Inti with seven rays

Inti with seven rays
rising on a boulder wet
with Illapu's rain

After our bus gets stuck in the mud in a cow pasture, we hike the rest of the way to the site of the Temple of the Moon on a hillside in a remote area of the Cusco region. The temple is marked by low stone walls with a lovely waterfall at the far end. After we pay our respects to the faqcha, we climb up to a group of volcanic rocks overlooking the falls. Amaru shows us a beautiful seven-rayed sun carved into one of the andesite boulders. He tells us it represents Inti, the Inka sun god, who is married to Mama Kilya, the moon goddess. We sit to meditate and it begins to rain, an auspicious sign. Illapu, the god of rain, is blessing us with his purifying waters.

yachac Amaru

yachac Amaru

sends healing light from Killa, 

Inka moon goddess

After performing a group ceremony at the Temple of the Moon, Amaru gives a healing to one of our members. Amaru is a traditional Inka yachac, or medicine man. In Inka mythology, Killa, the moon goddess, is the sister of Inti, the sun god. This beautiful open-air temple contains elements of both of these deities in the form of a fajcha, waterfall, associated with the feminine moon, and a carving of the sun on one of the large boulders.

seven stone niches

seven stone niches

in a wall without mortar

slowly falling apart

Trapezoid niches are a significant aspect of Inka culture. Our brujo guide Amaru tells us they were used for storage, although these seem too high for that purpose. The number seven, he says, represents the seven rays of Inti, the Sun. The stones of this wall once fitted together almost seamlessly and stood intact for over five centuries, but time and some shift in the earth is slowly pulling them apart.

Pachatata sunrise

Pachatata sunrise –

a yachac offers Inti

red and yellow flowers

On the twin peaks of Amantani Isla in Titicaca Cocha, there are two temples, one to Pachamama, Earth Mother, and one to Pachatata, Earth Father. We begin our climb to Pachatata temple at 4:30 am in order to arrive before dawn. At the ancient stone temple, our Inka medicine men prepare for the sunrise ceremony. They have brought their flutes, yachac headdresses, and bags of coca leaves and kutata blossoms. They gather petals from a yellow wildflower growing on the hillside, thanking each flower for its offering. With the flowers they create a beautiful pattern on the ground in front of the temple gate, forming a double circle with the yellow petals to represent Inti, the Sun god, and a double heart with the tubular red blossoms for Pachamama, Inti's wife. As the rays of the sun stream out between the sapphire lake and the blue-gray clouds, Amaru leads us in a ceremony to greet the life-giving light.