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.