The Religion of the Andean

Quechua in Southern Peru

Manuel M. Marzal
 introduction
• Systematic study of the religion of the Andean
Quechua in Southern Peru
• From social sciences, with theological and
pastoral concerns.
• This an anthropological approach…
• “I call Religion the symbolic system comprising,
rites, beliefs, forms of organization and ethical
norms that pertains to a certain society or culture
and by which its members endeavor to
communicate with God and meet with the
transcendent in their life” (p. 68)
• Peruvian Andean Trapezoid (limit of the study
and research)
• This region was the nucleus of the ancient
Tawantinsuyo Inca Empire.
Tawantinsuyo
 2. Patterns of Quechua Religion
• Two vectors or nuclei:
• A) Catholic Origin: Patron Saint
• B) Andean Origin: payment of Pachamama.
 The religious Rites
• Mysterious vision of the sacred, discovering a
“door” leading to the different world of
sacred, through which they try to reach beyon
themselves or avail themselves of the divine
forces in order to satisfy their own needs.
• Celebration of the Patron Saint: the day of the
fiesta in honour of the patron saint, especially
the “farewell”.
• The saints in this context: visible
representations of the intermediaries of the
invisible God (Saints, the Virgen Mary and
Jesus).
• The patron saint heeds the petitions of the
devouts and supplies their needs.
• The saint cannot fulfil the function “model”,
nevertheless the saint is transformed in a
myth…
• Many of the saints are connected with
mysterious visions: real appearance of the
Virgen Mary, of the Lord or some saints.
• Other times the statue becomes heavely
weighed down…
 B) The payment to Pachamama
• Despite the “stamping out of the idolatries” or
the the so called “extirpation” of the idols.
• “Pago a la tierra” (sacrificial offering)
• For them the Earth is a sacred reality known
as Pachamama.
• She is rearing us, nourishing and protecting us
• There is another kind of knowledge: the
mythical one. The mythical knowledge of the
earth.
 The elements of Quechua Origin
• How was the pre-Hispanic Quechua religion?
• The access that we have is through the
writings or accounts of chroniclers, who wrote
from the perspective of their Spanish and
theological categories.
• We need hermeneutics, avoiding
anachronism.
• The cult of Pachamama and the Apus
• These cults have survived… because thet respond
to the sacral vision in the Andean culture and
because the missionaries did not offer a real
alternative to support the agricultural activity and
husbandry of the Quechua in a ritual manner
(p.100)
• Aboriginal healing rituals still exist because
Spanish medicine is not always considered a
better alternative to the indigenous medicine
(idem).
 Oral tradition: myths, accounts
• Survives with transformations…
• Read p.101 example.
• Christian baptism accepted but reinterpreted
• In its meaning and in its organization…
• Catholic marriage Casarakuy, indigenous
servinakuy and warmipalabrakuy
• Catholic marrige is Indissoluble…
 4. Transformation of Quechua
Christianity in the City
• How it changes in the City, urban
environment?
• Despite the secularization process, Quechuas
find many religious opportunities: Shrines ,
abundant religious offerings...