The Pachamama is the Earth Goddess in Incan tradition. She holds divine power over the harvest and the sowing, over agricultural fertility, over Peru’s natural majesties and its disasters. She is the ruler of the facets of Andean life that are perhaps most vital for sustenance, industry, livelihood, and flourishing.
But who is this almighty master first and foremost?
She is a mother, a (Pacha)mama, a “Madre Tierra.”
I was moved to learn about the Pachamama at Museo al Larco in Lima. How stunning it is for the most fundamental, precarious, and fate-shaping of duties to be relegated to a maternal figure--especially amidst a largely patriarchal backdrop in Peru.
Upon my arrival to Cuzco, I was amazed to find that this image of mothers as entities of power is not solely limited to Incan culture but also extends to depictions of motherhood in Peru's Catholic tradition.
At Amtallpa San Blas Hotel where we stayed, I was struck by the number of paintings adorning the walls that depicted Saint Mary breastfeeding baby Jesus. Why did this specific act seem to be represented so prolifically in Peruvian works of art? Professor Falconí and Elvira informed me that images of breastfeeding were meant to convey the sacrality of mothers as givers of life and divine transmitters of nourishment, thus instantiating the power of the maternal role in Peruvian society.
I found this deeply meaningful--that the physiological capability perhaps most inherent in motherhood has been represented with such reverence so as to sustain the holy body of Christ.
I can't imagine a much more compelling portrayal of the power of mothers than this.
As if the spirit of Saint Mary has diffused from these works of art and onto the streets of Cuzco, maternal divinity and strength can be found in every direction.
In daily life, women seamlessly blend the delicate duties of motherhood with those of vigorous work and survival.
They hold their children close and tend to their needs while they seek to sell, earn, and make a living for their families.
They do the simple but sacred daily work of walking their sons and daughters home from school.
They share kisses, embraces, ice creams. They give and they take.
They steadfastly engage in these ordinary yet beautiful acts of intimacy ... generation to generation.
Pachamama.
Saint Mary.
The everyday Cusqueñan mother.
Oh, how maternal power and holiness fill the Andes!
"La madre es el ser más cercano a Dios, porque en su amor refleja el amor divino."
This was so beautiful. It made me cry.