The Inca also believed in the existence of evil spirits and
supernatural beings. Evil spirits were feared but not worshiped. Some of these
spirits, it was thought, had been witches in life, and in death they went
abroad at night and did harm. Everyone avoided them. The supernatural beings,
however, were friends of man and full of kindness. They punished transgressors
with bad luck but never inflicted severe physical suffering.
The Inca nobles, the generals, and the emperor consulted the
supernaturals before setting out on a journey. There...
FORETELLING THE FUTURE.
There were sorcerers, too, who foretold the future. Some sorcerers
drank themselves into unconsciousness with special concoctions they had
prepared. When they recovered they told what they had dreamed and foreseen.
Fire was also used to foretell events. This divination by
fire was a most impressive ceremony. The people of Huaro, near Cuzco, who were
fire diviners, were highly respected and feared. Even the emperor fasted for
three days to attend one of their fire-divining sessions.
At the ceremony a diviner placed two ceramic burners, or
braziers,...
INCA WORSHIPED THE NUMEROUS HUACAS
In addition to
worshiping the deities, the Inca worshiped the numerous huacas—sacred places
—which were everywhere throughout the Inca Empire. Mountaintops were huacas,
because man could not penetrate them. The emperor's palace, with all his goods,
was sealed after his death and became a huaca. Battlefields, caves, springs,
quarries, and even the roots of trees were huacas.
There always seemed to be room for more huacas in the
religion of the Andeans. When the Inca conquered a village and introduced new
huacas, the villagers gladly accepted...
INCA CEREMONIES
Inca ceremonies followed the Inca calendar. The seasons of
the year were very important to the Inca, because they lived off the land.
Their calendar was divided into twelve lunar months, named for important
agricultural and religious events. Since the seasons south of the equator are
reversed, the January of the Inca calendar was the equivalent of June in North
America. The calendar year began with December, which is like May in the north.
Here...
LIFE AFTER DEATH IN INCA COMMUNITY
According to Inca beliefs, the good people went up to heaven
after death and lived with the Sun. There they had ample food, chicha, and
warmth. Men and women who were not good in life, such as witches, went to live
inside the earth. It was cold and dark there, and they were given stones to eat
instead of corn.
The nobility, however, always went to live with the Sun
after death, regardless of what they had done on earth. When a man died, his
wife and other female relatives cut their hair and kept their heads covered
with shawls during the long...
BELIEFS OF THE INCA PEOPLE
Religion and ritual were present in all the activities of the Andean people. They worshiped many deities and sacred places. Inca People believed in good and evil spirits. And they saw omens in many things—a rainbow, a falling star, the shape of a cloud, or the hooting of an owl.
VIRACOCHA
Viracocha, the Inca believed, was the creator of the Sun, the Moon, and the stars. The Sun—the life-giver—was the most important servant of Viracocha....
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