15 Inca mythology

Inca mythology includes many stories and legends that attempt to explain or symbolize Inca beliefs.

The Inca religion was a group of beliefs and rites that were related to a mythological system evolving from pre-Inca times to Inca Empire. Faith in the Tawantinsuyu was manifested in every aspect of his life, work, festivities, ceremonies, etc. They were polytheists and there were local, regional and pan-regional divinities.

In mythology of Andean civilizations of South America, the amaroca, amaruca (quechua) or katari (aymara) is a mythical serpent or dragon, most associated with the Tiwanaku and Inca empires. In Inca mythology, amaruca is a huge double-headed serpent that dwells underground, at the bottom of lakes and rivers. Illustrated with the heads of a bird and a puma, amaruca can be seen emerging from a central element in the center of a stepped mountain or pyramid motif in the Gateway of the Sun at Tiwanaku, Bolivia. When illustrated on religious vessels, amaruca is often seen with bird-like feet and wings, so that it resembles a dragon. Amaruca is believed capable of transgressing boundaries to and from the spiritual realm of the subterranean world.

Cantua buxifolia,, known as qantu, qantus or qantuta (Quechua,) is a flowering plant found in the high valleys of the Yungas of the Andes mountains in western South America. Also known as the Peruvian magic tree, it is an evergreen shrub growing to 4 m (13 ft) tall by 2.5 m (8.2 ft) wide with small leaves and clusters of brilliant pink, narrow tubular flowers in early spring.

The chakana is a stepped cross made up of an equal-armed cross indicating the cardinal points of the compass and a superimposed square. The square is suggested to represent the other two levels of existence. The three levels of existence are Hana Pacha, Kay Pacha, and Ukhu or Urin Pacha. The hole through the centre of the cross is the Axis by means of which the shaman transits the cosmic vault to the other levels. It is also said to represent Cusco, the center of the Incan empire, and the Southern Cross constellation.

In the Quechuan languages of South America, a huaca or wak'a is an object that represents something revered, typically a monument of some kind. The term huaca can refer to natural locations, such as immense rocks. Some huacas have been associated with veneration and ritual. The Quechua people traditionally believed every object has a physical presence and two camaquen (spirits), one to create it and another to animate it. They would invoke its spirits for the object to function.

Huiñao is a mountain in the Andes of Peru, about 3,645 metres (11,959 ft) high. It lies in the Arequipa Region, La Unión Province, Cotahuasi District. What makes the mountain so special among the much higher mountains surrounding it is that it is situated in the Cotahuasi Canyon and that there are good panoramic views from its top across the Cotahuasi Canyon and the surrounding mountains. There is also an archaeological site on top of the mountain.

The practice of human sacrifice in pre-Columbian cultures, in particular Mesoamerican and South American cultures, is well documented both in the archaeological records and in written sources. The exact ideologies behind child sacrifice in different pre-Columbian cultures are unknown but it is often thought to have been performed to placate certain gods.

The Inti Raymi'rata is a traditional religious ceremony of the Inca Empire in honor of the god Inti, the most venerated deity in Inca religion. It was the celebration of the winter solstice – the shortest day of the year in terms of the time between sunrise and sunset – and the Inca New Year, when the hours of light would begin to lengthen again. In territories south of the equator, the Gregorian months of June and July are winter months. It is held on June 24.

Llamuqa is a mountain with archaeological remains in the Andes of Peru, about 4,794 metres (15,728 ft) high. It is situated in the Arequipa Region, La Unión Province, Huaynacotas District.

In Inca mythology, Mama Ocllo, or more precisely Mama Uqllu, was deified as a mother and fertility goddess. In one legend she was a daughter of Inti and Mama Killa, and in another the daughter of Viracocha (Wiraqucha) and Mama Qucha. In all of them she was the older sister and wife of Manco Cápac, whom she established the city of Cusco with. In some variations, she also bore him a son, Sinchi Roca, though all Incan rulers after Manco Cápac were believed to be their descendants.

The pacha was an Incan concept for dividing the different spheres of the cosmos in Incan mythology. There were three different levels of pacha: the hana pacha, hanan pacha or hanaq pacha, ukhu pacha, and kay pacha .The realms are not solely spatial, but were simultaneously spatial and temporal. Although the universe was considered a unified system within Incan cosmology, the division between the worlds was part of the dualism prominent in Incan beliefs, known as Yanantin. This dualism found that everything which existed had both features of any feature.

In Inca mythology, one of the main Inca creation myths was that of the Ayar Brothers who emerged from a cave called Paqariq Tampu.

Yanantin is one of the best known and most defining characteristics of indigenous South American Andean thought and exemplifies Andean adherence to a philosophical model based in what is often referred to as a "dualism of complementary terms" or, simply, a “complementary dualism". Much like in Chinese Taoism, Andean philosophy views the opposites of existence as interdependent and essential parts of a harmonious whole. Because existence itself is believed to be dependent upon the tension and balanced interchange between the polarities, there is a very definite ideological and practical commitment within indigenous Andean life to bringing the seemingly conflicting opposites into harmony with one another without destroying or altering either one. Among the indigenous people of Peru and Bolivia, the union of opposing yet interdependent energies is called yanantin or "complementary opposites."