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This term must be understood in the context of the mythology of the Inca people. For this pre-Columbian people, the Earth had a divine character. Thus, Mother Earth was a goddess and to refer to her they used the term Pachamama. This divinity was the matriarch of all living beings and protector of nature. On the other hand, she was the wife of Pachacámac or god of tremors and both were the gods who ruled the world.

Pachamama is a Quechua word that is made up of two words: Pacha, which is equivalent to world, and Mama, which means goddess.

The role of Pachamama in Inca mythology

The Inca people venerated this goddess because they understood that the Earth is a source of life and wealth. In this way, Pachamama or mother Earth was the mother of every living being, both in a material sense and in its dimension spiritual, since the Incas considered that each element of nature had its own spirit.

Like any other mother, Pachamama protects her children and provides them

food Y Dear. However, she can also be a relentless and hard mother to her children and send them times of drought or natural disasters as punishment.

The Incas had knowledge about farming very advanced, because they knew when to cultivate, they knew the irrigation techniques to achieve greater production in their crops and took advantage of the slopes for their crops. And for the activity agricultural outside fruitful rituals were performed in honor of Pachamama, especially offerings to get good harvests. Consequently, Inca agriculture had a highly developed technological component and, at the same time, a spiritual and mythical dimension.

Pachamama had a very relevant role as a goddess, but there were divinities with other equally important functions (Mama Sara was the divinity of the corn and coca, Mama Cocha was the mother of the sea and Apo was the Inca god of the mountains).

In current Andean culture

The stories about Pachamama did not disappear with the civilization inca. In fact, in the popular legends of the Andean world the figure of this divinity is very present, especially among the peasants. Thus, the first day of August is celebrated the day of Pachamama.

During this celebration, a clay pot with cooked food is buried in a place near the house and Andean peasants place cords of black and white thread on their ankles, wrists and neck and with this symbol they avoid the possible punishment of Pachamama.

Photos: Fotolia - cicloco / nnerto

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