{"id":8843,"date":"2020-12-07T23:15:59","date_gmt":"2020-12-08T04:15:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/freewalkingtoursperu.com\/?p=8843"},"modified":"2026-07-20T21:26:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T02:26:12","slug":"pachamama-andean-deity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/freewalkingtoursperu.com\/en\/blog\/pachamama-andean-deity\/","title":{"rendered":"The Pachamama deity on the Andes"},"content":{"rendered":"
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1. What is Pachamama and what does it mean?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Pachamama or Mother Earth is a divinity that represents nature for many Andean peoples of South America. In Inca mythology, she is recognized as a goddess associated with the feminine and fertility, as the spirit of the earth, which is why the Incas were very respectful of their environment. She is also known as the wife of lightning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. What is the Pachamama ritual?<\/h2>\n\n\n
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The main ritual of Mother Earth is the “Challa”, payment or tribute. It can be done on the first Friday of any month, the best stage being the 1st of August or throughout the month. Just as it can be done on special occasions to ask the Pachamama for grace and good luck. This action includes a kind of ritual steps, which consist in the preparation of a special meal the night before and it is offered the next day in a special stone formation called the water hole or in the intake of an irrigation ditch where the main ritual is carried out. , in which the food prepared beforehand is offered together with drinks, mainly coca leaves and cigarettes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

En la actualidad el pago a la Pachamama se realiza tambi\u00e9n por familias cristianas y pachamamistas, teniendo as\u00ed diferentes variaciones en la ofrenda y la comida.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Where did the Pachamama originate?<\/h2>\n\n\n
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Pachamama in the legends is a young and beautiful divinity that has its origin in the Collao or Altiplano area. Since mother earth has a singular beauty, everyone wanted to marry Pachamama, one of them is Wacon, with a malevolent character, however, she chooses Pachacamac; Wacon’s brother, considered the maker of the world and the heavens. By winning the duel for the love of Pachamama, Wacon is dissatisfied and begins to create droughts and floods in the terrestrial world for which he is expelled from heaven to the caves. After this event Pachamama and Pachacamac have twin sons called the Wilcas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. What is Pachamama fed with?<\/h2>\n\n\n
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