MYTHS & LEGENDS OF PERU

Myth:

·      A myth is a traditional or legendary story, usually concerning some being or hero or event, with or without a determinable basis of fact or a natural explanation, especially one that is concerned with deities or demigods and explains some practice, rite, or phenomenon of nature.

Legend:

A legend is a nonhistorical or unverifiable story handed down by tradition from earlier times and popularly accepted as historical.

Is important to note that when we talk about myths and legends of Peru, we also talk about the myths and legends of the Incas, and many Inca myths dealt with the origin of the Inca people. These myths helped support the idea that the gods intended the Incas to be rulers (inca Mythology). Other myths dealt with the creation of the world and the arrival of a great flood.

The Evil Bird


As in ancient times, the inhabitants of this place, especially on the farms, have a superstition about the Evil Bird.
 They say it announces the death of any individual, singing on the roof of the house of the one who is going to die.
 And that is why they call it that: Evil Bird. This animal has a horrible appearance: black feathers; large, bulging eyes; to see it is frightening. It rarely comes to the village; it lives in the countryside, generally in the most beautiful trees, almost hidden among the leaves.

The Tunchi

This is one of the spirits that protects the rainforest, and more specifically it is said to be the spirit of people that took their last breath inside the rainforest. The technique of El Tunchi is to whistle a certain tune, always the same short melody, and if you chime in by whistling the exact same tune, the spirit will appear, its wrath will fall upon you and terrorize you.

If you are well-behaved and respect nature by not harming flora and fauna, El Tunchi will just scare you a little and move on. However, if you mow down trees like there’s no tomorrow, pollute the air or displace animals from their habitat, then watch out and take heed! The best advice that even the locals follow religiously, is not to answer its whistle, thus not giving it a chance to “play” with you.

The lupuna

The lupuna is a tree found in various parts of the Amazon. It is one of those beautiful giants of the Amazon, grand, imposing, and well rooted in the jungle’s soil. Its trunk can be as wide as 10 meters (33 ft) when given the time to grow. The lupuna distinguishes itself from other tropical trees because of its “belly”, a part of the trunk that is wider than the rest and bears some resemblance to a human abdomen.

And it has another characteristic: its spirit is also widely known to be a protector of the rainforest. Unfortunately, it is not entirely safe from deforestation but local loggers and lumberjacks are very careful about which lupuna to cut down, because if they choose the wrong species, the tree will take revenge…

You must also show your respect for the lupuna in other ways, which is reflected by the following story:

A local woman was hiking through the jungle and felt a basic human urge. She squatted down near a big tree and relieved her bladder. She returned to town, unaware of what was about to unfold. At nighttime her stomach began to hurt and swelled up to painful proportions. The discomfort kept her from sleeping that night and throughout the next day the pain got worse and the swelling increased.

She called for the help of a shaman, who asked her what she had been doing before the pain started. Had she, by any chance, urinated near a lupuna? The poor woman confirmed and the shaman explained that the lupuna was punishing her for showing such disrespect. “The only solution”, he said, “is to ask the lupuna for forgiveness. If you don’t your stomach will burst and you will die”.

And with these words he went on his way looking for the moody lupuna. The woman waited in agony, hoping that the shaman would succeed in his mission. He found the tree according to her description and spent the night at the lupuna’s feet carrying out his rituals, asking the powerful tree for forgiveness. He took a knife and carefully cut the lupuna’s “belly” and took some of the juice that trickled from the wound. In the morning he returned with this potion and told the punished woman to drink it. Almost immediately the swelling and agonizing pain subsided. By the evening she was up on her feet again, good as new, and with a very important lesson learned!

Sirens

Many rivers feed the Amazon, serving as water highways to transport people and goods. They are intricate eco-systems and home to many fish species. They are also the natural habitat of the infamous, dreaded anaconda. These rivers have their own myths and legends, including the enigmatic sirens.

Traditionally, men are working in the forest for weeks on end, whether to collect Brazil nuts, taking out rubber or trees, or mining gold. During all this time there is not a single woman in sight. Surrounded by nothing but dense forest and male colleagues for weeks, one can imagine their longing for little female contact. Many have reported that they saw beautiful women singing to them from the opposite shore, trying to lure them to the other side of the river. Some couldn’t resist and drowned in the river’s swift currents. The one’s who withstood the attraction told us this tale.

During the rubber boom at the beginning of the 20^th century, legends also tell of lonely and desperate men who trapped pink dolphins living in these rivers and lakes, and made love to them. This would then transform the men into male sirens who went to live with the dolphins in the depths of the river. This is said to be the reason why numerous rubber extractors simply disappeared and their bodies were never found.

The legend of Manco Capac and Mama Ocllo

This legend was told by one of the most important chronicles of the XVth century, Garcilaso de la Vega, El Inca, who was son of a Spanish captain and an Inca princess called Chimpu Ocllo. Because of that, Garcilaso was able to have many stories and legends from a very faithful source about the Inca beginnings and origins.

Near to the Titicaca Lake, the people lived like savages, since they don’t have any kind of religious guides that bring them together. They also don’t have any kind of agricultural techniques and textile abilities, and that is the reason why they were naked, living on the caves, eating wild animals and eating the fruits that are in their region.

The Sun god was concern about these people, and decides to bring them out to his sons, Manco Capac and Mama Ocllo, who were also husband and wife, to civilize these people. Manco Capac teach to the men how live in society and worship the Sun god, and Mama Ocllo teach to the women tasks like textiles and domestics labors.

Their father, the Sun god told them that search for a fertile and good land to found the empire, this land were the region of the Titicaca Lake, and gave to Manco Capac a golden stick, the one that if it sinks that’s the sign of the promise land.

When they came to the Lake, the people who lived around thought that they were gods, because of his clothing and jewelry. Days go by and they can find a good place to found their city, but one day they came to a place where the golden stick sinks, and decide to found their empire.

The interpretation that follows is that on the shore of the Titicaca Lake is where the Tiawanako people lived, and they helped to the foundation of the Tahuantinsuyo, since both persons, Manco Capac and Mama Ocllo came from these lands, and because of that they were the original descendants of the Tiawanako people.

THE PAITITI

In Quechua, Païtiti means « the old Jaguar house ». Its legend is one of the most fascinating of the Inca’s Mythology, a kind of « Sacred Graal » for modern Peru’s history.

According this legend, after the conquistador’s invasion of Cusco, the Incas have hidden their sacred treasure in a secret city to keep it from the Spanish ambition. This city would be lost in the Amazonian jungle of South-East of Peru.

The Quechuas, direct descendant of the Incas tell several stories over their ancestors escaping the conquistadors with more than 20.000 lamas loaded with huge quantities of gold and silver. This convoy would have leaded to the East by « la Coya », the Inca’ spouse into a legendary city behind the mountains.

This place would have been intentionally forgotten to preserve it from plunder.

Several columns speak about a magnificent gold chain made on the order of the Inca with a length of 650 feet and with each part as thick as a thumb. Garcilaso de la Vega, born from an Inca mother and a Spanish father tell that its weight was so heavy that 200 Indians could barely lift it. It was recovered with gold, articulated to simulate a snake skin shining in the sun. The legend tells that this inestimable gold chain would have been secretly brought by the Indians into the « great Païtiti » and thrown in a lagoon with other inestimable objects.

The legend also speaks of a huge solar gold disc, « the Punchao », which was in the Qoriqancha temple, main temple of the Inca in Cusco. With a 13 feet diameter, this disc would have been used for sacred ceremonies and the Shaman initiation because of its great spiritual and magical power. For the Incas it was the representation of the sun itself. It was the most sacred item of the Inca’s empire. We have lost its traces since 1572.

Is there any reason to believe in this Inca legend? According the numerous myths and stories over it, coming from different sources, thinking that the Incas had all the reason to hide their treasures when they realised the Spanish cupidity, according that the conquistadors have forgotten to discover numerous parts of Peru ( they never found Machu Picchu), according that a huge part of the Inca’s empire is still undiscovered nowadays, it is quite reasonable to believe that one or several lost cities exist and that the gold of the Incas could be hidden in those places

In 2001, the Italian archaeologist, Mario Polia has studied a Jesuit document in Rome written in 1600 by the missionary Andrea Lopez, describing a huge city with gold, silver and precious stones. The document tells that the inhabitants call this city “the Païtiti » and that it would be situated in a tropical forest near waterfalls. This document from the Vatican library would have been presented in details to the pope Clement XIII.

For more than 15 years, a French archaeologist, Thierry Jamin investigates on the Païtiti’s myth, searching through the deep Peruvian jungle to reveal its secrets.

He already found the first draw on stones in the Amazonian jungle, only representation of Inca writing which could be a map to the Païtiti.

The legend is still so strong that several expeditions are still leaded nowadays.

Very recently (2013) Thierry Jamin, according to his brilliant research would have located in the Site of Machu Picchu, the grave of Pachacutec, One of the most important Inca who created the imperial city of Cusco. His powerful technology would have detected buried rooms, stairs and a huge amount of precious metal. Negotiations to continue his research with the Peruvian government are still being discussed.