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Pacha (Inca mythology)

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Inca Empire
Inca society
Inca history
Indigenous chroniclerFelipe Guaman Poma de Ayalain hisNueva coronica i buen gobierno(1615, f. 912) uses terms ⟨hanacpacha⟩hanaq pachaand ⟨ucopacha⟩ukhu pachawhile arguing that pre-Hispanic Andeans knew of theChristian Godunder the nameViracocha.

Thepacha(Quechua pronunciation:[pætʃæ]) is an Andean cosmological concept associating the physical world andspacewithtime,[1]and corresponding with the concept of space-time.[2][3]

The literal meaning of the word inQuechuais "place".Pachacan have various meanings in different contexts, and has been associated with the different stages and levels in the progressive development of the cosmos towards discontinuity and differentiation of forms,[1]and attributed as encoding anIncaconcept for dividing the different spheres of thecosmosakin to 'realm' or 'reality'. This latter interpretation, disputed by some scholars since such realm names may have been the product of missionaries' lexical innovation (and, thus, ofChristianinfluence), is considered to refer to "real, concrete places, and not ethereal otherworlds".[4]

Definition

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In contemporaryQuechuan languages,pachameans "place, land, soil, region, time period".[5][6][7]The use of the word for both spatial and temporal reference has been reconstructed, with the same meaning, toproto-Quechuan*pacha.[8][9]There is noetymologicallink betweenpachaand the proto-Quechua terms *paʈʂak( "one hundred" ),[8]or *paʈʂa( "belly" ),[10]nor thesouthern Quechuatermp'acha( "clothes" ).[5][11]Whether the word is used with reference to its spatial or temporal meaning is depending on context, as inpacha chaka( "earth bridge" )[6]or inñawpa pacha,which means "the ancient times" (literally "the times of the ancestors").[12]

InClassical Quechua,the word seems to have meant "world" or "universe" when not associated with other words. It was often present in importantproper namesin Andean pre-Hispanic cultures such as thetheonym⟨Pachacamac⟩pacha kama-q( "universe's supporter, world's creator",[13]or "the one who animates the soil"[14]) or⟨Pachacuti⟩pacha kuti-y( "world's turning" ).[15]

InPre-columbian times,the termpachadesignated a specific culturalconcept,which is difficult to translate into European languages. Anthropologist Catherine J. Allen translatespachaas "world-moment",[16]and scholar Eusebio Manga Qespi has stated thatpachacan be translated as "spacetime".[17]

Andean cosmological concept

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In thepre-Columbian Andean world,the conception oftimewas associated withspace,both collectively calledpacha(earth, soil), which was in continual development toward order and toward "functional differentiation and discontinuity of forms, factors of complementarity rather thanrivalry,therefore ofpeaceandproductivity".[1]However, rather than representing a state of constant change or progress it represented a "punctuated equilibrium" and order, interrupted by moments of radical change.[18]

The cosmos did not have exclusively spiritual realities, since "material and spiritual [things] belonged to the same sphere of existence and experience".[4]In accordance with the Andean concepts of duality, complementarity and opposition, space-time was conceived in connection to certain events, social relationships, vitality (camaquen), social being, certainhuacas(constellations,ancestors,anddeitiespersonified in the landscape).[2][14]There existed various geographic spatio-temporel divisions, with strong political and ideological connotations, inCuzcoand in theInca Empire,showing the social status and position of groups and places, and influencing the administrative organization of the Andean chiefdoms.[3][19][18]

Progressive and cyclic development towards order

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The Inca history of the development of the world was linear, similar tohistorical narratives,and cyclic, the creation of the world perpetually and symbolically recreating itself.[3]

The spatio-temporal development of the cosmos was divided into several fundamental stages in the development of the world: the pre-solar era, during which men lived in semi-darkness, which was closed by the event of the arrival of the sun, establishing the alternation betweennightandday;the solar era, divided into two periods by the advent of the great flood calledUnu Pachacuti( "reversal of space-time, or return of time, by water" ), a first period where thehuacasruled the Andean states, and a second during which the relations of opposition and complementarity were maintained between thellaqtas,urban spaces, andurqu,uninhabited lands of the mountains, the ancienthuacalords now personifying the natural spaces surrounding and defining the identity of the Andean socio-territorial and political entities; and then thePurum Pachaand theInka Pacha,the first era being the pre-Incaic age supposedly uncultured and barbaric, and the second being the Incaic era, in which, following the conquests of the Inca EmperorPachacuti( "world's turning" or "cataclysm" ) which mark a "sort of" return to square one ", after exhaustion of the forces [camaquen] of the era which was ending "and which then became the old era associated with chaos, theInca empireis charged of the civilizing and ordering mission of the post-diluvianworld,[1]notably in order to delay the end and the cyclical restarting of the world.

The chroniclers of thecolonial periodmentioned variouspachas,of different number. According toInca Garcilaso de la Vega,there were only two, whilePedro Sarmiento de Gamboawrote of three eras, andFelipe Guaman Pima de Ayalaof five.[20]

Three realms

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According to various anthropologists, historians and linguists there existed two spatio-temporal "realms" or "worlds", calledPacha,in addition to "This Pacha".[17][16]This postulat is based on Quechuacompoundsused in colonial sources forChristianconceptspointing to pre-Hispanic use forcosmological concepts.That is the case forhananc pachaorhanan pachaand ofucu pachaorukhu pacha,which were used for "Christian heaven"and"Christian hell",respectively, since at least the first written Quechua text[21]and first Quechua dictionaries.[22][23]

These realms are not solely spatial, but simultaneouslyspatialandtemporal.[24]Although the universe would have been considered a unified system within Incacosmology,[citation needed]the division between the worlds is a part of thedualismprominent in Inca beliefs, known asyanantin.This concept of duality considered everything which existed as having two opposed complementary characteristics ( feminine and masculine, hot and cold, positive and negative, dark and light, order and chaos, etc.).[25]This dualism between the upperpacha,dominated by the deity of rain, of the sky, of the atmospheric phenomena, of hail, of thunder, and of lightning,Illapa,and the lowerpacha,presided by the creator deityViracocha,institutor ofirrigated agriculture,and deity of the subterranean ocean under earth's crust supplying lakes and springs with water, "thus cemented the relationship of opposition and complementarity existing between the inhabitants of each of the two mountain ecological (exploitation) levels".[26]

Hanan Pacha

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The compoundhanan pacha(lit. "upperpacha "),[27]used for "heaven"in colonial sources, is interpreted as the original name of a cosmological realm that would have included thesky,thesun,themoon,thestars,theplanets,andconstellations(of particular importance being themilky way). ItsAymaraterminological counterpart would have beenalax pacha.[28][29]Hanan pachawould have been inhabited by bothInti,the masculine sun god, andMama Killa,the feminine moon goddess.[24]In addition to this,Illapa,the god of thunder and lightning, also would have existed in thehanan pacharealm.[24]Attested colonial use of the compound would be a reinterpretarion of a preexisting concept.[30]

Kay Pacha

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Kay pacha(Quechua:"thispacha") oraka pacha(Aymara:"thispacha")[28]would have been the perceptible world which people, animals, and plants all inhabit.Kay pachamay have often been impacted by the struggle betweenhanan pachaandukhu pacha.[24]This realm would have originally not had the subordination and inferior status in relation to the upper realm that it has in Christian conception.[31]

Ukhu Pacha

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Cosmological drawing by Aymara chroniclerJuan de Santa Cruz Pachacuti Yamqui Salcamaygua(1613), which has been interpreted as a representation ofPachamama.[citation needed]

In Quechua,ukhu pacha(lit. "inferiorpacha")[32]orrurin pacha[citation needed],a term used for "hell"in colonial sources, would have originally been the inner world.Ukhu pachawould have been associated with the dead as well as with new life.[29]The term would have had as itsAymaracounterpartmanqha pachaormanqhipacha.[28]As the realm of new life, this dimension is associated with harvesting andPachamama,the fertility goddess.[33]As the realm associated with the dead, it may have been inhabited bysupay.This latter word was used by missionaries to describeSatan,but is interpreted by many anthropologists as the pre-Hispanic name of demon-like creatures which would have tormented the living.[33]

Human disruptions of theukhu pachamay have been considered a sacred matter, and ceremonies and rituals were often associated with disturbances of the surface.[citation needed]InInca custom,during the time of tilling for potato crops the disturbance of the soil was met with a host of sacred rituals.[34]Similarly, rituals often brought food, drink (often alcoholic) and other comforts to cave openings for the spirits of ancestors.[33]

When the Spanish conquered the area, rituals aboutukhu pachabecame crucial in missionary activity and mining operations. Kendall W. Brown contends that the dualistic nature and rituals surrounding openings toukhu pachamay have made it easier to initially get indigenous laborers to work in the mines.[35]However, at the same time, because mining was considered a perturbation of "subterranean life and the spirits that ruled it; they yielded to sacredness that did not belong to the familiar universe, a deeper and riskier sacredness."[35]In order to insure that the perturbation did not cause evil in the miners or the world, indigenous populations made traditional offering to thesupay.However, Catholic missionaries preached that thesupaywere purely evil and equated them with the devil and hell and thus prohibited offerings.[35]Ritual surroundingukhu pachathus retained importance even after Spanish conquest.

Connections between pachas

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Although the different realms would have been distinct, there would have been a variety of connections between them. Caves and springs would have served as connections betweenukhu pachaandkay pacha,while rainbows and lightning would have served as connections betweenhanan pachaandkay pacha.[29]In addition, human spirits after death could inhabit any of the levels. Some would remain inkay pachauntil they had finished business, while others might move to the other two levels.[30]

Cyclic development

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According to other reconstructions, the most significant connection between the different levels was at cataclysmic events calledpachakutiy( "world's turning"[15]). These would have been the instances when the different levels would all impact one another transforming the entire order of the world, and cause and contribute therefore to the cyclic and progressif development of the cosmos. These could come as a result of earthquakes, floods, or of other cataclysmic events.[24]

Criticism

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Various historians, anthropologists and linguists are critical of the existence of the concept ofPachain pre-Colombian Andean thought, which is largely based on the indigenous chroniclerGuaman Poma's1616 chronicle.This chronicler, writing in a particular political context, thought, similarly toInca Garcilaso de la Vega,that the Inca emperors prepared the Andes to receiveCatholicism,comparing events from Andean cosmological development toWestern history,notably using the word "flood"to describeUnu Pachacuti,and therefore comparing the destruction of the world by the creator deityViracochato theBliblical flood.[36]

The archeologist Pierre Duviols notes that Guaman Poma, adopting aWestern way of thinking,used, along with other chroniclers, the concept of "ages", to describe supposed cycles, which was an important part ofAncient Greek thought.Main criticisms to the conception ofpachaappeal to the lack of early colonial written sources in its favor.[36]Other criticisms concern the notion of three realms in Inca cosmology. According to historian Juan Carlos Estenssoro,kay pachais a missionaryneologism,and, while other compounds may have been preexisting, the interpretation ofpachaas "realm" could be attributed to Catholic missionaries.[37]Furthermore, the Peruvian linguistRodolfo Cerrón Palominoattributes the coining of the compounds entirely to Catholic missionaries'lexical planning.[38]According to these criticisms, the spatial-temporal concept ofpachaas "era", "stage" or "realm" would be an unjustifiedanachronisticattribution ofChristian beliefsto Andean pre-Hispanic societies. However, many scholars, such as Nathan Wachtel and Juan de Ossio, defend the chronicle of Guaman Poma, and the conception ofPachain pre-Hispanic times,[36]Gregory Haimovich stating that parts of the work point to the existence of three realms in pre-Hispanic cosmology.[31]

See also

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References

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  1. ^abcdItier, César (2008). "Le Temps".Les incas.Paris:Les Belles Lettres.pp. 106–112.
  2. ^abN. D’Altroy, Terence (2014). "Thinking Inca".The incas(2nd ed.).Wiley-Blackwell.p. 131.
  3. ^abcGarcia, Franck (2019). "Le sens de l'Histoire: Du chaos à l'ordre généralisé".Les incas: Rencontre avec le dernier État pré-hispanique des Andes.Paris:Éditions Ellipses. pp. 157–158.
  4. ^abN. D’Altroy, Terence (2014). "Thinking Inca".The incas(2nd ed.).Wiley-Blackwell.p. 125.
  5. ^abItier, César (2017).Diccionario quechua sureño: castellano (con un índice castellano-quechua)(1 a edición ed.). Lima, Perú: Editorial Commentarios. p. 154.ISBN978-9972-9470-9-4.
  6. ^abTorres Menchola, Denis Joel (2019-10-17).Panorama lingüístico del departamento de Cajamarca a partir del examen de la toponimia actual(MA thesis, Linguistics). Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. p. 203.
  7. ^Ráez, José Francisco (2018).Cerrón-Palomino, Rodolfo(ed.).Diccionario huanca quechua-castellano castellano-quechua.Sergio Cangahuala Castro (Primera edición ed.). Lima: Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Instituto Riva-Agüero. p. 202.ISBN978-9972-832-98-7.
  8. ^abParker, Gary John (2013). "El lexicón proto-quechua" [Proto-Quechua Lexicon]. InCerrón-Palomino, Rodolfo;Bendezú Araujo, Raúl; Torres Menchola, Denis (eds.).Trabajos de lingüística histórica quechua(in Spanish). Lima: Fondo Ed. Pontificia Univ. Católica del Perú. p. 116.ISBN978-612-4146-53-4.
  9. ^Emlen, Nicholas Q. (2017-04-02)."Perspectives On The Quechua–Aymara Contact Relationship And The Lexicon And Phonology Of Pre-Proto-Aymara".International Journal of American Linguistics.83(2): 307–340.doi:10.1086/689911.hdl:1887/71538.ISSN0020-7071.
  10. ^Cerrón-Palomino, Rodolfo(2000).Lingüística aimara[Aymaran Linguistics]. Biblioteca de tradición oral andina. Cuzco: Centro de estudios regionales andinos Bartolomé de Las Casas. p. 365.ISBN978-9972-691-34-8.
  11. ^Itier, César (1999)."Szeminski, J. — Wira Quchan y sus obras".Journal de la société des américanistes.85(1): 474–479.
  12. ^Third Lima Council (2003). "Tercero Catecismo y exposición de la Doctrina Cristiana por sermones (Los Reyes, 1585): Sermones XVIII y XIX". In Taylor, Gérald (ed.).El sol, la luna y las estrellas no son Dios: la evangelización en quechua, siglo XVI.Travaux de l'Institut Français d'Études Andines (in Quechua). Institut français d'études andines (1. ed.). Lima, Perú: IFEA Instituto Francés de Estudios Andinos: Fondo Editorial de la Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú.ISBN978-9972-623-26-4.
  13. ^Cerrón-Palomino, Rodolfo (2008).Voces del Ande: ensayos sobre onomástica andina.Colección estudios andinos (1. ed.). Lima, Perú: Fondo Editorial de la Ponrificia Universidad Católica del Perú. pp. 300, 308.ISBN978-9972-42-856-2.
  14. ^abItier, César (2008).Les incas.Les Belles Lettres.pp. 125–128.
  15. ^abCerrón-Palomino 2008,p. 298.
  16. ^abAllen, Catherine J. (1998). "When Utensils Revolt: Mind, Matter, and Modes of Being in the Pre-Columbian".RES: Anthropology and Aesthetics(33): 18–27.doi:10.1086/RESv33n1ms20166999.S2CID132664622.
  17. ^abManga Qespi, Atuq Eusebio (1994)."Pacha: un concepto andino de espacio y tiempo"(PDF).Revista Española de Antropología Americana.24:155–189.
  18. ^abN. D’Altroy, Terence (2014). "Thinking Inca".The incas(2nd ed.).Wiley-Blackwell.p. 138.
  19. ^Tom Zuidema, Reiner(1964).Ceque system of Cusco: The Social Organization of the Capital of the Inca.BRILL.ISBN978-90-04-61240-2.Retrieved30 April2024.
  20. ^Garcia, Franck (2019). "Le sens de l'Histoire: Du chaos à l'ordre généralisé".Les incas: Rencontre avec le dernier État pré-hispanique des Andes.Paris:Éditions Ellipses. pp. 160–161.
  21. ^Santo Tomás, Domingo de(2003). "Plática para todos los indios".El sol, la luna y las estrellas no son Dios: la evangelización en quechua, siglo XVI.Travaux de l'Institut Français d'Études Andines (in Quechua). Institut français d'études andines (1. ed.). Lima, Perú: IFEA Instituto Francés de Estudios Andinos: Fondo Editorial de la Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú.ISBN978-9972-623-26-4.
  22. ^Santo Tomás, Domingo de(2013).Lexicón o vocabulario de la lengua general del Perú: Compuesto por el Maestro Fray Domingo de Santo Thomas de la orden de Santo Domingo.Vol. 1. Lima: Universidad de San Martín de Porres. pp. 151, 349.
  23. ^Anonymous (probably Blas Valera) (2014).Cerrón-Palomino, Rodolfo;Bendezú Araujo, Raúl; Acurio Palma, Jorge (eds.).Arte y vocabulario en la lengua general del Perú.Publicaciones del Instituto Riva-Agüero (Primera edición ed.). Lima: Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Instituto Riva-Agüero. pp. 94, 173, 235, 284.ISBN978-9972-832-62-8.OCLC885304625.
  24. ^abcdeHeydt-Coca, Magda von der (1999). "When Worlds Collide: The Incorporation Of The Andean World Into The Emerging World-Economy In The Colonial Period".Dialectical Anthropology.24(1): 1–43.
  25. ^Minelli, Laura Laurencich (2000). "The Archeological-Cultural Area of Peru".The Inca World: The Development of Pre-Columbian Peru, A.D. 1000–1534.Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press.
  26. ^Itier, César (2008).Les incas(in French).Paris:Les Belles Lettres.pp. 121–123.
  27. ^Gérald Taylor's translation is ‘upper space-time’ (inSanto Tomás 2003).Rodolfo Cerrón Palominotranslates the compund as ‘above world’ (Cerrón-Palomino 2008,p. 235).
  28. ^abcRadio San Gabriel, "Instituto Radiofonico de Promoción Aymara" (IRPA) 1993, Republicado por Instituto de las Lenguas y Literaturas Andinas-Amazónicas (ILLLA-A) 2011, Transcripción del Vocabulario de la Lengua Aymara, P.Ludovico Bertonio1612 (Spanish-Aymara-Aymara-Spanish dictionary)
  29. ^abcStrong, Mary (2012).Art, Nature, Religion in the Central Andes.Austin, Tx: University of Texas Press.
  30. ^abGonzalez, Olga M. (2011).Unveiling Secrets of War in the Peruvian Andes.Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
  31. ^abHaimovich, Gregory (2017-05-19)."Linguistic Consequences of Evangelization in Colonial Peru: Analyzing the Quechua Corpus of the Doctrina Christiana y Catecismo".Journal of Language Contact.10(2): 193–218.doi:10.1163/19552629-01002003.ISSN1877-4091.
  32. ^Gérald Taylor's translation is ‘inferior space-time’ (inSanto Tomás 2003).Rodolfo Cerrón Palominotranslates the compund as ‘below world’ (Cerrón-Palomino 2008,p. 235).
  33. ^abcSteele, Richard James (2004).Handbook of Inca Mythology.ABC-CLIO.
  34. ^Millones, Luis (2001). "The Inner Realm".The Potato Treasure of the Andes.
  35. ^abcBrown, Kendall W. (2012).A History of Mining in Latin America.Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press.ISBN9780826351074.
  36. ^abcGarcia, Franck (2019).Les incas: Rencontre avec le dernier État pré-hispanique des Andes.Paris:Éditions Ellipses. pp. 162–163.
  37. ^Estenssoro-Fuchs, Juan Carlos; Castelnau, Charlotte de (1996)."Les pouvoirs de la parole. La prédication au Pérou: de l'évangélisation à l'utopie".Annales.51(6): 1225–1257.doi:10.3406/ahess.1996.410918.
  38. ^«[...] se hizo la distinción normal, en el quechua sureño propugnado por la iglesia, entrehana pacha‘mundo de arriba’ (= cielo) yuku pacha‘mundo de abajo’ (= infierno), aprovechando la disponibilidad de la lengua en cuanto al registro deuku[+bajo, +interior], que simbólicamente parecía ajustarse a la noción del infierno judeo-cristiano [...]» (translation: «[...] in Southern Quechua, a normal distinction, advocated by the Church, was made betweenhana pacha'world above' (= heaven) anduku pacha'world below' (= hell), taking advantage of the availability of the language for the presence ofuku[+below, +inner], which symbolically seemed to fit the Judeo-Christian notion of hell [...]»;Cerrón-Palomino 2008,p. 235)
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