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.