The Apaza family teaches that they divide the Pacha (cosmos) into three parts: Hanaq Pacha (upper world), Kay Pacha (this world), and Ukhu Pacha (underworld).
This knowledge is also popular among the population of Cusco and also in the world.
Szemiński (2018) teaches that the cosmos can be divided into four parts, adding Qaylla Pacha, the world of limits, spaces, or passages between the other realms.
However, the author notes that no information about this has been found. Instead of contradicting, they suggest that this may reflect a deeper aspect of Andean philosophy.
Could this information have been lost during the colonization period?
Since 1572 the Jesuits when trying to collect and understand the Quechua and Aymara myths were not very open to the ideas, at the same time disputing with their own ideas and sometimes imposing and punishing the sorcerers (Brosseder, 2018).
A specific case is the myth of Huarochirí, noted for its authenticity. Favaron (2023) explains that it underwent narrative transformation due to Catholic pressure, reflecting clear biblical influences.
In this sense, the three Quechua worlds relate to the idea of the Christian Trinity.
However, as Panikkar (1998) notes, this trinitarian intuition appears in many cultures, expressed through various symbols. Its conception may differ, representing reality (the divine, the human, and the cosmic) or the human (body, soul, and spirit), alongside the familiar Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
What is Hanaq Pacha World for Apaza Family?
For the Apaza the Hanaq Pacha represents the world of the starts mama Chaska, the Pleiades or mama Qoto that are 7 ñustas, the music, as well as other constellations understood in the Andean world but also those that we do not know and are beyond, the Uqhu pacha the world inside, the underworld, where life arises to which we return after death. And the Kay pacha the land surrounded by the sea, the visible world (Szemiński, 2018).
Be that as it may it is one of the missions of the Andean tradition to remind today’s modern society the trinitarian idea is of vital importance, which according to Panikkar (1998) are guidelines of the given reality.
Where man is not enough, he needs other worlds to be able to realize his life in a better way. In this way we get as close as possible to the sense of the human being and his relationship with the cosmos and God.
Author: Joan de la colina Román
References:
- Szemiński, J., Ziółkowski, M. S., y Wachtel, N. (2018). Mitos, rituales y política de los incas (R. Zeballos Rebaza, Trad.; Primera edición). Ediciones El Lector.
- Brosseder, C. (2018). El poder de las huacas: Cambios y resistencia en los Andes del Perú colonial (R. Zeballos Rebaza, Trad.; Primera edición). Ediciones El Lector.
- Panikkar, R. (1998). La Trinidad: Una experiencia humana primordial. Ediciones Siruela.
- Favaron Peyón, P. M. (2023). La cristiandad de pariacaca: Pedagogía y sincretismo en el Manuscrito de Huarochirí. Kipus: Revista Andina de Letras y Estudios Culturales, 54, 57-78. https://doi.org/10.32719/13900102.2023.54.4
