Chasca- Inca GodDeity
Also known as: Ch'aska and Chasca Coyllur
Description
Chasca's name means 'tangled' or 'disheveled,' evoking the shimmering beams Venus throws off near the horizon. Appearing at dawn to herald the sun and at twilight to attend the moon, Chasca carried light between day and night.
Mythology & Lore
Star of Dawn and Twilight
Chasca personified Venus as both morning and evening star. Garcilaso de la Vega noted that the Inca called the planet Chasca for its radiant, shimmering appearance near the horizon, a celestial body so bright it seemed to throw off tangled beams of light that quivered and curled in the atmosphere. Its appearance in the eastern sky before dawn heralded the coming of Inti; its presence in the western sky at twilight announced the approaching rule of night and Mama Quilla.
Pachacuti Yamqui included Ch'aska Quyllur in his famous cosmological diagram drawn around 1613, placing the planet among the essential celestial beings that structured the Inca universe alongside the sun, moon, and major constellations. The Inca tracked Venus's movements carefully from astronomical observation platforms. The planet's complex cycle, appearing as morning star for months, disappearing, then reappearing as evening star, marked significant transitions in the ritual year.
Relationships
- Serves