The Absent Flame: On Theophanies, Silence, and the Divine That Keeps Appearing - Part 1

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1. The Andes: Viracocha (Inca / Pre-Inca Myth)

• Origin: Pre-Inca mythology, later integrated into Inca cosmology.
• Attributes: Creator of all things, god of storms and water, associated with civilizing humanity after a great flood.
• Myths:
  • Emerges from Lake Titicaca or the Pacific Ocean.
  • Creates the sun, moon, stars, and then humanity.
  • Walks the Earth, teaching laws, arts, and order, sometimes weeping for humanity’s future.
  • After completing his work, disappears across the ocean to the west, walking on water.
  • Descriptions: Tall, light-skinned, bearded, wearing long robes.

2. Tiahuanaco & the Altiplano (Bolivia / Peru)

• Stone iconography: The “Gateway of the Sun” depicts a god often believed to be Viracocha or Tunupa.
• The bearded and weeping figure is seen as a civilizing force.
• The myths say he wandered punished or mocked, and his presence reshaped mountains and rivers.

3. Aymara Myth (Bolivia)

• Tunupa: Sometimes identified with or considered an avatar of Viracocha.
• He tried to bring justice, was mocked, tied to a raft, and sent down the river—a pattern similar to Moses.
• His tears are said to have created lakes or rivers.

4. Ecuador and Colombia

• Mythical figures described as bearded white men arriving by sea.
• Taught metalwork, agriculture, calendar, and medicine.
• Left again, promising to return.
• Known by different names, but always light-skinned, peaceful, and divine.

5. Mesoamerica – Quetzalcoatl, Kukulkan, Gucumatz

• Quetzalcoatl (Aztec):
  • Feathered Serpent deity.
  • God of wisdom, learning, wind, and creation.
  • Taught agriculture, writing, calendar, and ethics.
  • Bearded, pale-skinned, arrived from the East.
  • Departed eastward by sea, promising to return.

• Kukulkan (Yucatán Maya):
  • Civilizing deity.
  • Described as a serpent man or white-robed stranger.
  • Appears in Chichén Itzá temple myths.
  • Taught the people and departed across the sea.

• Gucumatz (K’iche’ Maya):
  • Co-creator of humanity in the Popol Vuh.
  • Linked to feathered serpents and the wind.
  • Spiritual rather than human-like, but shares traits.

6. Chachapoya (Northern Peru) )

• Known as the “Cloud People”.
• Myths describe visitors who built massive structures and introduced laws, sometimes thought to be Viracocha’s emissaries or similar figures.

7. Guarani and Tupi Legends (Brazil, Paraguay) )

• Myths speak of white-robed visitors arriving by boat, often mistaken as spirits or gods.
• These beings taught and healed, then vanished.

Continue to Part 2 →