Inca and Pre-Inca Mysteries

Inca legend says that prior to our world, there was a previous civilization that died away through some mysterious catastrophe. According to the legend, a comet or asteroid, appeared between the constellations of Orion and the Bull. Depictions carved in rock of the comet at that location dated to many hundreds of years before the first known Pre-Inca civilization are the link to this legendary prehistoric culture. In Bolivia there are large meteor craters. Perhaps the theory is not so far-fetched.

There are a number of similar enigmas. At the Sillustani burial ground, a rock on which the comet symbol is carved also has the spiral symbol, which to the Pre-Incas represented the gateway to the next dimension. On this rock at precisely the center of the spiral is a magnetic energy. How the Pre-Incas were aware of it with such precision is anyone's guess. However, a compass needle place directly over the center of the spiral will begin to turn around and around in the direction of the spiral. There is no simple explanation for this.

Another enigma is the strong correlation between ancient Egyptian and Pre-Columbian American cultures. In Guatemala the Mayans built pyramids. The Incas mummified their dead, and also plied the waters of Titicaca in reed boats of identical design to reed boats used by the ancient Egyptians. Some people believe the Egyptians made it over to America. Among the proponents of this theory is famed world-explorer Thor Heyerdahl. He proved that such a voyage was possible by travelling across the Atlantic in a reed boat built by the people of Lake Titicaca. Unlike his discovery of a Viking settlement in Newfoundland that proved his theory of the Norse discovery of America, he has no hard proof beyond plausibility to back up this compelling idea.

Some Pre-Inca and Inca Beliefs

To live completely in the present is the Inca ideal. Each day should be taken for what it has to offer, and this way of life can lead, the Incas believe, to an appreciation of the beauty in life. They believe that paradise is possible through simple appreciation of life in the contemplation of the current moment and of nature.

Like many ancient cultures, the Pre-Inca and Inca cultures used a precise solar calendar to track the movement of the sun and thereby determine the optimal times to plant and harvest. Like other ancient architecture, Pre-Inca and Inca architecture sets in stone the acquired knowledge of the sun's movements. Buildings will stand in relation to solstice or equinox, often with sunlight penetrating a special opening or lighting the edifice in a particular way on those special days.

The Pre-Inca and Inca had a pantheon of gods and goddesses, all connected somehow with life or nature. Most important were Pacha Mama and Pacha Tata, earth mother and father. Three other gods gained importance in the lives of these people: snake, puma and condor. The snake represents intellect, knowledge and the past. Of course, the Spanish destroyed most of what they came across, but they left the snake symbolism intact, because they saw it as proof that the Incas were evil devil-worshippers. The puma represents courage and internal strength and the present, and is foremost in importance in Pre-Inca and Inca symbolism. For example, Lake Titicaca means "the meeting place of the pumas." The temple of the sun in Cuzco has a puma-tooth design. Pumas are central to Inca lore also because they signify life completely in the present -- the moral ideal of the culture. The condor represents what people should strive for -- balance, and also represents the future and the possibility of life in another dimension, free, balanced, and soaring the heavens. There are many other deities in the Inca pantheon, but these few illustrate the importance of nature to the whole of their world-view.