Inca Ceremony in the Chaos of the 21st Century
Photo by Kumiko Hayashi
3 minute read
Ceremonies are performed throughout the world; each nationality has its own unique set of rituals for specific occasions. Indigenous cultures continue to maintain their ancestral services today. Why is indigenous ceremony particularly so important in the 21st ceremony?
As our world continues to advance technologically, there has been an acceleration of chaos in society. While we may have developed our logical left brain, perhaps we have forgotten to also evolve the most important organ in the human body, the heart.
Great experts in the field of heart ceremony come from Tahuantinsuyu; the name for the Inca civilization that spread across South America in the present-day countries of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Chile. Conducting regular ceremony has been a part of Inca culture for thousands of years, and is one of the key reasons that their society was able to thrive.
The invasion of the Spanish in the 1500s changed Inca culture drastically; however the leaders were able to take their ceremonies underground and keep them alive. Today the sons and daughters of the great Inca ceremony leaders are awake and conducting the ceremonies that their elders have instructed them to perform in the changing of this cycle; the fifth world on planet earth.
When winter turned to spring, the great Inca ceremony Pawkar Raymi, was being prepared for as I found myself in the high Andes Mountains of Ecuador. Four major ceremonies are still practiced today in the Inca communities that remain in the Andes. These "raymis" or celebrations in the Incan language are in the summer, fall, winter, and spring equinox; in sync with the major solar transitions.
I happened to be in the community of Peguche on the spring equinox for the Pawkar Raymi celebration filming for The Roots Awaken. I arrived at a small traditional adobe house where many young people were cheerfully talking and tuning their instruments. There was a sense of heightened excitement in the air.
Soon after we gathered together and left, marching to the center square as the youth dressed in beautiful robes led the way playing their traditional instruments. Soon hundreds of people joined as we continued to walk down to a small stream near the closest mountain.
There was an Inca man dressed in all white, standing knee depth in front of a small cave where the water was coming from the ground. The musicians continued to play as the entire community gathered by the water. He held a gourd where a fire burned as incense filled the air.
Pawkar Raymi, is the celebration of water and the flourishing of life as the winter cycle turns into spring. A ceremony is held in each local community to initiate the celebration. The medicine leader performs a ritual, giving thanks to the water that allows for the harvest to grow, and the abundance of food that the earth provides to the people.
What is the key factor that allows the medicine person to invoke the power of the natural world and the community? The answer is simple but far greater to embody; the magnitude of the heart. Gratitude is the ceremony, as the leader transmits life force energy through the elements of fire, earth, water, and air to the community.
After the ritual came to a close, there was an abundance of flowers and several community members began to splash water on everyone in the crowd, initiating the new cycle. The people then walked from house to house, cheerfully tossing water upon everyone in the community. This continued into the night, as the people united sharing food and drink together in one another's homes.
Pawkar Raymi, was one of the most powerful ceremonies I witnessed, in the sense that I felt the power and the meaning of true community. The "raymis" brings together the people four times a year strengthening the ties between families and the immediate natural environment.
What can people do to transform the chaos of the 21st century? Strengthening one's local community is a great start. While getting together for movies or dinner parties is great to keep in touch with loved ones; what about inviting the next-door neighbors you've never met? Is there an activity that can be done to give back to the earth, the source of all life? A block party where small scale gardens are planted, as neighbors get to know one another, could be a great example.
The power of indigenous communities lays in the fact that they have been maintaining rituals for thousands of years that keep them in balance and harmony with each other and the natural world. Now is the time to listen to indigenous cultures and respect the ceremonies that they have kept alive through many cycles of chaos.
Written by Kumiko Hayashi - kumiko@therootsawaken.com