Legend of Wiracocha, principal god and creator of the Incas
Mythica Ecuador™ – A story behind your purchased Poncho
The Incas worshiped several deities, among them the INTI or SUN; but they had only one main god, Wiracocha, the creator of all things in the universe as conceived by the Incas.
Who was Wiracocha?
He is the great god, the creator of pre-Inca and Inca mythology in the Andean region of South America. His full name is said to be Apu Qun Tiqsi Wiraqucha and Con-Tici (also spelled Kon-Tiki) Viracocha.
Wiracocha was one of the most important deities of the Inca Empire, considered as the creator of all things or the substance from which all things originate; he was closely related to the sea and the beginning of life on the planet.
Wiracocha was as important as the sun god (learn more about the Festival of the Sun or “Inti Raymi: The Festival of the Sun and the Harvests”) and the god of storms. In some representations, Wiracocha can be seen wearing the sun as a crown, with a ray in each of his hands and tears in his eyes in the form of rain.
The story of Wiracocha
Wiracocha created the sun, the moon, the stars, he also created humanity by blowing on the stones and from this first creation brainless giants resulted which he did not like; so he destroyed them with a flood, and from the smallest stones he created a better humanity.
Finally, Wiracocha disappeared into the Pacific Ocean (walking on water) never to return. He traveled the world disguised as a beggar, teaching his new creation the basics of civilization, as well as performing numerous miracles. Some sources indicate that he wept upon seeing the suffering of the creatures he had created.
It was believed that Wiracocha would reappear in times of difficulty to once again bring light to his creations that had lost their way.
The Legends of Wiracocha
One of the legends of Wiracocha says that he had a son whom he called Inti, and two daughters, Mama Quilla and Pachamama.
In this legend, he destroys the people of Lake Titicaca with a great flood called Unu Pachakuti, saving only two humans to bring civilization to the rest of the world; These two beings are Manco Capac, son of Inti (sometimes taken as the son of Viracocha), whose name means “splendid foundation”, and Mama Ocllo, which means “mother of fertility”.
The two searched for an appropriate place where the golden rod called ‘Tapac-Yauri’ would sink to found the Inca civilization.
In another legend, it is related that he was the father of the first eight civilized human beings. In some stories, he has a wife named Mama Cocha.
More Interactive Garments by Mythical Ecuador™
Mythical Ecuador™ Printed T-shirt
Mythica Ecuador™ – A story behind your purchased T-shirt
Mythical Ecuador™, a small Ecuadorian company, wants to let you know a little about its cultural and natural wealth.
The main objective of this small interactive text between your purchased shirt and this digital information is to let you know through this short but interesting information about the majestic animal printed on your T-shirt “The Scarlet Macaw”. And of course as lovers of nature and our country Ecuador, we want you to know a little more about us and our natural wealth.
About Ecuador
Ecuador or the Ecuadorian Republic, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a sovereign and multinational country, located in the northwestern region of South America. Its capital is Quito. It is a member of the Andean Community and is organized into twenty-four provinces. It limits to the north with Colombia, to the south and east with Peru and to the west with the Pacific Ocean, which separates it from the Colón archipelago or Galapagos Islands by approximately one thousand kilometers from the continental coast, between the Santa Elena peninsula and the island of San Cristobal. It also limits with Costa Rica by the maritime border of the insular region. The equinoctial line or parallel 0° crosses the country and divides the continental and insular territories in two, thus leaving most of the Ecuadorian territory in the southern hemisphere.
The printed design on the T-shirt
Mythical Ecuador™ presents this unique and exclusive design that represents our trademark, and we want to tell you what our logo means; This design is part of the “Yasuní Collection“.
Our logo is composed of two boxes, within which you can see geometric shapes that create a kind of cross, which is called the Inca cross from which a bird is born in its central part that for us represents a Scarlet Macaw.
The Inca cross is known as the southern cross or chacana. In Quechua, its name means stairway to heaven.
In this design, we can see a very old stone wall, found in the middle of the Amazon. On this stone is our logo carved in it. At the top and under it the Mythical Ecuador Words. The wall has green stains that cover parts of its entire area because nature is unstoppable and on a very old wall this is inevitable.
At the bottom we can see a tunnel covered with exuberant vegetation. Where does this tunnel take us? surely to undiscovered areas of our beautiful Amazon.
Habitat
Scarlet Macaw inhabits tropical humid forests and jungles on the mainland of the Amazon and in small populations in Costa Rica and Panama.
In Ecuador they are found in the most remote jungles and forests in the extreme east, with annual rainfall of more than 1500 mm. In all the provinces of the Amazon with the exception of Zamora Chinchipe, it can of course be found in the Yasuní National Park.
Sound of the Scarlet Macaw
Main Characteristics of the Scaelet Macaw
It is a very intelligent bird with a very long and pointed tail, the beak is bicolor, the upper part is bone white and the lower part is black. The facial skin is almost bare white, it is partially covered by small almost imperceptible reddish feathers that form thin sinuous lines.
It is a large and colorful bird, essentially scarlet in color with pale blue, bright yellow, blue and green feathers. It usually hangs out with blue-and-yellow macaws.
Gregarious birds, they can be seen in pairs or in small groups of up to 15 individuals, sometimes reaching groups of up to 50 individuals.
They usually perch, feed and sleep in the tree dossal, the young separate from their parents at one year of age. Like the rest of the macaws, they are left-handed when it comes to feeding.
Species that present a very slight sexual dimorphism, since the females are smaller and their beak is more curved, thick and short, in addition to the fact that the male’s tail is slightly longer. Even so, it is difficult to determine its sex with the naked eye.
- Feeding
Due to its food needs, it constantly travels between nearby territories in search of food, and this search begins at dawn. Each day, it can move 15 km or more between the areas where it lives and those where it forages; and during seasonal migrations it can travel more than 100 km, depending on the variation of food resources. During these flights it can travel at speeds of more than 50 km/h.
- Visual communication
In addition to his vocalizations, he also has ways of communicating visually; for example, when the feathers on her head are ruffled, it means she is feeling nervous or showing aggression. If the feathers remain completely attached to the head, it may mean that it is scared or stressed. Stomping and wing-spreading, on the other hand, are techniques used to intimidate predators by trying to appear larger, though it may also do this for courtship purposes. They present hierarchical ranks with dominant individuals and submissive individuals.
Threats
They are species appreciated by illegal traffic to market them as pets since they are showy animals, very sociable and quickly form close bonds with people, some are capable of imitating a wide variety of human sounds.
Destruction of their habitat due to deforestation, lumber and oil industries, fires, fragmentation of populations. Currently, most of the birds traded in other countries such as the United States now come from captive breeding, which is an advantage for buyers since they are usually healthier and more domesticable birds, unfortunately in Ecuador the commercialized individuals are extracted directly from nature.
References
- Scarlet Macaw. Recovered from zoobioparqueamaru.com
- Scarlet Macaw Distribution map. Recovered from iucnredlist.org