THE ANDEAN SACRED PLANT: COCA.

The Coca plant is native to the Andean Mountains of South America. It plays an important role in the Andean societies who live on the Eastern slopes of the Andes in Peru and Bolivia that chew the leaves as a way of life in the high altitude in which their communities are placed.
The knowledge of the sacred Coca plant's virtues has been passed on from generation to generation by way of mouth without any formal knowledge of chemistry. The plant has been used by the Andean people since ancient times.
The leaves are selected or chosen by their high concentration of sweet, aromatic compounds which give a better flavor in the mouth when the chewing process is on. It is still a common practice for a mother to introduce her young to the consumption of the coca leaves by preparing a wad of leaves in her mouth and then transferring it to the mouth of her child. First by chewing the coca leaves they are moistened by the saliva and easily broken facilitating the removal of the stalks and strings. Then a pinch of lime prepared from calcinated seashells, plant ashes or bicarbonate of soda is added pinch by pinch, until the proper mixture is achieved. The amount of lime is critical to the taste and to the concentration of alkaloid released. The wad of leaves is then kept relatively still between the teeth and the cheek; it is sucked on rather than chewed. When the mother transfer the wad from her mouth to the mouth of he child, the proper amount of lime will be presented in the first wad of leaves the child uses, which ensures that the first experience with the coca leaves will leave a positive introduction. Since lime is caustic, an excess will burn the mouth. The process itself involve the extraction of alkaloids from the leaves making them alkaline. The lime is the mechanism by which absorption of the alkaloids could be controlled. Thus, if while chewing the leaves a little too many alkaloids were released, one had only to easy up on the lime and let the saliva wash out some excess lime into the stomach. The lower concentration of lime would result in a slower absorption of alkaloids.
The same cautious and selective procedures are taken when the Coca plant is used in conjunction with other medicinal plants as a natural health enhancer and in the strict context of religious rituals for their various psychoactive effects that target certain neuronal receptors that alter perception, emotion and cognition.
The Coca plant began to be used for negative purposes at the beginning of the 20th century. Since then, the leaves with high concentration of the alkaloid used as the raw material for cocaine production were selected. The ones with the very low content are the sweet and flavored ones used for chewing.
The sweet and aromatic leaves help to maintain the teeth and gums in a good state of health; they also keep the teeth white. They are rich in vitamins, particularly thiamine, riboflavin, and vitamin C.
Coca tea has a beneficial influence on respiration and is said to effect rapid cure of altitude sickness. It also rids the blood of toxic metabolites, especially uric acid.

SACRED BURIAL SITE OF THE ANDES.

The ancient Andean people and after them the Incas looked after their ancestors in their afterlives and sought their guidance for their living descendants. The use of elaborate tombs and mummification rituals shows the high degree of interaction with the process of passing away or the cross over to the spiritual world. The philosophy behind the scene is that the living world was less important for them comparing it to the acquisition of powers in the unseen world.
As woven bridges braided over raging waters, defined the ancient Andean people as the ones who loved to connect the spectacular andean geography, so their healers were able to create bridges to connect the vast unseen world.
Ancestor reverence for the ancient Andean people then were not the same as the worship of deities. They were seeing as being able to intercede on behalf of the living. As spirits who were once human themselves, they were seeing as messengers, being better able to understand the human affairs than would a divine being. The act of reverence also taught the way to respect, honor, and loyalty.
The contrast between the ritual attention given to the fathers of the culture and the lack of attention received by the mother at childbirth were explained by the different responsibilities each of them had in the generation of the soul and body of the new-born individual. In other words, greater ritual attention was given to the fathers of the culture because the soul of a child was entrusted to them as a cultural realm, while the lack of attention given to the mother was linked with the body as a natural realm with which she was entrusted. It is important to understand this institution in relation to kinship and alliance system.
One of the most important burial grounds on the Andean Plateau, that contains cultural traditions, is located in the Pichacani district in the province of Puno. It belonged to the Lupaca and Colla cultures . The rock art is about 8,000 years old. There are also remains from the age of the Incas. Chullpas (Aymara language) are found there.
Chullpas are ancient Aymara large funerary towers made of stones and placed in a way that they dominate the landscape across the Andean Plateau (Altiplano) in Peru and Bolivia. The tallest are about 12 meters/39 feet high.
The tombs at Sillustani, built above the ground in tower-like structures, are the most famous, on the shores of Umayo Lake in Atun'Colla of the Puno region. The lake is located at an alevation of 3,844 meters/12,612 feet and is about 8 kms/5 mi long and 3 kms/1.9 mi wide. The structures housed the remains of complete family groups.
The tombs, although mute remains, provide the most tangible evidence of the kind of beliefs rooted in the Andean population from very ancient times. It can also act as a linkage to the establishment of the line of continuity like an umbilical cord between the past and the present time.

THE ANDEAN GHOSTS.

The place of the Andean ghosts goes by many names and is referred to the sculpted stones that stand on the very edge of an arched sandstone outcrop, near to the shore of Titicaca Lake, and is known as "the stone forest."
At some time in the distant past, sediments from an very ancient sea bed were compressed forming the sandstone. Then they probably were up-ended by tectonic forces shifting in the Earth's crust giving them the right to stand upright, as the Andes rose  above the South American Plate. Later, the glaciers rasped at their surfaces, making the first icy cuts to create what became these curious formations. Then time continue the art work by sculpting the stones into a variety of phantasmagoria forms that excels in embellishment and creates an unusual and unique acoustic resonance in the place. You can stand several hundreds of meters away and hear the words spoken softly by those who stand immediately in front of the stony figures.
The Andean people belief the sculptures were once gigantic living beings with enormous power that angered their creator and he turned them into stones dominating the skyline. Some stones can be visualized forming a natural bridge with the appearance of a mammoth's struggling under a heavy burden. Other rocks appear to waddle like obese giants lumbering down the steep inclination towards the bed of the Lake. The terrain then flattens out into a hollow so shallow that is barely perceptible until the waters of Titicaca Lake became noticeable by glistening in the mountain sunlight more that 1.6 km / 1 mile away.
The waters of the Titicaca Lake once were an inland sea, formed from the dregs of the much larger stretches of water that covered the High Plateau (Altiplano). The waters used to lap against the very foot of present day sculpted stones. The Lake has grown steadily smaller since the time it was formed.
The stones now stands at least 15 meters/45feet above Titicaca's present water level.
The threshold of the place of Spirits points towards the Island of the Sun on Lake Titicaca, nearly 9.6 km / 6 mi long. The place also points to the most important sacred place in the whole of the Andes: the Foundation Stone, or Sacred Rock, known as Titi Q'ala. The sacred rock lies at the North end of the Island of the Sun. It is the point (Pacarina) from which the whole Andean civilization unfolded. This is the place where the creator god Viracocha is said to have created the Sun and the Moon after the frozen age of Darkness. The Titi Q'ala was also the place where the progenitors of the Incas, Manco Capac and Mama Ocllo, arose from the waters of the Titicaca Lake to restore the Andean civilization that had been reduced to its lowest level. The sacred rock was also known as the Lion Cliff, because it is said that it was once the site of a statue of a puma. The rock's natural morphology is associated with the form of a feline as seen from a very specific angle.
It is interesting to observe that in the centre of the peninsula that divides the Titicaca Lake into Great lake and Little lake, sits an enormous volcano called Khapia. The volcano's plateau is constantly visited by the Andean healers and is home to a number of huacas and sacred objects, such as the representation  of a toad sculptured naturally in stone formations.
The volcano together with the sacred rock Titi Q'ala and the City of Spirits form a equilateral triangle of sacred power. This is not the only example of triangles that can be observed between sacred places in the Andes. An equilateral triangle also joins the peaks of the volcanoes Illimani, Illampu with the site of Tiahuanaco in Bolivia. The ancient Andean people possessed the ability to recognize these geometries which included an innate appreciation of spherical and at the same time triangular sacred forms.
The interaction between the sacred and the natural forms of energies seemed to have been of great importance to the ancient Andean people. The relationship between the physical and the unseen world was in such extent that it empowered the human will to exercise control over the negative input of forces that attacked the weak wall made by human emotions. .

THE NEW CHILDREN OF THE SUN.

The Inca education during the time of their empire was divided into two principal spheres: education for the governing class and education for the general population.
Inca sages known as Amautas and haravicus were very well trained men who kept a record of historical events and preserved the literary works and traditions of their people. Some scholars have made a distinction between the two terms, defining "haravicus" as wise men who recorded in their memory  and recited ceremonial poems and ritual songs, and "amautas" as wise men who recorded all kinds of cosmological, technological, and religious information.
The Amautas and haravicus were considered special and the most respected class. They were highly knowledgeable and included illustrious philosophers, poets, astrologers and priests who kept the histories of the Incas alive by imparting the knowledge of their culture, and sacred traditions throughout the kingdom. The teachers did ensure that the general population learned the official and sacred language of the Empire and its laws.
The Amautas and haravicus were in charge of the "Yachay'Huasi," the Inca House of Knowledge. They were responsible for the education of Inca princes and the children of the the high nobility (the royal blood), as well as other young members of conquered cultures specially chosen to administer the regions.
The education of young novices about Inca religion, rites, sacred ceremonies, history and government, and moral laws, began at the age of 13 in the House of Knowledge (Yachay'Huasi) in Cuzco. They also ensured a thorough understanding of the Quipu, the Incas' unique logical-numerical system which used knotted strings of different colors to keep accurate records of different cosmological matters. In addition, the young men were given careful training in physical education and military techniques of power assimilation to be applied in new expansions of their territory.
Most Inca novices finished their education at the age of 19. After passing their rigorous examination, the young men would receive their "wara"(a special type of underwear) as proof of their maturity and virility. Their sacred education ended with a special ceremony, attended by the Empire's oldest and most illustrious Incas and teachers, at which the new young nobles, as future rulers, demonstrated their physical and spiritual prowess and warrior skills that proved their masculinity force. The candidates were also presented to the Inca sovereign, who pierced their ears with large pendants and congratulated the young aspirants on the proficiency they had shown, reminding them of the responsibilities attached to their station and calling them the new "Children of the Sun."
Although the Amautas' activities are registered by all chroniclers, their specific and sacred functions have not been clearly established. Amautas were also usually considered Quipu'Camayocs, individuals who had the capacity to record accurate information and the transmission of it upon request.
Today, the term "Amauta" could be translated "maestro," signifying a teacher, with emphasis on the person's wisdom and achievement.

THE POWER OF THE INCA LAW.

The Inca Empire was the largest South Americas had ever known and one of the largest empires in the world prior the arrival of the Europeans settlers. Their complex and multicultural society stretched across the Andes' mountain tops and down to the shoreline, incorporating lands from today's Colombia, Chile, Bolivia, Ecuador, Argentina and Peru -all connected by a very vast highway system whose complexity rivaled any in the Old World. Rich in food, textiles, gold, herbs, and more, the Incas were masters of city building, land planners, sophisticated mountain agriculture, with no marketplaces at all, no class of traders and no commerce of any kind within its boundaries. Their empire was divided into four quarters or "suyos," whose corners met at the sacred capital, Cuzco, in modern-day Peru.
In the Tahuantinsuyo (The Four United Regions) there was a moral code that regulated the human coexistence and allowed, in the cities as in the ayllus, harmonious relations between each other. These were based on mutual aid and cooperation. The development of individual wealth was not possible under these common philosophy and that is the reason why commerce never got the chance to be born.
The Incas never promulgated Laws to frighten their vassals, nor to deride them, because they were not barbarians or cruel to each other. Rather they were a well organized state that used most of the time peaceful assimilations as a method of conquest and governed their coexistence by a spirit of cooperation and collective work.
The ones who did not want to accept the practice of authentic human values, harsh and severe set of 3 Laws, were applied on them: "Ama Sua, Ama Llulla, Ama Quella" meaning "Do not steal. Do not lie. Do not be lazy."
Ama Sua, Do not steal, this law promoted "respect"showing regard and appreciation for the worth of someone or something including respect for self, respect for the rights and dignity of all persons  as parts of the whole universal creation and respect for the environment that sustain life.
Ama Llulla, Do not lie, this law promoted integrity emphasized by the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles.
Ama Quella, Do not be lazy, this law promoted fairness giving all people an equal treatment. They were all bound by the rules that take turns and share. Be committed to your work was another teaching associated with this law.
Along with these 3 Laws, there were other ordinances of great importance, such as:
-Be honest, -Be clean, -Be vivacious, -Be worthy, -Respect life, -Be gentle, -Be sensitive.
The Laws promoted peace among its people. Crime was an unusual thing, but when a crime was committed the punishment was ruthless. The purpose of the Laws was to teach a lesson to the offender and prevent re-occurrence by any member of the society. The transgression was considered an action against the power of their divinities.
There was no system of imprisonment and offenders were punished severely so that the penalty was exemplary to the rest of the population. Those who were able to survive the punishment were forced to tell their stories for the rest of their lives, those interested in listening would give them food so basically their survival was based on how engaging and compelling their stories were.
Penalties were categorized in two groups -personal or -collective, according to the crime, from simple mass repression to the isolation of entire villages. Mutilation and the death penalty were frequently applied. Rebellions, homicide, adultery, 2nd offenses in drunkenness, theft and laziness, breaking state possessions, were all punished to death by stoning, hanging or pushing the person off a cliff. Mutilation were common for theft. Punishment such as public scolding was administered for minor crimes and 1st time offenders.
When a new territory was annexed to the Inca Empire the local laws and rules to their deities continued to be applied unless they were in conflict with the 3 Laws imposed by the Inca. If the leader of the newly annexed territory opposed to follow the 3 mandatory Laws, he would be executed and a new loyal leader would oversee and secure loyalty among the population. This new leader was usually transferred from another territory along with his family and entourage.
Regional leaders were authorized to decide in several different matters of Law but not all. Only a higher and ceremonial authority could decide in cases in which the mutilation or death penalty was enforced.
The great wealth of the Inca Empire was based on a high code of behavior and mutual cooperation to sustain life in an environment challenged by so many difficulties. They as one body developed so many methods to prevent starvation and that was the common goal rather than to foster trade and individual wealth.

THE SACRED RIVER OF THE ANDES.

Water is the source of life, energy and absolution to many communities around the Andean mountains.
The natural history of the Inca Sacred Valley is a tale of mighty glacial rivers carving through solid earth to shape one of the most environmentally diverse basin in the Peruvian highlands.
Cutting through the steep walls of the fertile Sacred Valley, 20 km to the North of Cuzco, surrounded by foothills and snowy peaks that climb higher and higher, the Uru'Bamba River, known in Quechua as Willcamayu, was, for the Incas, a direct reflection of the celestial river known to them as "Mayu" (Milky Way). Its flow was thought to mimic the shape of Mayu.
The Uru'Bamba Sacred Valley stretches around 100 km East to West along the Sacred Uru'Bamba River, from Pisac to Maccu Picchu, and is fed by tributaries cascading down the surrounded valleys and gorges.
The Milky Way, our own galaxy containing the solar system, is a barred spiral galaxy with roughly 400 billion stars. The stars, along with gas and dust, appear like a band of light in the sky from Earth. The galaxy stretches between 100,000 to 120,000 light-years in diameter.
For the Incas, whose empire was the largest in the Americas, the Milky way (Mayu) was a life-giver River in the heavens with its earthly counterpart -the sacred Uru'Bamba River, in the Sacred Valley. The Incas took control of the highlands region and the Sacred Valley along the Uru'Bamba River that was favored for its low elevations compared to other nearby areas, and warmer temperatures. Then they chose the Valley as their religious center and an agrarian laboratory. The growth of the unique corn that was used to make their fermented chicha for their religious festivals and ceremonial feasts, nestled there on the steep sides of the Valley's hills, and extensive irrigation systems were built transforming the region into an agricultural breadbasket. Besides the sacred corn, potatoes, quinoa, amaranth, etc. grew in the fields using the methods that the Inca developed through the knowledge of Mayu, and the dual forces of the universe acting in it that were reflected in the River's flow.
The Incas grouped the constellations into 2 different types: -luminous made up of sparkling stars that depicted geometric forms in the sky and were seen as inanimate, and -dark cloudy ones, contained within the dark blotches of the Milky Way, were seen as living forms, representing the silhouettes of animals that came to drink from the waters of the celestial River, obscuring the heavenly glow of Mayu.
In our present days, the sacred reflection of the heavenly River on earth, passes important ruins like Machu Picchu and the Raqch'i (Vira'Cocha) temple. The Incas observed  that the earthly manifestation of the sacred river was a collection point of the sacred water, that would then feed into the sky.
Today, the mountains with its crispy and thin air and the massive sky tumbling into the exceptional landscapes, Quechua-speaking farmers still work in the sacred fields  with methods unchanged since the ancient Inca era. But while the Sacred Valley is still deeply rooted in its history, the landscape is now a blend of the ancient and the modern world.
The Urubamba River is now best known for its great rafting and kayaking options. In some places, the sacred river passes marvelous stretches of jungle and thrilling rapids. As such, it offers travelers an exciting way to experience the outdoors from within the Sacred Valley. The river flow is at its fullest  between December and May -this is also when the rapids are best. When the water level drops from June through November, rafting is typically done along the lower section of the river between Ollanta-y-Tambo and Chilca.
The Uru'Bamba River originates on the slopes of the Cunu'Rana in the Puno Region, Melgar Province, near La Raya mountain range pass. The length of the River is 724 km. The Cunu'Rana (name comes from potatoes that belongs to the Quini group) is about 5,420m/17,782ft high, and lies South East of La Raya mountain pass near the road and railway that connects Cuzco and Juliaca.
The altitude at La Raya mountain pass, which makes the border between the regions of Cuzco and Puno, the Quechua and the Aymara speaking communities , is 4,335 meters
The Pongo of Mainique, a water gap 45m/50yd wide and 3km/2mi long, with 900m (3,000ft) to 300m(1,00ft)high cliffs, is the only break in the entire Vilcabamba mountain range that divides the Urubamba River between Upper and Lower Urubamba. The pongo is considered the most dangerous and turbulent whitewater pass on the Urubamba, however many boats traverse it, depending on seasonal river conditions. It is crossed by the Inca bridge, ancient secret entrance to Machu Picchu. The pongo is also a global biodiversity hotspot; 6 sq mi of rain-forest around the canyon contains more species of life than any other similar-sized area on Earth.

ANCIENT ANDEAN TEMPLE OF THE CROSSING HANDS.

A series of ritual buildings were constructed in the Andean mountains drainages by the ancient settlers of the Andes between 3,000 and 1,200 BC, that preceded the introduction of ceramics.
A number of these ritual centers has been unearthed in the highland zones that are lower than the Puna, considerable distances separates them, and their architectural designs are remarkable similar.
The ancient culture of Kotosh Waira-Jirca existed approximately from 1800BC to 1300BC. The settlement was concentrated in the Huanuco River basin, only 6 km West of today Huanuco along the La Union road. Huanuco is known for its rough topography comprising parts of the Sierra (the Andes shelter in which the very last variety of climates exists) and the High Jungle regions, and for the richness of its soil.
The culture of Kotosh predates the Chavin culture  by more than a thousand years, then it continued throughout the Inca occupation, right up to the arrival of the Europeans settlers to South America.
The archaeological site contains a series of overlapping buildings with 6 periods of continuous occupation. The 3 overlapping temples are: -Nichitos (Niches), -Blanco (White), -Manos Cruzadas (Crossed Hands). The site gave birth to the term Kotosh Religious Tradition and the term is used by archaeologists to refer to the ritual buildings that were constructed in the mountains drainages of the Andes between 3,000BC and 1,800 BC.
Today, more than 4,000 years old, the "Temple of the Crossed Hands" (Templo de Las Manos Cruzadas) is considered one of the oldest temples in Peru and America. It lies in ruins and its most unique feature is the crossed-hands symbol carved prominently in stone on the Temple walls. The sculpture of the Crossed Hands can be seen next to the main Niche. On one of the sculptures, the Right Hand rests on the Left, and on the other, the Left Hand rests on the Right. It is believed that this correspond to the earliest notion of the universal duality, a central theme which was the core in the Andean ideology through the time of the Incas.
The first evidence of massive stone constructions from about 2,000 BC suggests that complicated building work of human enterprise began in this area before anyone else on the American continent.
Their settlers cultivated crops, used marine resources, built permanent settlements and multi-layered ceremonial buildings. Artifacts of later origin, mostly belonging to Chavin culture were also unearthed. The culture stratum was situated directly beneath the Chavin culture stratum. At this stage, unique Andean maize cultivation appeared, followed by beans, squash, cassava, potatoes, etc.