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Inca empire culture
Rituals in different religions essay
Inca empire culture
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The Andean/Incan people
The Andean/Incan people lived in the vast majority of the Andean Mountain ranges of Peru. They were mainly polytheistic and believed it was a series of gods who were responsible for providing the rain, maize, sun, etc. that was needed for daily survival.
Viracocha was the main and greatest god. He was held solely responsible for the creation of Earth, animals and man. He made men out of stone, replicated them and destroyed them according to his whim. Viracocha was considered he divine protector of the Incan rulers or “Incani’s”.
Inti, the Sun god was the head of the state cult whose worship was mandatory. Every year a special festival called Inti-Raymi was held in Inti’s and the suns honor. Animal sacrifices and ritual dances marked and were often the highlight of the celebration.
Daily prayers were addressed to Apu Illapu, the rain giver, who was responsible for sustaining the Incans food sources. His temples were set high on a mountain so in case there was a flood, the temple would not be destroyed. A flood signified Apu Illapu’s anger and meant a pilgrimage with human sacrifice was necessary to appease him.
Human sacrifice was not widely practices in the Incan religion as opposed to the Aztec religion where human sacrifices were the norm. Both the Incan and the Aztec believed that human sacrifice was a necessity to appease the gods. They felt there was no greater gift than giving your life to a god. Therefore, the sacrificial person as well as the god was honored. Festivals and daily prayers were often marked with dancing, singing and special prayers to the particular god of what they desired. Both fasting and feasting marked super special festivals.
Penitential rituals must be observed if a particular god is displeased. Murder as an act of war was not a punishable offense whereas murder as an act of vengeance was the gravest sin to be committed.
Birth, puberty, marriage and death were all times for special rituals and sacrifices. Therefore, the Andean people’s lives mainly revolved around their religion as, without the gods, they would have nothing.
The Spaniards
The Spanish conquerors and missionaries arrived upon the New World around 1492 but it took a few years for them to get acclimated to the people and area before they started the conversion of the natives. The Spaniards were staunch Christians and mainly Catholics, under the rule of the Spanish Catholic monarchy.
In An American Soldier in World War I, David Snead examines account of George Browne, a civil engineer who fought as part of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) during World War I. Snead shares Browne’s account of the war through the letters he wrote to his fiancé Martha Ingersoll Johnson. Through Browne’s letters and research conducted of the AEF, Snead gives a concise, informative, and harrowing narrative of life as a soldier serving in the camps and front lines of the Great War. Snead attempts to give the reader an understanding of Browne’s service by focusing on his division, the 42nd Division, their training and preparation, combat on the front lines, and the effects of war on George and Martha’s relationship. As Snead describes, “Brownie’s letters offer a view of the experiences of an American soldier. He described the difficulties of training, transit to and from France, the dangers and excitement of combat, and the war’s impact on relationships.” (Browne 2006, 2) Furthermore, he describes that despite the war’s effect on their relationship, “their
Thus, historians ought to emphasize the significance of human sacrifice, and not their agriculture, when discussing the Aztecs. Religion is clearly a vital part of the Aztec culture. They had at least 128 gods, including but not limited to the divine beings of “rain, fire, water, corn, the sky, and the sun.” They were honored in numerous ways: ceremonies and festivals, dances and feasts, and by having humans sacrificed to them. Background Essay:
Why did the culture and customs require human blood to survive? How did high Aztec society view these sacrifice? These answers are easy to obtain using anthropology and archeology and historical documents from the time such as the infamous letters of Cortez. To the first question o why did the Aztecs practice human sacrifice to understand the reasons one must understand their epic religious beliefs. The Aztecs thought the world would end if they did not sacrifice human blood to their gods. The Gods were always locked in an epic battle and needed human blood to keep the universe from being destroyed. According to Aztec mythology, this world was the fifth and last universe so human blood was needed to continue the universe and prevent its destruction. The world had been destroyed four times before by the gods and it was up to the Aztecs who thought they were in the center of the world to stop its
Pascal’s Wager was a major strength of his theory on God and Religion. The argument made in Pascal’s Wager is an example of apologetic philosophy. It was written and published in Pensées by the 17th century French philosopher Blaise Pascal. Pascal’s Wager claims that all humans must bet their lives on whether God exists. He argues that rational people should seek to believe in God. If God does not exist the loss is minimal, but if God does exist there is an infinite gain, eternity in Heaven. It was a ground-breaking theory because it utilized probability theory and formal decision theory. Pascal’s Wager is applicable both to atheists and theists. While other philosophies may
Of these scholarly articles, Pascal’s Wager: A Critique, by Simon Blackburn, may hold the most weight. Blackburn argues against two critical points of Pascal’s theory: the concepts of metaphysical ignorance and religious pluralism. In Blackburn’s objection from metaphysical ignorance, he argues that a logical person cannot assume that there is an infinite gain or loss for believing or not believing in God, respectively. Pascal assumes a Christian viewpoint of heaven and hell. No human is in the position to declare his or her own destiny after death based on whether or not they believe. For example, God could have motives to punish those who believe in him by subjecting them to eternity in hell and nobody would know until after death. However, a reasonable person can disregard this theory because the prospect of God rewarding those who believe is much more likely than God rewarding those who do not. Also, believing that God would punish someone for believing is still a belief in God, and therefore, if that person truly believes that that is what God wants, then he should be rewarded if he is true. Nevertheless, he still justifiably believes in
Pascal’s Wager is an argument that tries to convince non-theists why they should believe in the existence of the Christian god. Pascal thinks non-theists should believe in God’s existence because if a non-theist is wrong about the existence of God they have much more to lose than if a theist is wrong about the existence of God.
“The essential psychological effect of trauma is a shattering of innocence” (Margolies). A shattering of innocence means that a person can never look at the world in the same way because they are always afraid of another traumatic event. “In order to be diagnosed with PTSD, a person must have three different types of symptoms: re-experiencing symptoms, avoidance and numbing symptoms, and arousal symptoms” ("Post Traumatic Stress Disorder."). Re-experiencing symptoms include ones that are triggered by past memories of the situation. Avoidance and numbing symptoms occur when the person is trying to avoid everything related to the event such as certain locations or television shows that could have a possible relation to the traumatic event. Arousal symptoms happen when the victim is constantly alert for another traumatic event. One of the most serious effects of PTSD is that the victims “may develop additional disorders such as depression, substance abuse, problems of memory and cognition, and other problems of physical and mental health” ("Post Traumatic Stress Disorder."). Substance abuse, for example, can drastically change the human body mentally and physically. These effects and symptoms usually last longer than 3 months
The Spaniards arrived at the Americas prior to the English. The Spanish mainly wanted to explore in the first place because after the Black Death, the population increased, and thus, so did the frequency of commerce. There was a sudden new interest in new products and the new strong monarchs who sponsored the journeys wanted to be more affluent. Therefore, explorers such as Christopher Columbus attempted to go west to target Asia. However, he ended up on Cuba and called the natives Indians. The Spanish soon started to consider the Americas less of a blockage and could now see it as a source of resources. In 1518, Cortes arrived into Mexico with his group of conquistadors, or conquerors, which is a proper name because the men after gold exterminated native areas using their military skills, brutality and greed to turn the Southern America into a vast Spanish empire. The smallpox the Spanish unknowingly carried also helped wipe many people out. When they saw the religious ceremonies of the Aztecs that produced many skulls, they thought of these people as savages and not entirely human. This of coarse was quite hypocritical because the Spanish have killed before during the Inquisition for their faith. It was this contempt that made them think it was all right to slaughter the natives. Spanish colonies were established when conquistadors had gotten a license to finance the expedition from the crown to fixture encomiendas. These encomiendas were basically Indian villages that became a source of labor. The Spanish dreamed of becoming wealthier from South America, but they also wanted a profitable agricultural economy and to spread their Catholic religion (the Pueblo Indians converted to Christianity), which became very important in the 1540s.
According to Aztec legend, the first world was created by a dual god- meaning that it was both a female and male- called Ometeotl. The Aztec pantheon included hundreds of gods, all who originated from Ometeotl himself. The Aztecs also believed that the gods represented forces of nature, such as rain, and also human characteristics (Benson 504). Prior to the current world the Aztecs believed that there were four other worlds, all which ended with a major catastrophe. After the end of the fourth world all the gods gathered at the Aztec’s main city, or Teotihuacán, to discuss the creation of the fifth world. They chose two gods: a wealthy, healthy one and a poor, sickly one that would both jump into the sacrificial fire. When they were sacrificed the first sunrise of t...
Carrasco shows that sacrificing was key to the Mesoamericans. Their entire belief is through world renewing, world making, and world centering. Both Aztecs and Mayans revolved their society around structures that they thought was centered around the universe. Each one believed that their society revolved around the universe. Sacrifices such as autosacrifice, removing the heart while the person was still alive was a daily ritual with the Aztecs, and Mayans. The purpose for public sacrificing was to feed the gods and make the them happy with their people. The type of people sacrificed was the beautiful and the captured warriors after a war. The beautiful was sacrificed because the gods didn't give any distinct quality to be remembered for such as a disfigured face.
Both the Mayas and the Aztecs worshipped their gods through human sacrifice. The Olmecs were so dedicated to their gods that they transported 50 tons of boulders from the mountains to the shore. For the Mayas, even their games were related to their religion. The Aztec society was constantly at war for the sole purpose of making sacrifices to their many gods. Religion dominated the cultures of these Mesoamerican empires.
PTSD is a debilitating mental illness that occurs when someone is exposed to a traumatic, dangerous, frightening, or a possibly life-threating occurrence. “It is an anxiety disorder that can interfere with your relationships, your work, and your social life.” (Muscari, pp. 3-7) Trauma affects everyone in different ways. Everyone feels wide ranges of emotions after going through or witnessing a traumatic event, fear, sadness and depression, it can cause changes in your everyday life as in your sleep and eating patterns. Some people experience reoccurring thoughts and nightmares about the event.
Thesis statement: In this research, I will investigate the basic concepts of the Egyptian mythology and its gods.
People of the ancient world often had questions about their existence and how life and people came to be on earth. Most ancient people answered these questions through religion. The Sumerians were the first important group of people to inhabit Mesopotamia and they were known to practice a form of worship called polytheism, which is the worship of several gods. Mesopotamians associated different gods with natural events, emotions, and other occurrences. Their main deities included An (the god of the heavens), Enlil (Lord Storm), Enki (god of wisdom), and Nihursaga (the mother of all living things)(p.22). The Mesopotamians believed that the gods controlled all of the events and occurrences in life. An ancient text called “Creation of Man by the Mother Goddess” (p.34) helps us understand how the M...
Religious officials and their roles in Mayan society reflect on how seriously the Mayans took religion and how organized it was. Ceremonies, such as sacrifices, are evidence of how the Mayans honored their gods and how they believed the world worked. All are important to understanding the Mayan religion. Works Cited Chase, Diane Z. and Arlen F. Chase. Changes in Maya Religious Worldview.