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Geographers and other Andeanist scholars have approached religion as causality
of Andean identity and also have pointed to the important contribution of miscege-
nation and syncretic rites (Cachiguango et al.
2001
; Borsdorf,
In Press
).
Anthropologists of different disciplinary lineages (Murra et al.
1986
) have explored
the notion that the ability to pair opposites requires admitting the presence of in-
betweens. A few references exist to this Andean trait from the material world. The
Waylaka
is half man, half woman.
Waylaka
represents more than the ability of a
transvestite to dress like a
Chinchiru
woman who behaves like a strong young male
from the
Kutsku
area, because
Waylaka
stumbles upon the plaza waving a white fl ag
on a pole and places it on top of a
mujun
, a pile of dirt setting the boundaries of the
in-betweens. Another important example comes from the
mallki
, the mummifi ed
body of ancestors that are kept in people's dwellings. They are in-between the dead
and the alive, forming a triad that explains the Andean philosophy of space and time
(
pacha
), having the past in front (where it can be seen) and the future behind (where
it cannot be seen). The mummy (
mallki)
is the personifi cation of animistic guidance
given from the other world to followers in this one. For example, former emperors
(
Sapa Inka
) were always mummifi ed and kept in the main temple of the capital city
(
kurikancha
) or in the most important places (
wak'a
) located on mountaintops, on
top of pyramidal structures (
ushnu
), or on the main corner of fortress buildings
(
machay
), often in trapezoidal niches in the wall, emulating the shape of
Inka
windows. On ceremonial mountain festival days, these mummies were paraded in
the streets for prayers and other celebrations around Andean townships. When for-
eigners arrived, they were taken to the 'room of knowledge' or
rixsiwasi
, with the
goal of consulting the
mallki
who became an oracle, foretelling the reaction of the
community towards the newcomers. Often decorated with jewelry, fi ne clothing,
pottery full of fermented corn drink (
chicha
), and food grains (
tarwi, kinwa
), the
decorated
mallki
was placed in the most important room of the house (
pacarina)
.
This is a place of adoration and reverence, where heirlooms and cherished llama
fi gurines, feathers, and other elements considered of value for the afterlife, such as
coca leaves (
kuka
) and lime, are guarded. Having the in-betweens, therefore,
becomes a fact of life, just like zombie categories that are taken from time to time
as needed to fi t current paradigms of development (Gudynas
2011
). Thus, the ability
to break the dualism by having a spiritual in-between, helped to translate the
Catholic tradition of the sacred Trinity to understanding the essence of being
Andean, refl ecting a negotiation between the body and the mind as
Yanantin
, negoti-
ated by the spirit as
Masintin
(Webb
2013
). For instance, in colonial times, religious
processions by Catholic priests and non-native pious parishioners, gained popular-
ity and fervor amongst the natives; their tradition of parading mummies, made reli-
gious processions an important bridge of syncretism. Non-natives and natives alike
walked the streets chanting to Roman Catholic gods, saints, and colonial statues of
the virgin Mary, while the deeper connection was observed by the indigenes in the
longing for their Andean oracles
mallki, pachamama,
and
intitayta
with substitute
representations of
Masintin
expressed in statues or paintings of the 'Escuela
Quiteña' taken from the altars onto the streets (Vásquez
1998
).
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