The old and the new Peru

by Marie Robinson Wright

HUACAS FROM THE GRAVES OF PACHACÁMAC.

PRE-INCAIC POTTERY FROM PACHACÁMAC.

Why did the ancient Peruvians choose, as the site of one of their greatest temples, a strip of arid plain, when a vast region lay before them, presenting every variety of blessing which a bountiful Nature and beneficent Providence could bestow upon a favored land? This question is suggested not only as one contemplates the ruins of Pachacámac, but also in the presence of the temple and monoliths of Tiahuanaco. Was it that fear was the directing impulse, and a desire to propitiate an evil deity was stronger than the inspiration to adore a beneficent and beloved creator? In a land of snow-capped mountains, unfathomable cañons, and varied climate, where stupendous evidences of an omnipotent power were constantly present to impress the imagination of a primitive people, and the changes wrought by Nature were sometimes sudden and disastrous, as in the case of earthquakes and tidal waves, it is not strange that, as is seen in India, where similar conditions prevailed, the dawning intelligence of a primitive race was apparently dominated by fear rather than love in the exercise of its religion. An explanation of the choice of locality for the temple of Pachacámac is afforded by the following legend, the origin of which is said to be very ancient. The distinguished author of the archæological treatise Pachacámac relates the story: “In the beginning of the world there was no food for a man and a woman whom the god Pachacámac had created. The man starved, but the woman survived. One day, as she was searching among the thorn bushes for roots with which to stay her hunger, she lifted up her eyes to the sun and with tears and lamentation cried: ‘Beloved Creator of all things! Why hast thou brought me into the light of this world if I am to die of hunger and want? Oh, that thou hadst not created me out of nothing, or hadst suffered me to die immediately on entering the world, instead of leaving me alone in it without children to succeed me, poor, cast down, and sorrowful! Why, O Sun, having created us, why wilt thou let us perish? And if thou art the Giver of Light, why art thou so niggardly as to refuse me my nourishment? Thou hast no pity and heedst not the sorrow of those whom thou hast created only to their misery. Cause heaven to slay me with lightning or earth to swallow me, or give me food, for thou, Almighty One, hast made me!’ The sun, touched with pity, descended to her and bade her give up her fears and hope for comfort, for she would soon be delivered from the cause of her trouble. One day, while she was wearily searching for roots, she became impregnated with his rays and bore a son after four days. But Pachacámac, who was the son of the Sun, was angry with the woman for having worshipped his father and for having borne him a son in defiance of himself; he seized the newborn demigod and cut him to pieces. In order, however, that the woman should not suffer for lack of food, he sowed the dismembered parts of the boy, and the harvest was a bountiful one; from the teeth grew corn; from the ribs and bones sprang the yucca and other roots; from the flesh appeared vegetables and fruits. Since that time, men have known no more want, and they owe this abundance of food to Pachacámac. But the mother mourned for her child and appealed again to the Sun. Again the Sun was moved to pity and he commanded her to bring him the umbilical cord of the murdered child; into it he put life, and gave her another son, whom she called Wichama, who grew strong and powerful and, when a young man, set out to travel like his father, the Sun. But as soon as Wichama left his mother, Pachacámac slew her and caused the birds to devour her, all but the hair and bones, which he concealed near the shore. Then Pachacámac created men and women who were to take possession of the earth, and he set up Curacas and Caciques to rule over them. But when Wichama, returning, found that his mother had been slain, he was in a terrible rage, and commanded her bones to be brought to him; these he joined together and he brought her back to life. The two then planned revenge against Pachacámac, who, rather than struggle with his second brother, threw himself into the sea from the spot where his temple now stands. When Wichama saw his enemy escape from him, he was in a fury of rage and with the breath of his nostrils he set fire to the air and scorched the fields. He accused the inhabitants of having aided Pachacámac and besought his father to turn them to stone. His request was granted, but both the Sun and Wichama repented of this terrible deed, and caused the petrified Curacas and Caciques to be set up and worshipped, some on the shore and others in the sea, where they still stand as rocks and reefs.” The same authority interprets the story as a myth of the Seasons, describing the phenomena of nature, as annually repeated in the climate of the coast land. The description of climatic conditions shows, as the most characteristic feature, the annually repeated struggle of the vegetation of the valley, which depends entirely on artificial irrigation, against the scorching heat of the sun. The former is personified in the god Pachacámac. The Sun, with whom Pachacámac carries on his struggle, represents the solar year; the first solar son, whom Pachacámac kills, represents possibly the spring sun before the rising of the highland rivers, when the season of fruitfulness begins; the scattering of the teeth and bones of the murdered son produces the fertility of the soil. The woman who bears a son to the Sun god is the year; from a needy but toil-free life in the wilderness, Pachacámac leads her to a life of care and toil, such as cultivation of the fields requires; still grieving over the death of her first son, she is given Wichama, the autumn and winter Sun, with whom Pachacámac enters into a struggle. The woman grows old as does the year; Pachacámac kills her—as the year ends with the harvest. After the ingathering of the harvest and the autumnal decrease of the rivers, Pachacámac is unable to resume the struggle; his flight into the ocean to escape Wichama corresponds to the protecting cover of dense fogs which every winter overspread the parched fields. The Sun hero wreaks his vengeance on the fields of the fog region which even in winter are exposed to the arid sun.

CURIOUS SYMBOLS OF PACHACÁMAC WORSHIP.

FAÇADE OF THE PALACE OF CHAN-CHAN, NEAR TRUJILLO.

Mythical legends are related of three principal deities that were worshipped by the ancient Peruvians. Of these, an important place is given to the great god Con, who, according to tradition, was invisible, possessing “no bones, nerves, or extremities,” and who “travelled with the swiftness of spirits.” He levelled the sierras, filled up the cañons, and covered the earth with fruits and everything necessary for the sustenance of men and women, so that they might enjoy abundance. But, unappreciative of their blessings, the people of the coast gave themselves up to all manner of evil and forgot their benefactor. Con, indignant over their corruption, transformed them into black cats and other ill-favored animals, denied them the blessing of rain, and changed their happy and fruitful land into an arid desert. According to the same legend, Pachacámac, restored fertility to the earth and created a new race of men, the ancestors of the present Indians. Besides Con and Pachacámac, there was also the mighty Viracocha, the god of the deluge, who rose from the waters of Lake Titicaca, made the heavens and the earth, and, before creating the light of day, peopled the earth with its first inhabitants. These were afterward changed to stone because of their disobedience; but in order that the darkness should disappear and Peru be peopled, Viracocha appeared again—this time with followers—and created the sun and the stars and formed models of the future Peruvians; the images, representing men, women, and children, he distributed throughout the different provinces. He then sent his followers to the different regions to animate these models, which was done by the invocation, “Arise and people this earth, which is barren and solitary! Thus commands Viracocha, who is the creator of the world!” In response to these words the images became possessed of life and appeared on the mountains, in the valleys, beside the rivers, everywhere. A few beings, created to fulfil a special destiny, were animated by Viracocha himself, and as soon as they recognized their creator, they erected a temple of worship in his honor. The Spanish historian, Sebastian Lorente, who relates the legends of Con, Pachacámac, and Viracocha in his interesting and valuable work on Peru, impressed by the evident relation existing between the three great deities, infers that in ancient Peru there were three principal centres of population and culture,—the coast, the sierra, and the Titicaca plateau. These centres did not arrive at the height of their power contemporaneously, nor were they necessarily related to one another, though the influence of each one is seen, in some degree, in the development of all three. A distinct, and undoubtedly a very ancient, architecture prevails in the temples, palaces, and pyramids of the coast, unidentified either with that of the interior valleys or of the high plateau. The magnificent ruins of Chimu culture, as seen in the great walls of Chan-Chan, which measure from twenty to thirty feet in height, and show wonderful designs and stucco work on their surface, as well as the monuments of an earlier people, as seen at Huaca del Sol, near Moche, and the temple Pachacámac, are of a different character from the edifices of Huánuco Viejo in the sierra, of Sacsahuaman at Cuzco, and of the pillars and round tower (Pelasgian style) in Puno; while these latter ruins bear little relation in construction to the cyclopean edifices of Tiahuanaco, in Bolivia, the centre of what is sometimes called the Aymará culture.