Pachamama
Andean fertility goddess
Pacha Mama or Mama Pacha is the Andean deity representing space-time, revered by the peoples of the Andes. In Inca mythology and religion, she is a “mother goddess” type deity, representing the universal energy that connects everything. She is considered an omnipresent deity with creative power, capable of sustaining life in the cosmos. Her shrines are hallowed rocks, or the boles of legendary trees, and her artists envision her as an adult female bearing harvests of potatoes or coca leaves. The four cosmological Quechua principles – Water, Earth, Sun, and Moon – claim Pachamama as their prime origin. Priests sacrifice offerings of llamas, cuy, and elaborate, miniature, burned garments to her. In various myths, she is described as the wife of Pachacámac and mother of Mama Quilla and Inti. She is attributed with the role of mother of the world, from whom the material and spiritual sustenance of human beings comes.