ANDEAN REVERENCE TO LIFE POWER.

Andean traditions was and still is inseparable from society in general. All facets of community life is closely connected with it. One such continuing Andean tradition is the belief in a specific founder of the community and an association with a particular spot where that person had emerged from the earth.
Shamans, with their feared ability to cast spells and particular skill at predestination by reading the signs in fires, llama's intestines and such like, remains important in the Andean world.
The Andean people were and still are keen observers of celestial bodies mastering their movements and cycles. Accordingly, stars, constellations, and planets has their personified representation of power, especially the Pleiades (Colca), the Milky Way (Mayu), Orion's Belt, and Venus. They believe that all creatures have their own particular stellar equivalent which somehow governs and protect all its physical equivalents on earth.
The identification of such equivalence of power was the task pursued by many ancient Andean groups who built immediately a sacred structure to perform ceremonies, prayers, offerings to the entity in charge of that specific divine force. A hierarchical priesthood conducted such ceremonies, their status depending on the power of the force they were serving.
The Sun (Inti) in Inca time was the most important element in the Creation of the visible world. For the Inca themselves, the world began at Lake Titicaca (picture above), long previously considered a divine place for the Andean people and visited by the Inca rulers in regular pilgrimages. The Creator god (Viracocha) one day, on the sacred Island of the Sun on Lake Titicaca, made a race of giants but, finding these too big for his purpose, instead made humans on a smaller scale. This first race of humans upset the Creator god with their greed and arrogance and so as punishment the Creator turned some of them to stone and others into the earth and natural features. Then the Creator sent a great Flood to wipe the earth clean, saving only 3 humans so that they might start the race again. Also at the divine Lake Titicaca, the Creator then made the Sun, Moon and Stars in the visible world. Next, the Creator went traveling around disguised as a beggar and known as Kon-Tiki, among many other names. The Creator made carvings at Tiahuanaco, established Cuzco by directing the Inca founding couple (Manco Capac and Mama Ocllo) there, and taught the Andean people the art crafts of everything. Then, when the Creator arrived at the Coast, his being mysteriously walked away across the sea to the West, promising one day to return.
The Sun (Inti) then got the respect of the Andean people since it was considered the central power of life on earth in the visible world. In the invisible world, the entity home was also the destination in the next life for those who lived good lives in this one. The representative of this life power on earth was the Inca and all the Andean civilization legitimized the Inca rule as a divine one. A symbolic gold statue of the Sun, represented as a small seated boy (Punchao), with rays projecting from his head, was kept in the Temple of the Sun, at the Coricancha sacred complex at Cuzco. The rays were decorated with gold jewelry as a representation of the divine line of power from which the Inca race came from. The figure's stomach was used as a receptacle for the ashes of the burned vital organs of previous Inca rulers. Each day the statue was brought outside of the Temple to bask in the sun as a connecting feature with the divinity source. In addition to the Coricancha, the Sun (Inti) had the Temple-Fortress complex of Sacsayhuaman dedicated to his power, located just outside Cuzco.
The well-being of the ruler and the Empire and the guarantee of a good harvest (picture below) were entirely in the divine power of the Sun. The power was served by a dedicated High Priest, the most reverent religious figure, who was aided by a team of young virgin priests (acllas or acllayconas), exercising the duality of the entity and its power. Each major town had a temple and a vast amount of resources were dedicated to the source of the power. Even land and herds were reserved especially for the divinity and a whole province near Lake Titicaca was set aside for the divine power of the Sun. Inside the Coricancha a maize field complete with life-size llamas and shepherds was constructed out of pure gold symbolizing the purity of their service to the land and dedicated to the sacred power of life invested in the Sun (Inti).
One of the most important ceremonies in worship these sacred power of life is the Inti Raymi. The 8-9 days of thanksgiving is still held every June (winter) solstice on a plain outside Cuzco. The beginning of the ploughing season is marked by the festivity.
Deities still important in their particular domains, includes the earth goddess Pachamama in whose honor farmers built a special place in the centre of their fields where they could easily offer the best that they can in the hope of a good harvest.

THE ANDEAN LLAMAS.

Llamas have been selectively bred as a high altitude pack animal. High in the Andes Mountains, they have been helping people carry their wares for thousands of years. Their thick coats of wool and honed survival instincts enable them to thrive in one of the most extreme climates on earth.
The Inca empire depended on the llama to transport trade goods, root crops, and building materials to extremely difficult locations throughout the Andean highlands.
The lost Incan city of Machu Pichu, perched on a high saddle, between two jagged mountain peaks, 2,000 feet above the mighty Urubamba River, was the preferred site of pasture land for the llamas.
They were revered by the Pre-Inca and Inca civilization. It is the second most depicted form in Andean art, next to the sun.
The llama is a member of the camel family, and is one of the oldest domesticated animals in the world. They are perfect low-impact, high altitude pack animal. Their leather padded, two-toed feet and natural agility give them a sure-footed step akin to mountain goats. Their wild relatives are the Andean guanacos and vicunas.
The height of a full-grown, full-size llama is 1.8 meters/5.9ft tall at the top of the head, and can weight between 130 and 200 kilograms/290 and 440lb. Llamas typically live for 15 to 25 years, with some individuals surviving 30 years or more in their natural habitat.
Llamas, when used as pack animals, they can carry about 25 to 30% of their body weight. They are usually saddled with loads of 50 to 75 pounds. Under such weight they can cover up to 20 miles in a single day along the mountain highlands.
Llamas are willing pack animals but only to a point. An overload llama will simply refuse to move. They lie down on the ground and may spit, hiss, or even kick at their owners until their burden is lessened. Llamas are also used as a food source and fiber, and as a guard animal. Those uses still continue today. The llama has been found to be unique in this capacity.
Because the Andean lands are in their natural state and free of commercial pesticides and fertilizers the meat produced by the Llama is all natural and full of nutrients. The Llama's ability to efficiently utilize the low grade, sparse forage common to the semi-arid Andean mountains establishes its validity as a meat animal. Llamas, like cows, regurgitate their food and chew it as cud. They chomp on such wads for some time before swallowing them for complete digestion. Llamas can survive by eating many different kinds of low grade forages, and they need little water. These attributes make them durable and dependable even in sparse mountainous terrain. Other species of domestic meat animals cannot efficiently utilize the same amount of forage because they require higher quality and quantity.
Llamas contribute much more than transportation to the Andean communities in which they live.
The Quechua people eat the Llama meat both fresh and dried. The dried meat called "charqui" is the original form of what is referred to in today world as "jerky" The meat is lean, low fat, and nutrient dense. Its taste is similar to the taste of grass fat beef.
The llama's fiber is quite versatile and exceptional in its performance, easily maintained, and comfortable. Leather is made from their hides, and ropes, rugs, and fabrics from their wool. The wool is very soft and lanolin-free. (Lanolin is a wax secreted by the sebaceous glands of wool-bearing animals)
The llama's excrement is dried and burned for fuel. Their tracks and droppings are similar to an elk's, and have little impact on fragile wilderness trails. They exemplify the "leave no trace" wilderness ethic.
Llamas are great hiking companions. They are alert, and curious. They walk at a comfortable pace for humans and their keen senses of smell, hearing, and sight often point out a distant herd of other animals.
Lamas are very intelligent and can learn simple tasks after a few repetition. Selectively bred for gentleness, for over five thousand years, a well trained llama will eagerly follow adults and children alike. They are very social and can live with other llamas as a herd. The llama's territorial nature, protective instincts, and self-sufficient combine to make the animal an effective guard animal. The llama will not attack predators invading the territory, but will actually move the flock/herd to the most defensible position available.

THE ORIGEN OF ANDEAN VOLCANOES.

Tectonic pressures and volcanic activity gave shape the earth. The Andean Mountains were lifted up from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.
The Andean mountain system is the result of global plate-tectonic forces during roughly the past 65 million years that built upon earlier geologic activity. About 250 million years ago the crustal plates constituting the Earth's land-mass were joined together into a super-continent. The subsequent breakup dispersed plates outward, where they began to take the form and position of the present-day continents. The collision or convergence of two of these plates -the continental South American Plate and the Oceanic Nazca Plate- gave rise to the mountain-building activity that produced the Andes mountain structures. The Andes host more volcanoes that have been active during the past 10,000 years than any other volcanic region in the world. The Andes also host the highest peaks in the Western Hemisphere. The highest of them is Mount Aconcagua (6959 meters/22,831ft) on the border of Argentina and Chile.
The prominent mountainous belt making up the Andean chain (Cordillera de los Andes) stretches approximately 8,900 kilometers (5,500mi) North to South from Venezuela to Patagonian Chile along the Western margin of South American continent. They separate a narrow Western coastal area from the rest of the continent, affecting deeply the conditions of life within the ranges themselves and in surrounding areas. They are not a single line of formidable peaks but rather a succession of parallel and transverse mountain ranges (cordilleras) and of intervening plateaus and depressions. Distinct Eastern (Cordillera Oriental) and Western (Cordillera Occidental) ranges are characteristic of most of the system. The directional trend of both ranges generally is North to South, but in several places the Eastern range bulges Eastward to form either isolated peninsula-like ranges or such high inter-montane plateau regions as the High Plateau (Altiplano), occupying adjoining parts of Argentina, Chile, Bolivia , and Peru. The Andes is also known as the "backbone" of South America.
The Andean Volcanism occurs within the Andean Volcanic Arc which is the Earth's longest but discontinuous continental-margin volcanic arc, along the Andes. It consists of 4 main distinct zones that are separated from each other by inactive volcanic gaps: -Northern, Central, Southern, and Austral.
-The Northern extends from Colombia to Ecuador. Of the volcanoes in this zone, 55 are in Ecuador, while 19 are in Colombia.
-The Central extends from Peru to Chile and forms the Western boundary of the High Plateau (Altiplano). There are 44 major and 18 minor volcanic centers that are considered to be active. Jaw-dropping details litter the landscape. It has been that way for over 10 million years. It has also been very dry weather in the area known as the Altiplano-Puna Plateau for at least a few millions years as well. It is the home of the Atacama Desert.
-The Southern extends roughly from Central Chile's Andes at Santiago to the Aysen Region, South of Chile.
-The Austral zone extends South of the Patagonian Volcanic Gap to Fire Land (Tierra del Fuego) archipelago.
The Andean volcanoes structure derive from the local geology (Nazca plate and Brazilian Shield).
The Pacific Ocean is being consumed here as much as 10 centimeters per year. The sub-duction zone is clearly seen as a deep trench off the coast. As the oceanic plate steeply subducts towards the mantle, it pushes the continental plate up and so has formed the second highest mountain chain on Earth.The sub-ducted plate melts easily at depth. In this process, it is rather helped by being well hydrated after millions of years underneath the Pacific Ocean; the water content reduces the melting temperature.The melt trickles up and collects in large magma chambers, which feed the many Andean volcanoes.The eruptions recycle both the oceanic crust and the Pacific water sub-ducted with it.
Another factor is the climate. The Andean mountains' climate is both wonderful and inhospitable. In the heights, the temperatures are mild, rarely cold, and most of the time clear sky. The cold Ocean currents keeps the climate dry; there are only a few months each year with some rain.
On the other side of the mountains begins a wetland, the Amazon and the Pantanal, where rain is a way of life, coloring the whole area in green. This way of life makes a tremendous contrast to the way of life in the West in which the dryness has formed a desert coloring the whole area in brown.
People live along the River Valleys and their agriculture is based on run-off from the high mountains.

THE DEADLY POWER OF HUAYNA-PUTINA.

Huayna-Putina is located in a volcanic upland in Southern Peru's Moquegua Region, 80 kilometers (50mi) South East of Arequipa. The volcano is part of the Central Volcanic Zone, the segment of the Andes running through Peru and Chile.
One of the largest cataclysmic eruption, like no other, in historical times, and that the Andes has ever witnessed over the past 2,000 years, took place at Huayna-Putina from February 19 to March 6, 1600. It caused a short-term cooling that sent societies around the world reeling, as sulfur released into the upper atmosphere blocked the sunlight from reaching the surface.
The majestic mountain as it use to be is not there. In its place there is a double crater in the ground, several kilometers across, with thick ice on one side and an opening in the other side to a majestic river valley. The debris is evidence of a violent past but it gives little hint of what was there before.
The name of the volcano came after the event. Part of the name came from El Misti, which was called Putina (pu=blow, tina=furnace) at the time. The other part relates to Huayna Capac, the mighty one. He was the emperor under whom the Inca empire reached its expansion's peak. He died before his time in the smallpox epidemic brought by the foreigners which preceded the time of the arrival of the small group of Spaniards led by Francisco Pizarro.
Before the arrival of the foreigners, Andean people usually offered sacrifices to the volcano mountains, to appease the anger of the god of the death, Supay (associated with miner's rituals). He was the ruler of the Inca underworld (Uku Pacha) as well as a race of demons. The Andean people did not repudiated Supay but, being scared of him, they invoked him and begged him not to harm them. Any disruption in the maintenance of peace in relation to the three levels of Inca existence indicated an upcoming disaster.
A century later, when the unnamed volcano erupted, the whole area was populated by foreigners that obtained rights to the land through their own crown at the cost of decimating the Inca population.
A few days before the eruption, a booming noise and a fog-like gas being emitted from its crater, was reported , By February 15, the activity had noticeably increased, as earthquakes began to occur, the most severe of which measured over 8.0 on the Richter scale.
By February 18, seismic activity occurred three or four times every fifteen minutes. On February 19, the volcano erupted violently, having the appearance of an enormous fire and sending volcanic ash into the atmosphere. The atmospheric spike of acid as a result of the eruption was higher than that of Krakatoa (Indonesia, 1883).
One hour after the eruption, the volcanic ash began to fall from the sky, and within 24 hours, Arequipa was covered with 25 centimeters (10in) of ash. Asfall was reported 250-500 kilometers (160-310 mi) away, throughout Southern Peru and in what is now Chile and Western Bolivia. Some people did not see the sun for months, and agricultural production was devastated for the next two following years.
The chilling effects of the eruption were substantial and were felt worldwide. In Northern Hemisphere, 1601 was the coldest year in six centuries, leading to a famine in Russia. In Estonia, Switzerland, and Latvia, there were bitterly cold winters in 1600-1602; in France, the wine harvest came late (1601), in China, peach trees bloomed late. Additionally, wine production also collapsed in colonial Peru and Germany, in 1601.
In Japan, Lake Suwa (Kiso Mountains), in the central region, had one of its earliest freezing stage in 500 years. The Lake is the site of an interesting natural phenomenon, "the God's Crossing." It has a natural hot spring under its surface. When the Lake's surface freezes in winter, its lower waters still move and circulate around it. This results in ice pressure ridges forming in the surface ice, reaching heights of 30 centimeters (0.98ft) or more. Local tradition holds that the ridges are formed by the gods crossing the lake, when traveling between the various buildings of the Suwa Grand Shrine.
In general, the larger the volcanic eruption, the bigger the cooling effect and the longer the effect lasts.
Scientists categorize eruptions according to the Volcanic Explosive index, a parameter that depends on factors such as how much material is thrown from the peak and the height of ash plume that's produce.
The Huayna-Putina eruption of 1600 falls in VEI category 6, which denotes an eruption with a volume greater than 10 cubic kilometers and a plume height that exceeds 25 kilometers.
Since 1601, there have been five category 6 eruptions, including Laki (1783), Krakatoa (1883) and Pinatubo (1991). However, none of these events spawned adverse societal effects on a global scale as Huayna-Putina did.

INCA PISAC.

Pisac is a Peruvian village, 28 kilometers away from Cuzco, Peru, in the Sacred Valley of the Incas, along the Vilcanota River. Its large market is opened every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday, an event that attracts heavy traffic of people.
One of the Sacred Valley's finest remaining Inca archaeological site, is the beautiful ruins at Pisac at 3,347 meters above sea level. The citadel lies in the mountainside high above the village, on a triangular plateau with a plunging gorge on either side, atop a hill at the entrance to the valley, at its Eastern end. The main part of the ruins is 20-30 minutes down the mountainside. To walk from town, a steep 4 kilometers trail starts above the West side of the church. It is a two-hour climb and 1 1/2 hour return. The citadel is 3.5 kilometers away from the village of Pisac.
The ruins are spread out over a large area and follow a long mountain top crest and constructed from exquisitely carved pink granite. They are separated along the ridge into 4 groups: Pisaqa, Inti Watana, Calla-Casa, and Quinchi-Raqay.
The Inti Watana group are the ones further down the mountain and includes the Temple of the Sun, baths, altars, a ceremonial platform, water fountains, and an Inti Watana (a ritual stone associated with an astronomical clock and a calendar).
The Temple of the Sun is built on a huge protruding spur of volcanic rock, carved into a "hitching posts for the sun." The angles at its base served to define the changes of the seasons. It was aligned with the sun's position during the winter solstice. The stone held the position of the sun along its annual path in the sky. At midday on the equinoxes the sun stands almost above the stone, casting no shadow at all. On June 21, the stone casts the longest shadow on its Southern side and on December 21, a much shorter one on its Northern side.
Calla-Casa, which is built onto a natural spur and overlooks the Sacred Valley, is known as the citadel, the core fortified side of the town considered its defensive core.
The archaeological complex is surrounded by a vast sweeping agricultural terraces which harmoniously blend into the natural curvature of the landscape. The Inca constructed the most impressive an important agricultural sector on the site. Agricultural terraces were built on the steep hillside, around the South and East flanks of the mountain in huge and graceful curves, joined by diagonal flights of stairs made of flagstones set into the terrace walls. They created the terraces by hauling richer topsoil by hand from the power lands. The terraces enabled the production of surplus food, more than would normally be possible at altitudes as high as 11,000 ft. The terraces are still in use today.
With religious, military, and agricultural structures, the site served a triple purpose. It defended the Southern entrance to the Sacred Valley, while Choque-Quirao (buildings and terraces at levels above and below the truncated hill top, Sunchu-Pata), defended the Western entrance, and the fortress at Ollantay-Tambo defending the Northern.
The sanctuary of Huanca, site of a sacred shrine, is also near Pisac village. Pilgrims travel to the shrine every September. The Huanca people, after fierce fighting, were conquered by the Inca Pachacutec and incorporated into the Inca Empire. Their language differed significantly from the Incas' Quechua.
Willka Raymi meaning "greatgrandson" or "lineage," is a celebration that is held annually on August (24th) in the archaeological complex. It is the representation of the traditional offering ceremony to the Mother Earth (Pacha-Mama).
The Machu-Condor -Sanqa, meaning "the cliff of the Old Condor,"on the border of the district, lies on the right bank of the Vilcanota River. The mountain is about 4,200 metres (17,780 ft) high.
Pisac was once the site of a vital Inca road which wound its way through the Sacred valley to the borders of the Eastern Jungle. This made it an important connecting route for the Inca Empire and the city of Paucar-Tambo, giving to Inca Pisac a strategic controlling point, because of its elevated position.
There were 24,000 miles in the Inca road system that linked mountain peaks and tropical lowlands and crossed rivers and deserts. Even today the roads runs through Andean communities in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, and Chile.

THE CORICANCHA.

The religious complex of Coricancha was built as the crown jewel of beauty in the Inca capital city of Cuzco. It is situated at 11,150 feet above sea level in South East Peru.
Coricancha was the most sacred site in Inca religion and considered the very centre of the Inca world. The site was also known as "the Golden Enclosure" and was dedicated to the highest god, Viracocha the Creator god.
In the shadows of the Peruvian Andes, with thin air, rocky slopes, that wouldn't seem to be a likely place for the center of Inca doctrine, the Coricancha cemented the symbolic importance of religion in the task of uniting the divergent cultural practices. Anyone seeking to thrive under these conditions would need to be equipped with a tremendous capacity of success. The Incas had this capacity in abundance, and were able to tame the harsh landscapes to create the largest empire in South America before the arrival of the Europeans.
When the Inca Pachacutec, the 9th ruler, assumed the Inca throne, he began to reform the city capital of Cuzco by restructuring the street grid, which remains to this day. The construction of the complex is attributed to him. During his reign a massive conquests was made and the Inca empire went on to control an area extending from modern-day Colombia to Santiago, Chile.
The city capital, Cuzco, itself was deliberately laid out to represent a puma, and the Coricancha located in the animal's tail, was considered the holiest site of all. In typical Inca symmetry the second most important sacred site in the city was the fortress of Sacsay-Huaman, located at the head of the puma. The effective organization of the city played a large part in Pachacutec success. The lay-out of the site, as seen from above, resembled a sun with rays shining out in all directions. These were the sacred cosmic roads (ceques) of which 41 of them led to an impressive 328 sacred sites. The complex was also built where the city's two great rivers of Huantanay and Tulla-Mayo met.
The Coricancha was constructed using the Inca's distinctive masonry style. The massive walls of the complex were built from large stone blocks finely cut and fitted together without mortar. The large curved Western wall is particularly noted for its form and elegant, regular masonry. Most walls also leaned slightly inwards as they rose in height. Many trapezoid doorways and windows allowed access and light to enter the interior spaces and a broad band of gold was added mid-way height around the walls.
The interior buildings were of one floor and had thatched roofs. It consisted of 4 main chambers, each connected to a different entity: moon, stars, thunder, and rainbows. The doors were covered in gold sheets, as were the interiors and exteriors and the inner side of the perimeter wall that was even said to have been studded with precious stones especially emeralds. Almost all was filled with a great quantity of gold, with one chamber containing a giant sun disc, reflecting the sunlight that illuminated the rest of the temple. The disc was aligned so that during the summer solstice it illuminated a sacred space where only the emperor himself was allowed to enter and sit in there.
The location of the temple within the city was very important. It was placed at the convergence of the 4 main highways and connected to the 4 cardinal points of the empire through the 4 quarters that formed the body of the land named "Tahuantinsuyo," meaning 'the land of the 4 quarters."
The Coricancha housed more than 4,000 priests, and the position of the temple in relation to the nearby Andean mountains meant that the temple functioned as an enormous calendar. Shadows were cast by stones, placed on the foothills of the temple, marking out the solstice and equinoxes. The observation marked a very important religious celebration.
When the Europeans arrived, after taking Cuzco, and declaring the city their  center of operations, they demolished most of the upper part of Coricancha melting down its gold plating and its sculptures sent back to Europe. The Europeans then, using the same stone foundations, built a cathedral on the site. Centuries later, an earthquake in 1950 completely destroyed the cathedral but left the stone foundations of the temple intact. The cathedral has been rebuilt since then on top of the same Inca foundation and while visitors are prohibited from climbing on the original temple walls, they have the freedom to roam on the grounds of the temple site. The golden sun disk has been replaced by sunbathers.
Today, Coricancha still has an important place in the city, however, modern Cuzco has expanded greatly so that the original puma design in nearly impossible to make out.
The clever design of the Coricancha golden temple is the centre-piece of an empire that revolutionized city planning in South America.

THE MYTH OF THE INCA ORIGIN.

The Incas tied their mythic origins to a place called the "Inn" or "the House of the Dawn" located near Pacari-Tambo and their authority to their mythological associations to "the Island of the Sun" in Lake Titicaca.
Pacari-Tambo refers to a village of the same name located 26 kilometers South of Cuzco.
The Inca are said to have emerged from one of the 3 caves or windows from a nearby mountain named "Tampu-Toco"(House of Openings or Windows).
The original Inca consisted of 4 pairs of siblings or spouses. The first ancestral spouses to emerge from the "central window" called "rich window" were Ayar Cachi and Mama Huaco.
The name Ayar Cachi means "ancestor salt." Salt (cachi), the spice of sea-water and at the same time the bottom of Lake Titicaca (the top is fresh water), harbors symbolic connotations to water fluidity and the circulation of underground water or subterranean water, as is widely conceptualized among the people of the Andes.
Through the underground passages the mythological ancestors descended into from the Island of the Sun in Lake Titicaca to Pacari-Tambo, both were part of a subterranean water system. On reaching the valley, they went to the top of a sacred hill called Huana-Cauri. There Ayar Cachi took out his sling and hurled sling stones in 4 directions, and they struck so hard they knocked down the surrounding hills, creating ravines.
The sling stones were not perceived as weapons, but as a symbolic way to represent the mythological creation of the Valley of Cuzco.
The Inca linked their mythology to the world of the heavens, in that realm the Inca perceived Viracocha the Creator god as a man made up of stars with a sling in his right hand and dressed in shining garments who gave off lightnings when He whirled his sling or wanted rain.
Lightning associations to later veneration of Viracocha the Creator god, appear to have been absorbed from the earlier religious beliefs and rituals related to the Gate Way or Staff God, of Tiahuanaco and Wari civilizations. To the Incas, lightening was the major divine force in the heaven realm, it was believed to control thunder and, by extension, all climatic forces, particularly rain, hail, and rainbows.
The so-called "Warrior relief" below and surrounding the image of the weather and sky related deity Thunupa, has been found to record various celestial cycles. It appears to be that the natural world exists in multiple temporal cycles, some tied to an annual subsistence round and others to the periodicity of cosmological cycles. Thus multiple modes of a historical and mythological past are real and in that they coexist and continually contribute to the ongoing process of life.