THE LEGEND OF VIRACOCHA

(Viracocha means 'Foam of the Sea')

In the beginning, Lord Con Ticci Viracocha, prince and creator of all things, emerged from the void and created the earth and the heavens. He rose from Lake Titicaca at the dawn of life.

Then he created animals and a race of giants (who lived in eternal darkness as he had neglected to create a source of light). These beings enraged the Lord, and he turned them into stone. Then he flooded the earth till all was under water, and all life extinguished. In a new start, he created the sun, moon, and stars.

Then he created new birds and animals. Again he decided to form human beings: these he fashioned from stone. Some he painted with long hair, some with short hair; some women he painted as pregnant, some as caring for the babies fashioned beside them; and on each figure he painted the clothes they would continue to wear. Finally he divided the stone figures into groups, giving each group its own language, its own food to grow, and its own songs to sing. Then he buried all the figures in the earth to await his command that would bring them to life.

Viracocha then summoned his helpers and told them to go forth on the earth in different directions to prepare places for the new humans to occupy. Viracocha then traveled the land, calling each group into life as he passed the land they were to populate, whereupon he taught them how to live on the land selected for them.

When they were finished with their teachings, Viracocha and his companions bade farewell to the people and walked away on the waves of the ocean to disappear toward the setting sun.

When he came to a province of Cacha, Viracocha called the Indians in this area to emerge. But these people came out armed, and, as they did not know who Viracocha was when they saw him, they rushed to Viracocha with their weapons raised ready to kill him. When Viracocha saw them coming, he realized their malicious intentions and instantly caused fire to fall from heaven, burning the mountains nearest to the people. When they saw the volcano the people realized the power of Viracocha and feared that they would die in the fire. Throwing their weapons to the ground, they went straight to Viracocha and kneeled themselves before him. When Viracocha saw this he took a staff in his hand and went to where the volcano was. He gave it two or three blows with his staff, which put it out forever, and then he told the Indians that he was their maker. To remember their origins, and the miraculous activities of Viracocha, the Canas Indians built a majestic huaca, which means a shrine or idol, at the place where Viracocha stood when he called the fire from heaven and from which he went to put it out.

Viracocha / Kukulkan / Quetzalcoatl

Comparison Among Inca, Mayan and Aztec Creation Myths

The feathered serpent god is one of the great mysteries of ancient American cultures. He was called Kukulkan by the Mayas, Quetzalcoatl by the Aztecs and Viracocha by the Incas. He was described as being a Caucasian, bearded man with beautiful emerald eyes.

The supreme deity of the Incas: Viracocha

The Incas, which had a great technology when the Europeans were still barbaric nomads, said that their technology was taught to them by Viracocha who was described as a Caucasian, bearded man.

Legends of the Aymara Indians say that the Creator God Viracocha rose from Lake Titicaca during the time of darkness to bring forth light. Viracocha was a storm god and a sun god who was represented as wearing the sun for a crown, with thunderbolts in his hands, and tears descending from his eyes as rain. He wandered the earth disguised as a beggar and wept when he saw the plight of the creatures he had created.

Viracocha made the earth, the stars, the sky and mankind, but his first creation displeased him, so he destroyed it with a flood and made a new, better one, taking to his wanderings as a beggar, teaching his new creations the basics of civilization, as well as working numerous miracles. Viracocha eventually disappeared across the Pacific Ocean (by walking on the water), and never returned. It was thought that Viracocha would re-appear in times of trouble.

Mayas: Kukulkan

Kukulkan was both a real person and a myth. The king Kukulkan lived about twenty centuries ago and was the founder of all empires in ancient America.

The legend says that he came from heaven to earth, and because of that he was represented as a feathered serpent in all the ruins of Mexico's archaeological sites. Half man and half god in one same being. The quetzal bird representing heaven, the serpent representing earth.

White-skinned and bearded, Kukulkan was also the god of life and divine wisdom.
He brought love, penitence, and exemption from the usual rituals of sacrifice and blood offering.

He was a mystical man who met with people from distant places, and had the power to heal the sick and bring the dead back to life. When he departed for the east, traveling the ocean on a raft of serpents, he promised his followers that he would return.

Aztecs: Quetzalcoatl

Quetzalcoatl was the Lord of Intelligence and the Winds in Aztec mythology. The myth says that Quetzalcoatl had been humiliated and set off to the east. Since then, the Aztecs awaited the coming of the feathered serpent god, Quetzalcoatl, and his army.

In 1519, Hernán Cortéz disembarked with its troops in the country of Moctezuma, emperor of the Aztecs. His arrival agreed peculiarly with the announcement of the cyclical return, every 52 years, of Quetzalcoatl, who was believed to have white skin and a beard.

According to the legend, this same God, would have introduced the cacao and taught to its worshippers to cultivate it. Thus, Cortéz and his soldiers were received like Gods and entertained with "tchocolatl "

Maybe Moctezuma thought that, since the Spanish had come from the direction that Quetzalcoatl had last been seen, this strange conqueror might logically be the returning god. The Spanish conquistadors filled the requirements for these myths and made them self-fulfilling prophecies - the Aztecs believed that their own god had come to destroy them.

Conclusion

The Aztecs, Mayas and Incas had cultures that were quite advanced in many ways. The architecture, calendars, and art of these peoples were at least to European standards, if not superior in quality. The god known as Viracocha / Kukulkan / Quetzalcoatl was said to be responsible for giving these crafts to the Aztecs, Incas, Mayas.

There are many different theories that try to explain the existence of this god. Some historians speculate that the god and his men were actually Europeans (probably Vikings, since they traveled around a lot). Others claim that the god and his people were a group of aliens, which could also explain the various references to this god arriving from the sky. But Viracocha / Kukulkan / Quetzalcoatl could equally well be a mere legend.