Inca Religion Research Paper

The Indian culture was negatively changed because the Indians’ religion was based upon believing many gods controlled their way of being, while Christianity was based on one supreme being who controls the universe. Common Indian gods included a god for the Sun, Moon, land or the Earth, the creator, and water (Nature). In the Cherokee tribe, the Creator is named Unetlanvhi (oo-nay-hla-nuh-hee or oo-net-la-nuh-hee) (“Legendary”). Some of the other “Creators” in other tribes include Maheu in the Cheyenne tribe, Gitchie Manitou in the Ojibway tribe, and Ahone in the Powhatan tribe (“Legendary”). With all the different types of gods in Indian cultures, the Indians used many spiritual rituals to worship these gods (Religion). Some of the rituals included feasts, music, dances, and other performances. The relationship of the Indian to nature (spirits, land, weather) was tantamount (Religion).

Carrasco defines religion in three categories worldmaking, worldcentering, and worldrenewing. Carrasco’s idea of worldcentering is similar to the idea of cosmos in Eliade’s work. In Carrasco’s work worldcentering is the notion in which individuals look to their surroundings to account for their existence and the way their world functions. Carrasco provides an explanation as to how communities would “center” their world; using symbols as well as rituals would be used to explain how their world operated. Likewise Read and Gonzalez suggest that cosmic topography was used to structure the Mesoamerican life, cosmic topography helped explain that “Mesoamericans live in worlds shaped by mythological visions” (Read and Gonzalez 20). They used features that were defined as a town landscapes to form a vision of their world and “own unique cosmology” (Read and Gonzalez 20), these visions differed by community but essentially they all shared one vision. Similarly Eliade incorporates the idea of cosmos and chaos in his model of the sacred and the profane. Eliade explains that cosmos existed among the religious to maintain them away from the chaos. The cosmos is the idea of a world created by the gods and what remained outside of their world was considered the chaos. In order to keep a connection with their gods and the heavens they would use symbols such as pillars to center their world and have an existing connection the

A similarity between the Aztecs and Incas was that they both worshipped several gods that had different roles. For the Aztecs, their most important god was Huitzilopochtli, who was the sun and warrior god of the Aztec empire. However the Aztec pantheon also included Ometecuhtli, the creator god, Coatlicue, the earth goddess, Quetzalcoatl, the god of twins and learning, Tezcatlipoca, the god of the night sky, Tlaloc, the god of rain and fertility, and Xipe Totec, the god of torture and sacrifice. They believed

The religious aspects of both the Aztec and the Incan civilizations were based on several different deities. The Aztec empire had more than 128 gods and goddesses. The most important of these gods is Tlaloc (Life god) and Huitzilopochtli (Sun god). These gods could be represented in human, animal or direction form. Aztec gods were worshipped through pyramid shaped religious buildings and ritual sacrificing. Human

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.

The Pueblo indians believed in the kachinas.This religion is the main religion for many of the Pueblo tribes.While the Pueblo tribe would perform the ritual they would wear an ornate mask. They would do there worshiping in a kiva which was a square room/building that was underground.Pueblo Indians live mainly in New Mexico, Texas and Arizona.The most practiced religion by the Pueblo people was Kachina. A kachina is a Pueblo spirit being. They are used for religious ceremonies. There are more than 400 different kachinas in the Pueblo culture.The kachina is not worshipped, but is viewed as a powerful being. The kachina can use its power for human good, bringing rainfall, healing, fertility, or protection.

The Aztecs had many different believes and theories. This included gods, practices, and culture. This paragraph is going to be focused on the Aztec gods. There were many gods that the Aztecs believe in. There are 10 main gods. They were, Huitzilopochtli who was the main god for the Aztecs. He is the one who lead them during the migration for directions of where they should build their capital city Tenochtitlan. He is the god of the sun and war. Tlaloc who is the god of rain is associated with agriculture and fertility. Tonatiuh was the god of nourishing who provided warmth to the people. Tezcatlipoca whose name means: “smoking mirror”. He is the god of evil power, death, and cold. Chalchiuhtlicue who was the goddess of running water and aquatic

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

In Puritan societies they placed great importance on a person's reputation, without an honorable reputation a person is not worthy of respect from others in their society. Characters in Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel, The Scarlet Letter, go through their lives struggling with themselves trying to cope with the guilt and shame associated with their sins. The novel is mainly based on the main characters sin which is adultery, but many others in the novel are sinners as well. The three main characters have sinned and they all cope with their sins in different ways. The novel shows the lasting effect that sin and guilt has on Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale and Roger Chillingworth.

Almost every aspect of Maya life was centered on religion. These ancient Mesoamerican peoples worshipped many gods and goddesses; this was part of their daily lives, despite class differences in their sophisticated society. Religion served as a basis for the government and social life. Priests and shamans played an important role in their government, conducted religious ceremonies, and made sacrifices to the gods. The Maya believed in the supernatural, and used this belief to explain life and their universe. Every object, whether it is part of nature or man made, was considered sacred and worshipped.

The Maya believed that when people died, they entered the Underworld through a cave. When kings died, they followed the path linked to the cosmic movement of the sun and fell into the Underworld, but because they possessed supernatural powers, they were reborn into the Sky World and became gods. Some Maya still believe that their village is the ceremonial centre of a world supported at its four corners by gods. When one of these gods shifts his burden, they believe, it causes an earthquake. The sky above them is the domain of the Sun, the Moon and the stars; however, the Sun is clearly associated with God the Father or Jesus Christ. The Moon is associated with the Virgin Mary.

They believed that their were divine gods and beings and that they ruled over the universe and they also sometimes interacted with people.; they had sacred sites that were man made and also natural; They believed in multiple gods; They were polytheistic; they practiced shamanism which is an ancient healing tradition and it connects with natural and all of creation; they believed everything living had an animal spirit; They believed in a great serpent which was a divine power and was believed to bring prosperity and growth.

The Mayan way of life revolved their religion. They had a polytheistic religion praising many gods. Each god had a certain thing that they would rule over or take care of. Chac was the god of rain, Kinich Ahau was the sun god, and Yum Cimil was the god of the underworld. There were many gods and goddess for almost every reason one could think of, there is even a goddess of suicide. They would perform human sacrifices, bleeding rituals, and dances to praise and to

Throughout the previous time, pre-European civilizations in the Americas, the Aztec and Inca empires were separate and distinct civilizations. The two civilizations stayed with no question very progressed and had their own intricated but very efficient society. Polytheism (who beliefs in multiple gods) dominated both empires. They adored ideals broadly and fascinatingly, the Sun God maintained the high place in mutually civilizations. However, both civilizations shared some similarities, there were remarkable differences among the two empires. These contrasts and similarities could be observed in many significant ways.

Incas believed that before anything was created, there was a being called Viracocha Pachayachachi, which translates to “Creator of All Things”. He then created everything in this universe and then he created humans. When he created humans he gave them some rules such as there shall be no quarrelling on earth. As they disobeyed this rule, Viracocha cursed the beings on earth. Some were swallowed by the earth and some were swallowed by the sea. He then brought a flood that washed away all the humans.