- Published: December 28, 2021
- Updated: December 28, 2021
- University / College: University of Waterloo
- Language: English
- Downloads: 6
Incas was a group of people who lived in South America during the period between 1400 and 1500 A. D (Incas Mythology, 2011). Incas religion was centered on worship of the sun, which they believed to be their ancestral father.
In the Incas religion, Hucas was the name, which referred to a holy place or object/thing. After the death of a king, a queen, or any other important person in the society, his/her body was dried up in the sun (after removal of all body organs), and then wrapped with pieces of cloths made of cotton. The mummies would be kept in a sacred place, which would then become hucas (Incas Mythology, 2011). Sacred places, such as mountains where the people of Incas religion prayed and performed their religious rituals, were also referred to as hucas. Whenever the people of Incas religion wanted to make a sacrifice, they would choose one of their members as the sacrificial object.
Such a person would be taken to a sacred place and his/her body wrapped in cloths to form a mummy. The mummy would then be put in a sacred place to become a hucas (Incas Mythology, 2011). Hucas played different spiritual roles in the Incas religion. Firstly, hucas in the form of sacred places were used as places of worship. The people would gather in such places occasionally to worship their gods. They would also use such places to perform their religious rituals such as sacrifices, and to perform their religious festivals (Incas Mythology, 2011).
Secondly, hucas in the form of human bodies acted as objects of worship. The people of Incas religion would pray to their gods through these hucas. For instance, if the mummy was a body of a woman who had a lot of children, young women preparing to get married and also the barren, would pray to the god of fertility: Mama Allpa, through her mummy (Incas Mythology, 2011). Finally, the people of Incas religion believed in afterlife. Incas worshiped spiritual objects (hucas) in the belief that they would aid them in the afterlife. The mummies symbolized their belief in life after death.
