Glossary of Terminology
of the Shamanic & Ceremonial Traditions
of the Inca Medicine Lineage

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icaro, ikaro (Span.): (n) Derived most likely from the jungle Quichua verb ikaray, the Spanish word icaro designates the magical lyrics, incantations, either whistled or spoken, learned by the shaman through the diet of plant teachers. POP Magical or medicine song that constitute the quintessence of shamanic power and are acquired from spirit helpers. Icaros are given to the shaman by the spirits of the plants the shaman is ingesting and learning to heal with. (See, yachay.) The icaro has material and immaterial qualities representing a transference of the spirits of the entheogenic plants with all of the animal and human form manifestations into the shaman's own body. Once you know the icaro of a plant, you no longer need to consume that plant. Icaros must be sung perfectly for them to work. AYV Air or force charged with positive energy. EMM Having strong icaros is essential for surviving as a medicine man. MSIN Amazonian medicine/healing song. Common to both tarjos and icaros, there is an opening chorus that is used to set the healing ground. Once sacred space is created, the curandero must then allow the medicine song to sing itself. It could be said that when this occurs, the curandero no longer sings the song, the song begins to sing the curandero, ultimately delivering the medicine that Spirit deems appropriate for the given occasion. PSPM (See, Appendix E for much more on icaros.)

ichu: (n) Stipa ichu. Peruvian feather grass which grows extensively in the Andean altiplano. It is used as fodder for livestock, roofing, rope making. WIKI The ichu grass had some obscure mythological meaning. DYE

Stipa ichu. Peruvian feather grass blowing in the wind.

ichuri, ychuri, ychuiri, ychurichuc: (n) (1) Grassman. A special class of shaman from Collao (home of the ancestors of the Aymara) who heard confessions of sin, imposed penances, and purified those who sought their services. Sin had a community connotation throughout ancient Peru, for unconfessed sins were believed to exert a blighting effect on the social group. Penance and purification took place on riverbanks. The penitent confessed in secret into a bunch of ichu grass (see, above). Then he transferred the sin to the grass by spitting on it. The grass (and the sin) were thrown into the water, to be carried far from the reach of humanity. A ceremonial bath in the water completed purification. WOFW The role of these professionals in the community was considered very highly They were revered as saintly personalities essential to the well-being of the individual and the group. The reason for this prestige was that they were the only ones who could pardon sin. Illness was interpreted as a punishment of the gods for some wrong-doing, good health was directly associated to a state of grace obtained only through confession to an ichuri. The sinner would accompany the ichuri to an isolated place and prostrate, recite one by one all of his crimes, vices and wrong doings (an evil thought was not considered a sin; only the consummated actions against the laws of the community). The ichuri, who probably knew his brethren better than anyone else, saw to it that no offense remained occult in this act of confession. If he was not satisfied, he would punish, even torture, the sinner until everything was said. Then he would do some magic passes over the penitent and, taking a handful of ichu, he would throw it into the current of a river. With the grass went all the sins and their ill effects and also went the memory of the event, signifying the complete privacy of the confession. When the confessor judged that the person was too great a sinner, he increased the penitence as follows: he brought a person who had a congenital defect who went to the penitent to the river to make the usual washing; having washed, the person with the congenital defect whipped the penitent with poison ivy. For this purpose there was in Cusco a small host of those congenitally crippled who were in charge of these chores. The ichuris were sworn to absolute secrecy before they were given credentials to work in the community. They were neither judges nor spies. Their holy action was directed only to the liberation of the human soul from sin. Once this was done in complete privacy, the sin was forgotten by the gods and its occult dangers were averted. This was not intended to be curative; it was mainly a prophylactic ceremony. Ichuris lived frequently isolated in the deserted plains of the Andes [the puna] where the ichu grows. They led an ascetic life of sacrifice and meditation, suffering cold and fasting for long periods. Most of them came from the priestly caste or from guacacues. DYE (2) The revealing of misdeeds, usually to the priestly attendants (ychurichuc) of huacas. If the confessor felt that the person was telling less than the whole truth, he or she might resort to divination to settle the issue and would use a stone to pummel the bent back of anyone considered to be lying. IAWS NMHI

idioma (Span): (n) The icaro with which a vegetalista communicates with the spirits of the plants. EMM

idolotrías (Span): (n) Idolatries; the investigations by the Spanish priests into the idolatrous practices in the countryside of the Inca empire. The richest sources of information were the curacas. The Idolatrías and the Huarochirí Manuscript are rich sources of information of the historical practices of Inca spirituality. MAN

Iguana: (n) A god often depicted as an anthropomorphic iguana. Iguana generally sports a long tunic, a bulging cloth tied around the waist or the neck, and a headdress made with long feathers and a bird effigy, usually a condor. He is frequently found in Moche iconography with Aia-Paec. WUTE

ikaray: (v) To blow smoke for healing. POP (See, icaro.)

ila poca, ila cayu (AYM): (n) Moment of time. ASD

illa, illia, illya, iylla: (n) (1) Regenerative, creative principle,creation. The moment when it acquires flow, it becomes kawsay. The substance that creates reality; manifests as fire and water. RS JLH ROR A specific designation of khuya used by shaman-priests, including (but not limited to) conopas; can also mean “most high” or sacred, or as an abbreviation for illariy (see, below). ANON1 (2) Lightning; ray; reflected or artificial light. (3) Precious stone; jewel; hidden treasure. (4) Enlightenment. (5) A small square stone given by a mentor to the student. RS JLH ROR Rectangular four- or five-inch alabaster stone carved in the form of a chacra, with crops, animals, houses and people of the family. It is in essence a mesa unto itself. IGMP (6) In Aymara ceremony, it is a livestock figurine. Illas are the equivalent of the Quechua enqaychu. WOFW See, tukapu).

illac umo: (n) Literally, light head. One who radiates light. IGMP

Illamani: (n) The name of one of one of the sacred mountains of the Inca. Located in Bolivia. Its mystical significance is to channel illa into tangible benefit, abundance. JLH

Illampu: (n) The name of one of the refuge mountains of the Kollahuayas, 21,000 feet.

illanchay: (v) To radiate. RS

Illapa, Iyapa, Ilyap'a, Katoylla: (n) God of thunder. RS ROR God of thunderstorms. EFD seen as a man carrying a club and rocks in his hands, or as a man in shining clothes that flashed as lightning when he moved. GM MAN He was one of the more popular Incan deities. His name meant thunder and lightning, and he drew rain water from the Milky Way, which he kept in a jug. When there was not enough rain, people would tie up black dogs and let them starve. They would keep them there until Illapa took pity on them, and sent rain. (See, titicaca water frog.) WPO Ancient curanderos believed that lightning crosses through the three worlds, as they observed lightning coming from the sky (hanaqpacha), touching the earth (kaypacha), and disappearing into the ground (ukhupacha). In pre-Columbian cosmology, Illapa was a god depicted as a man holding a club and sling. PSPM

In the sierra, the storm was the most pervasive and dynamic of all the male huacas, envisaged as a heroic figure in the heavens armed with rain, hail, and thunder; the flash of his golden sling was lightning. All male children born in the fields on a thunderous day were considered to be his sons and were dedicated as future shamans. Among the Inca, he was Illapa. In the northern province of Huamachuco, site of a famous oracle, he was Catiquilla. After the Spanish Conquest he was transmuted into St. James, mounted (the hoofbeats were his thunder) and brandishing a glittering Spanish sword (his lightning). The serpents that are often associated with the sky god are not difficult to identify as his lightning. The ancient form of the sky god lingers on today among contemporary Quechua Indians as Koa, the sponsor of shamans, a vicious catlike figure residing in the heights of the Andes and commanding the storm and hail.
-- Eduardo Calderón WOFW

illapa: (n) A generic term referring to all forms of lightning. (See, qhaqya, raio, relámpago.)

illaputtatha (AYM): (v) To be touched by lightning or die from a lightning strike. ASD (See, illa.)

illari:  (n) Dawn, the first ray of dawning. ANON1

Illari Ch'aska, Qoyllur Ch'aska: (n) The dawn star or Morning Star: Venus. ANON1 See, ch'aska. (sometimes also Q'oyllor Ch'aska or simply Ch'aska)

illaris: (n) An object that shines or radiates light. AEAA

illariy: (adj) Shining; brilliant. (v) (1) To bring light into the world, which in turn allows awakening of the ceke system. PSPM To dawn; to shine; to light; to brighten. Bring forth creation. RS (2) To harness the energy of the three suns (of each of the three worlds) with our luminous bodies. PSPM To draw in the first ray of dawning, usually of a specific energy-system. ANON1 (v.imp.) To call into alignment or awakening the above-mentioned forces. ANON1 Rise and embrace the sun! A phrase used to empower another. (n) The divine principle of dawn or of illumination and awakening, often in reference to the activation of specific (or global) cekes, temples, or shrines; also used in reference to the “coming into alignment” of inner and outer principles of light or of the archetypal Three Suns within the human luminous body. ANON1

illasqa, illaska: (n) An illumined person. RS

Illa Ticci, Illa Tiqsi, Illa Teqsi, Illa Ticci Wiracocha: The Creator God. Illa meaning light; ticci means base, foundation, or origin, hence founder. An early scholar translated it as Eternal Light. HOI (See, Wiracocha.)

illawi: (n) Boa constrictor. RS

illia: See, illa.

Illescas: See, Quilliscacha.

imaginal senses (Eng): (n) Westerners have lost five of their ten senses. We still have the five physical senses of touch, taste, sight, hearing and feeling, but we have lost the five imaginal senses, the senses of our imagination and mind. These are (1) the sense of self-healing, (2) the sense of self-destruction, (3) the sense of penetration, (4) the sense of perception, and (5) the sense of revelation. These are as taught by the Chumash Indians of California and they call it Chumash X-ray. TEQ (See, Appendix I for a fuller explanation of this and other models of shamanic perception.)

imaginal senses: See, Appendix I, bottom section (Chumash Model of Perception).

imago mundi (Latin): (n) Literally, idealized image of the world.

Imay Maman, Imaymana Wiracocha: The eldest of the two sons of the god Ticci Wiracocha. Without delving too deeply into the complex Quechua linguistics, Imay Maman seems to represent he who inquires and seeks the truth. DYE See, Tukapu (the other son)..

“He ordered his older son, Imay Maman Wiracocha, in whose hand He placed the power over all things, to go through the Andes and the mountains of all the world, and to give names to all trees and plants and flowers and fruits, and to determine the season in which they would bloom and fructify and to teach the people which herbs had curative or poisonous effects…” -- Cristobal de Molilna

Imbabura: (n) Called Taita Imbabura (Father Imbabura) by the native Ecuadorians, the volcano is considered by them to be the father of all mysteries. Before him is his past and his future, destiny that is woven in a timeless pattern of earth and seed and harvest. TAV

impeccability (Eng): (n) To release the total perceiving capacity of human beings would not in any way interfere with their functional behavior. In fact, functional behavior would become an extraordinary issue, for it would acquire a new value. Function in these circumstances becomes a most demanding necessity. Free from idealities and pseudo-goals, man has only function as his guiding force. Shamans call this impeccability. For them, to be impeccable mans to do one's utmost best, and a bit more. They derive function from seeing energy directly as it flows in the universe. If energy flows in a certain way, to follow the flow of energy is, for them, being functional. Function is, therefore, the common denominator by means of which shamans face the energetic facts of their cognitive world. TDJ The virtues of a warrior. Impeccability is the systematic, correct and efficient use of energy. Impeccability is related to being free of self-importance, being internally streamlined, unambiguous, in control of self. On one hand the impeccable warrior is traveling light, without carrying baggage of assumptions, preconceptions, beliefs, internal considering and so forth. We could say Impeccability has to do with being an empty vessel that can receive higher influences. On the other hand, the warrior practicing impeccability has a definite path and is in no way a random or arbitrary entity. Impeccability is a combination of commitment to a path and flexibility and acuity of observation and freedom of choice. GCC (See, luminous warrior.)  

Imperial Quechua: See, Qhapaq Simi.

imprint (Eng): (n) Like the image left by a rubber stamp, our luminous bodies carry the energetic patterns of traumatic experiences, waiting like land mines, to be triggered by circumstance and then release their stored energy into the physical body, causing illness and/or emotional upset. PGO (See, luminous body.)

Inca, Inka: (n) (1) A ruling class of people inhabiting the Cusco valley in the late 1100's to 1532 a. d., possibly comes from ancient word enqa which means black hole [see, enqa for more of this energy-related definition], or one who can absorb all the living energies; ruler; son of the sun; lover. RS QNO Originally from the Lake Titicaca region; early accounts take note that they were exceedingly light-skinned when compared to their immediate neighbors and had very Asian-looking features; they referred to themselves as intip churikuna, “the children of the Sun.” ANON1 (2) Loosely and inaccurately applied to ancient Peruvians as a whole. CSCR (See, runa, Appendices D and H, for more about their empire, .) (3) The Inca have attained mythic status in the Amazon. Among the vegetalistas, the Inca is considered to be the father and creator of humanity. They have not disappeared but continue to live, enchanted, in cities under the earth and spirit cities in the sky. AYV (4) There is evidence that the Inca royalty may have spoken a secret courtly language called Inca, distinct from Quechua. (See, Qhapac Simi.) CSCR (5) Inca is the original model of all things; probably this is the fundamental meaning: archetype. CSCRCompare, enqa.

The illness of the nobility, especially that of the Inca was -- at least in public -- not considered similar to the diseases of the common man [runa]; they considered them as messages of the Sun-god which came to call his Son (the Inca) to rest in Heaven; therefore, the Inca would always say when he felt he was dying: “My father calls me to rest with Him.” In which case all sacrifices and prayers for the Inca's health represented a different attitude from those prayers for forgiveness so frequently used for the common man. -- Garcilaso de la Vega

Inca Laws: See, Three Inca Laws, and Ama llulla, ama qilla, ama suwa.

Inca Mallku: (n) Shaman of the fifth level who is able to cure with a single touch. WMG RS Mallku comes from the root word meaning tree, thus Inka mallku also means one connected to the spiritual geneaology of the Incas. The female counterpart is Ñust'a. QNO Being struck by lightning is considered a sacred rite of passage for the curandero. This phenomenon is associated with several karpays for the paq'o's of the Andes. an important karpay for the Inca Mallku initiate is to be hit by lightning and to survive, proving the initiate can sustain this energetic connection; hence, the shaman has been chosen to be initiated by the three worlds. PSPM

Inca medicine wheel: (n) There is no solid ethnohistorical evidence for the ritual orientation to the four cardinal directions in Peru. That the four quarters were important in pre-conquest Peru is suggested by the name for the Inca empire: Tawantinsuyu. They also built four roads running from their capital, Cusco, to each of the four divisions of the empire. WOFW  (See, Appendix D.) Although the South American Inca did not have a medicine wheel in the sense of the North American natives, at least one prolific teacher of Inca shamanism in the United States has synthesized one. Thus, this non-traditional concept has entered the subject of Inca shamanism as it is taught outside of the Andes. PGO

incapcocum, coca del Inca, cucacuca: (n) According to the Indians, the Incas used the leaf in place of real coca. In the form of a powder, it was taken instead of tobacco “to clear the head.” REPC

Incapcocum.

Inca Roca: (n) The legendary sixth Inca ruler, probably ruling in the 13th Century. MAN

Drawing of Inca Roca by
Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala.

inca simi: (n) Quechua (language of the Inca). RS (See, runasimi)

Inca Urco: (n) the ninth Inca ruler having the shortest reign of any of the pre-Spanish kings, traditionally less than a year in 1438.  Chose by his father, Wiracocha Inca, to be his successor, he fled with his father at the approach of a rival army, leaving his brother, Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui, to defend Cusco.  MAN

inca wasi: (n) Inca's house. RS

incayichu, incaychu: See, enqaychu.

Inca Yupanqui: Another name for Yahuar Huacac.

iniy, iñiy: (v) To believe (religious). QP

Inka: See, Inca.

inkari, Inkari: (n) Inca rey (sp) (Inca king). Masculine principle, rigid. The right side of the body. JLH (See, collari.)

Inkarrí, Inkari:(n) A mythical being captured via deceit by his enemies and quartered in the central square of Cusco. The pieces were then buried, hidden, far apart. Legend has it that these pieces are slowly reuniting and that, when the head again sits atop the body, the Indians will overthrow the current government and take back their country under Inkarri's leadership. THIM Inkari was the name of the first man in the Incan creation myth. MAN The post-conquest mythical dying and reviving Inca (see, below), a combination of Quechua and Spanish, both words Inka and rey meaning king in their respective languages.  The belief of the return of Inkarrí is in keeping with the concept of pachacuti. The myths are apparently based in the beheadings of two of the Inca kings by the Spanish, Atahualpa and Tupac Amaru. The belief is that, once buried in the ground, the head becomes the seed for a new body. MAN The prophesied return of the Inca ways, social, political, and spiritual. ANON1

inkuña (AYM): (n) A ground cloth oriented to the east upon which the mesa sits. WOFW See, Aymara mesa.

inlis: (n) English. QP

inlisa: (n) Church (sp). QP

inquini (AYM): (n) One that has a star, or good fortune, in everything. ASD

intention: (n) Intent is not a thought, or an object, or a wish. Intent is what can make a man succeed when his thoughts tell him that he is defeated. It operates in spite of the warrior's indulgence. Intent is what makes him invulnerable. Intent is what sends a shaman through a wall, through space, to infinity. WIKIQ The most important ingredient in medicine work; intention is everything. AVO One of the maxims of Chinese medicine is chi follows yi and blood follows chi. Yi is focused intent, which gives the practitioner the capacity to control subtle energies (chi) with the mind (yi), eventually affecting the body (blood). (See, munaña, luminous warrior.). PGO

interesada (Span): (adj) Self-serving. GOL  

inti: (n) Sun. RS

Inti: (n) (1) The shortened use of Inti Tayta, or Tayta Inti. IGMP (2) Sun god. Inti gave rainbows to the people he created to remind them of his creation of the world and of them, and how the rainbow is different colors but is one road from earth to the sky. WMO Inti rivalled Wiracocha in importance as a creator god because of his relationship with the Sapa Inca. MAN (See, Punchau.) (AYM): (n) Sun or, according to the ancients, Villca [Wilka]. ASD

Inti Cancha: (n) House of the Sun. HOI

intichay: (n) East. RS

inti chimpu: (n) Aureole around the sun. RS

inti chinkay: (n) Literally, sun disappears. (1) Solar eclipse. (2) West. RS (See, Inti Jiwaña, chincana.)

intihuatana: (n) See, Inti watana.

Inti Jiwaña: Death of the Sun. A solar eclipse. The mythic Black Jaguar slowly devours Inti, the light and life of this world.

Intikana (see text box below):

The highest initiations of the Andean sacred path involve transforming
the initiate's consciousness through light. Being struck by lightning is
but the beginning of the Andean shaman's journey, the path of light.
The highest initiations involve transforming the initiate's material body
into the light body. Eventually, after years of arduous training, the
master shaman is capable of leaving the limitations of Earth-time
and traveling beyond the speed of light. At the point of death, the
Andean shaman's journey doesn't end. His luminous essence merges with
the pure spiritual energy of the Apus. People in Peru have witnessed shamans disappear and reappear in other locations, bring messages from relatives
at great distances, retrieve lost objects, transport objects from one location to another, and have their physical body in more than one place at a time. The Incas called such a one Intikana, a being of light, limitless and at one with Inti. ACAI

Inti Illapa: (n) The name means Thunder of the Sun. It was an idol of solid gold set on a rich litter of gold. Inca Yupanqui (see, below) made it and took it for this wayqi, or brother. It had a house in the district of Totocache and they did it great veneration. In the same house or temple was the body of the said Inca Yupanqui. To this idol they very commonly made sacrifices of children and of everything else, asking it that the strength of the Inca be preserved and his dominion not decrease. IRC

Inti inti: (n) Sun of suns; supreme cosmic energy. CHAM Behind Inti Tayta is the “Sun behind the sun,” or the Divine Presence who sends life force energy through Inti Tayta to Pachamama for all of nature. We receive this spiritual light energy in our spiritual body, from which it then flows to our physical body. IGMP

inti lliklla: (n) (1) A lliklla (manta) adorned with patterns representing Inti, perhaps the most common sort of manta. (2) Inti in the aspect of one specific geometric representational symbol. ANON1

inti lluqsiy: (n) Literally, sun comes out. Sunrise. RS (See, lloqsi.)

intindiy: (v) To understand (sp). QP

inti pacha: (n) Sun time. RS (See, pacha.)

Intip Apu: (n) Governor of things pertaining to the Sun.  HOI

intip chinkanan: (n) West (where the sun disappears). RS (See, chincana.)

intip churi, intiq churi: (n) Child of the Sun.  HOI Children of the sun; title used by the Incas, the ruler of whom (the Sapa) was considered to be the spiritual son of the sun, quite literally. ANON1

intip lluqsinan: (n) East (where the sun comes out). RS (See, lloqsi.)

Intipunku: Literally, sun gate. A notch in the mountain ridge near Machu Picchu.

The Intipunku as seen from Machu Picchu

inti p'utumuy: (n) Sunrise. RS

Inti quenayaro hithinti (AYM): (v) To conceal the sun with the clouds. ASD

Inti Raymi: (n) The Festival of the Sun at the winter solstice in June. An ill omen witnessed during the feast of Inti Raymi signaled the downfall of the empire when an eagle was seen mobbed by buzzards, and it fell from the sky. This occurred during the reign of Huayna Capac. MAN The Festival of the Sun at Sacsahuaman, Cusco, celebrated initially on June 21; however, following the Spanish conquest and extirpation of idolatries, has been celebrated annually on June 24 to coincide with the feast day of John the Baptist. PSPM (See, Qhapac Raymi.)

Inti Tayta, Tayta Inti: (n) Father sun. RS Father sun, the original god of the Inca Empire representing a solar principle of consciousness (i.e., one pertaining to the unity of all that exists) and spiritual illumination and enlightenment; the unity principle embodied by Inti Tayta was the guiding force behind the uniting vision of the Inca priests and rulers (see, also, Kinsa Intikuna for an understanding of the Three Suns). ANON1

inti t'iksuy: (n) Afternoon. RS

inti wañuy: (n) Solar eclipse. RS

inti wata: (n) Solar year. RS

Inti watana, Intihuatana: (n) (1) A place to read the sun's standing position; sun watch. RS (2) Although it wasn't the only one, it often means the hitching post of the sun at Machu Picchu, the most well known. Many of the Inti watanas were destroyed by the Spanish, who considered them pagan. PGO The one at Machu Picchu is the top point of the pyramid that connects with the pyramid in the Cosmos. We can also say it connects the spiral of Pachamama with the spiral of the Cosmos. IGMP

Inti yaykuna, Inti yaykuy: West (where the sun sets); sundown. RS

iñaca: (n) A non-Inca noble woman. ICC

ipa: (n) Aunt, sister of father. ASD (See, tayca.)

iporuru: See, hiporúru.

ipeca: (n) Obtained from the roots of about a dozen different species, the best known of which are Cephaelis ipecacuanha and Cephaelis acuminata. The active principle is emetin, a substance which acts specifically against amoeba dysenterica. Ipecac, is derived from the dried rhizome and roots of the ipecacuanha. It is typically used to induce vomiting, which it accomplishes by irritating the lining of the stomach and by stimulating part of the brain called the medullary chemoreceptor trigger zone. WIKI

Ipecacuanha. WIKI

irakar: (v) To empower.

irpay: (n) The ceremony of marking cattle, sometimes considered a wedding of young animals. ROR

ishanga: (n) (Laportea aestuans) A plant that can be used by sorcerers to do harm. [It is a nettle.] AYV It has folk healing uses as well. Commonly used to relieve rheumatic pains, as a diuretic, for burns, constipation, dysentery, rickets, and wounds. DUKE

ishpingo , eshpingo, cerejeira: (n)  Ocotea quixos is a species of evergreen tree in the Lauraceae family, native to Ecuador and Columbia. It is one of the South American trees with a cinnamon-like aroma, and is used as a spice called ishpingo or eshpingo. The bark is used to produce 'Ecuadorian' (or 'American') cinnamon which bears some resemblance to common cinnamon (which also comes from a tree in this family). The tree is known in Quechua as ishpingo, which specifically refers to the flowers, and more recently as Flor de Canela. The taste of Ecuadorian cinnamon is thought to come from the presence of methyl cinnamate and trans-cinnamaldehyde which are also found in the essential oils which come from the flower calices of the plant. While some reports show it has been used as a flavoring since Inca times, modern Ecuadorians still use this spice during general cooking and the production of food for rituals. Offerings to family ancestors for example, sometimes include food such as mazamorra morada (purple pudding)   and beverages such as the alcoholic drink alajua, both of which require the use of ishpingo as a key ingredient. The oils have previously been used in the traditional medicine of some Amazonian tribes for their anti-inflammatory properties and some peer-reviewed data also support this theory. It has also been shown that this oil can reduce the chance of blood clot formation by preventing platelet aggregation in the blood. WIKI  Chicha used as an offering often has ishpingo powder added to it. Historic accounts say it is a very effective medicine against stomachaches, bloody diarrhea, and other diseases; however, the exact plant known historically as ishpingo has a few candidates with the precise identification unknown. EPP  

iskay chantayuq, iskay chantayoj: (adj) Of two forms; biform. RS

iskay kapun, iskay kapunku: (phrase) Now there are two in one, expressed by attendees after a wedding. ROR

iskay sonco: (phrase) The literal translation from Quechua is two wills, two hearts, which essentially signifies with double intention, in betrayal. DYE

Isla de la Plata: (n) An island off the coast of Ecuador from whence is is thought Wiracocha disappeared over the waters to the horizon. Inca occupation of this part of the empire was slight and problematic. Even so, important Inca offerings including golden and silver human figurines have been found on the otherwise unoccupied island suggesting that qhapac hucha sacrifices had been carried out there. RTZ1

Island of the Moon: See, Appendix B.

Island of the Sun: See, Appendix B.

ispallas: (n) Airborne elementals that love to eat hucha. JLH

Itu: (n) An important ceremony and festival held when the need arose, such as a pestilence, earthquake, draught or if the Inca decided to go to war himself. The men fasted and practiced celibacy, the women who had animals, and people from the provinces were sent from the city (Cusco). Guards were placed at the entrances to the city and no one was allowed to enter during the festival. Animals were sacrificed, and if the need was great, some children as well. Everyone who participated wore special costumes. After the ceremonies, the next day, there was much feasting and rejoicing. The Inca himself was the only one who could perform this ceremony, although as a very special favor, certain lords were allowed by the Inca to celebrate this Itu festival in his land. IRC See, also, Ayma.

itu apu: (n) (1) Mountain of your birth. Masculine spirit of one's place of birth, also known as your guiding star. "Don Benito spent hours scrying in a cosmic plate to communicate with his guiding star; it makes you part of a larger cosmic system." RS QNO The equivalent feminine energy is called paqarina. JLH Refers to the subterranean chamber of the apu. It is through this chamber that the curandero travels in order to meet the spirit of the apu called an estrella. PSPM

ituy: (v) to carry something heavy with both hands. RS

ivénki (Amaz): (n) The Ashanínka word for a tuberous herb of magical and medicinal properties which are used according to their shape. THIM

iwanqiliu, ewanqelio: (n) Gospel (sp.). RS

Iyapa: See, Illapa.