Yapaquis - Pachamama Month
AUGUST - "Yapaquis" in Quechua: the Pachamama month, and the month for sowing.
Welcome, brothers & sisters of Andean Wisdom Path! We are continuing with our Andean Cosmovision mystic posts. Starting today, we will post about the Andean Inka calendar and the events that happen each month.
After several months without any rain, August is the month when light rain begins to fall again. For this reason, this is the time when the peasants and nobles of the Inca civilization celebrated the first plowing of the fields, according to the chronicler, Felipe Huaman Poma Ayala. Many of these festivities continue in the highlands today. Ceremonial hymns are sung as the priestess offers "aja" (native corn beer) to the Pachamama from an ornate ceremonial "q'ero" (chalice). Men plow the fields with a native agricultural instrument called a "chakitaklla". Some of the women help turn the soil over. Other women are busy cooking to feed the hungry workers. In the Andes, everyone helps in some way, even the children. And in the Cusco region, August is the month when the first corn is sowed. The time for sowing should be chosen with great precision so that the crops will flourish.
During this month of August, the Incas offered sacrifices to their idols, to the "Huacas" (powerful places for reverence), to "Pachamama" and to the Sacred "Apus" (spirits of the mountains). For these offerings they used some elements such as "cuyes" (guinea pigs), "mullu" (sea shells), "aja" (corn beer or "chicha"), all types of Andean camelids - llamas and alpacas, etc.
Nowadays we Andean people of the highlands still celebrate in much the same way. They continue practicing the same important values as their ancestors, like "ayni". The Andean tradition of "ayni" involves working for the benefit of the community, knowing that this benefits you personally, because you are a part of the community. It also involves helping a family who needs help in your community, knowing that when your family needs help, that family will help you in turn. In this way, people take turns helping each other.
According to this tradition of "ayni", the family receiving the assistance offers delicious traditional food and plenty of "aja" (corn chicha) to the participants. In this way, the hard work in the farm fields becomes a festive time together with family and friends enjoying good food and drink.
