Vichama- Inca GodDeity
Domains
Description
Born of the sun and absent when Pachacamac murdered his mother, Vichama returned to find her body scattered across the land as crops. He turned Pachacamac's people to stone and asked the sun to create new humans from three eggs — gold, silver, and copper.
Mythology & Lore
The Absent Son
Vichama was born of the sun god Inti and a woman of the central Peruvian coast. While he was away traveling the world, Pachacamac, the powerful creator god of the coastal peoples, turned against his mother. He killed her and dismembered her body, scattering the pieces across the land. Where her teeth fell, corn grew. Where her bones were buried, yuca took root. Antonio de la Calancha recorded this tradition in his 1638 chronicle.
The Avenger
When Vichama returned and found his mother dead, his grief turned to consuming wrath. He pursued Pachacamac across the coast, but the older god was swift. Pachacamac threw himself into the sea at the site that would bear his name, sinking beneath the waves just beyond Vichama's reach. Unable to seize his mother's killer, Vichama turned his fury on the humans Pachacamac had created, transforming them into the stone outcrops and boulders that line the shore.
The Three Eggs
Vichama gathered the scattered pieces of his mother's body and restored her to life. Then he asked his father the sun to create new humans to repopulate the coast, and Inti sent down three eggs: one of gold, one of silver, and one of copper. From the golden egg came the curacas, the chiefs and lords. From the silver egg came their wives and the noble women. From the copper egg came the common people.
Relationships
- Family
- Enemy of