Pachamama
The goddess Pachamama ( pronunciation : [ patʃaˈmama ]) or Mama Pacha ( Quechua and Aymara : "Mother Earth, Mother World, Mother Cosmos") is considered by some indigenous peoples of the Andes of South America as the personified Earth Mother , who gives, nourishes, protects life in many ways and is capable of ritual communication . Pachamama is the mediator between the upper and lower world . The Quechua and Aymara worship the Pachamama as the almighty goddess who gives life to all creatures and nourishes them. Pachamama is seen today as a factor for identity , socio-political resistance and a hope for a fuller life. In 2008, Pachamama was added to the current constitution of Ecuador as a basic principle alongside Sumak kawsay (“good, harmonious life”) .
A distinction must be made between Pacha as a rather genderless principle for the universal cosmic structure, as it was understood by the indigenous people, and the female god personification, as it was in numerous forms in the course of the Spanish colonization through the connection of the principle with Christian devotion to Mary of the Pachamama cult .
origin
The word pacha is found in both Quechua and Aymara , where it has the same meaning. In both languages, the term pacha has always included both time and space, i.e. the totality of being, the totality . But pacha can be broken down into three levels of being: on the spatial level, the two opposing dimensions are called hanaqpacha / hananpacha (Quechua) or alaxpacha (Aymara), the upper world (heaven in the Christian conception) and ukhupacha (Quechua) or manqhapacha ( Aymara), the underworld (hell in the Christian imagination). In Andean cosmology there is no concept of absolutely good or absolutely bad. Everything has everything in it. The entire life of the Andean people is geared towards creating a constant balance (middle: chawpi or taypi ) between the opposites. Work, prayers, feasts and rites aim to restore this balance. Just as nature consists of complementary opposites, every human being and also all gods consist of these diametrical properties. If something, a thing, a person or one of the beings possesses one property, it is also shaped by the opposite. Without the opposite, there is no unity. Only the whole is good - the balance - and stability is only guaranteed through the balance. The third dimension, which inevitably has to be present because these two levels can never meet because they are diametrically opposed, is called in Quechua kaypacha , in Aymara akapacha : this world / center.
On the temporal level, on Quechua ñawpa pacha , on Aymara nayra pacha the past, on Quechua kunan pacha or kanan pacha , on Aymara jichha pacha the present and on Quechua qhipa pacha or hamuq pacha , on Aymara qhipa pacha or jutiri the comma .
Mama is the Quechua word for mother , while the Aymara name is tayka . In today's Aymara, the Quechua word mama is sometimes used for mother. Thus, Pachamama also means mother of space and time, of the world and of the universe in both languages.
Through substitution processes since the arrival of the Spaniards and the associated Christianization , the old indigenous images of gods were exchanged for Christian saints and also the Virgin Mary. Mary was used by the missionaries of the Catholic Church to replace the cult of the Great Mother in the " pagan " world. This was intended to establish a connection with the old religion in order to be able to plausibly refute it. The prerequisite for successful missionary work was the formal and contentual correspondence between the old and the new; it could not convince without a strong female symbol . The exchange of gods was less of a problem for the inhabitants than the prohibition to continue practicing their rites, because through previous conquests they were used to adding new gods to their pantheon .
Appearance / appearance
There are no images that represent Pachamama. The figurines that are offered for sale in the markets are more recent and made exclusively for tourists. The locals themselves do not need or use an image. There is also no archaeological evidence. Since Pachamama can be felt in any place and at any moment, there is also no specific date to honor it. In Bolivia, Tuesday and Friday around Carnival are considered special days for Pachamama, and the time between harvest and sowing in early August is also something special for Pachamama, because the earth is particularly vulnerable then. But these are dates that depend on other factors and therefore cannot be reduced to a specific date. The relationship with Pachamama is possible at any level, for it is life itself. Through the influence of the western world one imagines today Pachamama as small, hutzelige old woman before, with dresses made of finely woven Vicuña -wool. Some people believe that she carries spindle and wool with her and is accompanied by a black dog and a snake or by a husband, the pacha tata or pacha apu , and lives in the earth. Despite her age, she is still young and can still bear fruit. In the days of the conquistadors , however, there was no clear idea of her.
Pachamama is not explicitly female either. This also seems logical when you consider that Pachamama acts as a balancing force between the upper world (male) and the underworld (female) and thus combines both characteristics and thus resides in the area of the taypi / chawpi (in Mircea Eliade : axis mundi ) , she (it) is thus the balancing center.
For the Andean people, both things and events have a mother, and that mother is Pachamama. Pachamama is the origin of the new and is perceived as a maternal source. This maternal character means that the indigenous people consider themselves children of this force. This maternal character was decisive for the fact that Pachamama was mainly worshiped by women and became female over the centuries and western influences.
Irrarázaval points out the fact that Pachamama not only personifies mother earth and not only represents the deified soil, but "life in itself".
Cult places and places to stay
Rocks or stones, which are said to have supernatural properties, often serve as places of worship . Often their shape is reminiscent of the symbolic animal of the pachamama, the toad, which has been identified with it since ancient times.
The cultivated fields are given as the whereabouts of the earth mother, partly the interior of the earth, partly the most remote deserts or mountains. The indigenous peoples of the Cochabamba region in Bolivia consider the snow-covered mountain Tunari to be the home of Pachamama and in the northern Argentinean Andes it is regarded as the “mother of the mountains”.
Religious context
The pachamama is still worshiped by the indigenous population in many areas of Peru , Bolivia , Colombia and Ecuador , but also partly in the northwest of Argentina and in the north of Chile . For large parts of the indigenous population, the figure of the Pachamama is mixed with the figure of the Mother of God Mary. In this way "pagan" and Christian ideas are combined ( syncretism ). Both beings have essential similarities: emphasized motherliness and the tendency to differentiate into numerous local personifications . Presumably, the mixture of both was promoted by the missionaries as well as recognized and accepted by the indigenous people, especially since the incorporation of foreign beings into the local pantheons in the central Andes had a long tradition. Often the symbiosis goes so far that the name of Mary is connected with that of the toad, which symbolizes Pachamama, when invoked.
According to Irrarázaval, both beings are religious symbols that are mainly perceived in practice. Pachamama are offered sacrifices (pago a la pachamama), vows are made to the virgin. Both are carried out by the people and you don't need a specialist. A certain kind of equivalence can be established in both entities, albeit in different forms. In cities and in the areas inhabited by mestizos, Mary shows traits and attributes of the chthonic (earthly) goddess Pachamama. This can give the impression that Christianity feels superior, which in practice it does not. As common elements they indicate life and protection, which is why the population is close to both beings. The difference is that Pachamama can be found more in family and community areas, whereas Maria is called more in the private, urban area. The sacrifice to the Pachamama is a communal act, whereas for Mary the candle is an individual one. Pachamama rather integrates the socio-cultural order, Maria is responsible for everything, Pachamama is seen in everything, Maria has a concrete image. It can be said that the relationship between Pachamama and Maria is more functional than identifying.
In October 2019, several Pachamama statues exhibited in the Carmelite Church of Santa Maria in Traspontina in Rome were stolen by traditionalist Catholics and thrown into the Tiber , which Paolo Ruffini , the head of the Vatican communications department, criticized as theft and violation of the spirit of dialogue has been. The statues were recovered unscathed from the river, as announced by Pope Francis , who asked for forgiveness, and taken into custody by the Italian police . The Austrian demo-for-all activist Alexander Tschugguel actually committed himself to this . On November 3, 2019, the penitentiary of the Archdiocese of Mexico , Hugo Valdemar, carried out a publicly distributed cremation of Pachamama representations in a church of the Archdiocese. He relied on a letter from the Kazakh auxiliary bishop Athanasius Schneider ORC from Astana, who belonged to the Engelwerk .
Pago a la Pachamama
The cult is taken very seriously. According to the principle of reciprocity, beings are respected and sacrifices are made. The entire life of the Andean people is geared towards creating a constant balance between the opposites. Work, prayers, festivals and rites aim to maintain this balance of diametrical forces or to restore it again and again. The principle of reciprocity is an unwritten, self-evident and binding law of social relations ( ayni ) and also applies to beings. Since people want something from the beings who have power over what is important to them, they have to give something back according to the value of what is desired. The gods do not give without also receiving. They expect two things: respect or reverence, and food and drink. Respect and reverence means that one does not pass any residence of a deity without a gesture of greeting. Nobody would “just walk by” one of these sacred places, just sit down and rest, or even start eating, without having made this gesture beforehand. For example, you offer them a few coca leaves and pray with the deity. Nobody would neglect this gesture, because if you don't give, you can't expect to get anything. Through sacrifice and veneration in the form of festivals, man gives back what he has received from the corresponding beings.
The gift can consist of different things. How to prepare z. B. a mesa , a ch'alla (libation) or a vilancha (blood offering) , because the gods, like humans, are hungry and thirsty. If one promises something to the entity, it must be kept under all circumstances, otherwise an imbalance arises. "Generosity is mandatory, otherwise ... the gods will take revenge on the excess of happiness and wealth of some people."
On the basis of reciprocity, people are constantly striving for this balance. If something other than what was hoped for happens, a person falls into the guilt of sacrifice, which is closely related to the concept of reciprocity. Sacrificial guilt is the epitome of non-reciprocity on the human side. For this reason there is also a reciprocal relationship between humans and Pachamama. The earth is active almost all year round, i.e. it is part of the agricultural cycle. It is only passive for a few days a year. These are the days between August 1st and 6th and during Holy Week. At both times, sacrifices are made and those who work them are punished. During Holy Week the earth dies, which is also seen as a symbol of the death of Christ. In the pago , the religious person gives the earth a gift. He usually burns or buries them (mesa). You give back what you received. You sacrifice to her because she is hungry, and thank you for what you received, and ask, for example, for a good harvest. In order to receive what is requested, the believers perform rites. If her cult is neglected, she can punish her with disease, bad harvests or other evils. It also has ambivalent properties.
In Bolivia, Tuesday and Friday are the days for Pachamama, especially the Friday before and after Carnival, where special rites are held (e.g., at cult places (huacas / wak'a ) ( e.g. rocks in the shape of a toad or a snake) B. for better work, more money etc.). The Tuesday after Carnival also plays a major role. On this day, a ch'alla (libation) and a mesa are held for the pachamama to bring happiness and abundance into the home. The vilancha (animal sacrifice with llamas) is held on the Friday before Carnival . Mostly it is used to sacrifice blood to the mine deity tío in the mines so that the mine and the rock are saturated and not require human sacrifices. Since tio becomes female when addressed, it can be assumed that Pachamama is meant. Only males are sacrificed and the animals are always white. The meat of the animals is eaten (without garlic and salt), the bones burned and the heart of the being offered.
Some families have set up a special place for them on their property. At this point, the first bite is offered before each meal, out of gratitude for the food. The first sip of alcohol always goes to the Pachamama. “ La pachamama debe beber antes que él mismo.” (The pachamama has to drink in front of you). To do this, the alcohol is poured on the ground (ch'alla)
Victim guilt
The entire life of the Andean people is geared towards creating a constant balance between the opposites. Celebrations, rites and prayers aim to maintain the balance of strength or to restore it.
On the basis of reciprocity, people constantly strive for balance. If something other than what was hoped for occurs, then the person falls into the guilt of sacrifice, which is closely related to the concept of reciprocity. Sacrificial guilt is the epitome of non-reciprocity on the part of humans. Sacrificial guilt has nothing to do with the Christian concept of "being guilty"; it has no moral function, but rather, against the background of the value of reciprocity, is a deficit in giving. So, taken quite literally, it is “to be to blame” and indicates a lack of action. Strictly speaking, sacrificial guilt refers to being one with oneself, being in balance with the entire cosmos . Usually the deities first send small signals of disaster (e.g. stumble, injure their ankle or the like. Nothing is seen by chance) and thus announce that something worse could happen if the victim's guilt is not pursued. Sacrificial guilt can also be hereditary, i.e. That is, even if one has always sacrificed abundantly, it is possible that the parents or grandparents have neglected to fulfill their responsibility of sacrificing and the offspring are now charged with the guilt of the sacrifice. Sacrificial guilt can also have a collateral effect. d. H. it is possible that this guilt of sacrifice is passed on to siblings or cousins. But if one always observes the principles, it seems impossible to be struck by the guilt of the victim. But that is not possible with the multitude of deities and holy places, because one cannot know all of them.
According to Hans van den Berg, people always strive for this balance on the basis of reciprocity - and constantly miss it. He thinks that this is due on the one hand to the moral wrongdoing towards society and nature and on the other hand to the disrespect for the gods, i. that is, it was not sacrificed properly and enough. This also means that people first look for the “guilt” in themselves, in a wrongdoing towards the numinous and not towards the gods themselves.
See also
- Chthonic gods (Greek mythology)
- Chthonic animals (attributed to the underworld)
- Q'ero (Quechua community and ethnic group in the Peruvian province of Paucartambo)
literature
Chronologically:
- Lucia Kill: Pachamama the earth goddess in the Altandine religion. Doctoral thesis, Rheinische Friedrich Wilhelms-Universität, Bonn 1969 ( OCLC 2575961 ).
- Gertrud Schacherl: Today's worship of the earth among the Indios in the Sierra of Peru. In: Journal for Mission Studies and Religious Studies (ZMR). Volume 61, 1977, pp. 19–37.
- Ana Maria Mariscotti de Görlitz: Pachamama Santa Tierra: Contribución al estudio de la religious autóctona en los Andes centro-meridionales. In: Indiana. Supplement 8. Mann Brothers, Berlin 1978 (Spanish).
- Thérèse Bouysse-Cassagne, Olivia Harris: Pacha: En torno al pensamiento aymara. In: Tres reflecciones sobre el pensamiento aymara. Hisbol, La Paz 1987, pp. 11-60 (Spanish).
- Diego Irrarázaval: Pachamama: a divine life for beaten people. In: Indian cosmology (= development perspectives. No. 26). Ladok, Kassel 1987, ISBN 3-88122-356-8 .
- Hans van den Berg: La tierra no da así no más: los ritos agricolas to la religious de los Aymara cristianos de los Andes. Cedla, Amsterdam 1989, ISBN 90-70280-02-7 (Spanish).
- Hans van den Berg, Norbert Schiffers: La Cosmovisión Aymara . UCB / hisbol, La Paz 1993, (Spanish; OCLC 29609649 ).
- Ina Rösing : Victim guilt: A central concept of the Andean religion. In: Max Peter Baumann: Cosmos of the Andes. Diederichs, Munich 1994, ISBN 3-424-01202-5 , pp. 79-109.
- Ingrid Bettin: Worldview and thinking in the central Andes. In: Max Peter Baumann : Cosmos of the Andes. Diederichs, Munich 1994, ISBN 3-424-01202-5 , pp. 14-41.
- Marcel Mauss : The gift: form and function of exchange in archaic societies. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt / M. 1996, ISBN 3-518-28343-X .
- Ina Rösing: Every place - a sacred place: religion and ritual in the Andes. Benziger, Zurich / Düsseldorf 1997, ISBN 3-545-34144-5 .
- Sabine Dedenbach-Salazar Sáenz: Pachamama and the Virgin Revisited: Coincidences and Convergences. In: Michael Marten, Katja Neumann (ed.): Saints and Cultural / Transmission (= Collectanea Instituti Anthropos. Volume 45). Academia, Sankt Augustin 2013, ISBN 978-3-89665-621-6 , pp. 159-200 (English).
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Qheswa simi hamut'ana kuraq suntur: Simi Taqe Qheswa - Español - Qheswa. Cusco 2006, p. 373: “pacha. s. Mundo, tierra ”(Spanish).
- ↑ Teofilo Laime Ajacopa: Iskay simipi yuyayk'ancha. La Paz 2007, p. 75: “pacha. s. Época. pacha. s. Mundo. Tierra. pacha. s. Tiempo. pacha. s. Universo, cosmos, mundo ”(Spanish).
- ↑ Karl Rudolf Wernhart : Ethnic Religions: Universal Elements of the Religious. Topos, Kevelaer 2004, ISBN 3-7867-8545-7 , p. 144.
- ↑ Message: Indigenous figures caused a stir: Missio published "Pachamama prayer" before the Amazon Synod. In: kathisch.de . October 30, 2019, accessed October 30, 2019.
- ^ Message: Amazonia Synod: Repam condemns the robbery of statues. In: Vatican News . October 22, 2019, accessed October 30, 2019.
- ^ Message: Cardinal Schönborn defends Pope Francis against criticism. In: kath.net . October 22, 2019, accessed October 30, 2019.
- ↑ Message: Pope literally calls the controversial figures "Statues of the Pachamama"! In: kath.net . October 26, 2019, accessed October 30, 2019.
- ↑ Chad Pecknold: Pope Francis apologizes that Amazon synod 'Pachamama' was thrown into Tiber River. In: Catholic News Agency . October 25, 2019, accessed October 30, 2019.
- ↑ Austrian life protector threw "Pachamama" figures into the Tiber. Catholic.de of November 4, 2019
- ↑ Activist Tschugguel: "I'm ready for anything". The daily mail of November 7, 2019
- ↑ David Ramos: Priest burns depictions of the "Pachamama" in Mexico (report and video). Catholic News Agency, November 5, 2019
- ↑ Marcel Mauss : The gift: form and function of exchange in archaic societies. 2nd Edition. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt / M. 1994, ISBN 3-518-28343-X , p. 47 (first edition 1990).