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The Inca religion

The Inca religion was easily capable of incorporating the religious features of most subjugated regions. The setting for beliefs, idols and oracles, more or less throughout the entire empire, had been preordained over the previous two thousand years: a general recognition of certain creator deities and a whole pantheon of nature-related spirits, minor deities and demons. The customary form of worship varied a little according to the locality, but everywhere they went the Incas (and later the Spanish) found the creator god among other animistic spirits and concepts of power related to lightning, thunder and rainbows. The Incas merely superimposed their variety of mystical, yet inherently practical, elements onto those that they came across.

The main religious novelty introduced with Inca domination was their demand to be recognized as direct descendants of the creator-god Viracocha . A claim to divine ancestry was, to the Incas, a valid excuse for military and cultural expansion. There was no need to destroy the huacas and oracles of subjugated peoples; on the contrary, certain sacred sites were recognized as intrinsically holy, as powerful places for communication with the spirit world. When ancient shrines like Pachacamac, near Lima, were absorbed into the empire they were simply turned over to worship on imperial terms.

The sun is the most obvious symbol of Inca belief, a chief deity and the visible head of the state religion; Viracocha was a less direct, more ethereal, force. The sun's role was overt, as life-giver to an agriculturally based empire, and its cycle was intricately related to agrarian practice and annual ritual patterns. To think of the Inca religion as essentially sun worship, though, would be far too simplistic. There were distinct layers in Inca cosmology : the level of creation, the astral level and the earthly dimension.

The first, highest level corresponds to Vira-cocha as the creator-god who brought life to the world and society to mankind. Below this, on the astral level, are the celestial gods: the sun itself, the moon and certain stars (particularly the Pleiades, patrons of fertility). The earthly dimension, although that of man, was no less magical, endowed with important huacas and shrines which might take the form of unusual rocks or peaks, caves, tombs, mummies and natural springs.

The astral level and earthly dimension were widespread bases of worship in Peru before the Incas rose to power. The favour of the creator was the critical factor in their claims to divine right of imperial government, and the hierarchical structure of religious ranking also reflects the division of the religious spheres into those that were around before, during, and after the empire and those that only stayed as long as Inca domination lasted. At the very top of this religio-social hierarchy was the Villac Uma, the high priest of Cusco, usually a brother of the Sapa Inca himself. Under him were perhaps hundreds of high priests, all nobles of royal blood who were responsible for ceremony, temples, shrines, divination, curing and sacrifice within the realm, and below them were the ordinary priests and chosen women. At the base of the hierarchy, and probably the most numerous of all religious personalities, were the curanderos , local curers practising herbal medicine and magic, and making sacrifices to small regional huacas.

Most religious festivals were calendrically based and marked by processions, sacrifices and dances. The Incas were aware of lunar time and the solar year, although they generally used the blooming of a special cactus to gauge the correct time to begin planting. Sacrifices to the gods normally consisted of llamas, cuys or chicha - only occasionally were chosen women and other adults killed. Once every year, however, young children were apparently sacrificed in the most important sacred centres.

Divination was a vital role played by priests and curanderos at all levels of the religious hierarchy. Soothsayers were expected to talk with the spirits and often used a hallucinogenic snuff from the vilca plant to achieve a trance-like state and communion with the other world. Everything from a crackling fire to the glance of a lizard was seen as a potential omen, and treated as such by making a little offering of coca leaves, coca spittle, or chicha. There were specific problems which divination was considered particularly accurate in solving: retrieving lost things; predicting the outcome of certain events (the oracles were always consulted prior to important military escapades); receiving a vision of contemporaneous yet distant happenings; and the diagnosis of illness.

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Published articles and reviews about us

2010
Testimonials

Norman Pedersen
Date: Sun,18 Jul 2010

Machu Picchu and my entire visit to Peru were wonderful. A dream come true.
I could not have been happier with everyone I met through your arrangements. 
The tours were very informative and showed me more than I knew existed in this beautiful place.
All of the accommodations were very comfortable.
The luncheon buffet at the Alhambra was top rate. And the Ferré Hotel in Lima was also a very good choice.Your personal assistance throughout was exceptional!
Thank you for everything!


Melinda Hughes
Date: Tues, 13 Jul 2010

I was one of the “Joel Williams” party of four who was recently on a Peru Gateway Travel tour of northern and southern Peru. I had to write so you would know how satisfied we were with the hotel accommodations, the tour guides, the restaurants they choose for our lunches and just everything about the trip.

The hotels we stayed in were well located, clean and convenient in every way. We have absolutely no complaints!

Our tour covered Peru from the north to the south. It had four internal flights, so there were many connections, pick ups and deliveries involved. Peru Gateway Travel made sure we were always delivered on time to the airports and promptly met and picked up when we landed. We never had a moments worry.
Since we had many different day tours, we had several different guides. All were professional and spoke our language well. All were very knowledgeable and eager to impart that knowledge to us. They chose great places for our lunches and the cuisine was unforgettable. We have traveled to many countries but found the food in Peru to be absolutely wonderful.
I also wanted to mention the drivers who picked us up at all times of the day and night, drove us to our next destination and the delivered us safely to our hotels. We never had a driver who was less than prompt, courteous and most importantly, a skilled and careful driver.
The sites we saw were the places we chose to see. And they did not disappoint us. From the desert to the Andes to the Jungle, we enjoyed it all.
Please feel free to use this email on your website or as a testimonial. All four of our group would recommend Peru Gateway Travel to anyone planning a trip to Peru. We were well taken care of, enjoyed delicious food, saw awesome sights and had a wonderful time.
Sincerely.


Ajay Chopra
Date: Fri, 02 Jul 2010

We are back in Lima. Our trip to Machu Picchu was wonderful, thank you and your team and the ground staff in Cuzco for all their help and care. A special thanks to Angella for her help.
We hope to do business with you in the near future.
Best Regards
 


Saikat.
Date: Fri, 02 Jul 2010

I just wanted to let you know that we had an amazing and wonderful trip to your country.
I must state that the people of Peru impressed me very much - they are so nice!
While I have already filled-up the feedback form, this is just a personal note to say Thank you.
Do visit India sometime - we have a lot in common.
Regards,


Irina Pascu
Date: Fri, 25 Jun 2010

I am now back home but still not believed that the holiday is over. I just
write you to tell you that I had a wonderful time in Peru and to thanks for
your support. The circuit was very well designed and I had the opportunity
to visit all the important sites I envisaged and also the Sacred Valley and
the Altiplano.
I was really impressed by the organization and your people, always in time
for pick up and interested to offer the necessary information.
Finally I showed to my friends that Peru is not so far and a visit there
could be a wonderful experience. For me was a dream come true.
Many thanks to you and to your team.


Melissa Polier
Date: Tues, 22 Jun 2010

My 2 adult children and I recently returned from our hike to Machu Picchu and I wanted to thank you for all your assistance. Our trip was great. We very much enjoyed visiting your beautiful country. I especially want to praise our guide, cook and porters. They did a terrific job. The food was marvelous and after a long hike it was definitely something to look forward to. The porters were very kind and when I needed some assistance at the end of the 3rd day one of the porters helped me a lot. Our guide was great. He was very knowledgeable and fun to hike with and he seemed to really love his job. Again, thanks so much for everything

 


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