CHAPTER 18

OF THE SACRIFICES THE INDIANS MADE TO THE DEVIL, AND OF WHAT THEY CONSISTED

The chief way in which the enemy of God and men has always demonstrated his cunning has been in the multitude and variety of offerings and sacrifices that he has taught the heathen for his worship. And, just as exhausting the creature's substance in the service and honor of the Creator is an admirable act and appropriate to religion, namely, by sacrifice, so the father of lies has contrived to have God's creatures offered and sacrificed to him as their author and lord. The first kind of sacrifices made by men were very simple, with Cain offering the fruits of the earth and Abel the firstlings of his flock; later, Noah and Abraham and the other patriarchs also did this, until through Moses God gave them that long ceremonial in Leviticus wherein so many and different kinds of sacrifices are described, and for different aspects of different things, and with different ceremonies. So also Satan, in some nations, has been pleased to teach them to sacrifice their possessions to him, no matter what they may be. In other nations he has progressed so much in giving them rites and ceremonies of this kind, and so many observances, that it is astonishing and clearly seeks to compete with the ancient law and in many ways to usurp its very ceremonies. All the kinds of sacrifices used by these heathen can be reduced to three: some are sacrifices of insentient things, others are of animals, and others of men. In Peru they were accustomed to sacrifice coca, which is an herb that they value greatly, and maize, which is their wheat, and colored feathers and beads, which they call mono, and seashells, and sometimes gold and silver, making little figures of animals from it; also the fine cloth called cumbi, and fragrant carved wood, and very often burned tallow. These offerings or sacrifices were made to obtain good growing seasons or health, or to deliver them from dangers and evils.

Their ordinary sacrifice of the second kind was of cuies, a type of little animal resembling a rabbit that the Indians frequently eat. And in matters of importance, or in the case of wealthy persons, they offered the sheep of the country, or alpacas (either smooth or fleecy), using great care and ceremony as to their number and colors and times of sacrifice. The method used by the Indians of killing any animal, large or small, according to their ancient ceremony, was the same as that of the Moors, who call it alquible; it consists of seizing the animal by its right foreleg and turning its eyes to the sun, saying different words according to the quality of the animal being killed. For if it were mottled the words were spoken to the chuquilla, or thunder, so that rain would not fail; if it were smooth and white they offered it to the sun with certain words, and if it were fleecy with other words, and if it was a guanaco, which is a dark colored animal, they addressed the sacrifice to Viracocha. And in Cuzco they killed a smooth-skinned animal with this ceremony every day and offered it to the sun and then burned it clad in a red garment, and while it was being burned they threw certain little baskets of coca on the fire (which they called villcaronca). There were people appointed to perform this sacrifice and flocks that served no other purpose. They also sacrificed birds, although this is not as frequent in Peru as in Mexico, where the sacrifice of quail was very common. In Peru they sacrificed birds from the puna (for that is what they call the desert there) when they were about to go to war in order to sap the strength of their enemies' huacas. This sacrifice was called cuzcovicza, or contevicza or huallavicza or sopavicza, and was performed in the following manner: they captured very many kinds of desert birds and gathered a large quantity of thorny wood, called yanlli, and when it had been set alight they piled the birds together, and this pile they called quizo, and threw them on the fire, around which the officials of the sacrifice walked with certain stones both round and pointed, on which many snakes, lions, toads, and tigers were represented, saying usachúm, which means "may our victory be successful," and other words with which they said, "may the strength of our enemies' huacas be lost"; and then they brought out some of their dark colored sheep, which had been imprisoned without food for several days, which were called urcu, and when they killed them they said that just as the hearts of those animals were weakened so their enemies would weaken. And if they saw in these sheep that a certain piece of flesh that is behind the heart had not been consumed by the fast and imprisonment to which the animal had been subjected they thought it a bad omen. And they brought certain black dogs, called apurucos, and killed them and placed them on a plain and with certain ceremonies forced a certain kind of people to eat them. They also performed this sacrifice to prevent the Inca from being injured by poison, and for this ceremony they fasted from morning until the stars appeared and then stuffed themselves and feasted with music, as the Moors do. This sacrifice was the one most favored for use against their enemies' gods, and though nowadays almost all of this has ceased because wars have ceased, nevertheless fairly frequent traces of it have remained for private quarrels of Indians of the common sort, or of chiefs, or some towns with other towns.

They also sacrificed or offered sea shells, which they called mollo, and offered them to fountains and springs, saying that the shells were daughters of the sea, the mother of all waters. These have different names according to their color and so serve for different purposes. These shells are used in almost all kinds of sacrifices, and even today, out of superstition, some people put ground mollo into the native drink. Finally, if they thought it appropriate they offered sacrifices of everything that they sowed and cultivated. There were also Indians appointed to make sacrifices to the fountains, springs, or creeks that passed through their towns or farms or fields, and these were performed at the end of the sowing, so that they would not cease to run and would water their fields. The sorcerers chose these sacrifices according to the omens, and when they had finished they gathered up what was to be sacrificed out of the people's contribution and delivered it to those who were in charge of performing those sacrifices; and they performed them at the beginning of winter, which is the time when fountains and springs and rivers rise owing to the dampness of the season. And they attributed this to their sacrifices and did not sacrifice to the fountains and springs of uninhabited places. This veneration of fountains, springs, streams, creeks, or rivers that pass through a town or fields persists even today, and reverence is also felt for the fountains and rivers of unpopulated places. They pay particular reverence and veneration to the places where two rivers meet and wash there for healing, first rubbing on maize flour or other things and adding different ceremonies; and they do the same in their baths.