revered among pre-Inca and Inca civilizations. The animal was perceived as a mythical creature, linking the underworld, the world of the living, and the upper world all together. It was believed that a resident of the Andes had a life purpose and that was to reach the state when he/she is equal to Puma. It means able to adapt to different environmental and harshly living conditions, to become invisible to wild animals, to be strong, courageous and determined to go to a new cycle, a new level of existence.
-The third level is the realm inhabited by the deities, the most esteemed, after the supreme god Vira'Cocha. The supreme god was worshipped as a loving father giving life to everything, as a protector , and as the source of the energy that give life-impulse and life-giving fire. This level is represented by a huge Condor bird, which has three-meter wingspan, lives very high up on the rocks in the Andes mountains and contemplates everything from the high above. It symbolizes Air, and its wings and feathers -climbing to freedom. The Condor carries the spirit of a dead person to heaven, the Upper World, and is a messenger of the gods. To achieve the status of a Condor, a person must change himself/herself, to give up his/her old mentality, change himself/herself like the Condor does when the bird painfully looses all its feathers and grow new ones, to achieve wisdom and stability, then the way home will be opened for him/her.
EXISTENCE ACCORDING TO THE INCAS.
The Incas believed in 3 distinct planes of existence, interconnected and bridged by physical and spiritual elements. The 3 planes were not solely spatial, but were simultaneously spatial and temporal, and together, they shaped the existence of everything.
Although the universe was considered a unified system in the Andean thought, the division between the Worlds was part of the complementary dualism prominent in their beliefs, known as Yanantin. Andean people believes that union of opposing yet interdependent energies are the complement of difference, because it doesn't focus on the differences since that is what disconnects them. Instead, the focus is on the qualities that the 2 energies bring together. They are seen as complementary energies. One on its own can't hold everything or take care of everything. Not only they are considered great together, but they need to be together. There is no other way since the union represents extra strength for both.
The philosophy behind is the view of the opposites of existence, such as male/female, dark/light, hot/cold, positive/negative, inner/outer, .. as interdependent and essential parts of a harmonious whole.
Because existence itself is believed to be dependent upon the tension and balanced interchange between the polarities, there is a very definite ideological and practical commitment within day-to-day life to bringing the seemingly conflicting opposites into harmony with one another without destroying or altering either one.
The relationship of opposites as a harmonious partnership is considered the primary organizing principle of creation, all aspects of social and spiritual life within the Andean World is based on it.
It is essential because it involves relationship, alliance, meeting, and unity between 2 beings.
In order to be whole, one has to pair up. It is persistently distinguish to the Andean people, energies which are not well matched or equal. The act of rendering equal two things that were once unequal is called "the correction of inequalities." Un-partnered forces or energies are missing an important part of them. They are only half of a being. Alone it still is precious and unique but it is only part of a whole. This is because when the energy is by itself, it is either accumulating so much that is overwhelming or it is draining itself so much that it becomes weak. In human beings, the person will feel fear, or be confused or lost. They will believe they may know themselves, but they can never see themselves. For that you need another person, other eyes, another perspective to see that. During the childhood the person has the parents, but when he/she becomes older, the parents are not longer there to see them, to recognize them. As an adult, your complementary partner is the person who is there to see what you do not see in yourself, just as he/she is there to see in that partner what he/she does not see in themselves.
It is implied then that a perfect union of two opposites is achieved when the two energies are brought into harmony. The elements to be paired must first be pared or harmonized to achieve the perfect fit, that is the sharing of boundaries in order to create a harmonious co-existence in order to create, recreate and procreate.
While the 3 planes of existence had defined boundaries, it was believed, there were many connections passing between them as well as conceptual temporal correlations between past, present , and future.
The gods themselves were also not bound to one particular plane or realm. Vira'Cocha, for example, a creator god in both pre-Inca and Inca religion, roamed the heavens having first risen from the depths of Lake Titicaca (as a link to the World below). He also traveled within the realm of man (the World of the living), disguised as a beggar.
Caves and springs serve as connections between the Inner World (Ukhu Pacha) and the Men World (Kay Pacha). The Inner World was associated with dead as well as with new life. As the reaml of new life , it is associated with harvesting. As the realm associated with dead, it is inhabited by a group of demons which torment the living. Human disruption with the Inner World were considered a sacred matter and ceremonies and rituals were often associated with disturbances of the surface. Rituals often brought food, drink, and other comforts to cave openings for the spirits of the ancestors. Mining was considered a perturbation of subterranean life and the spirits that ruled it; they yielded to a deeper and riskier sacredness. In order to insure that the perturbation did not cause evil energies be spread into the World of the Living, especially the ones inside the mines which could be possessed by those evil spirits, the whole population offered sacrifices to the demons in order to appease them.
Rainbows and lightning serve as connections between the Upper World (Hanan Pacha) and the Men World (Kay Pacha). Human spirits after death could inhabit any of the levels of existence. Some would remain in the Men World (Kay Pacha) until they had finished business, while others might move to the other levels.
The word Pacha is often translated as "World" in Quechua, but the concept also includes a temporal context of existence and meaning. It may refer to the whole cosmos or to a specific moment in time.
The levels of existence overlap and interact depending on the context, presenting both material order and a moral order.
The most significant connection between the different levels of existence was at "Pacha' Cutec" meaning "cataclysm." These were the instances when the different levels of existence would all impact one another transforming the entire order of the World.
Although the universe was considered a unified system in the Andean thought, the division between the Worlds was part of the complementary dualism prominent in their beliefs, known as Yanantin. Andean people believes that union of opposing yet interdependent energies are the complement of difference, because it doesn't focus on the differences since that is what disconnects them. Instead, the focus is on the qualities that the 2 energies bring together. They are seen as complementary energies. One on its own can't hold everything or take care of everything. Not only they are considered great together, but they need to be together. There is no other way since the union represents extra strength for both.
The philosophy behind is the view of the opposites of existence, such as male/female, dark/light, hot/cold, positive/negative, inner/outer, .. as interdependent and essential parts of a harmonious whole.
Because existence itself is believed to be dependent upon the tension and balanced interchange between the polarities, there is a very definite ideological and practical commitment within day-to-day life to bringing the seemingly conflicting opposites into harmony with one another without destroying or altering either one.
The relationship of opposites as a harmonious partnership is considered the primary organizing principle of creation, all aspects of social and spiritual life within the Andean World is based on it.
It is essential because it involves relationship, alliance, meeting, and unity between 2 beings.
In order to be whole, one has to pair up. It is persistently distinguish to the Andean people, energies which are not well matched or equal. The act of rendering equal two things that were once unequal is called "the correction of inequalities." Un-partnered forces or energies are missing an important part of them. They are only half of a being. Alone it still is precious and unique but it is only part of a whole. This is because when the energy is by itself, it is either accumulating so much that is overwhelming or it is draining itself so much that it becomes weak. In human beings, the person will feel fear, or be confused or lost. They will believe they may know themselves, but they can never see themselves. For that you need another person, other eyes, another perspective to see that. During the childhood the person has the parents, but when he/she becomes older, the parents are not longer there to see them, to recognize them. As an adult, your complementary partner is the person who is there to see what you do not see in yourself, just as he/she is there to see in that partner what he/she does not see in themselves.
It is implied then that a perfect union of two opposites is achieved when the two energies are brought into harmony. The elements to be paired must first be pared or harmonized to achieve the perfect fit, that is the sharing of boundaries in order to create a harmonious co-existence in order to create, recreate and procreate.
While the 3 planes of existence had defined boundaries, it was believed, there were many connections passing between them as well as conceptual temporal correlations between past, present , and future.
The gods themselves were also not bound to one particular plane or realm. Vira'Cocha, for example, a creator god in both pre-Inca and Inca religion, roamed the heavens having first risen from the depths of Lake Titicaca (as a link to the World below). He also traveled within the realm of man (the World of the living), disguised as a beggar.
Caves and springs serve as connections between the Inner World (Ukhu Pacha) and the Men World (Kay Pacha). The Inner World was associated with dead as well as with new life. As the reaml of new life , it is associated with harvesting. As the realm associated with dead, it is inhabited by a group of demons which torment the living. Human disruption with the Inner World were considered a sacred matter and ceremonies and rituals were often associated with disturbances of the surface. Rituals often brought food, drink, and other comforts to cave openings for the spirits of the ancestors. Mining was considered a perturbation of subterranean life and the spirits that ruled it; they yielded to a deeper and riskier sacredness. In order to insure that the perturbation did not cause evil energies be spread into the World of the Living, especially the ones inside the mines which could be possessed by those evil spirits, the whole population offered sacrifices to the demons in order to appease them.
Rainbows and lightning serve as connections between the Upper World (Hanan Pacha) and the Men World (Kay Pacha). Human spirits after death could inhabit any of the levels of existence. Some would remain in the Men World (Kay Pacha) until they had finished business, while others might move to the other levels.
The word Pacha is often translated as "World" in Quechua, but the concept also includes a temporal context of existence and meaning. It may refer to the whole cosmos or to a specific moment in time.
The levels of existence overlap and interact depending on the context, presenting both material order and a moral order.
The most significant connection between the different levels of existence was at "Pacha' Cutec" meaning "cataclysm." These were the instances when the different levels of existence would all impact one another transforming the entire order of the World.
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