Intiraymi, Compliant Sheep, Irate Hogs and Scandalized Dogs

Four, not-so-little sheep

In you go!

Pitumarca Plaza

Pitumarca Members

Back in Cusco

Intiraymi

Chicha Offering at Intiraymi

Saint Returning Processions etc.

Watia oven mock up

Campesinos eating watia

No idea... Man with a skirt and balloons on his head

Campesinos demonstrating their  lifestyle

 

City workers

 

Friendly dog

On our way to the parade

Llama show

We made our visit to Pitumarca on Sunday with disarming smoothness and ease. What a nice surprise! We arrived a little early in Pitumarca so we enjoyed a piece of bread and some juice in the plaza.

When we walked into the plaza we witnessed a family attempting to load four full-sized sheep into a van, behind the back seat. No Las Vegas casino would give you odds that this could be done. Still this is Peru so we watched and took photos of the whole procedure and sure enough, they got them all in there. They got no more resistance or protest than the precarious perch of the sheep trying to stay put produced!

Not ten minutes later, we sat, calmly eating out breakfast. The sound of shrieking devils being eviscerated shattered the silence. Well, it sounded like it anyway. Julie thought it had to be someone trying to start an engine that had no oil. Rich responded, “Nope, that’s a pig.” Years of assisting his uncle in un-anaesthetized swine surgery tunes you to things like that… We imagined every possible sort of porcine abuse until Julie got up to see what they were doing. A man and a woman had loaded an aggrieved porker into a blanket that they held between them and they were in the process of lugging it across the plaza, still highly offended and screeching!

Shortly after that we ambled off to our meetings. They went well and when we  left we got out at Checacupe, stood at the side of the road for about 5 minutes and a big travel bus stopped. It had plenty of seats and we avoided having to go an extra two hours out of our way that our last two trips required. It was a great Sabbath day.

There are a couple of dogs that live on our street who fiercely protect their turf from each other. They are really funny to watch. They never bother anyone walking by, but the black one who lives farther up the street starts barking furiously when he sees the yellow lab come out on the sidewalk. And the yellow pooch barks just as furiously at the black dog. They will act like they are going to meet in the middle, all Jets and Sharks-like. Then, they both run back to their respective “hoods” where they continue to bark until they decide it’s time for a nap. The antics keep up like this all day long.

On Tuesday we invited President and Sister Harbertson, (our mission president and his wife) to go to the Inti Raymi (Festival of the Sun) celebration.  Before the colonial Spanish banned the ceremonial events occurring each Winter Solstice in Cusco, the native residents gathered to honor the Sun God, sacrifice an animal to ensure good crops and to pay homage to the Inca, as the first born Son of the Sun.

The ceremonies took place at the winter solstice, when the sun is farthest from the earth. Fearing the lack of sun and ensuing famine, the ancient Inca gathered in Cusco to honor the Sun God and plead for his return. The celebrants fasted for days before the event, refrained from physical pleasures and presented gifts to the Inca, who in return put on a lavish banquet of meat, corn bread, chicha and coca tea as they prepared to sacrifice llamas to ensure good crops and fertile fields.

In 1572, Viceroy Toledo banned Inti Raymi celebrations as pagan and contrary to the Catholic faith. Following the edict, the ceremonies went underground.

Today, it's the second largest festival in South America. Hundreds of thousands of people converge on Cusco from other parts of the nation, South America and the world for a weeklong celebration marking the beginning of a new year.

During the preceding year, in preparation for Inti Raymi, hundreds of actors are chosen to represent historical figures. Being selected to portray the Sapa Inca or his wife, the Qoya, is a great honor.

The centerpiece of the festival is the all-day celebrations, in Quechua, on June 24, the actual day of Inti Raymi. On this day, the ceremonial events begin with an invocation by the Sapa Inca in Qorikancha, in front of the Santo Domingo church, built over the ancient Temple of the Sun. Here, the Sapa Inca calls on the blessings from the sun. Following the oration, Sapa Inca is carried on a golden throne, a replica of the original which weighed about 60 kilos (130pounds, give or take), in a procession to the Plaza de Armas. Everyone makes their way to the plaza in a moving mass of humanity.  Here the Coca Rite is performed where the leaves are read to know the mood of the Sun God. Sapa Inca then invites the crowd to go to the ancient fortress of Saqsaywaman, in the hills above Cusco. With the Sapa Inca come the high priests, garbed in ceremonial robes, then officials of the court, nobles and others, all elaborately costumed according to their rank, with silver and gold ornaments.

There is exuberant music, dancing and singing as the procession walks along flower-bedecked streets. Men sweep the streets to clear them of evil spirits. At Saqsaywaman , there are huge crowds awaiting the arrival of the procession, Sapa Inca climbs to the sacred altar where all can see him.

Once all the celebrants are in place in the grand square of the fortress, there are speeches by Sapa Inca, the priests and representatives of the Suyos: the Snake for the world below, the Puma for life on earth, and the Condor for the upper world of the gods.

A priest sacrifices black llama (now in a very realistic stage act) and the high priest holds aloft the bloody heart in honor of Pachamama (Mother Earth.) This is done to ensure the fertility of the earth which in combination with light and warmth from the sun provides a bountiful crop. The priests read the blood stains to see the future for the Inca.

As the sun begins to set, stacks of straw are set on fire and the celebrants dance around them to honor Tawantinsuyo or the Empire of the Four Wind Directions. In ancient times, no fire was allowed that day until the evening fires. Mercifully, they fired these up a couple of hours early for the festival. 

The ceremony of Inti Raymi ends with a procession back to Cusco. Sapa Inca and Mama Occla are carried on their thrones, the high priests and representatives of the Suyos pronounce blessings on the people. Once again, a new year has begun.

A long day, but such a feast for the eyes and ears; what a great adventure!

Friday morning, while on our walk, we happened right into the middle of the procession taking the saint Santiago from the main cathedral back to his church. It was a study in complete and utter chaos with morning traffic trying to get around the bands, dancers and the men carrying the huge saint on their shoulders. It completely amazed us that as far as we could see no one was hit by a car or bus. Though, horns blared and certainly many epithets got muttered, the whole thing came off.

A new Senior Couple arrived Thursday. The Rhoades, from Salt Lake City will be working with the Perpetual Education Fund here in Cusco. Members of the church donate to this fund that is used as a loan fund to help young people get an education or learn a skill to improve their circumstances. The perpetual nature of this is that of course the fund is to be repaid when the young people get work in the field they have studied and then they, as active and productive members can contribute more later on. The church patterned this program after the perpetual immigration fund from the 1800s that helped thousands of saints to immigrate to Utah in the early days of the church there, part of the pioneer story… Anyway, we have been helping the Rhoades get adjusted and answering lots of questions.

We have commented many times that every day there seems to be something interesting or new to see. And, during all this fiesta time and the magic of living here, we are getting our images taken and just received our second terabyte disk to hand over to the archives. They were thrilled to receive the last one and we cannot believe that we have filled another. We love our mission!