Born in Trujillo, Spain, he was the illegitimate son of Gonzalo Pizarro, an infantry colonel and Francisca Gonzales, a woman of poor means.
His exact birth date is uncertain, but is believed to be sometime in the 1470's. He grew up illiterate.
He was a distant cousin of Henan Cortes, an adventurous sailor.
Reports of Peru's reaches was not a fable anymore. Those news tantalized Pizarro to the point that he undertook to expeditions heading to the land of the Incan Empire. Both failed as a result of bad weather and lack of provisions.
In the meantime the governor of Panama made an offer to him. If he was able to settle in Panama, he would become the major of the city. He accepted and became a wealthy citizen.
But he was not content with the life in a small frontier port. He still was pursued in his dreams by the rumors of the golden land of the Incas and he was obsessed to became the owner of that land.
He obtained a considerable authority from King Charles I over the lands that he planned to obtain either by cheating or by mercenary force.
The expedition left Panama in 1530. He reached Tumbes, the northernmost coastal city of the Inca Empire. At Tumbes an Inca noble, a high official of the empire, made it his business to visit the bearded strangers. He came on board, examined the ships closely, and asked the foreigners what they were doing.
Pizarro did not have enough men to begin his invasion, but he thought he might as well get over the formality, informing that the land and the people shall be subject to the Church and the King of Spain.
One can imagine the smiles of the Inca noble, who knew the scale of eternity. How much was rendered into Quechua, the Inca language, is unclear.
Inca Atahualpa refused to tolerate a Spanish presence in his lands but was captured. A ransom for his release was demanded. They wanted a very large room filled with gold. Their plan was to kill the Inca after receiving the ransom because The Inca was the Head of the Empire.
They did so and proclaimed the ownership over the land. As usual, quarreling began among them.
Pizarro's best friend declared war against him but was captured and assassinated by Pizarro.
His embittered son assassinated Pizarro in Lima and that was the end of the "CONQUISTADOR."
Sunday, October 26, 2014
Friday, October 3, 2014
What the word VIRACOCHA meant to the INCAS?
The word VIRACOCHA, a quechua term for LIGHT then and now, has misled many into thinking the Incas took the Europeans as gods. The real truth is that the Incas did not take them as gods.
Since the color of their skin was white, and, in the sense of the Inca's religious concept, the Europeans needed to prove to the Inca that they were truly the sons of the light as they identified themselves as "sons of the real God."
As we can see through the narratives written by the same Europeans, they couldn't prove it, resulting in the assassination of the Inca Atahualpa and the confiscation of an overwhelming amount of gold paid to them for the ransom of the Inca's soul.
To understand what were the beliefs that played an important role in the demise of the empire we begin with the word VIRACOCHA. What the word Viracocha meant to them?
It was understood as "SEA OF FAT" and referred to the associations of the CREATOR with the MILKY WAY. The dual energy, that was and still is, emanating from this interrelation was denominated "moisture," "animal fat," 'the sea," and "the color white."
The Andean world was and still is structured by a dual system, which is a system of complementary opposites. It resembles the Chinese Yang and Ying. For the Incas the two halves are called HANAN (Upper) and HURIN (Lower). Man,sun, fire, mountains, and so forth, belonged to the upper half; woman, moon, water, sea, and coast, to the lower half. And the most important concept is here - present and center are upper; past and periphery were lower. It is very important to understand how it worked in the spiritual realm in order to get the full concept of the religious beliefs they had and still have.
The Incas believed that history was a succession of ages divided one from another by a cataclysm epoch. They called it a "pachacutec" which meant an "overturning of the world." This upheaval reversed the polarity of the halves: what was upper became lower, and vice versa.
The Incas implied with this explanation of revolving ages that the new order of things was about to begin. The unnatural and destructive force of the Europeans from the Andean point of view, could not be accepted and would one day be reversed. For the past order is not irrevocable; it remains latent in the underworld, awaiting return: one pachacutec demands another.
Since the color of their skin was white, and, in the sense of the Inca's religious concept, the Europeans needed to prove to the Inca that they were truly the sons of the light as they identified themselves as "sons of the real God."
As we can see through the narratives written by the same Europeans, they couldn't prove it, resulting in the assassination of the Inca Atahualpa and the confiscation of an overwhelming amount of gold paid to them for the ransom of the Inca's soul.
To understand what were the beliefs that played an important role in the demise of the empire we begin with the word VIRACOCHA. What the word Viracocha meant to them?
It was understood as "SEA OF FAT" and referred to the associations of the CREATOR with the MILKY WAY. The dual energy, that was and still is, emanating from this interrelation was denominated "moisture," "animal fat," 'the sea," and "the color white."
The Andean world was and still is structured by a dual system, which is a system of complementary opposites. It resembles the Chinese Yang and Ying. For the Incas the two halves are called HANAN (Upper) and HURIN (Lower). Man,sun, fire, mountains, and so forth, belonged to the upper half; woman, moon, water, sea, and coast, to the lower half. And the most important concept is here - present and center are upper; past and periphery were lower. It is very important to understand how it worked in the spiritual realm in order to get the full concept of the religious beliefs they had and still have.
The Incas believed that history was a succession of ages divided one from another by a cataclysm epoch. They called it a "pachacutec" which meant an "overturning of the world." This upheaval reversed the polarity of the halves: what was upper became lower, and vice versa.
The Incas implied with this explanation of revolving ages that the new order of things was about to begin. The unnatural and destructive force of the Europeans from the Andean point of view, could not be accepted and would one day be reversed. For the past order is not irrevocable; it remains latent in the underworld, awaiting return: one pachacutec demands another.
Thursday, October 2, 2014
The INCAS and the AGE OF REASON
The Incas "reigned" in their empire, they did not "rule". They considered that all the world belonged to the Creator, Viracocha. Under that philosophy we can see that the Castile is of the Spaniards, and the Indies of the Indians, and Guinea of the Negroes, and so on. Each of these are the lawful owners (according to the laws of nature) of their lands. No European neither Spaniard nor any priest had the right to violate the natural laws of ownership.
The Incas were the natural owners of the Andes, they were taught from the very beginning the superior ways to till the ground and respect the laws of nature otherwise disaster would come over them.
When the fight between the two stepbrothers (Huascar and Atahualpa) arose, all the empire was conscious of what was happening in the spiritual world. They knew already that any unbalance of the forces of nature they would suffer the consequences of losing its cosmic shield of protection against the evil forces of the underworld. The balance was broken. They were expecting already their own destruction.
When the Europeans arrived, the People of the Andes treated them as the messengers that were coming from the cosmic realm. They thought they were from the forces of the sky coming to help to put in order the natural forces that governed the empire in the person of the Inca.
The Inca was the king and possessor of the spiritual laws that governed the empire. The Europeans were not strange to the way this forces worked and at the very beginning, instead of provoking a confrontation and being treated as intruders they played the role of messengers and the Inca, mistakenly treated them as those who in the past helped them to control and harmonize the natural forces around them. These fake messengers tricked him and the whole empire suffered the consequences. The Incas had so much faith in their Creator and were very loyal and very charitable and humble, and they raised their sons and daughters with discipline and respect for the authority. On the other hand the Europeans were the opposite, they were driven by the power of the self-interest and the lust for the pleasures of the world and were blind to the real spiritual power. Europeans felt intimidated by such pure power of virtue and they really want a piece of that natural energy emanating from the People of the Andes. But such power is not manifested in a very polluted body. Europeans at that time were suffering the consequences of their own abuse of power and were trying to escape to any place to avoid death.
The Incas were the natural owners of the Andes, they were taught from the very beginning the superior ways to till the ground and respect the laws of nature otherwise disaster would come over them.
When the fight between the two stepbrothers (Huascar and Atahualpa) arose, all the empire was conscious of what was happening in the spiritual world. They knew already that any unbalance of the forces of nature they would suffer the consequences of losing its cosmic shield of protection against the evil forces of the underworld. The balance was broken. They were expecting already their own destruction.
When the Europeans arrived, the People of the Andes treated them as the messengers that were coming from the cosmic realm. They thought they were from the forces of the sky coming to help to put in order the natural forces that governed the empire in the person of the Inca.
The Inca was the king and possessor of the spiritual laws that governed the empire. The Europeans were not strange to the way this forces worked and at the very beginning, instead of provoking a confrontation and being treated as intruders they played the role of messengers and the Inca, mistakenly treated them as those who in the past helped them to control and harmonize the natural forces around them. These fake messengers tricked him and the whole empire suffered the consequences. The Incas had so much faith in their Creator and were very loyal and very charitable and humble, and they raised their sons and daughters with discipline and respect for the authority. On the other hand the Europeans were the opposite, they were driven by the power of the self-interest and the lust for the pleasures of the world and were blind to the real spiritual power. Europeans felt intimidated by such pure power of virtue and they really want a piece of that natural energy emanating from the People of the Andes. But such power is not manifested in a very polluted body. Europeans at that time were suffering the consequences of their own abuse of power and were trying to escape to any place to avoid death.
Wednesday, October 1, 2014
Why the Spaniards didn't leave the land of the INCAS?
Unlike Asia and Africa, America never saw their invaders leave. Their autonomy was lost, but that does not mean they have disappeared. Many survived, specially the ones who still lives in the cordillera and valleys around.
In the Andes, more than 12 million people still speak the language of the Incas. For five centuries we have listened only to the history of the "winners". It is time to hear the other side of the story that began in 1492 and still continues to this day.
America as a continent was not discovered because by logical thinking you cannot discover an inhabited land. Instead we can say it was invaded. Such an obvious point has been distorted by the history that Europeans wrote and taught to the world that was totally in chaos and in need of fairy stories or myths.
The history of the other side is also mythical, but while Western myths are triumphalist, those of the 'less fortunates' have to explain and overcome catastrophic scenarios.
Education about the world to the generations of the 1950s and 1960s was something that happened mainly in Britain before 1850s. A little of Greece and Rome, and a great deal of the Tudors, Stuarts and Hanoverians was the drummed history of the time. Nothing about the Incas of Peru and other cultures of Central America. They were dismissed by Western historiography.
Ancient America was shown as poor and undeveloped continent, laking the progress that the humans in the other side of the world had. The plow and the wheel were their favorites; another was writing. Historians took the absence of them as proof that ancient Americans weren't civilized. It never occurred to them that plows and wheels are not much use without draft animals such as oxen or horses, neither of which existed in the Americas.
Ancient Americans developed magnificent achievements in fields that are now being of great interest to astronomers and mathematicians.
We can see from this perspective that the Europeans felt diminished by the outstanding achievements that this people did without the commodities of the West. They did not tell to the western world the real story about this great civilization instead they meddled the cultures hoping in the end to reach the knowledge that these Andean People had. But one important they forgot, these Andean People were not cut for the pleasures of the western lifestyle, instead they were formed and dressed to fight for the rights of the Cosmic Force of the Creation and to maintain the harmony of these force in every living being around the Cordillera of the Andes.
In the Andes, more than 12 million people still speak the language of the Incas. For five centuries we have listened only to the history of the "winners". It is time to hear the other side of the story that began in 1492 and still continues to this day.
America as a continent was not discovered because by logical thinking you cannot discover an inhabited land. Instead we can say it was invaded. Such an obvious point has been distorted by the history that Europeans wrote and taught to the world that was totally in chaos and in need of fairy stories or myths.
The history of the other side is also mythical, but while Western myths are triumphalist, those of the 'less fortunates' have to explain and overcome catastrophic scenarios.
Education about the world to the generations of the 1950s and 1960s was something that happened mainly in Britain before 1850s. A little of Greece and Rome, and a great deal of the Tudors, Stuarts and Hanoverians was the drummed history of the time. Nothing about the Incas of Peru and other cultures of Central America. They were dismissed by Western historiography.
Ancient America was shown as poor and undeveloped continent, laking the progress that the humans in the other side of the world had. The plow and the wheel were their favorites; another was writing. Historians took the absence of them as proof that ancient Americans weren't civilized. It never occurred to them that plows and wheels are not much use without draft animals such as oxen or horses, neither of which existed in the Americas.
Ancient Americans developed magnificent achievements in fields that are now being of great interest to astronomers and mathematicians.
We can see from this perspective that the Europeans felt diminished by the outstanding achievements that this people did without the commodities of the West. They did not tell to the western world the real story about this great civilization instead they meddled the cultures hoping in the end to reach the knowledge that these Andean People had. But one important they forgot, these Andean People were not cut for the pleasures of the western lifestyle, instead they were formed and dressed to fight for the rights of the Cosmic Force of the Creation and to maintain the harmony of these force in every living being around the Cordillera of the Andes.
Sunday, September 28, 2014
THE CORICANCHA : A Temple for the "TRUE GOD" of the Incas.
The implications that the INCAS were simply sun-worshippers is clearly not accurate. There is more to this Temple than sun worship.
The name "CORICANCHA" means "The courtyard of cosmic gold" in Quechua, the language of the Incas. It was dedicated to worship the "TRUE GOD," the most important deity in the Inca's pantheon of deities.
In addition to hundreds of gold panels lining its walls, there were life-size gold figures, solid-gold altars, and a huge GOLDEN SUN DISC.
The sun disc reflected the sun rays and bathed the Temple in light. The image that it gave to the people of the Andes was that the Spirit of the Creator was manifested through the person acting as ruler of the empire. During the summer solstice, the sun shone directly to a niche where only the Inca chieftain was permitted to sit.
An interesting drawing of an Incan altar piece inside the remains of the Coricancha give us a clear understanding of what the Incas were worshiping at the Temple of the "True God."
Garcilazo de la Vega, a Peruvian writer describes it in the following excerpt: ..."what we shall call the high altar, although this expression did not exist among the people of the Andes, was placed to the EAST, and the roof, which was very high, was of wood, covered with straw. The four walls were hung with plaques of gold from top to bottom, and the likeness of the light emitted by the sun topped the high altar. This likeness was made of a gold plaque twice as thick as those that paneled the walls, and was composed of a round face, prolonged by rays and flames.... The whole thing was so immense that it occupied the entire back of the Temple."
The Golden Disc in the drawing is shaped in a distinct oblong shape, and is separated from the self-evident sun-disc. It also has a complex set of celestial symbols of which the sun is simply one of several. The elliptical disc appears to be part of a celestial Trinity. In the center of the diagram of the High Altar is a massive Golden Ellipse. To either side of it are the sun and the moon and depictions of Venus as the morning and evening star. The ellipse is surmounted by a cross of stars and further stars lie below it. This celestial scene focuses upon the ellipse as the all-important source of the Universe, the True God.
The ellipse was the "True Sun" of the Inca. It was the image of the Creator, called VIRACOCHA, translated as "Ruler of the entire Universe." The "True Sun" to make it distinguished from our familiar luminary
Monday, September 22, 2014
The realm of the "INNER WORLD" (Ukhu Pacha). Part 2
When the Spanish came to the area, rituals about to balance the forces of the Inner World were crucial in the missionary activity and mining operations. The belief of the dualistic nature in everything and the rituals surrounding the openings to the Inner World made it easier to initially get the population to work in the mines.
However, at the same time, because mining was considered a perturbation of "subterranean life and the spirits that ruled it; they yielded to sacredness that did not belong to the familiar universe, it had to deal with a deeper and riskier sacredness."
Almost the entire population of the empire were killed by the diseases that were brought by the Spaniards, and the disturbances that the people of the Andes experienced in their homeland proved to them that the forces that inhabited the underworld were in serious perturbation.
In the time being, in order to ensure that perturbations do not cause evil on the world, the people of the Andes continue making traditional offerings to the inhabitants of the Underworld (the Supay).
Today, the people still retain the importance of the rituals.
Although the different realms are distinct, there are a variety of connections between them. Caves and Springs serve as connections between the Inner World and the World where the humans, animals, plants, coexist. Rainbows and Lightnings serve as connections between the Upper World and the world in which we live.
In addition, human spirits after death inhabit any of the levels. Some would remain in the middle realm until they had finished business, while others might move to higher levels.
The most significant connection between the different levels was performed at the time when a huge cataclysm happened, making the whole world change the appearance. These are considered the instances when the different levels of reality impact one another transforming the entire order of the world.
However, at the same time, because mining was considered a perturbation of "subterranean life and the spirits that ruled it; they yielded to sacredness that did not belong to the familiar universe, it had to deal with a deeper and riskier sacredness."
Almost the entire population of the empire were killed by the diseases that were brought by the Spaniards, and the disturbances that the people of the Andes experienced in their homeland proved to them that the forces that inhabited the underworld were in serious perturbation.
In the time being, in order to ensure that perturbations do not cause evil on the world, the people of the Andes continue making traditional offerings to the inhabitants of the Underworld (the Supay).
Today, the people still retain the importance of the rituals.
Although the different realms are distinct, there are a variety of connections between them. Caves and Springs serve as connections between the Inner World and the World where the humans, animals, plants, coexist. Rainbows and Lightnings serve as connections between the Upper World and the world in which we live.
In addition, human spirits after death inhabit any of the levels. Some would remain in the middle realm until they had finished business, while others might move to higher levels.
The most significant connection between the different levels was performed at the time when a huge cataclysm happened, making the whole world change the appearance. These are considered the instances when the different levels of reality impact one another transforming the entire order of the world.
The realm of the "INNER WORLD" (UKHU PACHA). Part 1
The quechua (Inca's language) word "PACHA," often is translated as "WORLD." The INCA's concept about the design of the COSMOS was that it was divided into different spheres. There were THREE different levels of the WORLD (Pacha) :
-The UPPER REALM (Hanan Pacha) included the sky, the sun, the moon, the stars, the planets, and constellations (of particularly importance being the Milky Way). It was inhabited by the masculine force, the SUN GOD (Inti), and the feminine force and MOON goddess (Mama Quilla). In addition, the god of thunder and lightning, also inhabited the upper realm.
The MIDDLE REALM (Kay Pacha) was interpreted as the perceptible world where humans, animals, plants all inhabit. This realm is often impacted by the struggle between the Upper Realm and the Inner Realm.
The INNER REALM (Ukhu Pacha) is associated with the dead as well as with new life. As the realm of new life, it is associated with harvesting and the fertility goddess Pachamama. Then as the realm associated with the dead, it is inhabited by the group of demons (the Supay) that torment the living.
The realms were understood as not solely spatial, but as a simultaneously spatial and temporal. Although the universe was a unified system, the division between the realms (worlds) was part of the dualism found in everything. It was believed that everything that existed had both extremes. For example, hot and cold, positive and negative, dark and light, etc.
Human disruptions of the Inner Realm (Ukhu Pacha) were considered a sacred matter and ceremonies and rituals were often associated with disturbances in the Middle Realm (Kay Pacha).
During the time of tilling for potato crops the disturbance of the soil was met with a host of sacred rituals. The rituals were precise and often brought food, drink (chicha) and other comforts to CAVE OPENINGS for the spirits of the ancestors.
-The UPPER REALM (Hanan Pacha) included the sky, the sun, the moon, the stars, the planets, and constellations (of particularly importance being the Milky Way). It was inhabited by the masculine force, the SUN GOD (Inti), and the feminine force and MOON goddess (Mama Quilla). In addition, the god of thunder and lightning, also inhabited the upper realm.
The MIDDLE REALM (Kay Pacha) was interpreted as the perceptible world where humans, animals, plants all inhabit. This realm is often impacted by the struggle between the Upper Realm and the Inner Realm.
The INNER REALM (Ukhu Pacha) is associated with the dead as well as with new life. As the realm of new life, it is associated with harvesting and the fertility goddess Pachamama. Then as the realm associated with the dead, it is inhabited by the group of demons (the Supay) that torment the living.
The realms were understood as not solely spatial, but as a simultaneously spatial and temporal. Although the universe was a unified system, the division between the realms (worlds) was part of the dualism found in everything. It was believed that everything that existed had both extremes. For example, hot and cold, positive and negative, dark and light, etc.
Human disruptions of the Inner Realm (Ukhu Pacha) were considered a sacred matter and ceremonies and rituals were often associated with disturbances in the Middle Realm (Kay Pacha).
During the time of tilling for potato crops the disturbance of the soil was met with a host of sacred rituals. The rituals were precise and often brought food, drink (chicha) and other comforts to CAVE OPENINGS for the spirits of the ancestors.
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