Inca Pantheon Research Paper
The Inca Pantheon
João Sampaio, 28461
The Inca Pantheon
The Inca civilization started around the XII century on Andean mountains region in South America. The Empire grew up so fast that one century later its territory extended through Peru, Ecuador and the north of Chile and its population was more than 20 million. The Inca emperor was considered the son of the sun and almost a god. He had power about all structures of civilization and was wealthy. Like every civilization of this period, the Inca had a blind faith in their gods so mythology was extremely important to them. Gods were the core of their civilization functioning, the Inca acted always according to their beliefs and their gods were present in everyday life like agriculture, war and so on. They were also, …show more content…
respected, feared, worshipped, praised and honored in multiple ways. In the entire Inca pantheon there were some deities that were more important than others. These ones represented the core of their mythology. The Inca major deities such as Viracocha, Inti, Mama Kilya and Ilyap’a were the fundamental pieces in the civilization’s pantheon: from their stories to the elements or natural phenomenon they represented and how these gods were worshipped are key factors in Inca mythology. Without their gods the Inca would be lost since their life was fundamentally based on their mythology.
Viracocha was the most important god, the core of the Inca mythology, the creator of all and was worshipped in specific ways. According to the Inca mythology, before our world was created existed a being named Viracocha. He, firstly, created a world without sun, moon or stars, a world of darkness, and created men to populate it. These men developed vices and disobeyed Viracocha orders. To punish them, Viracocha rose from Lake Titicaca and turned some of them into stones and others were swallowed up by the earth or sea, after this he provoked a major flood followed by heavy rain during sixty days and nights to wash up all the sin from the Earth. The next stage of his restructuring was dividing the cosmos in three parts: Hanan Pacha: the upper part; Kay Pacha: our world and Uqu Pacha: the lower part and started his construction again by populating Kay Pacha with a new generation of men and women. Then he continued wandering the world to teach and help men and brought the sun, moon and stars to light up Earth and men, to provide also warmth. Viracocha left his sons in charge of his creation, Inti, the god of sun, and Mama Kilya, the goddess of moon, and the stars covering the sky. Before he left, this major deity summoned all his creations to determine their parts in the new world.
This major deity represented the creation of all he was what is nowadays for Christians God. He represented the creation of all things and was also associated with the sea. Viracocha created also the universe and everything on it: the sun, the stars, the moon, time for example. Also, he gave life to lesser gods and all forms of life on Earth. The affair of everyday life was passed to other gods, such as Inti or Ilyap’a. He was also considered the source of all divine power, the conceiver of culture and that who teach men and women how to live and shape landscape.
To worship Viracocha, the Inca represented him in the Cuzco shrine as a golden statue with the height of a young child depicting a bearded white male with a long tunic. There were also sacrifices made in his honor and prayers. The most important sacrifices were made only on the most solemn events, like an emperor coronation. On the solemn occasions, humans were “offered” to Viracocha. The child sacrifices had extremely importance and priests would recite a prayer or give offerings to Viracocha right before child sacrifices were made.
In the Inca mythology, Inti was the god of the sun and Viracocha son. He was very important to the Inca civilization but he was still second in order of importance on the pantheon. His sister and wife Mama Kilya accompanied him all the time. They were both considered benevolent deities. According to the Inca mythology, Inti taught his son Marco Cápac and his daughter Mama Ocllo the art of civilization and then sent them to Earth so that they could pass on this knowledge to mankind. It was Inti that ordered the built of the Inca capital, the city of Cuzco. He was also known as Apu Punch-up which means “the leader of the daytime”.
Inti represented the sun and controlled everything that implied. The sun gave warmth and light that were necessary, for example, to agriculture. The Earth and the sun combined had the power over all food, this deity was the one that controlled also the crops and if animals thrived. He was also connected with the royal family since the Emperor was considered to be Inti son. He was the patron deity of Cuzco, home of the sun, and the patron god of the Inca civilization.
Inti was represented as a great golden disk surrounded by sun-rays and possessed of a human face. His reverence was on the Sun Temple, also known as Coricancha, at Cuzco. On this shrine Inti image was flanked by mummies of dead emperors and surrounded by walls covered in sheets of sacred gold, symbolizing the “sweat of the sun”. He was specially worshipped by farmers who needed his elements to help on agriculture. The Inca designed their buildings in order to worship the sun by building pillars that marked the sun position at the solstices, celebrated by grand festivals. When an eclipse happened it meant that Inti was displeased and human sacrifices were made to please and ease the god. Another type of worship was the Inti Raymi festival that celebrated the god of the sun. On this festival one-hundred llamas would be sacrificed and Inti statues, and other gods as well, were brought outside, dressed up and sacrifices were made near them. There was also drinking, singing and dancing to worship this deity.
Mama Kilya is the sister and wife of the god of the sun Inti, Viracocha daughter and mother of Manco Cápac and Mama Ocllo. Goddess of the moon, she divided the heavenly court power with Inti. She was the third major deity in the Inca pantheon. It was believed that she detained power over all stars. For the Inca the moon was the most important element after the sun and this deity was also considered to be the mother of the Inca race. Her rank in the mythology was due to the fact the moon didn’t had the same shinning power as the sun did. To the Inca civilization the moon represented silver which had to do with its light. Mama Kilya was also the driving force of the Inca calendar.
In the Inca mythology this deity was the goddess of the moon, but not only.
Mama Kilya was linked with the calendar since the Inca regulated their religious festivals through the lunar calendar that was also adjusted to match the solar year time. They also did these calculations to regulate religious festivals, the passage of time and to sign the most profitable times to plant crops. This deity was particularly connected to women. She represented an icon of inspiration and protection to all women and was believed to regulate their menstrual cycles as well. Mama Kilya was too associated with marriage in the Inca mythology.
Mama Kilya was very respected and powerful in the Inca mythology. She was depicted with a silver disk with rays coming out of it in allusion to her power. In the Coricancha temple was a statue of her intended for praying, pay tribute and respect. Her shrine was flanked by mummies of former Inca queens and the walls surrounding her were covered in silver which meant to represent the color of the moon. During lunar eclipses the Inca believed that a great serpent or mountain lion was trying to devour Mama Kilya and to save her they would do as much noise as
possible.
Ilyap’a was another major deity in the Inca mythology. He was not as influent as Viracocha, Inti or Mama Kilya, but he was still very important to the civilization. According to the Inca history, Ilyap’a drew the water from the heavens, especially from the celestial river across the night sky that the Inca intended as the Milky Way. This deity kept the rain in a jug that was protected by his sister. To release the rain, Ilyap’a shattered his sister’s vessel with a lightning-bolt rock slingshot. The thunder lightning on the skies corresponded to the crack of his shot, so when the Inca heard the sound of it they knew that usually was going to rain. Considering the weather, the providing of water to drink and agriculture, this deity was fundamental to the civilization.
Ilyap’a was the god of weather and represented almost everything related with it. He was too associated and known as god of thunder, lightning and rain. The deity was feared and very popular amongst the Inca mythology. He was responsible for bringing water to the Inca civilization. Another association of this god was with war and warriors. They would be inspired for him because they saw the thunders as a sign of power. Without Ilyap’a the Inca civilization would not survive.
Ilyap’a was extremely important to the Inca subsistence. This deity was depicted as a man wearing shinning clothes, carrying a club as a weapon and stones in his hands. The population would pray to him asking for fertilizing rain. The temples made in his honor were located on high structures. In times of drought, pilgrimages were made by the population. These pilgrimages were a sign of respect to Ilyap’a and were usually accompanied with prayers and human sacrifices, relying on the gravity of the situation. As another way of asking for rain the Inca would tie up their dogs and let them starve to Ilyap’a pity them and sent rain. Ilyap’a had a day for himself, the 25 of July, were people would, amongst other tributes, sacrifice children to worship him.
The Inca Pantheon was constituted almost by countless deities, respected ferociously. The Inca mythology was very important to the civilization and their life was regulated according to their deity’s roles. The major ones were: Viracocha, the father of all; Inti, the god of the sun; Mama Kilya, the moon goddess and Ilyap’a, the god of weather. As seen, Viracocha was father of Inti and Mama Kilya and the most important deity since he created everything that existed. Inti was the second in command he represented the sun, warmth and light and was brother and husband of Mama Kilya. Mama Kilya is the deity that follows, she represented the moon and was an icon of protection to all women, her shrine had the same composition than Inti but the walls were covered in silver instead of gold because of the moon’s light. Ilyap’a was another major deity that represented the thunder, rain and weather, was responsible for providing rain to civilization subsistence and his shrine was constructed on a high structure. All these deities were honored with shrines, prayers, festivals and sacrifices.
References
* http://mythicjourneys.org/bigmyth/myths/english/eng_inca_pantheon.html * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viracocha * http://www.historiadomundo.com.br/inca/religiao-inca.htm * http://www.ancientworlds.net/aw/Article/780496 * http://latinamericanhistory.about.com/od/ancientlatinamerica/p/Inti-The-Inca-Sun-God.htm * http://www.goddess-guide.com/inka-goddesses.html * http://journeyingtothegoddess.wordpress.com/2012/09/20/goddess-mama-kilya/ * http://babynames.merschat.com/index.cgi?function=View&bn_key=52042 * http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/282875/Illapu
João Sampaio, 28461
The Inca Pantheon
The Inca civilization started around the XII century on Andean mountains region in South America. The Empire grew up so fast that one century later its territory extended through Peru, Ecuador and the north of Chile and its population was more than 20 million. The Inca emperor was considered the son of the sun and almost a god. He had power about all structures of civilization and was wealthy. Like every civilization of this period, the Inca had a blind faith in their gods so mythology was extremely important to them. Gods were the core of their civilization functioning, the Inca acted always according to their beliefs and their gods were present in everyday life like agriculture, war and so on. They were also, …show more content…
respected, feared, worshipped, praised and honored in multiple ways. In the entire Inca pantheon there were some deities that were more important than others. These ones represented the core of their mythology. The Inca major deities such as Viracocha, Inti, Mama Kilya and Ilyap’a were the fundamental pieces in the civilization’s pantheon: from their stories to the elements or natural phenomenon they represented and how these gods were worshipped are key factors in Inca mythology. Without their gods the Inca would be lost since their life was fundamentally based on their mythology.
Viracocha was the most important god, the core of the Inca mythology, the creator of all and was worshipped in specific ways. According to the Inca mythology, before our world was created existed a being named Viracocha. He, firstly, created a world without sun, moon or stars, a world of darkness, and created men to populate it. These men developed vices and disobeyed Viracocha orders. To punish them, Viracocha rose from Lake Titicaca and turned some of them into stones and others were swallowed up by the earth or sea, after this he provoked a major flood followed by heavy rain during sixty days and nights to wash up all the sin from the Earth. The next stage of his restructuring was dividing the cosmos in three parts: Hanan Pacha: the upper part; Kay Pacha: our world and Uqu Pacha: the lower part and started his construction again by populating Kay Pacha with a new generation of men and women. Then he continued wandering the world to teach and help men and brought the sun, moon and stars to light up Earth and men, to provide also warmth. Viracocha left his sons in charge of his creation, Inti, the god of sun, and Mama Kilya, the goddess of moon, and the stars covering the sky. Before he left, this major deity summoned all his creations to determine their parts in the new world.
This major deity represented the creation of all he was what is nowadays for Christians God. He represented the creation of all things and was also associated with the sea. Viracocha created also the universe and everything on it: the sun, the stars, the moon, time for example. Also, he gave life to lesser gods and all forms of life on Earth. The affair of everyday life was passed to other gods, such as Inti or Ilyap’a. He was also considered the source of all divine power, the conceiver of culture and that who teach men and women how to live and shape landscape.
To worship Viracocha, the Inca represented him in the Cuzco shrine as a golden statue with the height of a young child depicting a bearded white male with a long tunic. There were also sacrifices made in his honor and prayers. The most important sacrifices were made only on the most solemn events, like an emperor coronation. On the solemn occasions, humans were “offered” to Viracocha. The child sacrifices had extremely importance and priests would recite a prayer or give offerings to Viracocha right before child sacrifices were made.
In the Inca mythology, Inti was the god of the sun and Viracocha son. He was very important to the Inca civilization but he was still second in order of importance on the pantheon. His sister and wife Mama Kilya accompanied him all the time. They were both considered benevolent deities. According to the Inca mythology, Inti taught his son Marco Cápac and his daughter Mama Ocllo the art of civilization and then sent them to Earth so that they could pass on this knowledge to mankind. It was Inti that ordered the built of the Inca capital, the city of Cuzco. He was also known as Apu Punch-up which means “the leader of the daytime”.
Inti represented the sun and controlled everything that implied. The sun gave warmth and light that were necessary, for example, to agriculture. The Earth and the sun combined had the power over all food, this deity was the one that controlled also the crops and if animals thrived. He was also connected with the royal family since the Emperor was considered to be Inti son. He was the patron deity of Cuzco, home of the sun, and the patron god of the Inca civilization.
Inti was represented as a great golden disk surrounded by sun-rays and possessed of a human face. His reverence was on the Sun Temple, also known as Coricancha, at Cuzco. On this shrine Inti image was flanked by mummies of dead emperors and surrounded by walls covered in sheets of sacred gold, symbolizing the “sweat of the sun”. He was specially worshipped by farmers who needed his elements to help on agriculture. The Inca designed their buildings in order to worship the sun by building pillars that marked the sun position at the solstices, celebrated by grand festivals. When an eclipse happened it meant that Inti was displeased and human sacrifices were made to please and ease the god. Another type of worship was the Inti Raymi festival that celebrated the god of the sun. On this festival one-hundred llamas would be sacrificed and Inti statues, and other gods as well, were brought outside, dressed up and sacrifices were made near them. There was also drinking, singing and dancing to worship this deity.
Mama Kilya is the sister and wife of the god of the sun Inti, Viracocha daughter and mother of Manco Cápac and Mama Ocllo. Goddess of the moon, she divided the heavenly court power with Inti. She was the third major deity in the Inca pantheon. It was believed that she detained power over all stars. For the Inca the moon was the most important element after the sun and this deity was also considered to be the mother of the Inca race. Her rank in the mythology was due to the fact the moon didn’t had the same shinning power as the sun did. To the Inca civilization the moon represented silver which had to do with its light. Mama Kilya was also the driving force of the Inca calendar.
In the Inca mythology this deity was the goddess of the moon, but not only.
Mama Kilya was linked with the calendar since the Inca regulated their religious festivals through the lunar calendar that was also adjusted to match the solar year time. They also did these calculations to regulate religious festivals, the passage of time and to sign the most profitable times to plant crops. This deity was particularly connected to women. She represented an icon of inspiration and protection to all women and was believed to regulate their menstrual cycles as well. Mama Kilya was too associated with marriage in the Inca mythology.
Mama Kilya was very respected and powerful in the Inca mythology. She was depicted with a silver disk with rays coming out of it in allusion to her power. In the Coricancha temple was a statue of her intended for praying, pay tribute and respect. Her shrine was flanked by mummies of former Inca queens and the walls surrounding her were covered in silver which meant to represent the color of the moon. During lunar eclipses the Inca believed that a great serpent or mountain lion was trying to devour Mama Kilya and to save her they would do as much noise as
possible.
Ilyap’a was another major deity in the Inca mythology. He was not as influent as Viracocha, Inti or Mama Kilya, but he was still very important to the civilization. According to the Inca history, Ilyap’a drew the water from the heavens, especially from the celestial river across the night sky that the Inca intended as the Milky Way. This deity kept the rain in a jug that was protected by his sister. To release the rain, Ilyap’a shattered his sister’s vessel with a lightning-bolt rock slingshot. The thunder lightning on the skies corresponded to the crack of his shot, so when the Inca heard the sound of it they knew that usually was going to rain. Considering the weather, the providing of water to drink and agriculture, this deity was fundamental to the civilization.
Ilyap’a was the god of weather and represented almost everything related with it. He was too associated and known as god of thunder, lightning and rain. The deity was feared and very popular amongst the Inca mythology. He was responsible for bringing water to the Inca civilization. Another association of this god was with war and warriors. They would be inspired for him because they saw the thunders as a sign of power. Without Ilyap’a the Inca civilization would not survive.
Ilyap’a was extremely important to the Inca subsistence. This deity was depicted as a man wearing shinning clothes, carrying a club as a weapon and stones in his hands. The population would pray to him asking for fertilizing rain. The temples made in his honor were located on high structures. In times of drought, pilgrimages were made by the population. These pilgrimages were a sign of respect to Ilyap’a and were usually accompanied with prayers and human sacrifices, relying on the gravity of the situation. As another way of asking for rain the Inca would tie up their dogs and let them starve to Ilyap’a pity them and sent rain. Ilyap’a had a day for himself, the 25 of July, were people would, amongst other tributes, sacrifice children to worship him.
The Inca Pantheon was constituted almost by countless deities, respected ferociously. The Inca mythology was very important to the civilization and their life was regulated according to their deity’s roles. The major ones were: Viracocha, the father of all; Inti, the god of the sun; Mama Kilya, the moon goddess and Ilyap’a, the god of weather. As seen, Viracocha was father of Inti and Mama Kilya and the most important deity since he created everything that existed. Inti was the second in command he represented the sun, warmth and light and was brother and husband of Mama Kilya. Mama Kilya is the deity that follows, she represented the moon and was an icon of protection to all women, her shrine had the same composition than Inti but the walls were covered in silver instead of gold because of the moon’s light. Ilyap’a was another major deity that represented the thunder, rain and weather, was responsible for providing rain to civilization subsistence and his shrine was constructed on a high structure. All these deities were honored with shrines, prayers, festivals and sacrifices.
References
* http://mythicjourneys.org/bigmyth/myths/english/eng_inca_pantheon.html * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viracocha * http://www.historiadomundo.com.br/inca/religiao-inca.htm * http://www.ancientworlds.net/aw/Article/780496 * http://latinamericanhistory.about.com/od/ancientlatinamerica/p/Inti-The-Inca-Sun-God.htm * http://www.goddess-guide.com/inka-goddesses.html * http://journeyingtothegoddess.wordpress.com/2012/09/20/goddess-mama-kilya/ * http://babynames.merschat.com/index.cgi?function=View&bn_key=52042 * http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/282875/Illapu