Uma Raimi Quilla - the Month to Cry for Rain
Brothers and sisters of Andean Wisdom Path, it's already the middle of October. In this post we will talk about this month the Incas called, "UMA RAIMI QUILLA." This has always been the month in the Andes when the farmers depended most on sufficient rainfall for the survival of the people. In the Inca times, the Andean people would perform certain ceremonies and practices to cry for rain if their crops were in danger of drying up.
Today many people are not directly connected to the farms that grow the food that we depend on for life, and so it is easy to take the food on the grocery store shelves for granted. For the Incas, however, just like all of our ancestors until recent history, the production of food was a central part of people's lives. According to many ancestral traditions including the Inca, agriculture was considered a sacred relationship of connection to the many forces of nature that are responsible for sustaining our lives, forces with whom we have the ability to communicate.
"Mama Sara" (the sacred Mother Corn), potatoes and other crops have always been planted in August in the Andes, after 3 months without any rain. By October these plants have already sprouted and by now are growing vigorously. This is the crucial time when the people's survival depends on sufficient rain to nourish the young plants as they establish their root systems. While there are plenty of irrigation canals here in the Andes, if the dry period extends through August, September and into October, the springs that feed them dry up and famine threatens the survival of the people.
Fortunately, we are experiencing plentiful rain many afternoons this month. But the previous two years, our farmers here suffered as a drought dried up the young seedlings. When this happened in the Inca times, the people took drastic measures to plead to the nature spirits for rain. 100 white llamas were sacrificed to the deities, to the "Huacas" (power places) and to the principal idols. People and animals would cry out loudly, imploring the deities, to “Runa Camac” (the Lord of the People) and to “Illa Teqse - Wiracocha” (the Creator God) for the life-giving water for their fields. And if the rain didn't come, they tied a black llama in the plaza without supplying food until the rain finally came. They would bring their dogs, their elderly, the children and the handicapped to the plaza to cry alongside the llama, hoping the deities would have pity on them and bring the much needed water.
Here are some words that the Incas would use in their prayers:
Ayauya Uacaylly! ~ Oh, Lord of Cries!
Ayauya Paypuylli! ~ Oh, Lord of the Clouds!
LLuta puchac Uamrayque. ~ Your servants
Uacalla sunquim! ~ are crying out to you!
Runa Camac, ~ Lord of the People,
Micoqpac rurac! ~ …make it possible for us to eat!
Uan Uira Cocha, ~ Living rock, vital sustenance,
Maypim Canqui? ~ …where are you?
Runayquiman Yocayquita ~ To us, your people…
Unoyquita Cacharimouy! ~ … bring us your water here!
