Blue Eyed God Viracocha

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

"SEA FOAM"

By the time the Spanish conquistadors arrived, the Inca empire stretched along the Pacific coast and the highlands of the Cordillera from the present northern border of Ecuador throughout Peru and reached the Maule River in central Chile in the south. The distant corners of this empire were connected by an extended and ramified network of roads, such as two parallel north-south highways, one of which stretched for 3,600 kilometers along the coast, and the other, of the same length, across the Andes. Both of these great highways were paved and connected by a large number of cross roads. A curious feature of their engineering equipment were suspension bridges and tunnels cut into the rocks. They were clearly the product of a developed, disciplined and ambitious society. Ironically, these roads played an important role in the fall of the empire, as the Spanish troops, led by Francisco Pizarro, successfully used them for a merciless attack deep into the lands of the Incas.

The capital of the empire was the city of Cuzco, whose name in the local Quechua language means "the navel of the earth." According to legend, it was founded by Manko-Kapak and Mama-Oklo, two children of the Sun. Moreover, although the Incas worshiped the sun god Inga, the most revered deity was Viracocha, whose namesake were considered the authors of the Nazca drawings, and his name itself means "sea foam".

It is no doubt a mere coincidence that the Greek goddess Aphrodite, born from the sea, was named after sea foam ("afros"). Moreover, the inhabitants of the Cordillera have always uncompromisingly considered Viracocha a man, this is known for sure. No historian, however, is able to say how ancient the cult of this deity was when the Spaniards put an end to it. It seems that he has always existed; in any case, long before the Incas included him in their pantheon and built a magnificent temple dedicated to him in Cuzco, there was evidence that the great god Viracocha was worshiped by all civilizations in the long history of Peru.

BEARDED STRANGER

At the beginning of the 16th century, before the Spaniards took seriously the destruction of Peruvian culture, the image of Viracocha stood in the holiest temple of Coricancha. According to the text of the time, "Anonymous Description of the Ancient Customs of the Natives of Peru", the marble statue of the deity "with hair, physique, facial features, clothing and sandals most closely resembled the Holy Apostle Bartholomew - in the way that artists traditionally portray him." According to other descriptions, Viracocha outwardly resembled Saint Thomas. I studied a number of illustrated Christian church manuscripts in which these saints were featured; both were described as skinny, fair-skinned, bearded, elderly, wearing sandals and wearing long, flowing cloaks. It can be seen that all this exactly corresponds to the description of Viracocha, adopted by those who worshiped him. Consequently, he could have been anyone but an American Indian, since they have relatively dark skin and sparse facial hair. Viracocha's bushy beard and fair skin are more suggestive of his non-American origin.

Then, in the 16th century, the Incas also had the same opinion. They so clearly imagined his physical appearance, according to legendary descriptions and religious beliefs, that at first they took light-skinned and bearded Spaniards for Viracocha and its demigods who had returned to their shores, especially since the prophets predicted such a coming and, according to all legends, promised Viracocha himself. This happy coincidence guaranteed Pizarro's conquistadors a decisive strategic and psychological advantage in battles against a numerically superior Inca army.

Who was the type of Viracocha?

THE ONE WHO COME DURING CHAOS

Through all the ancient legends of the peoples of the Andean region, a tall mysterious figure of a fair-skinned man with a beard passes, wrapped in a cloak. And although in different places he was known under different names, everywhere you can recognize one person in him - Viracocha, Sea Foam, a connoisseur of science and a sorcerer, the owner of a terrible weapon who appeared in times of chaos to restore order in the world.

The same story exists in many variations among all the peoples of the Andean region. It begins with a graphic, terrifying description of the time when the great flood hit the Earth and the great darkness caused by the disappearance of the Sun. Society fell into chaos, people suffered. And it was then that “suddenly appeared, coming from the South, a white man of tall stature and imperious behavior. He possessed such great power that he turned the hills into valleys, and the valleys into high hills, made streams flow from the rocks …"

The Spanish chronicler who recorded this legend explains that he heard it from the Indians with whom he traveled in the Andes:

“They heard it from their fathers, who, in turn, learned about it from songs that came from ancient times … They say that this man followed the mountains to the North, performing miracles along the way, and that they never saw him again … It is said that in many places he taught people how to live, while talking to them with great love and kindness, encouraging them to be good and not harm or harm each other, but to love each other and show mercy to all. In most places he was called Tiki Viracocha …"

He was also called by other names: Huarakocha, Kon, Kon Tiki, Tunupa, Taapak, Tupaca, Illa. He was a scientist, consummate architect, sculptor and engineer. “On the steep slopes of the gorges, he made terraces and fields, and the walls supporting them. He also created irrigation canals … and walked in different directions, doing many different things."

Viracocha was also a teacher and physician and did many useful things for those in need. They say that "wherever he went, he healed the sick and restored sight to the blind."

However, this kind enlightener, the Samaritan superman, had another side. If his life was threatened, which is said to have happened on several occasions, he was armed with heavenly fire:

“Working great miracles with his word, he came to the Kanas region, and there, near a village called Kacha … people rebelled against him and threatened to throw stones at him. They saw how he knelt down and raised his hands to the sky, as if calling for help in the trouble that befell him. According to the Indians, they then saw fire in the sky, which seemed to be everywhere around. Filled with fear, they approached the one whom they wanted to kill, and begged to forgive them … And then they saw that the fire was extinguished by his order; at the same time the fire scorched the stones so that large pieces could easily be lifted by hand - as if they were from cork. And then, they said, he left the place where it all happened, went ashore and, holding his mantle, headed straight into the waves. He was never seen again. And people called him Viracocha, which means Sea Foam."

Legends are unanimous in describing the appearance of Viracocha. In his Corpus of Legends of the Incas, the Spanish chronicler of the 16th century Juan de Betanzos states, for example, that, according to the Indians, "Viracocha was a tall bearded man, dressed in a long white shirt to the floor, belted at the waist."

Other descriptions, collected from the most diverse and distant inhabitants of the Andes, seem to refer to the same enigmatic person. So, according to one of them, he was:

“A bearded man of average height, dressed in a rather long cloak … He was not the first youth, with gray hair, thin. He walked with his retinue, addressed the natives with love, calling them his sons and daughters. Traveling around the country, he worked miracles. He healed the sick by touching. He spoke any language even better than the locals. They called him Tunupa or Tarpaka, Viracocha-rapaca or Pachakan …"

According to one legend, Tunupa-Viracocha was "a tall white man, whose appearance and personality evoked great respect and admiration." According to the other, he was a white man of a majestic appearance, blue-eyed, bearded, with an uncovered head, dressed in a "kusma" - a jacket or shirt without sleeves, reaching to his knees. According to the third, apparently related to a later period of his life, he was respected "as a wise adviser on matters of state importance", at that time he was a bearded old man with long hair, dressed in a long tunic."

CIVILIZATION MISSION

But most of all, Viracocha is remembered in legends as a teacher. Before his arrival, the legends say, "people lived in complete disarray, many walked naked like savages, they had no houses or other dwellings except caves, from where they walked around the neighborhood in search of something edible."

Viracocha is said to have changed all of this and ushered in a golden age that subsequent generations would remember with nostalgia. Moreover, all legends agree that he carried out his civilizing work with great kindness and, whenever possible, avoided the use of force: benevolent teachings and a personal example are the main methods that he used to equip people with technology and knowledge necessary for cultural and productive life. He was especially credited with introducing medicine, metallurgy, agriculture, animal husbandry, writing (later, according to the Incas, forgotten) and understanding of the complex foundations of technology and construction in Peru.

I was immediately impressed by the high quality of the Inca masonry in Cusco. However, as I continued my research in this old city, I was surprised to realize that the so-called Inca masonry was not always done by them. They were indeed masters of stone processing, and many of Cusco's monuments were undoubtedly their handiwork. However, it seems that some of the remarkable buildings attributed by tradition to the Incas may have been erected by earlier civilizations, there is reason to believe that the Incas often acted as restorers rather than first builders.

The same can be said of the highly developed system of roads connecting distant parts of the Inca empire. The reader will remember that these roads looked like parallel highways running from north to south, one parallel to the coast, the other across the Andes. By the time of the Spanish conquest, over 15,000 miles of paved roads were in regular and efficient use. At first I thought that they were all the work of the Incas, but then I came to the conclusion that, most likely, the Incas inherited this system. Their role was reduced to the restoration, maintenance and consolidation of pre-existing roads. By the way, although this is not often acknowledged, no specialist has been able to reliably date the age of these amazing roads and determine who built them.

The mystery is compounded by local lore claiming that not only the roads and sophisticated architecture were already ancient during the Inca era, but that they were the fruit of the labors of white, red-haired people who lived thousands of years before.

According to one of the legends, Viracochu was accompanied by messengers of two families, loyal warriors ("uaminca") and "shining" ("ayuapanti"). Their task was to convey God's message "to every part of the world."

Other sources said: "Kon-Tiki returned … with companions"; “Then Kon-Tiki gathered his followers, who were called viracocha”; “Kon-Tiki ordered all the viracochas, except two, to go east …”, “And then a god named Kon-Tiki Viracocha came out of the lake, who was leading a number of people …”, “And these viracochas went to different regions, which Viracocha pointed out to them …"

DESTRUCTION OF THE GIANTS

I would like to take a closer look at some of the curious relationships that, as it seemed to me, were visible between the sudden appearance of Viracocha and the flood in the legends of the Incas and other peoples of the Andean region.

Here is an excerpt from Father José de Acosta's "Natural and Moral History of the Indians", in which the learned priest narrates "that the Indians themselves talk about their origins":

“They mention a lot of the flood that happened in their country … The Indians say that all people were drowned in this flood. But a certain Viracocha came out of Lake Titicaca, who first settled in Tiahuanaco, where to this day you can see the ruins of ancient and very strange buildings, and from there he moved to Cuzco, from which the multiplication of the human race began …"

Having mentally instructed myself to find something about Lake Titicaca and the mysterious Tiahuanaco, I read the following paragraph with a summary of the legend that once existed in these places:

“For some sin, people who lived in ancient times were destroyed by the Creator … in a flood. After the flood, the Creator appeared in human form from Lake Titicaca. Then he created the sun, moon and stars. After that, he revived humanity on earth …"

In another myth:

“The great creator god Viracocha decided to create a world where man could live. First, he created the earth and the sky. Then he took up the people, for which he cut out the giants from the stone, which he then revived. At first everything went well, but after a while the giants fought and refused to work. Viracocha decided that he must destroy them. Some he again turned to stone … the rest he drowned in a great flood."

Of course, very similar motives sound in other sources that are completely unrelated to those listed, for example, in the Old Testament. So, in the sixth chapter of the Bible (Genesis) it is described how the Jewish God, dissatisfied with his creation, decided to destroy it. Incidentally, I have long been intrigued by one of the few phrases describing the forgotten era that preceded the flood. It says that "in those days giants lived on the earth …" Could there be any connection between the giants buried in the biblical sands of the Middle East and the giants woven into the fabric of the legends of the Indians of pre-Columbian America? The mystery is compounded by the coincidence of a number of details in the Biblical and Peruvian descriptions of how an angry God unleashed a catastrophic deluge on an evil and rebellious world.

On the next sheet in the stack of documents I have collected, there is the following description of the flood of the Incas as described by Father Malina in his "Description of the Legends and Images of the Incas":

“They inherited detailed information about the flood from Manco-Capac, who was the first of the Incas, after which they began to call themselves children of the Sun and from whom they learned to pagan worship of the Sun. They said that in this flood all races of people and their creations perished, for the waters rose above the highest mountain peaks. None of the living creatures survived, except for a man and a woman who floated in the box. When the waters receded, the wind carried the box … to Tiahuanaco, where the creator began to settle people of different nationalities of this region …"

Garcilaso de la Vega, the son of a Spanish aristocrat and a woman from the family of the Inca ruler, was already familiar to me from his History of the Inca State. He was considered one of the most reliable chroniclers and keeper of the traditions of the people to which his mother belonged. He worked in the 16th century, shortly after the conquest, when these traditions were not yet obscured by alien influences. He also quotes what was believed deeply and with conviction: "After the flood receded, a man appeared in the land of Tiahuanaco …"

This man was Viracocha. Wrapped in a cloak, strong and noble in appearance, he marched with unapproachable self-confidence through the most dangerous places. He worked miracles of healing and could call fire from heaven. It seemed to the Indians that he materialized out of nowhere.

ANCIENT LITES

The legends that I studied were intricately intertwined, somewhere they complemented each other, somewhere they contradicted, but one thing was obvious: all the scientists agreed that the Incas borrowed,absorbed and carried on the traditions of many and various civilized peoples, to which they extended their imperial power within the framework of centuries of expansion. In this sense, regardless of the outcome of the historical dispute regarding the antiquity of the Incas proper, no one can seriously doubt that they became the guardians of the system of ancient beliefs of all the previous great cultures of this country, known and forgotten.

Who can say for sure which civilizations existed in Peru in now unexplored areas? Every year archaeologists return with new finds, expanding the horizons of our knowledge in the depths of time. So why, one fine day, they do not find evidence of the Penetration into the Andes in the distant antiquity of a certain race of civilizers who arrived from overseas and, having completed their work, left? This is what the legends whispered to me that perpetuated the memory of the god-man Viracocha, who walked the paths of the Andes open to the winds, performing miracles along the way:

“Viracocha himself and his two assistants headed north … He walked through the mountains, one assistant along the coast, and the other along the edge of the eastern forests … The Creator proceeded to Urcos, which is near Cuzco, where he ordered the future population to emerge from the mountain. He visited Cusco and then headed north. There, in the coastal province of Manta, he parted with the people and went on the waves into the ocean."

Always at the end of folk legends about a wonderful stranger, whose name means "Sea Foam", there is a moment of parting:

“Viracocha went his own way, calling the people of all nations … When he came to Puerto Viejo, he was joined by his followers, whom he had previously sent out. And then they walked together on the sea as easily as they walk on land."

And this is always a sad farewell … with a slight hint of either science or magic.

THE PRESENT KING AND THE COMING KING

While traveling in the Andes, I reread several times a curious version of a typical legend about Viracocha. In this variant, born in the area around Titicaki, the divine hero-civilizer appears under the name Thunupa:

“Tunupa appeared on the Altiplano in ancient times, coming from the north with five followers. A white man of noble appearance, blue-eyed, bearded, he adhered to strict morals and in his sermons opposed drunkenness, polygamy and belligerence."

Having traveled long distances across the Andes, where he created a peaceful kingdom and introduced people to various manifestations of civilization, Tunupa was struck and seriously wounded by a group of envious conspirators:

“They put his blessed body in a boat made of totora reeds and lowered it into Lake Titicaca. And suddenly … the boat rushed with such speed that those who so cruelly tried to kill him were dumbfounded in fear and amazement - for there is no current in this lake … The boat sailed to the shore in Cochamarca, where now the Desguardero River. According to Indian legend, the boat crashed into the shore with such force that the Desguardero River, which had never existed before, arose. And the stream of water carried away the holy body for many leagues to the seashore, to Arica …"

BOATS, WATER AND RESCUE

There is a curious parallel here with the myth of Osiris, the ancient Egyptian supreme god of death and resurrection. This myth is most fully expounded by Plutarch, who says that this mysterious person brought the gifts of civilization to his people, taught him many useful crafts, put an end to cannibalism and human sacrifice, and gave people the first set of laws. He never forced the oncoming barbarians to force his laws, preferring discussion and appealing to their common sense. It is also reported that he passed on his teachings to the flock by singing hymns with musical accompaniment.

However, during his absence, a conspiracy of seventy-two courtiers, led by his brother-in-law named Seth, arose against him. On his return, the conspirators invited him to a feast, where a magnificent ark of wood and gold was offered as a gift to any of the guests who fit it. Osiris did not know that the ark was prepared exactly according to the size of his body. As a result, he did not fit any of the assembled guests. When it was Osiris's turn, it turned out that he fit there quite comfortably. No sooner had he got out than the conspirators ran up, hammered the lid with nails and even sealed the cracks with lead so that air would not get inside. Then the ark was thrown into the Nile. They thought that he would drown, but instead he quickly swam away and swam to the seashore.

Then the goddess Isis, the wife of Osiris, intervened. Using all her magic, she found the ark and hid it in a secret place. However, her evil brother Seth combed the swamps, found the ark, opened it, in a fierce rage cut the king's body into fourteen pieces and scattered them all over the earth.

Again, Isis had to take up the salvation of her husband. She built a boat out of resin-coated papyrus stalks and set out on the Nile in search of his remains. Finding them, she prepared a potent remedy, from which the pieces grew together. Having become safe and sound and having gone through the process of stellar rebirth, Osiris became the god of the dead and the king of the underworld, from where, according to legend, he subsequently returned to earth under the guise of a mortal.

Despite significant discrepancies between the respective legends, the Egyptian Osiris and the South American Tunupa-Viracocha have, oddly enough, the following common features:

- both were great educators;

- a conspiracy was organized against both;

- both were slain by the conspirators;

- both were hidden in some container or vessel;

- both were thrown into the water;

- both swam down the river;

- both eventually reached the sea.

Should such parallels be considered a coincidence? Or maybe there is a connection between them?

_

You can find out in detail who Viracocha and his associates were and why they came to the Indians in the book of the scientist-Rus Nikolai Viktorovich Levashov "Russia in crooked mirrors, Volume 2. Rus crucified".

Vyacheslav Kalachev