SACRED LAKE TITIKAKA
Peru is a land immersed in ancient wisdom, vital to our planet during these
cosmic cycle called an Inti, which means ‘Sun’. This thousand year cycle was
then divided into halves, each of which was referred to as a Pachakuti (“he
who transforms the earth”). The cosmovision of the Andean world is the the
transitional time that divided each Pachakuti and this is characterized as a
time of great changes.
During the five hundred years of the eighth Pachakuti, Pachakutek, the
greatest spiritual leader of the Inkas and the builder of Machu Picchu ruled.
This was a time of light when the Inka Empire flourished and there was
expansion and good fortune.
The ninth Pachakuti, on the opposite side of the duality, brought along with it
the five hundred years of darkness when the christians invaded the Andes.
We are now entering the tenth Pachakuti, which the Andean people refer to
as the returning of Pachakutek, the returning of the Light. This is the time
when the etheric crystal cities of the fourth dimension such as the lost golden
city of Paititi and the eternal etheric city under lake Titikaka will again be
available to us. One of the Solar Discs in the Inka period was in Cusco, and
placed in the Qorikancha, the main Temple of the Sun; it stayed there until
the coming of the Christians. At that time, it was returned to Lake Titikaka
and placed in the Eternal Etheric City inside the Lake. According to the
legend of their origin, this is the place from where the first Inkas, Mallku
Qapak and Mama Oqllo, entered the Earth.
Mallku Qapak and Mama Oqllo
The Solar Disc was used with the capacity of a cosmic computer that
received light information directly from the Universal Mind Source,
Wiraqocha, in the Universe.Upon entering the Temple of Illumination and
opening themselves, the Inkas could have access to the sacred wisdom.
During this age of Pachakuti, the sacred Solar Disc is to be re-activated
accessing the cosmic wisdom. Many of the world’s spiritual leaders, as well as
indigenous teachers, acknowledge the energy of the Andes, which is the
expression of the feminine electromagnetic light, having its centre in Lake
Titikaka. This area is the acknowledged portal through which the new
feminine energies are entering Mother Earth “Pacha Mama”.
We wonder how pre-Columbian and other great cultures had precise
knowledge of astronomy, of planetary and sidereal dimensions, without
possessing today’s technology. These ancient peoples built cities with solar
orientation, they knew about the geographic and magnetic north, verified the
precession of the equinoxes, the arrival of the solstices, the passage of the
Sun at the zenith, the inclination of the axis of the Earth’s rotation axis in
relationship to the ecliptic (Earth’s orbital plane), and the elliptical orbit of the
Earth around the Sun. This is the mystery of the ancients, awakening wonder
and awe as we visit Peru’s sacred sites.
Aymara People
The Aymara people living in the Titikaka Basin and on the islands still
practice their ancient methods of agriculture on stepped terraces that
precede Inkan times. They grow barley, quinoa (a type of pigweed that
produces a small grain), and potato, which originated in the Altiplano.
The remnants of an ancient people, the Uru, still live on floating mats of dried
totora (a reedlike papyrus that grows in dense brakes in the marshy
shallows). From the totora, the Uru and other lake dwellers make their famed
balsas–boats fashioned of bundles of dried reeds lashed together that
resemble the crescent-shaped papyrus craft pictured on ancient Egyptian
monuments. The Uros are singular people and even though they are
withdrawn, they do allow people to visit with them.
SILLUSTANI
Sillustani is an ancient burial ground near lake Titikaka. The tombs are built
above the ground, and with deep symbolism. The ancient people in Peru
believed in a mother earth that created and regulated life. When a person
died, they were mummified in the fetal position, just like they came into the
world. The doors of the tombs face east, because that is where the Sun is
born from the mother earth every day.
AMANTANI
Amantani Island is located 35 km off the city of Puno, 3,810 meters above sea
level (12,700 feet). 3 and a half hours by motorboat. Amantani is a beautiful
island inhabited with warm/hearted and hospital dwellers. Its greatest attraction
is based upon the social, ethnic and archaeological aspects. Among its most
important and well-known places are the temples of Pachatata and Pachamama
dedicated to the cult of the earth. From there on you can have an excellent
vantage point of the lake, as well as a view of the eastern mountain
range~Cordillera Blanca~the Bolivian side with its mountain range.
Lake Titikaka Legend
Titikaka (“Rock of the Puma”) was, according to the legends, the birthplace of
the Andean civilization. Wiraqocha, the creator, brought light into a dark world
by directing the Sun, Moon and stars to rise up out of the lake and take their
place in the sky.
With time the Sun and Moon had children who also rose from the depths of the
lake. These new people were sent out from Titikaka to the four corners of the
earth, with Mallku Qapap and Mama Oqllo and their family clan being sent off to
direct descendant from the Sun. The alleged location of the birthplace of the
Sun, Moon and Mallku Qapap in Titikak is at present on the islands named the
Isla del Sol (Sun island) and Isla de la Luna (Moon island).
ORIGIN OF THE NAME TITICACA
The origin of the name Titicaca is unknown. It has been translated as “Rock
Puma,” as local communities have traditionally interpreted the shape of the lake
to be that of a puma hunting a rabbit. “Titicaca” combines words from the local
languages Quechua and Aymara. The word is also translated as “Crag of
Lead.” Locally, the lake goes by several names. Because the southeast quarter
of the lake is separate from the main body (connected only by the Strait of
Tiquina), the Bolivians call it Lago Huiñaymarca (Quechua: Wiñay Marka) and
the larger part Lago Chucuito.
In Peru, these smaller and larger parts are referred to as Lago Pequeño and
Lago Grande, respectively.
UROS
Titicaca is notable for a population of people
who live on the Uros, a group of 42 or so
artificial islands made of floating reeds (totora, a
reed that abounds in the shallows of the lake).
These islands have become a major tourist
attraction for Peru, drawing excursions from the
lakeside city of Puno. Their original purpose was
defensive, and they could be moved if a threat
arose. Many of the islands contain watchtowers
largely constructed of reeds.
TAQUILE
35 kilometres east of Puno. It is narrow and long
Colony and into the 20th century.
In 1970 it became property of the Taquile
people, who have inhabited the island since
then (current population around 3,000).
Pre-Inca ruins are found on the highest part of
the island, and agricultural terraces on hillsides.