PACHAMAMA: (MOTHER EARTH) 0R MAMA PACHA
She is
a totemic Goddess represented by planet Earth, to which Indigenous gave
presents. These offerings were in farming and breeding ceremonies, some are
still going on in the Andean world. It’s South America and central Andes
beliefs nucleus.
She is a protector Goddess and a giver. She gives shelter to human beings, makes life possible and allows fecundation and fertility. For these gifts, the priest of Meridional Puna needs to offer to Pacha for what he gets, and not only in determined places and time, but in every cultural event, so it can be mutual.
THE DEVOTION
As
a tradition from Quechuans, Aymarans and other peruvian indian groups from the
Andean region, people offer presents such as llamas (to bleed them), coca
leaves, sea shells (mullu) and the llama’s fetus to fertilize the earth. This
kind of offerings is called “Corpachada”.
The
chase Spanish newcomers did to native beliefs with the Discovery of America,
(called the prosecution of Idolism). And Goddess Pachamama, sometimes became
Virgin Mary because of religious Syncretism (this is the combining of different
beliefs, in the theology and mythology of religions).
Nowadays, Quechuans, Aymarans and other
peruvian indian groups from the Andean region, keep the tradition and rituals
with Pachamama. It has spread to Bolivia, Ecuador, and Northern Chile and
Norther Argentina.
Pre-Columbian beliefs are still alive in many
places. Ancestral rituals connect the human being with nature. Earth becomes
important. Pachamama lives Hanaq Pacha (Quechua, meaning "world
above"), Ukhu Pacha ("world below"), and Kay Pacha ("this
world"). The fruits are given to men so they can be fed. This ritual is
mutual, and is made of oblations, thankfulness, and payment to Earth. This
celebration is in August. People have offering rituals thanking the earth and
asking for blessings. Before this, they pay Pachamama in material things like
coca leaves, crafted plantain leaves, chichi (a liquor made of corn), grape
wine, cherry and tokens of jungle seeds called “Huayruros”. There is also rice,
llama wool, starfish, sweet cookies, and many others. Payments are according to
the place, the territory and even the green floors matter.
PACHAMAMA: THE RITUAL
The
central ritual to Pachamama is the Challa or Pago (Payment). It is carried out
during all of August, and in many places also on the first Friday of each
month. Other ceremonies are carried out in special times, as upon leaving for a
trip or upon passing an apacheta. According to Mario Rabey and Rodolfo Merlino,
Argentine anthropologists who studied the Andean culture from the 1970s to the
1990s, "The most important ritual is the challaco. Challaco
is a deformation of the Quechua words “ch'allay” and “ch'allakuy”, that refer
to the action to insistently sprinkle. In the current language of the peasants
of the southern Central Andes, the word challar is used in the sense of
"to feed and to give drink to the land'.
The challaco covers a complex series of ritual
steps that begin in the family dwellings the night before. They cook a special
food, the tijtincha (different kinds of corn). The ceremony culminates at a pond or stream, where the
people offer a series of tributes to Pachamama, including "food, beverage,
leaves of coca and cigars.
A bowl of dirt on the right of the stone is
there to represent Pachamama, because of her status as a Mother Earth. Many
rituals related to the Pachamama are practiced in conjunction with those of
Christianity, to the point that many families are simultaneously Christian and Pachamamistas.
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| WRITTEN BY ADRIANA MARTINEZ CASTRO |
