Religion

Gods/Deities

Festivals

The Three Levels of Existence

Religious Expansion

Offerings - Animals and sometimes human sacrifices

Agricultural - At the beginning of each growing season

Viracocha - Creator God

Gods of Earth and Sea

Gods of Sky

All the Gods were thought to help increase crops and animal herds

Moon Goddess (Quilla)

Sun God (Inti)

Festival of the Sun God

God of Stars

Sapa Inca (Emperor) was the descendant of the Sun

Coya (Emperors Wife) was connected with the female god, the Moon

Each God was connected to with some aspect of Nature or Natural Force

September Festival - dedicated to female Goddess and was celebrated under the protection of the Moon and the Sun Gods

Incas celebrated different religious festivities every month

Sacred Sites (Huacas)

Places of Worship

Stone of Intihuatana (Machu Picchu) - Worked as a solar clock and allowed people to calculate the Winter Solstice

Landscapes

Waters

Mountains (Apas)

Pathways (Ceque)

Caves

Springs

Stones or Boulders

Man-made objects such as pillars

Royal and elite mausoleums

Quenco (North of Cuzco) - resembles a seated puma, one of the Inca's sacred huacas

Apacheta - special type of huaca which was stone cairns on mountain passes were thought to hold local deities' spirits

All rivers and lakes were held sacred because as water was universally recognized as the source of life

Seen as parents who gave birth to their local community

Mountains regarded as the dwelling places of the Gods or even as the Gods themselves

God of Earthquakes: Pachacamac

God of Thunder and Lightning: Llibiac

Each path linked numerous huacas along its length

There were 41 such paths uniting 328 huacas within and around Cuzco

Specialist craftspeople to produce goods solely for burial and royal tombs

Priests, royal historians and record keepers were employed to continue and sustain state religion and history

Different regions worshiped special local deities, however, there soon developed a core of features that became universal religious concepts

Earth Goddess: Pacha Mama

Terrestrial Layer: Kai Pacha or Hurin Pacha

Inner-terrestrial Sphere: Uku Pacha (The World Below)

Outer-celestial Sphere: Hanan Pacha (The World Above)

Associated with gold, the "sweat of the sun"

Associated with silver, the "tears of the moon"

Duality

The universe and everything in it comprise two parts in opposition which seek completion through unity

The natural elements were considered divine and ruled human existence

Symbols of Divinity

Quilla (The Moon)

Rainforest Animals
(Jaguars, serpents, monkeys, etc.)

Inti (The Sun)

Aquatic Animals

Composite Creatures (Characteristics of animals and humans)

Maturity and Marriages

Paying homage to the dead

Ecological Relationship

Belief that their environment was sacred

Humans to enjoy earths benefits through the grace of the gods, not to exploit it

Humans not considered themselves center/focus of the world, but one group among all living things

Humans appealed to the gods for their permission to make use of various other elements in the world