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Inca Creation Myth and Other Inca Mythology
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The Inca Creation Myth along with other mythology of ancient Inca
Civilization are not only interesting to us but actually play a large
part in the indigenous culture of Peru to this day.
There are as many myths about how the
Inca tribe came to be as there are myths about their demise.
Inca Creation Myth
Myths regarding their creation
range
from the story of the God of the Sun to stories of another God who
brought to life humans from rocks.
Although we can't be certain which version of Inca mythology was
predominantly accepted, what is certain is that Inca mythology
influenced all aspects of their
culture
and life.
This influence remains highly visible today as the focus of their
architectural
and a
rtistic
works.
Myths regarding their
creation range from the story of the God of the Sun to
stories of another God who brought to life humans from rocks.
Three
Versions of the Myth
God of
the Sun
In the first
version of
the Inca creation myth, the God of the Sun arose and was
so bright that nothing else could even be seen.
The God of the Sun then
created the moon and the stars. The Sun and the Moon had one son and
one daughter.
The God of the Sun sent their children to the earth to
show the humans how to survive. According this myth, the son of the Sun
God became the very
first Inca.
God
from
the Water
The second most
popular
Inca Creation myth describes a God who arose from the
water. This God needed light to see his surroundings so he created the
sun, moon, and stars.
This God brought humans with him. From the rocks
he created more humans, some of which were pregnant women.
Keeping one
man and one woman with him, he sent half his people to the North and
half to the South to create plenty of land for his tribe to grow and
thrive.
The
Boneless God "Con"
A third, less
popular
myth of the Inca's creation includes a figure in the
general shape of a man but with no bones called the Con.
According to
this version of Inca mythology, the Con filled the
earth with the things the people needed to survive. He found the people
to be
unthankful so he dried up all the water so the people would suffer for
their lack of appreciation.
Then a new God, Pacha Kamaq (also Pachachamac or Pachacamac -
'Earth-Maker'), came along and drove the first God out by changing his
people to monkeys.
The myth describes Pacha Kamaq taking over the
earth and making ancestors from the remaining humans.
Other
Inca
Mythology
A
Special
People
While many of the
Inca
myths dealt with the origin of the Inca people, they
all supported the idea that the Gods wanted the Inca's to be rulers of
the land.
These myths help to establish some of the rights and customs
of the Incas' royal class. The myths were elaborated to demonstrate how
superior the Inca people were.
All of the myths identify the Incan
people as descendants of the sun.
A Great
Flood
Just as many other
cultures, the Inca's spoke of one myth that included
a great flood.
As the legend goes, a great flood came about and whisked
away all of the unruly people in the land.
The flood myths are full of
stories about how the Inca people were greedy and and how they didn't
pay proper homage to the Gods. It was decided that the only people who
didn't prove evil were the ones in the highest highlands of the Andes
Mountains.
As the story goes, two shepherds realized how sad their
llamas were. The llamas told their owners there was a flood coming. The
two shepherds gathered their families and their herds and headed to the
highlands.
Rain fell for two straight months until all of the land
below was flooded. The Sun God appeared and his smile dried the waters.
The families came down from the Highlands and repopulated the earth.
This myth continues on, saying that the llamas always remember the
floods and therefore only live in the Highlands.
While it's true
that the
Spanish conquistadors
(conquistadores) destroyed the Empire of
Inca, the people survived and descendants from those
people still live
in the Highlands of the Andes Mountains.
The Inca Creation Myth and other Inca mythology play a continuing part
in the culture of Peru's indigenous population.
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