There is no single creation story among Andean peoples. Some tales hold that the Earth was created by the Most Powerful of the Gods of the Spirit World, others that particular and powerful entities were created by the Most Powerful of the Gods to be in charge of His House.
There was a time when everything was still, and all was dark. There was no life, no death.
All the spirits of the earth were asleep -or almost all, and the earth was a bare plain. The spirits of the sun, moon, and the stars slept beneath the earth. All the eternal ancestors slept there, too.
The great Father of All Spirits was the only one awake. Gently he awoke the spirit of the Cosmic Sun Mother. As she opened her eyes a warm ray of light spread out towards the sleeping earth.
The Father of All Spirits said to the Cosmic Sun Mother, "Mother, I have work for you. Go down the Earth plane and awake the sleeping spirits of the eternal ancestors, and give them forms." They woke themselves out of their own eternity and broke through to the surface and wandered the earth plane waiting for the Cosmic Sun Mother.
The Cosmic Sun Mother glided down to Earth plane, which was bare at that time and began to walk in all directions and everywhere she walked spirited plants grew. After returning to the field where she had begun her work the Cosmic Sun Mother rested, well pleased with herself.
The Father of All Spirits came and saw her work, but instructed her to go into the caves and wake the spirits that were sleeping inside them. This time the Cosmic Sun Mother ventured into the dark caves on the mountainsides, created in the spirited world. The bright light that radiated from her awoke the spirits and after she left insects of all kinds flew out of the caves. The Cosmic Sun Mother sat down and watched the glorious sight of her insects mingling with her flowers, having a mind on their own.
However once again the Father of All the Spirits urged her on. This time the Cosmic Sun Mother ventured into a very deep cave, spreading her light around her spirit. Heat from the Mother melted the ice and the rivers and streams of the Cosmic World were created.
Then the Cosmic Sun Mother created the cosmic minds of fish and small snakes, lizards and frogs. Then she awoke the cosmic spirits of the birds and animals and they burst into the sunshine in a glorious array of colors to mingle with the cosmic minds of the ones already created by her.
Seeing this the Father of All Spirits was pleased with the Cosmic Sun Mother's work. She called all her creatures to her and instructed them to enjoy the wealth of the earth plane and to live peacefully with one another. Then she rose into the sky and became the celestial Sun.
The living creatures watched the Sun in awe as she crept across the sky, towards the West. However when she finally sunk beneath the horizon they were panic-stricken, thinking she had deserted them.
All night they stood frozen in their places, thinking that the end of time had come. After what seemed to them a lifetime the Sun Mother peeked her head above the horizon in the East. Their children learned to expect her coming and going in the seasonal cycle's she formed, and were no longer afraid.
At first the children lived together peaceful, in complete harmony, but eventually envy crept into their spirited hearts. They began to argue and, harmony was broken forming two opposed natures in the Cosmical World.
Darkness appeared again and engulfed everything but the powerful Light from the Cosmic Sun Mother prevailed in the heart of all the children that loved the time of peace and harmony that they once had.
The duality of the cosmic forces were born due to the conflict and formed itself two entities , the one with the Light and the other with the rebellious Darkness.
The spirits in the earth plane mutated into half animal and half plant entities, and were shapeless bundles, vague and unfinished, not able to settle, lying near where water holes and salt lakes could be created. Their mind force were able to adopt a complete tree form, sometimes human shape, sometimes as part animal and human, and sometimes as part human and plant.
The Sun Mother was forced to come down from her home in the sky to mediate in the laws now controlling the middle plane, the earth, since the upper plane was the domain of the cosmic forces, and the lower plane, the domain of the rebellious forces.
She then agreed to have an agreement between the earth's plane and the forces governing the destiny of the universe, giving them freedom to act in each soul knowing that her powerful minded children will maintain the laws of harmony and peace in the earth's plane, as long as they were able to.
However she was not so pleased with the end result. The rats she had made had changed into bats; giant lizards and large fishes began to appear in a physical form, governed by the mind of the underworld. As a consequence the soul of every man and woman in the earth's plane became a descendant from the bundle of which they were formed, owing allegiance to it, making their journey on the earth's plane harder.
So the spirit of the Sun Mother looked down upon the Earth's plane and thought to herself that she must create new creatures less the Father of All Spirits be angered by what she now saw.
Then the spirit of Sun Mother gave birth to two children, a son and a daughter. The son god was the spirit of the Morning Star and the goddess was the spirit of the Moon. Then two more children were born to them and these spirits she sent to the Earth's plane.
The spirit of the Sun Mother made them superior to the spirit of the cosmic animals because they had part of her cosmic and universal mind. They became the physical form of the Sun, the Moon, and the stars.
Monday, August 22, 2016
Sunday, August 21, 2016
THE NATURE AND INSTINCT OF THE ANDEAN CONDOR.
The Andean condor is the largest flying bird in the world by combined measurement of weight and wingspan. It has a maximum wingspan of 3.3m/10ft10in, and weighing up to 15kg/33lb.
The structure of the wings and the placement of the feathers allows this large bird to soar when it catch thermal air currents that rise up as the sun heats the ground. On the wing the movements of the condor are graceful. The lack of large sternum to anchor correspondingly large flight muscles identifies it physiologically as a primary soarer. The bird flaps its wings on rising from the ground, but after attaining a moderate elevation they seem to sail on the air. The condor's huge wings allows the bird to stay aloft for hours, scanning the fields below. The average flying speed that a bird can reach is up to 88km/55mi per hour, at an altitude of 4,600m/15,000ft or more.
The Andean condor is also one of the world's longest-living birds, with a life-span of over 70 years and mate for life.
The adult plumage is uniformly black, with the exception of a frill of white feathers nearly surrounding the base of the neck which meticulously kept clean by the bird. The male has large white patches on the wings. The head and neck are nearly featherless, which exposes the skin to the sterilizing effects of dehydration and solar ultraviolet light at high altitudes. The skin has a dull red color, which flush and therefore change color in response to their emotional state, which serve to communicate between individuals. In the male, there is a wattle on the neck and a large, dark red fleshy growth or crest on top of the head.
The middle toe is greatly elongated, and the hinder one but slightly developed, while the talon of all the toes are comparatively straight and blunt. The feet are more adapted to walking as in the case of their relatives the storks, and of little use as weapons or organs of prehension as in birds of pray. The female, contrary to the nature and usual rule among birds of prey, is smaller than the male. One or two eggs are usually laid. They nest at elevations of up to 5,000m/16,000ft on inaccessible rock ledges.
Sexual maturity and breeding behavior do not appear in the condor until 5 or 6 years of age. The young are covered with grayish down until they are almost as large as their parents. They are able to fly after 6 months, but continue to roost and hunt with their parents until age 2, when they are displaced by a new clutch.
There is a well-developed social structure within large groups of condors, with competition to determine a 'pecking order' by body language, competitive play behavior, and a wide variety of vocalizations, even though the condor has no voice box. The bird also is known for its extraordinary eyesight, and inquisitive and engaging intelligence.
Wild condors inhabit large territories, often traveling 250km/160mi a day in search of carrion, large carcasses, such as those of a deer or cattle, are their preference. In the wild they are intermittent eaters, often going for a few days without eating, then gorging themselves on several kilograms at once.
In Andean mythology, the Andean condor was associated with the sun deity, and was believed to be the ruler of the upper world.
The structure of the wings and the placement of the feathers allows this large bird to soar when it catch thermal air currents that rise up as the sun heats the ground. On the wing the movements of the condor are graceful. The lack of large sternum to anchor correspondingly large flight muscles identifies it physiologically as a primary soarer. The bird flaps its wings on rising from the ground, but after attaining a moderate elevation they seem to sail on the air. The condor's huge wings allows the bird to stay aloft for hours, scanning the fields below. The average flying speed that a bird can reach is up to 88km/55mi per hour, at an altitude of 4,600m/15,000ft or more.
The Andean condor is also one of the world's longest-living birds, with a life-span of over 70 years and mate for life.
The adult plumage is uniformly black, with the exception of a frill of white feathers nearly surrounding the base of the neck which meticulously kept clean by the bird. The male has large white patches on the wings. The head and neck are nearly featherless, which exposes the skin to the sterilizing effects of dehydration and solar ultraviolet light at high altitudes. The skin has a dull red color, which flush and therefore change color in response to their emotional state, which serve to communicate between individuals. In the male, there is a wattle on the neck and a large, dark red fleshy growth or crest on top of the head.
The middle toe is greatly elongated, and the hinder one but slightly developed, while the talon of all the toes are comparatively straight and blunt. The feet are more adapted to walking as in the case of their relatives the storks, and of little use as weapons or organs of prehension as in birds of pray. The female, contrary to the nature and usual rule among birds of prey, is smaller than the male. One or two eggs are usually laid. They nest at elevations of up to 5,000m/16,000ft on inaccessible rock ledges.
Sexual maturity and breeding behavior do not appear in the condor until 5 or 6 years of age. The young are covered with grayish down until they are almost as large as their parents. They are able to fly after 6 months, but continue to roost and hunt with their parents until age 2, when they are displaced by a new clutch.
There is a well-developed social structure within large groups of condors, with competition to determine a 'pecking order' by body language, competitive play behavior, and a wide variety of vocalizations, even though the condor has no voice box. The bird also is known for its extraordinary eyesight, and inquisitive and engaging intelligence.
Wild condors inhabit large territories, often traveling 250km/160mi a day in search of carrion, large carcasses, such as those of a deer or cattle, are their preference. In the wild they are intermittent eaters, often going for a few days without eating, then gorging themselves on several kilograms at once.
In Andean mythology, the Andean condor was associated with the sun deity, and was believed to be the ruler of the upper world.
Wednesday, August 17, 2016
THE NAZCA CULTURE AND ITS GEO-GLYPHS.
Some billions of years ago the earth's crust and surface figures began to form and shift into a semblance of what we know as the Earth planet today. The shape of the continents and the climate were quite different as well. South America began to form and then, at some point in the southern part of Peru, lush valleys, and gorges, began to appear, and between them all dry elevated plains. These plains were covered in dark red surface stones that would be polished by the desert wind.
About 2,000 years ago the Nazca people inhabited this area. Most people of today learn about them because of the famous geo-glyphys etched in the desert between the Ingenious (Ingenio) and Nazca River Valleys.
Stretching across the Nazca Plains -like a giant map or blue print left by a superior mind of ancient andean people, lie the famous geo-glyphs. They are also known as Nazca lines, figures, pictures, or images, and are shown in direction of the rising of important stars and marking planetary events like sun solstices.
The geo-glyphs are located in the Pampa region, the desolate plain of the Peruvian coast which comprises the Pampas of San Jose (Jumana), Socos, the Ingenious (el Ingenio), and others in the province of Nazca, which is 400km/640mi South of the capital city of Lima. They cover an area of approximately 450 square kilometers of sandy desert as well as the slopes of the contours of the Andes.
The geo-glyphs were first spotted when commercial airlines began flying across the Peruvian desert in the 1920s. Today people sometimes fly in hot air balloons to view the splendors of the geo-glyphs.
The plain is unique for its remarkably ability to preserve the markings upon it, due to the combination of the climate (one of the driest on Earth, with only 20 minutes of rainfall per year), and the flat, stony ground which reduces the effect of the wind at ground level. With no dust or sand to cover the plain, and little rain or wind to erode it, the geo-glyphs drawn here tend to stay drawn. In any other climate, these geo-glyphs would have been obliterated in months, but Nazca is one of the driest and most windless regions on earth.
These climate factors, combined with the existence of a lighter-colored subsoil beneath the desert crust, formed an enormous drawing board for the Nazca people upon which huge lines, trapezoids, and animal figures were etched, and the nature of their mind ideally suited to the ones who wanted to leave a mark for eternity.
The geo-glyphs are the most impressive ones in the world, because of their numbers, characteristics, dimensions, and cultural continuity as they were made and remade by removing the oxidised darker surface stones and top soil to expose the lighter colored underneath floor. In this way the geo-glyphs were drawn as furrows of a lighter color, even though in some cases they became prints. In other cases, the stones defining the lines and drawings form small lateral humps of different sizes.
About 300 figures made of straight lines, and geometric shapes, are etched in the surface of the desert pampa sand. The concentration and juxtaposition of the lines and drawings leave no doubt that they required intensive long-term labor as is demonstrated by the stylistic continuity of the designs, which clearly correspond to different stages of cosmological changes.
There appear to be two kinds of designs:
- One design consists of figures of various beings, trees, plants, flowers, objects (such as tripods, looms and fans) and other strange figures as yet unidentified, such as anthropomorphic ones (that include deformed animals) of colossal proportions made with well-defined lines. Examples of animal designs are a humming-bird, condor, monkey, llama, duck, lizard, spider, and even a killer whale.
- The other design forms lines that could be single (straight and curved) or in groups and could cross each other in complicated networks. The width and length of them could vary, one of the longest straight lines is 20 km long and the total combined length of the geo-glyphs has been estimated at over 1,300 km. Those lines used to describe a specific shape are generally composed of a single continuous line. Designs could be geometric shapes such as triangles, spirals, trapezoids, arrows, and zig-zags.
The geo-glyphs are an enigma, for their exact purpose and meaning remains unknown. It has inspired fantastic explanations like they were done by semi-gods, a landing strip for returning beings, a celestial calendar used for religious rituals related to cosmological dates and seasons, confirming the spirit embodied in the clans (ayllus) who made up the sacred population of Nazca people and to determine through rituals their religious functions held up by reciprocity and redistribution of the energy forces trusted to them, or a map of underground water supplies mapping the orientation of the cosmic energies trusted to them.
How were they created so precisely? Some of the lines continue for kilometers on end only varying by a few degrees. It is possible that these lines were created before the Nazca, but it is somehow difficult to prove it.
About 2,000 years ago the Nazca people inhabited this area. Most people of today learn about them because of the famous geo-glyphys etched in the desert between the Ingenious (Ingenio) and Nazca River Valleys.
Stretching across the Nazca Plains -like a giant map or blue print left by a superior mind of ancient andean people, lie the famous geo-glyphs. They are also known as Nazca lines, figures, pictures, or images, and are shown in direction of the rising of important stars and marking planetary events like sun solstices.
The geo-glyphs are located in the Pampa region, the desolate plain of the Peruvian coast which comprises the Pampas of San Jose (Jumana), Socos, the Ingenious (el Ingenio), and others in the province of Nazca, which is 400km/640mi South of the capital city of Lima. They cover an area of approximately 450 square kilometers of sandy desert as well as the slopes of the contours of the Andes.
The geo-glyphs were first spotted when commercial airlines began flying across the Peruvian desert in the 1920s. Today people sometimes fly in hot air balloons to view the splendors of the geo-glyphs.
The plain is unique for its remarkably ability to preserve the markings upon it, due to the combination of the climate (one of the driest on Earth, with only 20 minutes of rainfall per year), and the flat, stony ground which reduces the effect of the wind at ground level. With no dust or sand to cover the plain, and little rain or wind to erode it, the geo-glyphs drawn here tend to stay drawn. In any other climate, these geo-glyphs would have been obliterated in months, but Nazca is one of the driest and most windless regions on earth.
These climate factors, combined with the existence of a lighter-colored subsoil beneath the desert crust, formed an enormous drawing board for the Nazca people upon which huge lines, trapezoids, and animal figures were etched, and the nature of their mind ideally suited to the ones who wanted to leave a mark for eternity.
The geo-glyphs are the most impressive ones in the world, because of their numbers, characteristics, dimensions, and cultural continuity as they were made and remade by removing the oxidised darker surface stones and top soil to expose the lighter colored underneath floor. In this way the geo-glyphs were drawn as furrows of a lighter color, even though in some cases they became prints. In other cases, the stones defining the lines and drawings form small lateral humps of different sizes.
About 300 figures made of straight lines, and geometric shapes, are etched in the surface of the desert pampa sand. The concentration and juxtaposition of the lines and drawings leave no doubt that they required intensive long-term labor as is demonstrated by the stylistic continuity of the designs, which clearly correspond to different stages of cosmological changes.
There appear to be two kinds of designs:
- One design consists of figures of various beings, trees, plants, flowers, objects (such as tripods, looms and fans) and other strange figures as yet unidentified, such as anthropomorphic ones (that include deformed animals) of colossal proportions made with well-defined lines. Examples of animal designs are a humming-bird, condor, monkey, llama, duck, lizard, spider, and even a killer whale.
- The other design forms lines that could be single (straight and curved) or in groups and could cross each other in complicated networks. The width and length of them could vary, one of the longest straight lines is 20 km long and the total combined length of the geo-glyphs has been estimated at over 1,300 km. Those lines used to describe a specific shape are generally composed of a single continuous line. Designs could be geometric shapes such as triangles, spirals, trapezoids, arrows, and zig-zags.
The geo-glyphs are an enigma, for their exact purpose and meaning remains unknown. It has inspired fantastic explanations like they were done by semi-gods, a landing strip for returning beings, a celestial calendar used for religious rituals related to cosmological dates and seasons, confirming the spirit embodied in the clans (ayllus) who made up the sacred population of Nazca people and to determine through rituals their religious functions held up by reciprocity and redistribution of the energy forces trusted to them, or a map of underground water supplies mapping the orientation of the cosmic energies trusted to them.
How were they created so precisely? Some of the lines continue for kilometers on end only varying by a few degrees. It is possible that these lines were created before the Nazca, but it is somehow difficult to prove it.
Sunday, August 14, 2016
DEATH, AN IMPORTANT PART OF INCA LIFE.
Like many ancient Andean people before them, the Incas viewed Death in two ways. One was biological death, when the body ceased functionally and was mummified. The other was the passing of the soul to a place active only in the mind, souls and daily lives of the living until they were replaced by other prominent figures. However, some of them were never forgotten. They were considered heroic figures who gave the Inca their identity.
As long as they maintained alive in their minds the world beyond the living world, deities, supernatural, powers and curses were an active force very much entwined with human nature, such beliefs and practices have somehow continued alive to the present day.
Death was considered an important part of life in the realm of the living and mummification was a rite of passage into the abstract, or the non-physical one, the world of the spirits.
The mummification processes were precise and complicated. One of the things that made this process complicated was that every civilian had to be mummified. All of the people of various places on the social ladder were buried. Tombs and mummies were well preserved, revered and considered extremely sacred. Ancestor veneration frightened the European crown and clergy, because their minds were already corrupted by the belief that human power dominated the world beyond the living and no entity or force was able to punish them in their wrongdoings. They destroyed the burial chambers of these important corpses and robbed them in an attempt to undermine the spiritual power of the Inca religion founded in ancestral veneration and worship. They portrayed themselves as being sent by their ancestors in order to establish a proper order in the world of the living. At the beginning it worked out but at the end they themselves brought the Inca curses to their own lives and to the crowns responsible of the destruction behind the curtains.
The intention of the curse, according to Inca beliefs, was to submit the soul of the inflicter to the proper supernatural power in charge of the ancestral tree of souls from which the individual belonged to. This supernatural forces then inflicted misfortunes of any kind to the person and the descendants according to the weight of the wrongness done by the individual or community of people.
Curse was a powerful phenomenon, viewed as the summoned wrath of the beings in the upper world towards the wrongness of humans against the law of nature, or the presence of evil forces using nature as a weapon to defied the power of the upper world.
The reason why some of mummies survived from the hand of the Europeans and for so long is because most of the mummies were buried in the high peaks of the Andean mountains, symbolizing the power of nature against the power of man winning nature over him. The high mountains being a very cold place by nature, the mummies were kept frozen and this frozen estate kept them from deteriorating.
To help them in the afterlife, the mummies were bundled with offerings of food, tools, and precious items inside of their wrappings. Their internal organs were kept inside of their bodies and then buried or put in an above ground tombs called 'chullpas.'
If the person were a king he would be seated on a special throne, with the arms across their chest and their knees up to their chests. They would be dressed in fancy clothes and adorned with pieces of silver and gold and parts of animals would be put on the outer layer of him and onto it offerings to the gods. Fake heads also and masks would be put on the face.
The mummies of the Inca rulers were among the holiest objects of Inca religion. They were actually treated as if they were still alive. They had servants, maintained ownership of their property, were consulted as oracles, and were taken to major festivals or to visit other mummies.
If the deceased was not from the ruling class their mummies were placed in a tomb above the ones in the ground. They were accessible and people could leave gifts, food, or belongings.
If they were a religious sacrifice they were put in a long fancy robes that were so big so it allowed room to grow in, during the afterlife. Then they were wrapped up and some of their belongings were placed inside the wrappings. They were then put into the ground in many high peaks of the Andes. They were considered like demigods with a specific mission in the afterlife.
As long as they maintained alive in their minds the world beyond the living world, deities, supernatural, powers and curses were an active force very much entwined with human nature, such beliefs and practices have somehow continued alive to the present day.
Death was considered an important part of life in the realm of the living and mummification was a rite of passage into the abstract, or the non-physical one, the world of the spirits.
The mummification processes were precise and complicated. One of the things that made this process complicated was that every civilian had to be mummified. All of the people of various places on the social ladder were buried. Tombs and mummies were well preserved, revered and considered extremely sacred. Ancestor veneration frightened the European crown and clergy, because their minds were already corrupted by the belief that human power dominated the world beyond the living and no entity or force was able to punish them in their wrongdoings. They destroyed the burial chambers of these important corpses and robbed them in an attempt to undermine the spiritual power of the Inca religion founded in ancestral veneration and worship. They portrayed themselves as being sent by their ancestors in order to establish a proper order in the world of the living. At the beginning it worked out but at the end they themselves brought the Inca curses to their own lives and to the crowns responsible of the destruction behind the curtains.
The intention of the curse, according to Inca beliefs, was to submit the soul of the inflicter to the proper supernatural power in charge of the ancestral tree of souls from which the individual belonged to. This supernatural forces then inflicted misfortunes of any kind to the person and the descendants according to the weight of the wrongness done by the individual or community of people.
Curse was a powerful phenomenon, viewed as the summoned wrath of the beings in the upper world towards the wrongness of humans against the law of nature, or the presence of evil forces using nature as a weapon to defied the power of the upper world.
The reason why some of mummies survived from the hand of the Europeans and for so long is because most of the mummies were buried in the high peaks of the Andean mountains, symbolizing the power of nature against the power of man winning nature over him. The high mountains being a very cold place by nature, the mummies were kept frozen and this frozen estate kept them from deteriorating.
To help them in the afterlife, the mummies were bundled with offerings of food, tools, and precious items inside of their wrappings. Their internal organs were kept inside of their bodies and then buried or put in an above ground tombs called 'chullpas.'
If the person were a king he would be seated on a special throne, with the arms across their chest and their knees up to their chests. They would be dressed in fancy clothes and adorned with pieces of silver and gold and parts of animals would be put on the outer layer of him and onto it offerings to the gods. Fake heads also and masks would be put on the face.
The mummies of the Inca rulers were among the holiest objects of Inca religion. They were actually treated as if they were still alive. They had servants, maintained ownership of their property, were consulted as oracles, and were taken to major festivals or to visit other mummies.
If the deceased was not from the ruling class their mummies were placed in a tomb above the ones in the ground. They were accessible and people could leave gifts, food, or belongings.
If they were a religious sacrifice they were put in a long fancy robes that were so big so it allowed room to grow in, during the afterlife. Then they were wrapped up and some of their belongings were placed inside the wrappings. They were then put into the ground in many high peaks of the Andes. They were considered like demigods with a specific mission in the afterlife.
Saturday, August 13, 2016
ANDEAN SHAMANISM.
In Andean Shamanism, the Human Energy Field has long being understood since the human body is the replica of the energy fields that act in the universe.
The 'aura' or 'human energy field' is understood as a field of energy which surrounds and penetrates our body. The aura underlies and supports the functioning of the body. Contained within the aura are the energetic aspects of every structure and function of the body, as well as everything that we experience (physical sensations, thoughts, feelings, states of consciousness, etc.)
Activities in all cells, tissues and organs generate specific magnetic pulse-action that can be detected on the skin surface. The laws of physics prove this concept since they demand that any electrical current generates a corresponding magnetic field in the surrounding space.
Andean people believes it is through the energy field that we are connected with everyone and everything else that exists.
From the time of their ancestors, the ability to see things that lies beyond the reach of the physical sight, was taught through special trained religious people (Shaman). They developed a keen sensitiveness to the subtle energy that surrounds everything in the world.
The role of ancestral spirits are the most important knowledge known by the shamans and the role they have upon the domain of the elements: water, earth, fire, air. They were identified by frequencies of sound and matter. Also by vibrations in the earth energy field. It was a world of living energies.
The shaman's perception of the healing powers of nature opens the door or the portal for the dramatic realignment of matter to a degree that is capable of its healing and restore the harmonize work between the energies. The shaman is capable to activate the individual's inner healer power that resides within the body by removing obstacles that impair the healing process.
The world around the shamanism is totally different than the Western idea of it. They describe the world as made up of two separate and yet coexisting energies: the natural ones and the spiritual ones.
In the spiritual world, people have bodies, live in houses, enjoy community life, and are surrounded by landscapes similar to the physical world. Everything there is more vivid and much more alive. What we see respond to what we are thinking. Time boundaries do not exist. We always have all the time we need. Particular individuals are only as near or as far away as our thoughts go, and thinking of a person or place can actually bring us there. It is a place where our inner state are reflected in our surroundings and where all life originates from, and is sustained by Love and Wisdom of our Creator.
Incas believed in sharing and integrating knowledge, specially the ones in regard to spiritual knowledge. They connected all the people in one single language, the language of their religion, but they did not stop their people from new incorporated lands to continue paying respect to their deities.
The Andean way teaches us about the power of collective religious thinking bringing respect to the grounding chord, the invisible line of energy from our bodies in the earth to the cosmical one belonging to Vira-Cocha, the Creator of everything.
The 'aura' or 'human energy field' is understood as a field of energy which surrounds and penetrates our body. The aura underlies and supports the functioning of the body. Contained within the aura are the energetic aspects of every structure and function of the body, as well as everything that we experience (physical sensations, thoughts, feelings, states of consciousness, etc.)
Activities in all cells, tissues and organs generate specific magnetic pulse-action that can be detected on the skin surface. The laws of physics prove this concept since they demand that any electrical current generates a corresponding magnetic field in the surrounding space.
Andean people believes it is through the energy field that we are connected with everyone and everything else that exists.
From the time of their ancestors, the ability to see things that lies beyond the reach of the physical sight, was taught through special trained religious people (Shaman). They developed a keen sensitiveness to the subtle energy that surrounds everything in the world.
The role of ancestral spirits are the most important knowledge known by the shamans and the role they have upon the domain of the elements: water, earth, fire, air. They were identified by frequencies of sound and matter. Also by vibrations in the earth energy field. It was a world of living energies.
The shaman's perception of the healing powers of nature opens the door or the portal for the dramatic realignment of matter to a degree that is capable of its healing and restore the harmonize work between the energies. The shaman is capable to activate the individual's inner healer power that resides within the body by removing obstacles that impair the healing process.
The world around the shamanism is totally different than the Western idea of it. They describe the world as made up of two separate and yet coexisting energies: the natural ones and the spiritual ones.
In the spiritual world, people have bodies, live in houses, enjoy community life, and are surrounded by landscapes similar to the physical world. Everything there is more vivid and much more alive. What we see respond to what we are thinking. Time boundaries do not exist. We always have all the time we need. Particular individuals are only as near or as far away as our thoughts go, and thinking of a person or place can actually bring us there. It is a place where our inner state are reflected in our surroundings and where all life originates from, and is sustained by Love and Wisdom of our Creator.
Incas believed in sharing and integrating knowledge, specially the ones in regard to spiritual knowledge. They connected all the people in one single language, the language of their religion, but they did not stop their people from new incorporated lands to continue paying respect to their deities.
The Andean way teaches us about the power of collective religious thinking bringing respect to the grounding chord, the invisible line of energy from our bodies in the earth to the cosmical one belonging to Vira-Cocha, the Creator of everything.
Thursday, August 11, 2016
APU CON-TICCI VIRA-COCHA.
Apu Con-Ticci Vira-Cocha was the supreme god of the pre-Incas and Incas and seen as the Creator of all things, or the substance from which all things are created and intimately associated with the cosmological sea.
Vira-Cocha was the Father of all other Inca gods. He created the universe, earth, sun, moon, stars, and all living beings.
According to Inca's legend, Vira-Cocha rose from Lake Titicaca during the Time of Darkness to bring forth Light. He made mankind, during the time of Darkness, by breathing his powerful breath into stones, but his first creation were brainless giants that displeased him. So Vira-Cocha punished them by sending great Flood. All these giants returned to their original stone form, except two, and several could still be seen in much later times standing imposingly at sites such as Tiahuanaco and Pucara.
Then Vira-Cocha made a new, better ones from smaller stones. He also gave them such gifts as clothes, language, agriculture and the arts and then created all the animals.Then Vira-Cocha decided to make the sun, moon and stars and so bring light to the world. This heavenly bodies were created from islands in Lake Titicaca. Finished, and highly satisfied with his labours, Vira-Cocha then set off to spread his knowledge around the world and for this he dressed as a beggar and assumed different names. The god was not always well received despite the knowledge he imparted, sometimes even stones were thrown at him. Vira-Cocha wept and eventually disappeared across the Pacific Ocean, by walking on the water, and never to be seen again but promising one day to return.
In another legend Vira-Cocha had one son, Inti, and two daughters, Mama Quilla and Pacha Mama. In this legend, he destroyed the people with a Great Flood called Unu Pacahcutec, saving two to bring civilization to the rest of the world. These two beings were Manco Capac (Splendid Foundation), the son of Inti, and Mama Ocllo, which means "Fertility." These two founded the Inca civilization carrying a golden staff, called Tapac-Yauri. He fathered the first eight civilized human beings.
In another legend, Vira-Cocha had two sons, Imah Mana Vira-Cocha and Tocapo Vira-Cocha. After the Great Flood, Vira-Cocha sent his sons to visit the tribes to the North East and North West to determine if they still obeyed his commandments. Vira-Cocha himself traveled North. During their journey, Imay Mana and Tocapo gave names to all trees, flowers, fruits, and herbs. They also taught the tribes which of these were edible, which had medicinal properties, and which were poisonous.
Eventually, Vira-Cocha and his sons arrived at Cuzco and the Pacific seacoast where they walked across the water until they disappeared.
The word Vira-Cocha literally means "Sea Foam."
Vira-Cocha was the Father of all other Inca gods. He created the universe, earth, sun, moon, stars, and all living beings.
According to Inca's legend, Vira-Cocha rose from Lake Titicaca during the Time of Darkness to bring forth Light. He made mankind, during the time of Darkness, by breathing his powerful breath into stones, but his first creation were brainless giants that displeased him. So Vira-Cocha punished them by sending great Flood. All these giants returned to their original stone form, except two, and several could still be seen in much later times standing imposingly at sites such as Tiahuanaco and Pucara.
Then Vira-Cocha made a new, better ones from smaller stones. He also gave them such gifts as clothes, language, agriculture and the arts and then created all the animals.Then Vira-Cocha decided to make the sun, moon and stars and so bring light to the world. This heavenly bodies were created from islands in Lake Titicaca. Finished, and highly satisfied with his labours, Vira-Cocha then set off to spread his knowledge around the world and for this he dressed as a beggar and assumed different names. The god was not always well received despite the knowledge he imparted, sometimes even stones were thrown at him. Vira-Cocha wept and eventually disappeared across the Pacific Ocean, by walking on the water, and never to be seen again but promising one day to return.
In another legend Vira-Cocha had one son, Inti, and two daughters, Mama Quilla and Pacha Mama. In this legend, he destroyed the people with a Great Flood called Unu Pacahcutec, saving two to bring civilization to the rest of the world. These two beings were Manco Capac (Splendid Foundation), the son of Inti, and Mama Ocllo, which means "Fertility." These two founded the Inca civilization carrying a golden staff, called Tapac-Yauri. He fathered the first eight civilized human beings.
In another legend, Vira-Cocha had two sons, Imah Mana Vira-Cocha and Tocapo Vira-Cocha. After the Great Flood, Vira-Cocha sent his sons to visit the tribes to the North East and North West to determine if they still obeyed his commandments. Vira-Cocha himself traveled North. During their journey, Imay Mana and Tocapo gave names to all trees, flowers, fruits, and herbs. They also taught the tribes which of these were edible, which had medicinal properties, and which were poisonous.
Eventually, Vira-Cocha and his sons arrived at Cuzco and the Pacific seacoast where they walked across the water until they disappeared.
The word Vira-Cocha literally means "Sea Foam."
Wednesday, August 10, 2016
THE INCA'S SKILL IN TAMING STONES.
Incan architecture is the most significant ancient structures in South America. They inherited the technique from the Tiahuanco culture, present in the high lands of the Andes around 14,000 BC. and improved it.
The capital of the Inca empire, Cuzco, contains many fine examples of Inca masonry, and the famous royal state of Machu Picchu is a surviving example of Inca's skills in taming stones. It was finely worked to produce a precise arrangement of interlocking blocks in their finest buildings.
Europeans architecture incorporated in their buildings ancient Inca foundation structures and walls.
The finish surface of Inca stone masonry at microscopic level indicates how it was worked, ruling out standard procedure when it comes to Incas's skill to work on stones.
Granite and the other hard, igneous rocks are difficult to tame. Granite contains 15% to 30% quartz crystals, and a few other minerals of varying degrees of hardness which is important to know when viewing the marks left in a worked stone under the microscope.
They had 3 types of stones: Yucay limestone, Green Sacsay-Huaman diorite porphyry, and Black Andesite. Some of them appear to have slick surfaces as it occurred in Machu-Picchu, and Ollantay-Tambo, and at the sliding spot (rodadero) at Sacsay-Huaman, still used as a slide by children.
The conventional methods used in the ancient Old World, such as pounding, hammering, grinding, polishing with abrasives, and wedging, just don't match up the way in which the Incas tamed the stone.
In the case of hammering, rock is wanting to break along pre-existing planes of weakness. In the case of sanding the rock, which is mostly quartz, the softer minerals are sanded out, while the quartz crystals are little affected, being left standing above the rest of the minerals on the surface. In the case of wedging the rock, the absence of long-angle fractures avoided inability to control the cracking. In the case of a surface worked with pounding stones, in which all minerals ended up unevenly fractures, is incompatible with what is observed with Inca masonry under the microscope.
It is known that the Incas used layers of gold sheets over stones to catch the powerful Sun's rays at a very high altitude and with the help of parabolic reflectors made of transparent rocks and gold, they were able to concentrate the heat and amplified the effect of it and use such power to make the rock diminish it density for a small period of time but good enough to work on it. They also mixed gold and silver to make the mirror devices increased the reflective power. This thermally disaggregate process helped them to treat rocks in the best way possible to maintain their endurance and strength.
Then the rocks were pounded into shape rather than cut. Blocks then were moved by sliding using ropes, and ramps or by lifting using logs, poles, levers, etc. Tell-tale marks can still be seen on some blocks. and others still have nodes protruding from them or indentations used to help workers grip the stone. Mortar was not necessary because of the fine setting of them. Finally, a finished surface was often provided using grinding stones and sand.
Rocks were roughly hewn in the queries and then worked again at their final destination as it is indicated by unfinished examples left at the quarries on various routes to building sites.
The meticulous process of laying, removing, re-shaping and then re-laying blocks to make them fit exactly together was a very exhausting taming process. Interlocking blocks and sloping walls make Inca buildings extremely resistant. 500 years of earthquakes have done remarkably little damage to Inca structures.
The most common shape in Machu Picchu, the sacred city of the Incas, buildings are rectangular without any internal walls, once layered with the mixture of gold and silver that the reflection of the Sun over it maintained a thermally controlled environment inside the buildings. The roofing material of the habitations were made mostly of Totora reeds.
Inca architecture includes some of the most finely worked stone structures from any ancient civilization. The vast majority of the buildings were rectangular and most of these had a single entrance and were composed of only one room. The norm was straight-walled structures, and dividing walls were not common in Inca design. Most buildings had only one level, but there are some structures with two levels, especially those built into hillsides, and the more impressive imperial structures at the capital Cuzco had three levels.
For religious purpose, it is found some rare examples of multiple-door long rectangular structures and even buildings which were circular or U-shaped.
The buildings were always practical and pleasing to the eye. Inca exterior walls commonly slope inwards as they rise, typically 5 degrees, giving the building a distinctive trapezoid form. The trapezoid form is more common in the North and Centre of the empire and one of its optical effects is to make walls seem higher and thicker than they actually are. The trapezoid form was repeated in doorways and windows and interior wall niches. Doorways have double jams topped with a large single stone lintel and windows just have doble jambs.
The buildings are also remarkable uniform in design with grand imperial structures taking on a similar look to more humble buildings, with the only significant differences being their much larger scale and quality of finish.
Fond on the principle of duality in many areas, a feature of Inca architecture is that it typically incorporated the natural landscape and at the same time the taming of it to create an often spectacular blend of geometrical and natural forms.
The capital of the Inca empire, Cuzco, contains many fine examples of Inca masonry, and the famous royal state of Machu Picchu is a surviving example of Inca's skills in taming stones. It was finely worked to produce a precise arrangement of interlocking blocks in their finest buildings.
Europeans architecture incorporated in their buildings ancient Inca foundation structures and walls.
The finish surface of Inca stone masonry at microscopic level indicates how it was worked, ruling out standard procedure when it comes to Incas's skill to work on stones.
Granite and the other hard, igneous rocks are difficult to tame. Granite contains 15% to 30% quartz crystals, and a few other minerals of varying degrees of hardness which is important to know when viewing the marks left in a worked stone under the microscope.
They had 3 types of stones: Yucay limestone, Green Sacsay-Huaman diorite porphyry, and Black Andesite. Some of them appear to have slick surfaces as it occurred in Machu-Picchu, and Ollantay-Tambo, and at the sliding spot (rodadero) at Sacsay-Huaman, still used as a slide by children.
The conventional methods used in the ancient Old World, such as pounding, hammering, grinding, polishing with abrasives, and wedging, just don't match up the way in which the Incas tamed the stone.
In the case of hammering, rock is wanting to break along pre-existing planes of weakness. In the case of sanding the rock, which is mostly quartz, the softer minerals are sanded out, while the quartz crystals are little affected, being left standing above the rest of the minerals on the surface. In the case of wedging the rock, the absence of long-angle fractures avoided inability to control the cracking. In the case of a surface worked with pounding stones, in which all minerals ended up unevenly fractures, is incompatible with what is observed with Inca masonry under the microscope.
It is known that the Incas used layers of gold sheets over stones to catch the powerful Sun's rays at a very high altitude and with the help of parabolic reflectors made of transparent rocks and gold, they were able to concentrate the heat and amplified the effect of it and use such power to make the rock diminish it density for a small period of time but good enough to work on it. They also mixed gold and silver to make the mirror devices increased the reflective power. This thermally disaggregate process helped them to treat rocks in the best way possible to maintain their endurance and strength.
Then the rocks were pounded into shape rather than cut. Blocks then were moved by sliding using ropes, and ramps or by lifting using logs, poles, levers, etc. Tell-tale marks can still be seen on some blocks. and others still have nodes protruding from them or indentations used to help workers grip the stone. Mortar was not necessary because of the fine setting of them. Finally, a finished surface was often provided using grinding stones and sand.
Rocks were roughly hewn in the queries and then worked again at their final destination as it is indicated by unfinished examples left at the quarries on various routes to building sites.
The meticulous process of laying, removing, re-shaping and then re-laying blocks to make them fit exactly together was a very exhausting taming process. Interlocking blocks and sloping walls make Inca buildings extremely resistant. 500 years of earthquakes have done remarkably little damage to Inca structures.
The most common shape in Machu Picchu, the sacred city of the Incas, buildings are rectangular without any internal walls, once layered with the mixture of gold and silver that the reflection of the Sun over it maintained a thermally controlled environment inside the buildings. The roofing material of the habitations were made mostly of Totora reeds.
Inca architecture includes some of the most finely worked stone structures from any ancient civilization. The vast majority of the buildings were rectangular and most of these had a single entrance and were composed of only one room. The norm was straight-walled structures, and dividing walls were not common in Inca design. Most buildings had only one level, but there are some structures with two levels, especially those built into hillsides, and the more impressive imperial structures at the capital Cuzco had three levels.
For religious purpose, it is found some rare examples of multiple-door long rectangular structures and even buildings which were circular or U-shaped.
The buildings were always practical and pleasing to the eye. Inca exterior walls commonly slope inwards as they rise, typically 5 degrees, giving the building a distinctive trapezoid form. The trapezoid form is more common in the North and Centre of the empire and one of its optical effects is to make walls seem higher and thicker than they actually are. The trapezoid form was repeated in doorways and windows and interior wall niches. Doorways have double jams topped with a large single stone lintel and windows just have doble jambs.
The buildings are also remarkable uniform in design with grand imperial structures taking on a similar look to more humble buildings, with the only significant differences being their much larger scale and quality of finish.
Fond on the principle of duality in many areas, a feature of Inca architecture is that it typically incorporated the natural landscape and at the same time the taming of it to create an often spectacular blend of geometrical and natural forms.
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