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Muisca religion describes thereligion of theMuisca who inhabited the central highlands of theColombianAndes before theSpanish conquest of the Muisca. The Muisca formed aconfederation of holyrulers and had a variety ofdeities, temples and rituals incorporated in their culture. Supreme being of the Muisca wasChiminigagua who created light and the Earth. He was not directly honoured, yet that was done throughChía, goddess of the Moon, and her husbandSué, god of the Sun. The representation of the two main celestial bodies as husband and wife showed the complementary character of man andwoman and the sacred status of marriage.[1]
The Muisca worshipped their gods at sacred sites, both natural, such asLake Guatavita, theSiecha Lakes andLake Tota and constructed; theSun andMoon Temples in respectivelySuamox (the "Rome" or "Mecca" of the Muisca) andChía, City of the Moon. During these rituals the priests,obgues, performed sacrifices, sometimeshuman in character. The last public religious ceremony of the Muisca was performed inUbaque on December 27, 1563.[2]
Knowledge about the Muisca religion was brought to Europe by conquistadorGonzalo Jiménez de Quesada and soldierJuan de Castellanos in the 16th century and by bishopLucas Fernández de Piedrahita andfriarPedro Simón in the 17th century. ModernMuisca scholars who wrote about the religion of the inhabitants of theAltiplano Cundiboyacense areJavier Ocampo López and Eduard Londoño.[3][4]
The Muisca were deeply religious people and theirrulers had a double role both as political and as religious leaders. The people fasted and also consumedcoca,tobacco andyopo with their rituals.[5] Yopo was extracted fromAnadenanthera trees, growing in theLlanos Orientales, to the east of the Muisca territories. The psychoactive seeds of the tree weretraded with theAchagua,Guayupe andTegua and grinded and inhaled using a hollow bird bone or a spoon. The plates from which the yopo was inhaled were made of gold andtumbaga and well elaborated and decorated. Many of them have been found and are on display in theMuseo del Oro.[6] Coca was used in rituals of predictions and to heal diseases. The coca was combined withcal to increase the efficiency of the substance. The cal was saved inpoporos, often made of gold ortumbaga.
A variety of deities have been described by thechroniclers.
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.[7]
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.[8]
Súe was the god of the Sun, important for theagriculture of the Muisca. He and his wife Chía followed each other across the skies, forming the perfect couple in conjunction at New Moon and duringsolar andlunar eclipses.[8]
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.[8]
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,ceramics 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 theTequendama Falls, a waterfall west of southern capitalBacatá.[9]
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 awhite owl, or alternatively, the moon.[9]
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 theBogotá savanna. Bochica stepped in and ordered Chibchacum to carry the Earth on his shoulders, likeAtlas inAncient Greece. Chibchacum was also the god of the numerousearthquakes in the central Andes.[10]
The rainbow was represented by Cuchavira who was born when Bochica created the Tequendama Falls. He was honoured with gold and other sacrifices.[10]
Chaquén was the god of fertility of the Earth and sports. He trained the Muisca to prepare them for wars and theguecha 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.[10]
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 ofchicha. Nencatacoa was represented by a fox or bear, dressed in gold. He helped the Muisca build theirbohíos, carrying the heavy wooden poles for the construction.[10]
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To honour the gods, the Muisca organised pilgrimages to their temples and other sacred sites. The pilgrimages were accompanied bymusic anddances as well as (sometimeshuman)sacrifices. The pilgrimages were led by a group of priests;ogques in their languageMuysccubun, the Spanish called themjeques orxeques.[1][11][12] The priests were trained from childhood to become the religious leaders of the Muisca.[13] An important site for the pilgrimages of the Muisca were theCojines del Zaque, located in the city ofHunza.
The most important temples for the Muisca were theTemple of the Sun in sacred city of the SunSuamox (Muysccubun: "Dwelling of the Sun") and theTemple of the Moon inChía, the town named after the Moon goddess. Here the people gathered to worship Sué and Chía.[11] Other main temples were built inGuatavita,Bacatá andGuachetá.[14] 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 ofEl Dorado that drew the Spanish conquerors inland fromSanta Marta.[15]
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 theArchaeology Museum in the City of the Sun.
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 wereLake Guatavita,Lake Iguaque,Lake Fúquene,Lake Tota, theSiecha Lakes, Lake Teusacá andLake Ubaque.[11]
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The Muisca offered various precious materials to their gods;tunjos, were smallanthropomorph orzoomorph offer figures made ofgold ortumbaga (an alloy of gold,silver andcopper). Many of thetunjos have been recovered from various sites and are displayed in theMuseo del Oro. Other offer pieces wereemeralds, snails, cloths andfood. Alsoparrots and other colourful birds were used in the sacred rituals as they were considered having a soul.[16]
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 thePanche and others, were used for human sacrifices in the rare occasions where humans were offered", whileLucas Fernández de Piedrahita described that "the best sacrifices to the gods were those of human blood".[1]
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)[14] thesemoxas 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.[1] At the Cojines del Zaque themoxas were sacrificed to Sué, just after sunrise.
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