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Table 6.1
Examples of feminine-masculine complementarity in the Aymara worldview
Eco-social level
of organization
Feminine
Masculine
Human persons
Warmi
(woman)
Chacha
(man)
Tayka
/
Ipa
(aunt)
Awki
/
Tiyu
(uncle)
Mama
(mother)
Tata
(father)
Awicha
(grandmother)
Achachila
(grandfather)
Nature and animals
Pachamama
(feminine divinity)
Achachila
(masculine divinity)
Qachu qala
(males stone)
Urqu qala
(female stone)
Urqusuyo
(masculine space)
Qachusuyo
(feminine space)
Supernatural
Pachamama
(mother earth)
Achachila
(masculine hills and
mountains)
Phaxsimama
(mother moon)
Intitata
(father sun)
Uywri
(grandmother protector
of the home)
Kunturmamani
(grandfather
protector of the home)
Social organization
Women to the left
Men to the right
Sacred places
Wak'a awicha
(feminine place)
Wak'a achachila
(masculine place)
in which harmony and equilibrium are fundamental values. This is manifested in
traditional economic, socio-political, and religious practices. Everything is pre-
sented as complementarities. Nothing exists alone; the feminine and the mascu-
line complement each other in multiple levels of socio-ecological organization
(Table
6.1
).
Table
6.1
shows only a few examples of the complementarity between feminine
and masculine. Feminine-masculine complementarity is extended into all dimen-
sions of life, including planting and harvesting, seed selection, traditional medicine,
and religious functions. Even the “ritual of forgiveness” is complementary and com-
munitarian. It consists in asking for forgiveness and then receiving it from all the
men and women in order to re-establish equilibrium and harmony (Quispe
1996
,
p. 45). Complementarity in the Aymara mentality “includes not only men but also
the feminine complement with all that exists on earth and in heaven, absolutely
everything is interrelated through relationships of reciprocity” (Nina
1991
, p. 172).
Complementarity, equilibrium, and reciprocity make up the formative para-
digm of all socio-ecological relationships, including the human couple. In the-
ory, neither male nor female is valued over the other. The relationship is one of
mutual equality and the obligations of each correspond to those of the other.
From an early age this model shows children how to be persons:
jaqi.
In Aymara
worldview,
jaqi
exists in relationships of complementarity. The couple is the
organizing center of life, and it exists in multiple dimensions that include both
human and natural beings, among which there are traditional economic, socio-
political and religious practices (Fig.
6.3
).
Personhood is not granted to the individual but to the couple. Only when a
young man and woman marry are they considered complete and are recognized
as
jaqi- chachawarmi
or a couple. As a married couple they are considered to
be one. Until they marry, they are considered minors. However, upon marriage
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