Muisca Religion
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Muisca religion describes the
religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...
of the
Muisca The Muisca (also called the Chibcha) are indigenous peoples in Colombia and were a Pre-Columbian culture of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense that formed the Muisca Confederation before the Spanish colonization of the Americas. The Muisca spe ...
who inhabited the central highlands of the
Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...
n
Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...
before the
Spanish conquest of the Muisca The Spanish conquest of the Muisca took place from 1537 to 1540. The Muisca people, Muisca were the inhabitants of the central Andes, Andean highlands of Colombia before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors. They were organised in a loose M ...
. The Muisca formed a
confederation A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...
of holy rulers and had a variety of
deities A deity or god is a supernatural being considered to be sacred and worthy of worship due to having authority over some aspect of the universe and/or life. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines ''deity'' as a God (male deity), god or god ...
, temples and rituals incorporated in their culture. Supreme being of the Muisca was Chiminigagua who created light and the Earth. He was not directly honoured, yet that was done through Chía, goddess of the Moon, and her husband Sué, god of the Sun. The representation of the two main celestial bodies as husband and wife showed the complementary character of man and
woman A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or Adolescence, adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functi ...
and the sacred status of marriage.Muisca religion
- Pueblos Originarios - accessed 04-05-2016
The Muisca worshipped their gods at sacred sites, both natural, such as Lake Guatavita, the Siecha Lakes and Lake Tota and constructed; the
Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as visible light a ...
and
Moon Temples The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It orbits around Earth at an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth's diameter). The Moon rotates, with a rotation period (lunar day) that is synchronized to its orbital period (lunar mo ...
in respectively Suamox (the "Rome" or "Mecca" of the Muisca) and Chía, City of the Moon. During these rituals the priests, ''obgues'', performed sacrifices, sometimes
human Humans (''Homo sapiens'') or modern humans are the most common and widespread species of primate, and the last surviving species of the genus ''Homo''. They are Hominidae, great apes characterized by their Prehistory of nakedness and clothing ...
in character. The last public religious ceremony of the Muisca was performed in Ubaque on December 27, 1563. Knowledge about the Muisca religion was brought to Europe by conquistador
Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada y Rivera, also spelled as Ximénez and De Quezada, (; 1509 – 16 February 1579) was a Spanish explorer and conquistador in northern South America, territories currently known as Colombia. He explored the territory n ...
and soldier Juan de Castellanos in the 16th century and by bishop Lucas Fernández de Piedrahita and
friar A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders in the Catholic Church. There are also friars outside of the Catholic Church, such as within the Anglican Communion. The term, first used in the 12th or 13th century, distinguishes the mendi ...
Pedro Simón in the 17th century. Modern Muisca scholars who wrote about the religion of the inhabitants of the
Altiplano Cundiboyacense The Altiplano Cundiboyacense () is a high plateau located in the Eastern Cordillera of the Colombian Andes covering parts of the departments of Cundinamarca and Boyacá. (Do not confuse with The Altiplano or the Altiplano Nariñense, both fur ...
are Javier Ocampo López and Eduard Londoño.


Religious practices

The Muisca were deeply religious people and their rulers had a double role both as political and as religious leaders. The people fasted and also consumed
coca Coca is any of the four cultivated plants in the family Erythroxylaceae, native to western South America. Coca is known worldwide for its psychoactive alkaloid, cocaine. Coca leaves contain cocaine which acts as a mild stimulant when chewed or ...
,
tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...
and
yopo ''Anadenanthera peregrina'', also known as yopo, jopo, cohoba, parica or calcium tree, is a perennial tree of the genus ''Anadenanthera'' native to the Caribbean and South America. It grows up to tall, and has a thorny bark. Its flowers grow ...
with their rituals. Yopo was extracted from ''Anadenanthera'' trees, growing in the Llanos Orientales, to the east of the Muisca territories. The psychoactive seeds of the tree were traded with the Achagua, Guayupe and Tegua and grinded and inhaled using a hollow bird bone or a spoon. The plates from which the yopo was inhaled were made of gold and '' tumbaga'' and well elaborated and decorated. Many of them have been found and are on display in the Museo del Oro. Coca was used in rituals of predictions and to heal diseases. The coca was combined with
cal Cal or CAL may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Cal'' (novel), a 1983 novel by Bernard MacLaverty * "Cal" (short story), a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov * ''Cal'' (1984 film), an Irish drama starring John Lynch and Helen Mir ...
to increase the efficiency of the substance. The cal was saved in '' poporos'', often made of gold or ''tumbaga''.


Deities

A variety of deities have been described by the chroniclers.


Chiminigagua - Supreme Being

Chiminigagua was the creator god of the Muisca who made the light and the Earth. At the beginning of time it was all dark and Chiminigagua sent two large black birds into the skies. From their beaks the light was created and the cosmos illuminated.Ocampo López, 2007, Ch.V, p.218


Chía - goddess of the Moon

Chía was the goddess of the Moon and one of the two gods through which Chiminigagua was honoured. She represented fertility of the Earth and of the people. Chía was married to Súe.Ocampo López, 2007, Ch.V, p.220


Sué - god of the Sun

Súe was the god of the Sun, important for the
agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...
of the Muisca. He and his wife Chía followed each other across the skies, forming the perfect couple in conjunction at New Moon and during solar and
lunar eclipse A lunar eclipse is an astronomical event that occurs when the Moon moves into the Earth's shadow, causing the Moon to be darkened. Such an alignment occurs during an eclipse season, approximately every six months, during the full moon phase, ...
s.


Bachué - mother goddess

The ancestor of all the Muisca was Bachué, mother of humankind who emerged from Lake Iguague with a three-year-old boy in her arms. When the boy grew up, Bachué married her son and traveled around the Muisca territories. Everytime she was pregnant, she bore four to six children. The Muisca believed all the people could be traced back to Bachué. When her children got old, Bachué returned to Lake Iguague with her son and after a final speech they turned into two giant snakes who submerged in the water, making the site sacred for the Muisca.


Bochica - messenger god of civilization

Bochica was the messenger of Chiminigagua and holy teacher of the Muisca. He was an old bearded man sent from heaven to educate the people in weaving, mantle making,
ceramic A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant, and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcela ...
s production and social, moral and political values. He settled in Suamox, where the people organized yearly religious festivities. In the religion of the Muisca, Bochica created the Tequendama Falls, a waterfall west of southern capital Bacatá.Ocampo López, 2007, Ch.V, p.221


Huitaca - rebelling goddess of sexual liberation

Huitaca was the goddess of happiness, pleasure and sexual liberation who rebelled against Bochica. She used to be a beautiful woman teaching the people a long life full of arts and dances. When Bochica found out about her rebellion against his power, he turned Huitaca into a white owl, or alternatively, the moon.


Chibchacum - god of rain and thunder

God Chibchacum represented rain and thunder and protected the traders and the working people in general. He was the patron of Bacatá where the Muisca offered him gold. His revenge upon the people who disobeyed was flooding the
Bogotá savanna The Bogotá savanna is a savanna#Savanna ecoregions, montane savanna, located in the southwestern part of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense in the center of Colombia. The Bogotá savanna has an extent of and an average altitude of . The savanna is si ...
. Bochica stepped in and ordered Chibchacum to carry the Earth on his shoulders, like
Atlas An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of world map, maps of Earth or of a continent or region of Earth. Advances in astronomy have also resulted in atlases of the celestial sphere or of other planets. Atlases have traditio ...
in
Ancient Greece Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically r ...
. Chibchacum was also the god of the numerous
earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...
s in the central Andes.Ocampo López, 2007, Ch.V, p.222


Cuchavira - god of the rainbow

The rainbow was represented by Cuchavira who was born when Bochica created the Tequendama Falls. He was honoured with gold and other sacrifices.


Chaquén - god of sports and fertility

Chaquén was the god of fertility of the Earth and sports. He trained the Muisca to prepare them for wars and the guecha warriors and farmers honoured him to win battles and acquire good harvests. Sexual rituals where the people dressed up in coloured feathered costumes were guarded by Chaquén. He was also the creator of the Colombian national sport: tejo.


Nencatacoa Nencatacoa or Nem-catacoa was the deity, god and protector of the mantle makers, artists and festivities in the Muisca religion and mythology, religion of the Muisca. The Muisca people, Muisca and their Muisca Confederation, confederation were on ...
- god of arts and dance

Nencatacoa was the Muisca god and protector of artists, painters, builders and drunkenness. The people in the Muisca territories worshipped him in large festivities where they got drunk of ''chicha''. Nencatacoa was represented by a fox or bear, dressed in gold. He helped the Muisca build their ''bohíos'', carrying the heavy wooden poles for the construction.


Sites

To honour the gods, the Muisca organised pilgrimages to their temples and other sacred sites. The pilgrimages were accompanied by
music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...
and
dances Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
as well as (
human Humans (''Homo sapiens'') or modern humans are the most common and widespread species of primate, and the last surviving species of the genus ''Homo''. They are Hominidae, great apes characterized by their Prehistory of nakedness and clothing ...
)
sacrifice Sacrifice is an act or offering made to a deity. A sacrifice can serve as propitiation, or a sacrifice can be an offering of praise and thanksgiving. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Gree ...
s. The pilgrimages were led by a group of priests; ''ogques'' in their language Muysccubun, the Spanish called them ''jeques'' or ''xeques''.Ocampo López, 2007, Ch.V, p.226 The priests were trained from childhood to become the religious leaders of the Muisca. An important site for the pilgrimages of the Muisca were the Cojines del Zaque, located in the city of Hunza.


Temples

The most important temples for the Muisca were the Temple of the Sun in sacred city of the Sun Suamox (Muysccubun: "Dwelling of the Sun") and the Temple of the Moon in Chía, the town named after the Moon goddess. Here the people gathered to worship Sué and Chía. Other main temples were built in Guatavita, Bacatá and
Guachetá Guachetá is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Ubaté Province of the Departments of Colombia, department of Cundinamarca Department, Cundinamarca. Guachetá is located at from the capital Bogotá. It borders the Boyacá Department, Boya ...
.Ocampo López, 2013, Ch.1, p.16 In the temples, images of their gods, made of gold and silver, are said to have been created. The sight of these richly decorated yet fragile temples only strengthened the legend of ''
El Dorado El Dorado () is a mythical city of gold supposedly located somewhere in South America. The king of this city was said to be so rich that he would cover himself from head to foot in gold dust – either daily or on certain ceremonial occasions â ...
'' that drew the Spanish conquerors inland from
Santa Marta Santa Marta (), officially the Distrito Turístico, Cultural e Histórico de Santa Marta (), is a port List of cities in Colombia, city on the coast of the Caribbean Sea in northern Colombia. It is the capital of Magdalena Department and the fou ...
. Both the Temple of the Moon in Chía and the Sun Temple in Sogamoso were destroyed. A reconstruction of the latter has been built in the Archaeology Museum in the City of the Sun.


Sacred sites

In the Muisca territories there were a number of natural locations considered sacred, including lakes, rivers, forests and large rocks. People gathered here to perform rituals and sacrifices mostly with gold and emeralds. Important lakes were Lake Guatavita, Lake Iguaque, Lake Fúquene, Lake Tota, the Siecha Lakes, Lake Teusacá and Lake Ubaque.


Sacrifices

The Muisca offered various precious materials to their gods; ''
tunjo A ''tunjo'' (from Chibcha language, Muysccubun: ''chunso'') is a small anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic or zoomorphism, zoomorphic figure elaborated by the Muisca people, Muisca as part of their Muisca art, art. ''Tunjos'' were made of gol ...
s'', were small anthropomorph or zoomorph offer figures made of
gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...
or tumbaga (an alloy of gold,
silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...
and
copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...
). Many of the ''tunjos'' have been recovered from various sites and are displayed in the Museo del Oro. Other offer pieces were
emerald Emerald is a gemstone and a variety of the mineral beryl (Be3Al2(SiO3)6) colored green by trace amounts of chromium or sometimes vanadium.Hurlbut, Cornelius S. Jr., and Kammerling, Robert C. (1991). ''Gemology'', John Wiley & Sons, New York ...
s, snails, cloths and
food Food is any substance consumed by an organism for Nutrient, nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or Fungus, fungal origin and contains essential nutrients such as carbohydrates, fats, protein (nutrient), proteins, vitamins, ...
. Also
parrot Parrots (Psittaciformes), also known as psittacines (), are birds with a strong curved beak, upright stance, and clawed feet. They are classified in four families that contain roughly 410 species in 101 genus (biology), genera, found mostly in ...
s and other colourful birds were used in the sacred rituals as they were considered having a soul.Ocampo López, 2007, Ch.V, p.227


Human sacrifices

Human sacrifices were not uncommon, although those were not practiced anymore when the Spanish conquistadores arrived. Only from verbal tradition we know the Muisca performed them. Jiménez de Quesada wrote that "only captured other tribes, such as the Panche and others, were used for human sacrifices in the rare occasions where humans were offered", while Lucas Fernández de Piedrahita described that "the best sacrifices to the gods were those of human blood". All the chroniclers agree that in ancient times families offered one boy to the priests who raised them as a holy person and at fifteen years (other sources say twelve) these ''moxas'' were sacrificed. This was a great honour for the family and the victims. The sacrifices were performed by taking the heart out of the body or penetrate them with spears. At the Cojines del Zaque the ''moxas'' were sacrificed to Sué, just after sunrise.


See also

*
Aztec religion The Aztec religion is a polytheistic and monistic pantheism in which the Nahua concept of '' teotl'' was construed as the supreme god Ometeotl, as well as a diverse pantheon of lesser gods and manifestations of nature. The popular religion te ...
*
Maya religion The traditional Maya or Mayan religion of the extant Maya peoples of Guatemala, Belize, western Honduras, and the Tabasco, Chiapas, Quintana Roo, Campeche and Yucatán states of Mexico is part of the wider frame of Mesoamerican religion. As ...
* Muzo religion * Inca religion * Muisca astronomy *
Muisca The Muisca (also called the Chibcha) are indigenous peoples in Colombia and were a Pre-Columbian culture of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense that formed the Muisca Confederation before the Spanish colonization of the Americas. The Muisca spe ...
*
Tunjo A ''tunjo'' (from Chibcha language, Muysccubun: ''chunso'') is a small anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic or zoomorphism, zoomorphic figure elaborated by the Muisca people, Muisca as part of their Muisca art, art. ''Tunjos'' were made of gol ...


References


Further reading

* Cobo Betancourt, Juan F. (2024). '' The Coming of the Kingdom: The Muisca, Catholic Reform, and Spanish Colonialism in the New Kingdom of Granada''. Open access. Cambridge University Press. *Correa, François. ''El sol del poder: Simbología y política entre Muiscas del norte de los Andes''. Bogotá: Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Facultad de Ciencias Humanas 2004. *Cousins, Karen. "Shapes of Love in the Miracle Testimonies of the Virgin of Chiquinquirá, New Kingdom of Granada, 1587 to 1694". ''Colonial Latin American Review'' 28, no. 3, (2019): 396-423. *Deardorff, Max. "The Politics of Devotion: Indigenous Spirituality and the Virgin of Chiquinquirá in the New Kingdom of Granada". ''
Ethnohistory Ethnohistory is the study of cultures and indigenous peoples customs by examining historical records as well as other sources of information on their lives and history. It is also the study of the history of various ethnic groups that may or may ...
'' 65, no. 3.(2018): 465-88. *Frassani, Alessia. "La Virgen de Chiquinquirá y la religión muisca". ''Historia y sociedad no. 35 (2028) 61-86. *Langebaek, Carl Henrik. "Buscando sacerdotes y encontrando chuques: De la organización religiosa muisca." ''Revista de Antropología y Arqueología '' 6, no. 1. * * *


External links

*
Nicely animated video about the Muisca and their religious origin
{{Muisca navbox, Mythology and religion, state=expanded
Religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...
Polytheism Religion in South America by former country