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History 476, Spring, 2011
 The
Sun Dialogs with the Inca
 Pre-Columbian
Religions, religions of the
native cultures of Mesoamerica, the Andes,
and adjacent regions before they were
conquered by Europeans in the 16th century.
Most prominent among these cultures were
three major civilizations, the Classic-period
Maya culture of Mesoamerica (300?-900?), the
Aztec Empire (1428-1521) of Mesoamerica,
and the Inca Empire (1440?-1532) of the
Andes. For more information about PreColumbian religions in Native American
history, see Native Americans of North
America: Spirituality and Religious Practices
 Common

Features
The Maya, Aztec, and Inca civilizations developed
independently of each other. Further, the religious
heritage of each was heavily influenced by preceding
cultures. Nevertheless, despite their historical
uniqueness, the Maya, Aztec, and Inca religions had
important features in common.

Nature of the Universe

The Mayas, Aztecs, and Incas all believed that the
universe was composed of the heavens, the earth's
surface, and an underworld. The earth's surface was
divided into four quadrants. As in many other archaic
cultures, each of the three peoples claimed to inhabit
the center of the universe, where the earthly and
supernatural realms came together. Because the
boundaries between the worlds of nature, human
society, and the supernatural were not sharply
defined, pre-Columbian religious leaders were
essentially shamans, people who were believed to be
capable of moving back and forth between the earthly
and supernatural realms. This travel between realms
was often associated with hallucinatory trances.


Gods and Goddesses
Many Maya, Aztec, and Inca deities were derived
from astronomical observations. However, preColumbian civilizations identified their deities
not only with particular planets and stars, but
also with the cyclical movements of the heavens
as a whole. Just as the heavenly bodies move
and replace each other in specific sectors of the
sky, a number of major pre-Columbian deities
had shifting, overlapping identities.
Consequently, individual gods and goddesses are
probably best interpreted not as distinct
personages, but as fluid and shifting components
of complex supernatural powers.

It is possible that in each of the three major preColumbian civilizations the various divine powers
were seen as multiple facets of a single
supernatural force. Many of the deities
incorporated pairs of opposing qualities, such as
male/female, day/night, and life/death. If all
deities were indeed different expressions of a
single divine force, it is likely that the first
differentiation in this all-encompassing godhead
was that between male and female powers. For
example, the Aztecs' highest and most remote
deity was Ometeotl (Lord and Lady of Duality).
This primeval creator of all things was viewed
both as a single being and as a combination of
the god Ometecutli and the goddess Omecihuatl.

Religious Leadership and Rituals

For the Mayas, Aztecs, and Incas, there was no clear
separation of civil and religious life. The king was the
primary spiritual leader and served as the principal
intermediary between humans and the gods. Rulers were
believed to be divine or semidivine beings who traced
their descent from one or more of the gods. The cosmic
order depended on a reciprocal relationship between
humans and the gods, maintained through elaborate
ceremonies. Since humans needed favorable treatment
from the gods in order to survive, rituals solicited, for
example, the help of agricultural deities in order to
secure good harvests. However, gods were less clearly
differentiated from humans than they are in modern
monotheistic religions (see Monotheism), and few, if any,
pre-Columbian deities were all-knowing or all-powerful.
Many gods required human support and could weaken or
die if people did not sustain them by means of sacrifices.
The preferred offerings varied, but the most solemn
rituals required human sacrifice.
 Destination

of Souls
In each of the three major pre-Columbian
civilizations, the primary determinant of a
person's fate after death was his or her position
in life. Rulers, who were divine or semidivine,
enjoyed a more glorious afterlife than their
subjects. Beyond this basic similarity,
conceptions of the afterlife differed among the
three cultures, and only the Incas saw the
afterlife as a happy experience for most people.
 Classic
Maya Religion
 Aztec Religion
 Inca Religion