Religion Vs Inca Religion

Elialde author of The Sacred and the Profane introduces a new model of the sacred and the profane. Elialde’s model is meant to be universal, therefore meant to be appropriate for any recognized religion. David Carrasco author of Religions of Mesoamerica and Kay Almere Read and Jason J. González authors of Mesoamerican Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs of Mexico and Central America, discuss their interpretation of the Mesoamerican religion although their views on the Mesoamerican religion differs in some aspects when compared to Eliade’s model of the sacred and the profane there are a few noticeable similarities between both views.

The Aztec and Incan religions were similar and different in many ways. For one, both empires and their religions consisted of polytheistic values. Both empires participated in human sacrifice. Both empires worshipped a sun god or deity. Both empires used religion to unify societies and access authority over citizens.

Long distance trade fell under the supervision of the central government and administrator’s organized exchanges of the agricultural products. The Incas came up with their own writing system called quipu. Quipu consisted of an array of small cords of various and lengths, all suspended from large thick cord, unlike the Aztecs system which was just symbols. The Incan social structure was based upon hereditary aristocrats, consisting of rulers, priests, and peasant cultivators. Like the Aztecs the Incas performed bloodletting rituals, the sacrificial subject was just an animal instead of a human. The Incans considered the sun as a god and as their major deity, called Inti. They also recognized the moon, stars, planets, rain, and other natural forces as divine. Many of the differences between the Aztecs and the Incas benefited the two by becoming successful, striving, powerful regions.

Latin America is a melting pot of races, these diversity helped to shape Latin America societies and influenced culture, politics, economy and religion. Indigenous beliefs, African religions and Catholicism all played a role in Latin America religions.

They believed in good and evil things and saw omens in many things such as rainbows, falling stars, and the hoot of an owl.

The religion of the Aztec, including their beliefs, customs and religions, acted as a tremendous influence on their government, economy, and culture. Religion was the foundation for the infamous culture of the Aztec Civilization. Through ceremonies of sacrifice, and the infusion of cosmology into their religion, the Aztecs sculpted a culture unlike that of any other civilization, and left behind a legacy to be studied and admired for generations to come. Religion ultimately shaped the unique civilization of the Aztecs, through cultivating the general outlook and values of the Aztecs, expanding the empire, and influencing the architecture and layout of their city.

Every religion is different, but also similar. Some adore one god, some adore multiple gods. Some religions are very similar but only differ in the god’s appearance. But have you thought about religions that were forgotten? Maybe religions that only people from the past believed in. Well, this is the case for the native americans. Surprisingly it has a lot of similarities with Christianism. How different or similar do you think the native american’s religion was from Christian religion?

What would happen if more than 2,000 people were brutally killed by one nation every day? The world would be outraged and aghast. What if the killing continued for 150 years? This is what happened in Aztec society about 497 years ago.The Aztecs lived in the valley of Mexico from 1350 to 1519. They first migrated to the shores of Lake Texcoco around 1100 CE. Their religious beliefs led them to practicing brutal human sacrifice, which explains why they were distrusted and disliked by many groups living in that area. Historians should emphasize human sacrifice when talking about Aztecs because it was brutal and on such a large scale. It also showed the power of religion in Aztec society.

The Inca Empire, the massive nation that extended 2,500 miles along the western coast of South America and had a population of over 7 million at its peak. It included all of what is now Ecuador and Peru and most of Chile. Known as “The Children of the Sun”, they excelled at craftsmanship, weaving, and culture (“Children of the Sun”). A very religious people, they worshiped the Sun as their supreme god and held religious festivals monthly to appease these gods. Although they did not value it aside from its beautiful appearance, the Inca Empire was home to millions of pounds of solid gold and silver. The Inca had no use for it except to use it to craft decorations and statues. In fact, an Inca citizen valued cloth more than they valued gold

Incas believed in many Gods such as Viracocha. Viracocha is one of the main Gods in the Inca religion. Viracocha is the creator of everything. He created everything such as the sun, moon, stars and the earth before he created living things such as humans and animals. When Viracocha created human he gave them some rules which they disobeyed. He then became angry with the people and cursed them all. Some were swallowed by the sea while the others were swallowed by the earth. He then brought a flood named Uñu Pachacuti that washed away all the humans.

Religion played a very important role in the Aztec and Inca culture. Religious rituals consisted of human sacrifice and polytheism. Their deities were inspired by nature and the earth’s physical makeup. Both appear to be similar but peel back the onion and notable differences reveal themselves. It is difficult for modern day society to understand how human sacrifice can exist in such advanced civilizations.

The Inca people’s cultural values were basically the need for survival. They did what they could to survive and live and did not put much thought into a better way of accomplishing that. The Incas was more of a predatory mindset and acted like wild animals. They did not know of a different way of life, so to them this was normal behavior and passed that down through the generations. In “The Children of the Sun” the Inca people were shown how to live as human beings with a purpose more than just survival (“The Children of the Sun” 577). The Inca people learned that they could have a purpose and was educated on how to grow food, make clothing, and build houses (“The Children of the Sun” 577). The Inca people evolved and established a new

I would choose to live in an Incan Empire. They were polytheistic. They did not start off as a big group, they were small. Their capital was at Cuzco in Peru. Their empire grew so much that they had to split up into several different ethnic groups. They started to charge taxes because of the mass increase in population. Instead of actually paying money for taxes, they would work it off by dong construction work or military services, for example the Machu Picchu. They had an emperor called Sapa Inca which was considered the "highest" and farmers were considered "lowest" of the social classes. They today take up half of Peru with their religion, also practicing an incan way of Catholicism.

Religion was a major impact for the Incas, as with many other ancient cultures, inextricable from history, politics, or society in general. All sides of community life were connected to religious beliefs, from government to burials, marriages to farming. Any failure or success of any kind in a Incas life was suspected to be due by the influence of the gods. Keeping the gods pleased was exercised, for they evade the wrath of the gods in the form of natural disasters, and was a very important for religious practice.

There are may religions in the world, but through out the different religions there are many crossovers and similarities. Mattie Stepanek said “It doesn't matter how you pray. Just pray. All religions are beautiful and they all have one common belief. There's something bigger and greater than us that can give us and take from us life. It is better than the here and now”. Religion itself means “a belief in and worship of a greater power” (dictionary.com). By people believing in any kind of religion, it means that similarities can start there. With so many religions having similarities, it might be hard to distinguish from certain religions from another. Religions like of African and Native Americans might not at first seem alike, but as you look deeper into their religions and see they have similarities. These similarities are attributed as beliefs, rituals, and history. Their growths and struggles might not have happened at the same time, but both religions are still celebrated today.