Thursday - Sept 28, 2017 Cusco

We had been told our suitcases would arrive in the morning, and we were anxious for that. I was waiting for the bags before having a shower, so we went for breakfast, but when they weren’t there by 9am we decided to give up on them for the time being and showered and went up to the San Blas Cathedral Square.

Very quickly we were approached by a student artist peddling his wares. They were very impressive. I particularly liked his paintings which displayed the symbols of the old cultures of the Andes and the Inkas’ holy animals. He explained their meanings to us and it was very fascinating.

The Inca religion is an admixture of complex ceremonies, practices, animistic beliefs, varied forms of belief in objects having magical powers, and nature worship which culminated in the worship of the sun, which was presided over by the priests of the last native pre-Columbian conquerors of the Andean regions of South America.

Pachamama is a goddess revered by the indigenous people of the Andes.  In Inca mythology, Pachamama is a fertility goddess who presides over planting and harvesting, embodies the mountains, and causes earthquakes. She is also an ever-present and independent deity who has her own self-sufficient and creative power to sustain life on this earth. The four cosmological Quechua (indigenous peoples of South America) principles - Water, Earth, Sun, and Moon - claim Pachamama as their prime origin, and priests sacrifice llamas, cuy (guinea pigs), and elaborate, miniature, burned garments to her.

The Inka Cross or Chakana

is a strong symbol of the old cultures of the Andes and is considered the most complete, holy, geometric design of the Inkas. This symbol is often found in old places and holy centers in the Andes in Peru and in Bolivia. The Chakana has had, and still has, a considerable meaning to the Inkas and it also represents many meanings in its design.

The word Chakana is based on the word “chakay,” which means “to cross” or “to bridge”. It derives from the ancient Inkan language, Quechan, still used today. Traditionally, the Chakana (Cruz cuadrada means a four-sided cross in Spanish) represents the constellation of the Southern Cross which is seen in the southern hemisphere. According to the opinion of the old Andes population, this was the centre of the Universe and was easy to find when they looked up in the sky at night. When the Chakana is used for meditation or for training/teaching, it is said to bring mental balance and a deeper insight at many levels of consciousness.

The Meaning of the Inka Cross, sides, levels, top, bottom, middle:

At the top to the left

Future
Present
Past

At the top to the right

Hana Pacha – Heaven
The upper world, light sophisticated energy. The stars, divine creatures, and gods

Kay Pacha –The earth
This world, light and heavy energy, here and now, Mother Earth. People’s lives.

Uqha Pacha –The Underworld
Heavier energy, but not Hell, may be lucky, beautiful things. Death.

At the bottom to the left

Peace
War
Intelligence

At the bottom to the right

The holy animals:
Condor/eagle: represents the upper world in the sky
Cougar: represents powerful land animals
Snake: represents the lower world

Center / “hole”

Represents the Inkan capital Cusco, the center for the Inka Empire or the people who lived in the middle of the 3 lives, in the 4 elements and the middle of the universe.

The four sides

The four most important corners are supposed to symbolize

·         North, South, East and West,

·         the 4 elements, Earth, Water, Fire, Air, and

·         the 4 big stars in the Southern Cross.

12 corners

The 12 festivals / The Inkan calendar.

The Inkas had a calendar, composed by twelve months, each of 30 days. Each month in the Inka calendar had its own festival (meaning month). The twelve outer corners mark the twelve corners of the year and an achievement of awareness.

The Inkas’ Holy Animals

The Trilogy

The Inkas have three primary holy power animals called The Trilogy. The Condor, The Cougar, and The Snake.

They also have a fourth one, the Hummingbird, which also belongs to the holy power animals; the Hummingbird is often illustrated together with the three others. To some degree, The Hummingbird belongs to The Condor since it is also a symbol for the upper world

The Condor (the Eagle):

Condor – helps you to see visions and unlimited possibilities and helps us to realize them

Element - Water

Cougar (Puma/Jaguar):

Cougar (Puma) symbolizes courage and inner strength

Element - Earth

Serpent (snake):

The serpent helps us to shed our limitations, as the serpent sheds its skin

Symbolizes intellect and knowledge.

Element: Fire.

Hummingbird:

The hummingbird, which brings us the sweet things in life, is brave and persisting. Helps us to follow the call of our heart.

Even though the hummingbird is not directly included in The Trilogy; it is often pictured together with it because it belongs together with the Condor and is linked to Machu Picchu.

The hummingbird delivers the news that endurance and persistence are important elements in our lives.

Element: Air

From the 16^th century onwards the Inca religion was displaced by Roman Catholicism as the conquistadors steadily converted the local population. Although the vast majority of the population today claim to be RC, the reality is that few attend regular church services and a large proportion of these practice a form of Pagan Catholicism, whereby Catholicism is fused with a series of indigenous, animist beliefs such as the worship of dieties from the natural world, including mountains, animals and plants. Viracocha (the creator) is often thought of as the Christian God and Pachamama (the earth mother) is represented by the Virgin Mary.

I told our student artist that we liked his work but wanted to shop around first. He explained he had to leave to go to school soon and wouldn’t be back for several days, etc., etc. I was thinking we were at the main square and could trust him, so we bought two of his works. One displayed the symbols of the old cultures of the Andes and the Inkas’ holy animals, and the other was the Inca calendar. We took them back to the hotel, and then realized we hadn’t been at the main square. It was in the other direction down the hill from our hotel. Over the next couple of days in Cusco we had lots of opportunities to view the works of other artists, but I liked his the best. I am also convinced that he told us the truth about the materials he used in his art, which some of the others didn’t (even some of the artists at the main square).

We took our new art purchases back to the hotel, and then we headed to the main square to take a city tour, even though we had a guided tour on Friday, because Joseph said it would be different. When we got there we were instantly offered numerous city tours. I asked if they were in English, and we went with the one who said yes.

We were sitting in the top of an open air double decker bus, and the guide was talking on a PA system. It was very hard to make out what he was saying, and it sounded like it was all in Spanish to me. At one of the stops I said to the guide that I thought the tour was in English, and he said it was in English, Spanish and Portuguese. Who would have known?

Even though we didn’t know what we were looking at half of the time, it was still interesting to see the various sights. We drove high up into the mountains and had a wonderful view.

We stopped at the Cristo Blanco, erected on Pukamoqo hill, a vantage point high above Cusco. Cristo Blanco is a large statue of Jesus Christ that can be seen across the city. Towering some 8 meters high the white structure was a gift from Arabic Palestinians who sought refuge in Cusco after World War II. The statue depicts Christ extending his arms outwards, very similar to Rio´s Christ the Redeemer, but in miniature format.

According Inca legend Pukamoqo Hill was a spiritual location for the Incas. Local myth says that the hill holds soil samples from all the 4 quarters of the Inca Empire or what the Incas called Tawantinsuyo.

Cristo Blanco offers panoramic views across Cusco´s main square – Plaza de Armas, the entire historic centre of the city and as far as the residential district of San Sebastian.

Another one of our stops was at an indigenous community where a Shaman performed a cocoa leaf burning ceremony to Pachamama. 

Payment to Pachamama is a sacred ritual of healing, protection, blessing and flowering. During the ceremony a very special bond is opened between this world and the other. In this way we show the spirit of the earth our infinite respect and gratitude through a ritual of offering to receive in return health, prosperity and well-being.

When we got back to Cusco we went for lunch and then wandered around the old part of the city surrounding the main square visiting shops and the market.

When we got back to the hotel around 5pm our bags had still not arrived. Investigation revealed that Avianca, the airline that had our bags, did not have any arrangements with United Airlines, the airline that failed to deliver our bags to Lima when we arrived, and as a result, Avianca refused to deliver the bags to our hotel – we had to go get them. Luckily for us, Joseph was at the hotel to escort two men from the US to the airport. We had been sitting in the lobby talking to them for about an hour while the receptionist at the hotel tried to track down our bags. Very interesting guys. We had managed to talk to them for about 45 minutes before Trump even got mentioned. They weren’t supporters.

We got a ride there with them, but had to pay for the cab back. Joseph told us to go after United to pay for the cab. We’ll just wait until after United gets us back to Ottawa to do that!

I was just happy to have our bags so we could change our clothes and get on with separating out what was coming on the Inca Trail and what was staying at the hotel in Cusco.

We had supper at the hotel again. Another delicious and authentic Peruvian meal.