Hitch+to+the+Inca+Religion

=The Hitch to the Inca Religion=

by Justin Heiser


Through the Inca Expansion and conquering of many outlying groups it is argued that there was no central tie to unify all those conquered. That however i think is wrong, and the proof that there was a central binding force can be found within the Inca's Religion, at the site of Machu Picchu. I feel that The Intihuatana Stone is the heart of the Inca Religion, it is no wonder that it is referred to as the "Hitching Post to the Sun". To further understand why the Intihuantana Stone is so important to the Inca, we first must realize why the Sun is so important to them.

====The religion of ancient peoples, their customs, and so forth can greatly be dependent upon where they live geographically. For example in cases where the sun was outrageously hot during the middle of the day, and then pleasantly nice and cool during the night there was less of a focus to worship the sun. Instead as we can see from the case of the Mayans as an example, they worshiped the stars and developed high forms of astronomy. On the other hand, in the high plateau of the Andes, it was reversed. At night it was extremely cold because the high atmospheric conditions did not retain the sun's heat from the day. Thus the Inca, and the other groups living within this area did not have a strong focus on the outer stars and phenomenon of the night. And so they turned their attention to the sun. For the sun brought them heat, it made it possible for their crops to grow, and generally it made life possible. Thus out of the many deities of the Inca, the sun was seen as the most important, and his name was Inti. Inti can be seen in many sculptures and paintings as a human with a sun head (circle with sun rays(lines) coming out of his head.)====



====Today we understand more clearly about the earths revolution, and it's natural orbit around the sun. The Intihuatana stone had the practical use of being a sun dial. On the 2 equinoxes, at midday on March 21st and September 21st, the sun stood directly over the Stone thus casting virtually no shadow. However as the year progressed and the the Shadow of the sun got longer and longer the Inas were fearfull that Inti would leave them, and they would be left to die. Through this knowledge we can reveal the true and full importance of the Intihuatana Stone, thus making it the center of the Inca Religion. It was believed that at Machu Picchu when Inti was directly over the stone casting no shadow that he was hitched to the stone, thus enabling him to leave. The process was repeated twice each year on the equinoxes as listed above, not on the solstices which some people mistook it to be. The stone can also be referred to as the Saywa or Sukhanka Stone. It was the duty of the priest to perform the tying ritual, thus preventing it's northward movement into the sky, and when the shadow of the sun was starting to resend and become shorter there was praise and jubilation that swept the whole entire kingdom and making it a place of rejoice again. Thus showing that the Intihuanta Stone was central to the Inca, because without it it, to the Inca they would be left for dead.====

====The Intihuatana Stone found at Machu Picchu holds a great significance today, in that it is one of the only ones left unscathed and not found and destroyed by the Spanish. The design of the Intihuatana Stone is of very unique importance. It was architecturally designed in that it is a perfect representation of the Golden rectangle. A golden rectangle is a rectangle whose side lengths are in the golden ratio, one-to-phi, that is approximate 1:1.618. A distinctive feature of this shape is that when a square section is removed, the remainder is another golden rectangle, that is, with the same proportions as the first. Square removal can be repeated infinitely, which leads to an approximation of the golden or Fibonacci spiral.The importance of the infinite repeating is up for interpretation. However it can be said that it was believed that the reason for the detail to make the stone adhere to the golden rectangle is because they felt that Inti was everlasting and to appease him they wanted the stones dimensions to show that they worshiped him in that way. ====



====The final importance of the Intihuatana Stone is that it was believed that when a priest touched his head to the stone, the Intihuatana opens up vision of the to the spirit world. The deities were kept inside of the stone and they were the ones who gave the visions into the spirit world. It is for that reason, that the Intihuatana were very valuable to the Inca, and why the Spanish sought them out and destroyed them. It is why it was of vital importance that Machu Picchu was kept hidden from the Spanish.====

====D’altroy, Terrance N 2001 “politics, resources, and blood in the Inka empire” in empires: perspectives from archeology and history, edited by S. E. Alcock, T. N. D’altroy, K D. Morrison, and C. m. Sinopoli pp 201-26. New York: Cambridge university press====