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The peoples of the Andes are known for their worship of the sun, but in the ancient times they recognized a Creator, unknowable in the sense of pure Hindhuism or Jewish Cabalism. Their way of describing Him was that He was to the Universe as the soul is to our body. The worship of the sun came later, probably as a political tool. Although this Pachacamac (Pacha-Yachachi), as He was called, was never forgotten, He faded in relevance as the new "Children of the Sun" made their march through history.
The Story of the Incas
After the waters receded, Pacha-Yachachi, the Creator of all things, sent his two sons Ymaymana Viracoca and Tocapo Viracoca to reestablish humanity upon the earth.
The Viracoca brothers, being sons of the unknowable creator Pacha-Yachachi, were considered to be immortals, as was their father, and were not born of women.
These two brothers were sent out by their father the Creator to give names to all things and to give instructions to the people.
One myth has it that, after having survived the Flood, the Maras and Tampus tribes left from the
Mountain of Three Windows, called Tampu-tocco, in search of lands to settle. Among this migration
were four couples thought to be brother-sister marriages. They were: Áyar Manco and Mama Occlo
(soon to be stars in a deeper mythology), Áyar Cachi and Mama Cora, Áyar Uchu and Mama Rahua, and
Áyar Auca and Mama Huaco.
They decided to enter the Valley of Cusco in search of fertile lands to settle, their old homelands being destroyed by the deluge. Along the way, however, a spirit of deep envy entered amongst the group such that the others decided to eliminate Áyar Cachi, for their strength and bravery could never match his. They tricked him into returning to the caves to retrieve some sacred vessels left behind, but, as soon as he entered the cave, one of his brothers rolled a huge stone over the entrance, sealing his doom. It was said his angry screams shook the very mountains.
The group continued their journey and stopped at the mountain Huanacaure to worship at the shrine of the same name, but upon touching the stone idol, Áyar Uchu was turned into stone. The remainder of the group continued to the place which would become the Temple of the Sun, where Áyar Auca was turned into a statue. Áyar Manco continued, with his four wives, to what we now call Cusco, where he settled and later founded an empire.
This myth was probably developed after Manco Cápac gained a "political" identity, for it raises him,
along with his sister bride, to a deity. They arose in miraculous birth from the waters of Lake
Titicaca and under the mandate of their father the Sun, set out to find fertile lands and start
an empire. His father gave him a golden rod with which to test the earth, and, wherever he could insert
this golden rod into the earth, he was to make his settlement. Cusco was to become his empirial capital.
This is an obvious attempt to establish the Inca as the living thread of the histories and myths which predominate in the general area. All the peoples recognized Tiahuanaco and the Lake Titicaca area to be the root source of all local culture, and so any myth well-founded in this context gained tremendous power.
There were many periods of bitter fighting amongst these peoples. Mama Occlo often fought alongside her husband and was feared by the enemy for her cruelty and viciousness. One story has her charging the enemy with the entrails of a vanquished foe clenched between her teeth. Being under a divine mandate, Manco Cápac and Mama Occlo were victorious, and their group became dominant in the area.
When the Spanish first arrived in Peru they soon encountered tales of mysterious caves and tunnel systems that stretched for miles beneath the mountains. Pizarro himself tried unsuccessfully to explore one but gave up when he found it too difficult. Due to their conversion to Catholicism, many of the surviving Incan leaders confessed on their death beds to having kept the secrets of the caves’ location, but never revealed their actual locations. Their secrets went with them to the grave indicating that they were at heart still Incan. These stories have been a source of rumor and interest to treasure seekers and believers in lost civilizations ever since.
That the caves exist is beyond doubt. There is one notable example of a cave system that connects Sacsayhuaman with Korikancha. It was sealed by the local authorities when too many people became lost and either never returned or returned not in their right mind. Many died mysteriously soon thereafter. The cave is now being re-opened.
What remains in doubt is how extensive these systems really are. They are historically rumored to be centered in Cusco (which the Incas call the “umbilical of the world”) and to extend the full length and breadth of South America. There are many recorded tales by the Spanish chroniclers of how the Incas hid much of their treasure and religious artifacts in these caves, including important sacred objects like the sacred mummies of the Incas.
Three of these were later found by the Spanish, robbed of all gold and gems in typical Spanish fashion, and then destroyed. The rest remain undiscovered, undoubtedly hidden in some cave.
There are many modern psychics who claim that the caves were constructed during a time of extraterrestrial warfare (probably during the same time as the similar tales of the ancient Hindus), giving refuge from an enemy who controlled the airspace. Some claim that the caves are guarded to this day to prevent modern man from discovering technologies far beyond his ability and wisdom to properly use.
The truth of these tales is as undiscovered and unexplored as the caves themselves.
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