The extraordinary beauty that resides in Machu Picchu can be seen both in its ruins in the Valley as well as in their wonderful adjoining places that offer the unique flora and fauna of this Valley of the Andes located in Machu Picchu and Huayna Picchu Mountain systems.
The wonder that this place offers is its impressive air show showing the majestic flight of the condor. To the Incas the condor was considered a messenger from earth to the entities governing the supernatural World. The bird was a very sacred symbol which obtain the status of King of the Andes, able to be seen from any location of Machu Picchu.
In the sector to the East of the Citadel are the constructions of greater importance for the Inca people, buildings which were designed to be all oriented to the Sun to facilitate measurements of the constellations and the stars. The Temple of the Condor, as well as the Temple of the Sun, the Temple of the 3 Windows, the Sacred Rock, and the residential complex of gardens and patios that served as a monastery for the Virgins of the Sun (Acllawasi) are in this sector.
The Temple of the Condor has its location in the South East of the urban sector of Machu Picchu. It is a natural rock formation that began to take shape by the elements millions of years ago and the Inca people skillfully shaped the rock into the outspread wings of the condor in flight. It shows a series of irregularities in the design of different buildings in a very peculiar way, whose purpose was the melt with the environment, producing a fusion with the profile offered by the rocks of the surrounding area. The Rock massif presents naturally the shape of a bird with wings extended, fact that gave understanding to the Inca people that the settlement designated by their deities for worship and celebration of sacred rituals, were manifested by the reflection of this Rock when illuminated by the Sun projecting the figure of a bird.
On the temple's floor there is a rock carved in the shape of the head, used as a sacrificial altar, and neck feathers, completing the figure of a 3-dimensional bird.
The Condor represented spirit and higher levels of consciousness, so the Inca people considered the condor to be of elevated importance in the animal and spirit kingdom.
Under the temple there is a small cave that used to contain a mummy as a way of continuity into the afterlife. A prison like complex stands directly behind the temple, and is comprised of human-size niches and an underground maze of dark dungeons. An accused citizen wold be placed into the niches for up to 3 days to await deliberation of his fate. He could be put to death for sins such as laziness, lust, or theft. In that case they were consumed by wild animals that were locked with them together inside the dungeon.
To the South of the temple is the residential area where the Inca noble class lived, which communicates with the temple through a series of courtyards. They showed signs of having been used for the breeding of Guinea Pigs.
It is possible that the Inca people were capable of building Machu Picchu in the shape of a condor, despite the extremely difficult location and the differences in altitude. The figure of an enormous bird with wings spread out, including the neck and head is only visible from higher locations. One of the best sites is the top of Huayna Picchu, but it is also visible from the Intipunku. Keep in mind that the Inca capital Cuzco, has the shape of a puma.
Sunday, December 25, 2016
THE GREAT LIFE OF THE ANDEAN CITIES.
In the Inca society and its way of life, everyone knew his place. They had a very rigid caste system.
The Inca organized their 5 million subjects into "the Land of the 4 Quarters." They also divided their capital city of Cuzco, with its neatly gridded streets, into 4 quarters, and required visitors from the provinces to stay in their own appropriate sections. Each quarter was ruled by a noble.
From one end of the Andes to the other, the state ran factories for making all the cloths, ceramics, and gold ornaments required for ceremonial use and for the nobility. Every craftsmanship was organized in a way that everyone had what they needed. People were required to contribute either labor or goods to the state.
In every sizable town and at intervals along the main roads were large stone warehouses which the state required the population to keep stocked against a local shortage or an imperial requisition.
The Inca also exacted tribute from everybody they conquered, keeping track of their accounts by a system of tying knots in a set of coloring strings called 'quipu.'
Religious education was strictly for the young nobles who would command armies and govern provinces. They were mainly the members of the Inca royal clan, but sons of conquered rulers were also taken into the governing caste. These nobles wore rich fabrics, bright feathers and gold ornaments, that represented the nature of their power. By rigid rule the working class had to dress in a different and simple fashion.
The emperor himself wore clothes of the finest vicuna wool that were meticulously disposed of at the end of a single day's wear. He was lord over the priesthood, government, and army. He was considered the son of the divine sun god, "Inti", and, in order to keep the bloodline pure, he ususally married only his sister, though it was possible for the emperor to have as many as 700 concubines and any number of natural children.
The Inca were masters at shaping and fitting stones. They built their most spectacular monuments in places already fortified by nature. The main fortress protecting Cuzco, their imperial headquarters, were built out of rock and defended by a thick wall 1,600 feet long. The Inca city of Machu Picchu, another Inca stronghold with its mighty masonry, was constructed of blocks of granite. The Inca fashioned their blocks without metal tools of any kind, and their stone walls were put together without any cement or sealer. The city was modeled as if it were a condor's nest and its function was to protect the Eastern flank against Amazonian raiders, and so ingeniously adapted to the site that it seems a part of the mountains. Before beginning work on large buildings, Inca builders made detailed clay models.
As imperial organizers, these people took over the last of a 3,000-year-old series of cultures and reshaped the religion, government and roads they inherited.
The Inca excelled at engineering. They built roads 3,250 miles long, piped irrigation water through mountain tunnels, hung 200-foot suspension bridges across Andean canyons.
They were able to take an empire-wide census. For that purpose, they appointed subordinate officials right down to the precinct level: the highest level held responsibilities over 10,000 men, the next over 1,000 men, the next over 500 men, and the lowest over groups of 50 and 10 men. All except the last two ranks were rated as Inca nobles. Each reported to his superior by state couriers, who dashed in relays up and down the mountainsides on the emperor's paved roads.
The Incas, as imperial organizers, rate with the Romans, but the Inca ruled an empire in the clouds, with its headquarters at 11,000 feet.
Friday, December 23, 2016
THE INCAS WERE THE CROWN OF THE ANDEAN RACE.
One of the first and big civilizations in Middle America, the Maya, had to cut its way out of the jungle. The Aztecs had to conquer their way through Mexico. And far to the South of the American continent, the Andean race, thrust upward through some of the World's most forbidding terrain: the towering mountains and desert coast of Andean Peru.
The empire of the Inca race, which crowned the early civilizations of the Southern American continent, ruled from a capital 11,000 feet in the clouds.
The Andean civilization centered far more than that of Middle America on the material techniques of social life: planning big cities and irrigation works, building highways and a network of communication regardless the condition of the terrain, perfecting the domestic art of weaving and pottery making. The passion of the Inca race for organization in every field extended even to their art work. But the best in Andean art was produced by the race of the ones who preceded the Inca.
Civilization around the World usually traces its origins to the time when men settled down and started cultivating rather than hunting their food. The early race of Andean people showed a versatile talent for domesticating plants and a very disciplined and well developed way of doing it.
Some 5,000 years ago they were already familiar with the cultivation of squash, peppers, gourds, beans, and cotton. By 900 BC, the North and the South areas in which people established their living quarters, grew up with corn as its basic food crop. The corn of the Andes is a very distinctive one from the other types of corn that grow in Middle America. It grows at a very high altitude absorbing from the terrain and the atmosphere the medicinal properties of which it is known for.
The ancient Andean race were better farmers that their European contemporaries, since the way of doing farming had to deal with so many variations of the ground and ecosystems that had to be studied in order to make the soil produce food. For that purpose they terraced the mountainsides and built vast irrigation systems. Then they were able to domesticate the potato, the tomato, the yam, and the lima bean. In textiles, they found a source of wool by taming the llama and alpaca.
Since the ancient race of Andean people never developed writing, all that is known of their early progress is what archaeologists have been able to find out. They traced 6 distinct cultural stages in the succession of the Andean civilization. The earliest of these, named 'Chavin de Huantar', a 2,800-year-old ruin in the Northern Highlands of Peru, lasted from about 1,200 to 200 BC, and is the period in Andean prehistory when religion seems to have absorbed all high culture completely. At their huge ceremonial center, the Chavin people created a resplendent temple and powerful stone carvings.
In the 2nd of these eras, the Paracas people, named for the South Coast peninsula where their tombs and other remains were found, flourished. They wove textiles that have seldom been surpassed by civilized human.
In the 3rd period, the Nazca culture succeded the Paracas while the so-called Mochica people arose on the North Coast. The Mochica people evolved a complicated class society, laid roads and invented new agricultural techniques, since their subdued neighbors in the nearby River Valleys had different ways of treating the ground. These techniques were later passed on to the Incas. Their pottery is the finest made by the early race of Andean people.
In the 4th period, a single culture originating around Tiahuanaco in the Southern Andes imposed its leadership in art and in war throughout most of Peru. The spread of this culture was not long-lived.
A 5th period opened, and new forces sprang up again along the Coast, notably the Chimu people in the North.
The 6th and last development set the stage for the Andean civilization: the emergence by conquest and annexation of a completely unified state - the Inca empire.
The empire of the Inca race, which crowned the early civilizations of the Southern American continent, ruled from a capital 11,000 feet in the clouds.
The Andean civilization centered far more than that of Middle America on the material techniques of social life: planning big cities and irrigation works, building highways and a network of communication regardless the condition of the terrain, perfecting the domestic art of weaving and pottery making. The passion of the Inca race for organization in every field extended even to their art work. But the best in Andean art was produced by the race of the ones who preceded the Inca.
Civilization around the World usually traces its origins to the time when men settled down and started cultivating rather than hunting their food. The early race of Andean people showed a versatile talent for domesticating plants and a very disciplined and well developed way of doing it.
Some 5,000 years ago they were already familiar with the cultivation of squash, peppers, gourds, beans, and cotton. By 900 BC, the North and the South areas in which people established their living quarters, grew up with corn as its basic food crop. The corn of the Andes is a very distinctive one from the other types of corn that grow in Middle America. It grows at a very high altitude absorbing from the terrain and the atmosphere the medicinal properties of which it is known for.
The ancient Andean race were better farmers that their European contemporaries, since the way of doing farming had to deal with so many variations of the ground and ecosystems that had to be studied in order to make the soil produce food. For that purpose they terraced the mountainsides and built vast irrigation systems. Then they were able to domesticate the potato, the tomato, the yam, and the lima bean. In textiles, they found a source of wool by taming the llama and alpaca.
Since the ancient race of Andean people never developed writing, all that is known of their early progress is what archaeologists have been able to find out. They traced 6 distinct cultural stages in the succession of the Andean civilization. The earliest of these, named 'Chavin de Huantar', a 2,800-year-old ruin in the Northern Highlands of Peru, lasted from about 1,200 to 200 BC, and is the period in Andean prehistory when religion seems to have absorbed all high culture completely. At their huge ceremonial center, the Chavin people created a resplendent temple and powerful stone carvings.
In the 2nd of these eras, the Paracas people, named for the South Coast peninsula where their tombs and other remains were found, flourished. They wove textiles that have seldom been surpassed by civilized human.
In the 3rd period, the Nazca culture succeded the Paracas while the so-called Mochica people arose on the North Coast. The Mochica people evolved a complicated class society, laid roads and invented new agricultural techniques, since their subdued neighbors in the nearby River Valleys had different ways of treating the ground. These techniques were later passed on to the Incas. Their pottery is the finest made by the early race of Andean people.
In the 4th period, a single culture originating around Tiahuanaco in the Southern Andes imposed its leadership in art and in war throughout most of Peru. The spread of this culture was not long-lived.
A 5th period opened, and new forces sprang up again along the Coast, notably the Chimu people in the North.
The 6th and last development set the stage for the Andean civilization: the emergence by conquest and annexation of a completely unified state - the Inca empire.
MAN'S STATUS WAS SHOWN BY WHAT HE WORE.
After the establishment of the Inca rule, a great society that developed in the Andes Mountains of South America. The Inca territory stretched almost the length of the Andes Mountain Range, from North to South, more that 2,500 miles wrapping the Andes Highlands, and from the Pacific Ocean in the West to the Amazon River Basin in the East, wrapping the coastal deserts, and the jungle lands.
To manage and communicate across their vast distance and challenging ground, the Inca leaders came to rely on a system of roads. They built 2 main routes, the coastal and the inland road, which was called the Royal Road. Smaller roads connected them. It was as impressive as that of ancient Rome, but built at such unbelievable height on a very challenging ground. About 15,000 miles of road linked all corners of the empire. The roads crossed tropical jungles, high mountains, and raging rivers.
Inca leaders used the roads to travel throughout the empire. Shelters were placed every 15 to 30 miles to give travelers places to rest. The symbolic way in which they were designed represented the journey of the soul after it left the body.
The roads allowed the emperor at Cuzco to communicate with the leaders in distant places. The Incas sent messages by an elaborate relay system, using runners called 'chasquis.' A 'chasqui' was a selected type of human being, trained to carry the message in two different ways, one was using a special set of strings called 'quipu' where knots were tied at different levels strings of different colors, the other was to memorize words that helped to complete the information carried in the 'quipu.' Messenger stations were built every couple of miles along the main roads. Messengers went from one station to the next and they were able to travel more than 250 miles a day. Its effectivity was superb. Incas did not use written language.
The center of the Inca power was wrapped in the capital city of Cuzco, located in a High Valley in the Andes Southern Mountains. According to one Myth, the Inca people were descended from the Sun power known as 'Inti.' Inti commanded his son, Manco Capac, to rise out of the waters of Lake Titicaca in the Highlands of the Southern Peru. Manco Capac then founded the Inca Tribe.
The Incas continue and improved the ideas and institutions that had been pioneered by earlier cultures, especially from the Moche and the Chimu. The Moche lived along the Northern Coast from about 100 BC. They built cities, dug irrigation canals, and developed special classes of workers. The Chimu kingdom, also in Northern Peru, from about 1000 AC. Like the Moche , the Chimu built well-planned cities and used elaborate irrigation methods. They preserved the artistic traditions of the Moche and passed them on, being received by the Incas. They understood that this type of information was connected with astral forces that needed to be balanced and maintained. The chasquis were a type of messengers that new how to communicate with this astral forces.
The world of the Inca have shown a clear definition of a man's status. It was based on a strictly organized class structure. People who were from the Inca lineage by blood were originally from Cuzco.
As they grew in power, its class structure became more complex but each maintaining its special role and responsibility.
Only members of the nobility or the royal family could wear elaborated ornaments of gold and precious stones. The most socially significant of all such ornaments of rank were men's earplugs.
The reason of such differentiation was because of the origin of the soul, focusing the connection of this elemental soul with its place in the unseen world and the purpose it held in the world of the living managing the forces that existed inside and outside of it.
One of the high points of a well-born Inca's life came, after a rigorous schooling in the many arts of wrestling, boxing, fighting and long-distance marching, when a teen-age novice knelt before the emperor himself to have his ears pierced by a gold dagger. When the youth rose, having uttered no cry, he was a man of class. Gradually the hole was made bid enough to bear the weight of the nobleman's huge earplugs. Some of the pendants were enormous, and before many years the young nobleman's earlobes dropped nearly to the shoulders because of the weight of gold carried on it.
When the Europeans arrived to the continent and met the Incas, they were shocked and impressed by the custom that they couldn't understand, and simply they called them "the big ears."
The Incas regarded the earplug as a thing of great beauty because it represented the value of the soul according to its 3 levels of existence.
The art of working in precious metals was highly advanced because of its meaning and connection to the unseen world. Every metal carried its very particular soul. Since the frequency of its language, according to them, dealt with the cosmological forces of the universe they had an extreme care in dealing with it, because they understood the consequences upon maltreating them. But for the european invaders, it was the lure of that precious metals that drew them to scale the Andes in 1532, kidnap the emperor and overturn his empire.
To manage and communicate across their vast distance and challenging ground, the Inca leaders came to rely on a system of roads. They built 2 main routes, the coastal and the inland road, which was called the Royal Road. Smaller roads connected them. It was as impressive as that of ancient Rome, but built at such unbelievable height on a very challenging ground. About 15,000 miles of road linked all corners of the empire. The roads crossed tropical jungles, high mountains, and raging rivers.
Inca leaders used the roads to travel throughout the empire. Shelters were placed every 15 to 30 miles to give travelers places to rest. The symbolic way in which they were designed represented the journey of the soul after it left the body.
The roads allowed the emperor at Cuzco to communicate with the leaders in distant places. The Incas sent messages by an elaborate relay system, using runners called 'chasquis.' A 'chasqui' was a selected type of human being, trained to carry the message in two different ways, one was using a special set of strings called 'quipu' where knots were tied at different levels strings of different colors, the other was to memorize words that helped to complete the information carried in the 'quipu.' Messenger stations were built every couple of miles along the main roads. Messengers went from one station to the next and they were able to travel more than 250 miles a day. Its effectivity was superb. Incas did not use written language.
The center of the Inca power was wrapped in the capital city of Cuzco, located in a High Valley in the Andes Southern Mountains. According to one Myth, the Inca people were descended from the Sun power known as 'Inti.' Inti commanded his son, Manco Capac, to rise out of the waters of Lake Titicaca in the Highlands of the Southern Peru. Manco Capac then founded the Inca Tribe.
The Incas continue and improved the ideas and institutions that had been pioneered by earlier cultures, especially from the Moche and the Chimu. The Moche lived along the Northern Coast from about 100 BC. They built cities, dug irrigation canals, and developed special classes of workers. The Chimu kingdom, also in Northern Peru, from about 1000 AC. Like the Moche , the Chimu built well-planned cities and used elaborate irrigation methods. They preserved the artistic traditions of the Moche and passed them on, being received by the Incas. They understood that this type of information was connected with astral forces that needed to be balanced and maintained. The chasquis were a type of messengers that new how to communicate with this astral forces.
The world of the Inca have shown a clear definition of a man's status. It was based on a strictly organized class structure. People who were from the Inca lineage by blood were originally from Cuzco.
As they grew in power, its class structure became more complex but each maintaining its special role and responsibility.
Only members of the nobility or the royal family could wear elaborated ornaments of gold and precious stones. The most socially significant of all such ornaments of rank were men's earplugs.
The reason of such differentiation was because of the origin of the soul, focusing the connection of this elemental soul with its place in the unseen world and the purpose it held in the world of the living managing the forces that existed inside and outside of it.
One of the high points of a well-born Inca's life came, after a rigorous schooling in the many arts of wrestling, boxing, fighting and long-distance marching, when a teen-age novice knelt before the emperor himself to have his ears pierced by a gold dagger. When the youth rose, having uttered no cry, he was a man of class. Gradually the hole was made bid enough to bear the weight of the nobleman's huge earplugs. Some of the pendants were enormous, and before many years the young nobleman's earlobes dropped nearly to the shoulders because of the weight of gold carried on it.
When the Europeans arrived to the continent and met the Incas, they were shocked and impressed by the custom that they couldn't understand, and simply they called them "the big ears."
The Incas regarded the earplug as a thing of great beauty because it represented the value of the soul according to its 3 levels of existence.
The art of working in precious metals was highly advanced because of its meaning and connection to the unseen world. Every metal carried its very particular soul. Since the frequency of its language, according to them, dealt with the cosmological forces of the universe they had an extreme care in dealing with it, because they understood the consequences upon maltreating them. But for the european invaders, it was the lure of that precious metals that drew them to scale the Andes in 1532, kidnap the emperor and overturn his empire.
Sunday, December 18, 2016
THE NATURE OF THE INCA POWER.
The Inca religion were a pastoral kind. They believed that people had special connections with the supernatural world. The Creator God, Viracocha, was above everything and had the biggest power. He was believed to be the supreme God of creation, history, and eternity, who personally ruled the World and intervened regularly with human affairs.
The Incas distinguished themselves from the predecessors cultures by ruling their empire through a religious and administrative apparatus that respected and accepted the local customs of conquered people, rather than by might alone. That improvements in infrastructure, and religious tolerance gave them enough power to succeed as a culture and placing themselves as the head of an empire that unified a humongous amount of people from different cultures, living in the highlands, forest, and lowlands of the Andes.
The Incas strongly believed in the afterlife. It was believed that a transcedental realm existed in which an essential part or essence of an individual's identity continued to exist after the death of the physical vessel or body. The essential aspect of the individual that survived after death was the most important one because it conferred the personal identity of the individual during his life time in the world of the living.
The Incas encompassed the belief that there was no separation between the spiritual and the material world and souls existed not only in humans, but also in animals, plants, rocks, geographic features such as mountains, rivers, or other entities of the natural environment, including thunder and wind.
The Incas were able to understand the difference between the energies of persons and things, as the vital principle of the phenomena of life, and the diseases were traced to spiritual causes.
They Incas cared deeply for their dead, out of respect, loyalty, and continuity of the family lineage, whom they embalmed, mummified and placed into tombs, and looked after them. These included a sense of continuity between this life and the next and the mummification was a way to preserve the corpse of the deceased to ensure the continuity of its life. That is why tombs were treated as houses in the Hereafter and so they were carefully constructed and decorated.
After the death of the Inca, the priests class would come to his resting place and talk to the dead ruler. The supreme priest had he ability to communicate with the souls of the dead rulers through shamanic ways and believed that they possessed the ability to influence the fortune of living, and they often acted as messengers between the worlds. This type of communication was done during the time in which the soul of the death person was expecting to journey until reach his final destination.
The shamanic practice involved the practitioner reaching altered states of consciousness in order to perceive and interact with the frequencies of the spiritual world and channeled these transcendental energies into this world in a controlled way. They had access to, and influence in, the world of the benevolent and malevolent spirits. These entities included deities, demons, spirits, and ghosts, and were of varying importance, according to the powers they had and the position they occupied in the unseen world.
The Incas were very aware of the existence of these entities and the power that they had over the living world. To enjoy a fruitful life all the forces had to be maintained in balance in order to maintain peace in all the levels of existency.
The belief in a Hereafter in the pre-Inca cultures in the Andes goes back a long time since the first settlers appeared in the Andes and held an unique way of living. They represented the scenes of their everyday life in the textiles, ornaments, ceramics and other artifacts left in the elaborated tombs of their leaders.
The body of their leaders were treated as if they were alive given the fact that their source of power were still bound to them and there were laws applied between worlds in relation to the reception of that specific power over the hands of the leaders chosen to be invested with it.
Even to the peasant, the continuity of life in the unseen world was a major concern because they knew that everything had a role to fulfill in the world of the living and that role secured the continuity of life in an energy form in the eternal world.
The Incas distinguished themselves from the predecessors cultures by ruling their empire through a religious and administrative apparatus that respected and accepted the local customs of conquered people, rather than by might alone. That improvements in infrastructure, and religious tolerance gave them enough power to succeed as a culture and placing themselves as the head of an empire that unified a humongous amount of people from different cultures, living in the highlands, forest, and lowlands of the Andes.
The Incas strongly believed in the afterlife. It was believed that a transcedental realm existed in which an essential part or essence of an individual's identity continued to exist after the death of the physical vessel or body. The essential aspect of the individual that survived after death was the most important one because it conferred the personal identity of the individual during his life time in the world of the living.
The Incas encompassed the belief that there was no separation between the spiritual and the material world and souls existed not only in humans, but also in animals, plants, rocks, geographic features such as mountains, rivers, or other entities of the natural environment, including thunder and wind.
The Incas were able to understand the difference between the energies of persons and things, as the vital principle of the phenomena of life, and the diseases were traced to spiritual causes.
They Incas cared deeply for their dead, out of respect, loyalty, and continuity of the family lineage, whom they embalmed, mummified and placed into tombs, and looked after them. These included a sense of continuity between this life and the next and the mummification was a way to preserve the corpse of the deceased to ensure the continuity of its life. That is why tombs were treated as houses in the Hereafter and so they were carefully constructed and decorated.
After the death of the Inca, the priests class would come to his resting place and talk to the dead ruler. The supreme priest had he ability to communicate with the souls of the dead rulers through shamanic ways and believed that they possessed the ability to influence the fortune of living, and they often acted as messengers between the worlds. This type of communication was done during the time in which the soul of the death person was expecting to journey until reach his final destination.
The shamanic practice involved the practitioner reaching altered states of consciousness in order to perceive and interact with the frequencies of the spiritual world and channeled these transcendental energies into this world in a controlled way. They had access to, and influence in, the world of the benevolent and malevolent spirits. These entities included deities, demons, spirits, and ghosts, and were of varying importance, according to the powers they had and the position they occupied in the unseen world.
The Incas were very aware of the existence of these entities and the power that they had over the living world. To enjoy a fruitful life all the forces had to be maintained in balance in order to maintain peace in all the levels of existency.
The belief in a Hereafter in the pre-Inca cultures in the Andes goes back a long time since the first settlers appeared in the Andes and held an unique way of living. They represented the scenes of their everyday life in the textiles, ornaments, ceramics and other artifacts left in the elaborated tombs of their leaders.
The body of their leaders were treated as if they were alive given the fact that their source of power were still bound to them and there were laws applied between worlds in relation to the reception of that specific power over the hands of the leaders chosen to be invested with it.
Even to the peasant, the continuity of life in the unseen world was a major concern because they knew that everything had a role to fulfill in the world of the living and that role secured the continuity of life in an energy form in the eternal world.
Thursday, November 10, 2016
THE NATURAL INSTINCT OF THE ANDEAN CONDOR.
The Andean Condor is one of the most magnificent birds of the world and a symbol of power and health. They also represent a strong connection with its land of origin or birth, because they do not migrate at all.
The Andean Condor is associated with the Sun deity and is the ruler of the Upper World. Condors rest at night and fly by day. They draw the dawn and the sun across the sky and because of that the bird is considered the messenger of the heavens and the carrier of our dreams and prayers, since the Condor flies much higher than any other winged animal. The bird holds a very powerful position in the spirit world and that is the main reason why the bird has such a span of life averaging between 50 and 80 years, roughly the average span of a human being.
The Andean Condor teaches us about the ancient mysteries of life and death, about communion with the spirits and how to soar above our limitations. They have an uncanny ability to sense death, so they are sometimes seen as angels of death, circling around when life is about to end. The bird help us to understand the concept of transformation of that which is dead and no longer alive still have the chance to give energy through its food to the guardian of souls and continue its mission of regeneration.
Condors by nature are carrion eaters (dead animal carcasses). The bird prefer the carcasses of large dead animals like deer, cattle, and sheep. However, they are also known to eat the carcasses of smaller animals like rodents and rabbits.
The Andean Condor lack the strong talons and beaks of Hawks and Eagles, and depend on finding carcasses for food. In fact Condors hardly ever kill for food. They have never been known to attack a living animal. They eat what they find (benevolence) from an animal that was already killed by a predator. They commonly gorge themselves when feeding on a carcass and may go days without eating. Their keen eyesight helps them to locate food. They sometimes travel up to 140 miles per day in search of a meal. They are also keen observers of other scavengers. They are the best natural cleaners of the ecosystem.
The Andean Condor live in the highest peaks (6,9862m) of the rocky, regions of the mountains, including canyons, and gorges. They most often nest in caves. Instead of having many young and expecting only a few able to survive, Condors typically lay one egg and because of that gift that nature give them, they in return provide an extensive amount of parental care.
Like human hair, feathers contain mostly carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and hydrogen -the essential building blocks of life. Feathers have an ancient symbolic meaning, they are linked to the air element, and freedom, and attributed to a kind of transformation that is strong, swift, and potent. The feathers are used by an Andean shaman on the energetic body of an individual, in smooth, long strokes from the head to the feet, in order to clear the surrounding energy around it. The healing energy is invoked from any of the cardinal directions towards the body.
The prophecy of the Eagle and the Condor says that when the Eagle representing the mental aspect of the World, and the Condor representing the heart of the earth, fly together again (North and the South are no longer at odds), we will again live in harmony and recreate paradise on Earth.
The Andean Condor is associated with the Sun deity and is the ruler of the Upper World. Condors rest at night and fly by day. They draw the dawn and the sun across the sky and because of that the bird is considered the messenger of the heavens and the carrier of our dreams and prayers, since the Condor flies much higher than any other winged animal. The bird holds a very powerful position in the spirit world and that is the main reason why the bird has such a span of life averaging between 50 and 80 years, roughly the average span of a human being.
The Andean Condor teaches us about the ancient mysteries of life and death, about communion with the spirits and how to soar above our limitations. They have an uncanny ability to sense death, so they are sometimes seen as angels of death, circling around when life is about to end. The bird help us to understand the concept of transformation of that which is dead and no longer alive still have the chance to give energy through its food to the guardian of souls and continue its mission of regeneration.
Condors by nature are carrion eaters (dead animal carcasses). The bird prefer the carcasses of large dead animals like deer, cattle, and sheep. However, they are also known to eat the carcasses of smaller animals like rodents and rabbits.
The Andean Condor lack the strong talons and beaks of Hawks and Eagles, and depend on finding carcasses for food. In fact Condors hardly ever kill for food. They have never been known to attack a living animal. They eat what they find (benevolence) from an animal that was already killed by a predator. They commonly gorge themselves when feeding on a carcass and may go days without eating. Their keen eyesight helps them to locate food. They sometimes travel up to 140 miles per day in search of a meal. They are also keen observers of other scavengers. They are the best natural cleaners of the ecosystem.
The Andean Condor live in the highest peaks (6,9862m) of the rocky, regions of the mountains, including canyons, and gorges. They most often nest in caves. Instead of having many young and expecting only a few able to survive, Condors typically lay one egg and because of that gift that nature give them, they in return provide an extensive amount of parental care.
Like human hair, feathers contain mostly carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and hydrogen -the essential building blocks of life. Feathers have an ancient symbolic meaning, they are linked to the air element, and freedom, and attributed to a kind of transformation that is strong, swift, and potent. The feathers are used by an Andean shaman on the energetic body of an individual, in smooth, long strokes from the head to the feet, in order to clear the surrounding energy around it. The healing energy is invoked from any of the cardinal directions towards the body.
The prophecy of the Eagle and the Condor says that when the Eagle representing the mental aspect of the World, and the Condor representing the heart of the earth, fly together again (North and the South are no longer at odds), we will again live in harmony and recreate paradise on Earth.
Sunday, November 6, 2016
PIURA REGION AND ITS ANCIENT SETTLERS.
Piura is a coastal region in NorthWestern Peru. The region's capital is Piura and its largest port cities, Paita and Talara, are also among the most important in Peru. The area is known for its tropical and dry beaches.
The most important culture that developed in the region was 'Vicus' which stood out for its ceramic and delicate work in gold. The Tallanes or Yungas, however, were the first settlers, who migrated from the mountains. During a period that is still vague, they lived in 'behetrias', which were simple settlements without a head or an organization. Later they were assimilated by the Mochicas and, centuries later by the Incas, during the rule of Tupac Inca Yupanqui.
The Yungas or Tallanes, expert potters, were the inhabitants of the warm or temperate climate on the slopes of the Andes, in a narrow band of forest along the Eastern slope of the Andes Mountains. The terrain, formed by valleys, fluvial mountain trails and streams, is extremely rugged and varied, contributing to the ecological diversity. The use of the 'taclla', a farming tool was the first characteristic of this first etnic group that settled on the Plains of North-Western Peru. Narihuala (17km South of Piura) is considered the capital of the Tallan Nation and is the most important architectural evidence of a great monument, both in its size and the prominent platform of 2 pyramids. The Narihuala Temple was built as a sanctuary in the honor of the Tacllan god 'Walac'. Later the Tacllan territory was invaded by the Mochica and Chimu. Tacllan in North-Western Peru today is the name of an agricultural tool with a running board.
Huaca El Loro (Shrine named 'The Parrot"), within a forest of carob trees, in the Pomac Historical Sanctuary, near Chiclayo, Peru is a Tallan archaeological site, where a 1,000-year-old mummy of a nobleman wearing a distinctive headdress, a large gold, silver and copper facemask adorned with 25-cms-wide eyes, and a chest plate and surrounded by gold and silver ornaments, buried in a lavish tom, was discovered, alongside with three other bodies. This man was probably the leader of a group that was integrated into Sican society.
The Sican culture is one of the several groups of goldsmiths who predated the Inca and flourished in Peru's Lambayeque region. They are known for their lost-wax casting in gold ornament production, and the production of arsenical copper, which is the closest material to bronze found in prehistoric archaeology. The Sican were descendants of the Moche, and were involved in long-distance trade for emeralds and amber. Although geographically within the same area of Northern Peru, Sican flourished long after the Moche civilization and the famous Lord of Sipan.
The history of the Sican can be divided into 3 distinct periods: Early from 750-900 AC, Middle from 900-1100AC, and Late from 1100-1375AC. The Tallan nobleman buried at the Huaca dates back to Middle Sican age, which is known for its elite funeral traditions. Toms were typically packed with treasures, and were dug as much as 10 meters deep before being refilled with sand.
Piura is the land of a unique 'algarrobo trees', a variety of mesquite similar to the carob tree, and it is the region with the most equatorial tropical dry forest in the whole Pacific.
These eco-regions carry a unique variety of orchids, birds, reptiles, plants, and mammals. Piura is known for the best and oldest lime-lemons in South America as well as South America's finest mango. Piura also produces bananas, coconuts, rice and other fruits as local income. With Lambayeque, it is the original home of 'Pima cotton'. Fishing is blessed by two ocean currents.
Piura is a host to a stunning 'mestizo culture' since all races mix here. The population are characterized by their witty minds, melancholy music, and welcoming personalities, Like all Peruvians, they are heavy drinkers of 'chicha de jora', 'pisco', or beer and all of them have a tendency towards creativity and art as their source of income.
The most important culture that developed in the region was 'Vicus' which stood out for its ceramic and delicate work in gold. The Tallanes or Yungas, however, were the first settlers, who migrated from the mountains. During a period that is still vague, they lived in 'behetrias', which were simple settlements without a head or an organization. Later they were assimilated by the Mochicas and, centuries later by the Incas, during the rule of Tupac Inca Yupanqui.
The Yungas or Tallanes, expert potters, were the inhabitants of the warm or temperate climate on the slopes of the Andes, in a narrow band of forest along the Eastern slope of the Andes Mountains. The terrain, formed by valleys, fluvial mountain trails and streams, is extremely rugged and varied, contributing to the ecological diversity. The use of the 'taclla', a farming tool was the first characteristic of this first etnic group that settled on the Plains of North-Western Peru. Narihuala (17km South of Piura) is considered the capital of the Tallan Nation and is the most important architectural evidence of a great monument, both in its size and the prominent platform of 2 pyramids. The Narihuala Temple was built as a sanctuary in the honor of the Tacllan god 'Walac'. Later the Tacllan territory was invaded by the Mochica and Chimu. Tacllan in North-Western Peru today is the name of an agricultural tool with a running board.
Huaca El Loro (Shrine named 'The Parrot"), within a forest of carob trees, in the Pomac Historical Sanctuary, near Chiclayo, Peru is a Tallan archaeological site, where a 1,000-year-old mummy of a nobleman wearing a distinctive headdress, a large gold, silver and copper facemask adorned with 25-cms-wide eyes, and a chest plate and surrounded by gold and silver ornaments, buried in a lavish tom, was discovered, alongside with three other bodies. This man was probably the leader of a group that was integrated into Sican society.
The Sican culture is one of the several groups of goldsmiths who predated the Inca and flourished in Peru's Lambayeque region. They are known for their lost-wax casting in gold ornament production, and the production of arsenical copper, which is the closest material to bronze found in prehistoric archaeology. The Sican were descendants of the Moche, and were involved in long-distance trade for emeralds and amber. Although geographically within the same area of Northern Peru, Sican flourished long after the Moche civilization and the famous Lord of Sipan.
The history of the Sican can be divided into 3 distinct periods: Early from 750-900 AC, Middle from 900-1100AC, and Late from 1100-1375AC. The Tallan nobleman buried at the Huaca dates back to Middle Sican age, which is known for its elite funeral traditions. Toms were typically packed with treasures, and were dug as much as 10 meters deep before being refilled with sand.
Piura is the land of a unique 'algarrobo trees', a variety of mesquite similar to the carob tree, and it is the region with the most equatorial tropical dry forest in the whole Pacific.
These eco-regions carry a unique variety of orchids, birds, reptiles, plants, and mammals. Piura is known for the best and oldest lime-lemons in South America as well as South America's finest mango. Piura also produces bananas, coconuts, rice and other fruits as local income. With Lambayeque, it is the original home of 'Pima cotton'. Fishing is blessed by two ocean currents.
Piura is a host to a stunning 'mestizo culture' since all races mix here. The population are characterized by their witty minds, melancholy music, and welcoming personalities, Like all Peruvians, they are heavy drinkers of 'chicha de jora', 'pisco', or beer and all of them have a tendency towards creativity and art as their source of income.
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