Pachamama

Pachamama () or Mama Pacha () is the Andean deity representing space-time, revered by the peoples of the Andes. In Inca mythology and religion, she is a "mother goddess" type deity, representing the universal energy that connects everything. She is considered an omnipresent deity with creative power, capable of sustaining life in the cosmos. Her shrines are hallowed rocks, or the boles of legendary trees, and her artists envision her as a woman bearing harvests of potatoes or coca leaves. The four cosmological Quechua principlesWater, Earth, Sun, and Moonclaim Pachamama as their prime origin. Priests sacrifice offerings of llamas, cuy (guinea pigs), and elaborate, miniature, burned garments to her. In various myths, she is described as the wife of Pachacámac and mother of Mama Quilla (the goddess of the moon) and Inti (the god of the sun). She is attributed with the role of mother of the world, from whom the material and spiritual sustenance of human beings comes.

After the Spanish colonization of the Americas, they converted the native populations of the region to Roman Catholicism. Through religious syncretism, the figure of the Virgin Mary was associated with that of Pachamama for many Indigenous peoples.