I have decided to do my project on the myths of ancient Peru, in the time of the Inca. Although I spent two years of my life there, I only learned a little bit about the ancient legends of the area and I thought it would be very interesting to learn a great deal more about it.
The book I selected is called The Mythologies of Ancient Mexico and Peru, by Lewis Spence. It is not the most exhaustive source for these legends, but it gives me a good basis to start from. It was published 110 years ago, so it is a bit dated and has some culturally insensitive writing, but I should be able to read past that just fine.
One of the stories it recounts is the basic creation story, of how the offspring of the sun and moon came together in a place near Lake Titicaca, which is now near Cusco. They had been commanded by their parents, the Sun and Moon gods to travel until they found the "hub of the universe" which they located through the means of a magical golden wedge. Thus Cusco (and later the Incan empire) was founded.
Interestingly, there is another, competing explanation within the Incan's own religion, possibly from another indigenous culture they absorbed. In this story, the bearded water god Viracocha, who had arisen from the depths of Lake Titicaca created the sun, moon, and stars, then created men out of stone to inhabit the newly lit earth.
Another interesting story is that of Pachacamac, a dreaded fire/volcano god that competed with Viracocha for the earth. Viracocha was defeated in combat by the fire god and fled, while Pachacamac was left with control over men.
There are many other stories hinted at, but not elaborated upon in the book, which is relatively short, so I feel pretty open creatively.
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| A picture I took at some ancient ruins that predate the Incan Empire |
One of the stories it recounts is the basic creation story, of how the offspring of the sun and moon came together in a place near Lake Titicaca, which is now near Cusco. They had been commanded by their parents, the Sun and Moon gods to travel until they found the "hub of the universe" which they located through the means of a magical golden wedge. Thus Cusco (and later the Incan empire) was founded.
Interestingly, there is another, competing explanation within the Incan's own religion, possibly from another indigenous culture they absorbed. In this story, the bearded water god Viracocha, who had arisen from the depths of Lake Titicaca created the sun, moon, and stars, then created men out of stone to inhabit the newly lit earth.
Another interesting story is that of Pachacamac, a dreaded fire/volcano god that competed with Viracocha for the earth. Viracocha was defeated in combat by the fire god and fled, while Pachacamac was left with control over men.
There are many other stories hinted at, but not elaborated upon in the book, which is relatively short, so I feel pretty open creatively.
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