Spring in the Andes
On September 21, the Spring Equinox is celebrated in the Southern Hemisphere, upon arrival of Spring on this side of the continent our peoples are preparing to start the planting campaigns, as we know this is an ideal season for sowing and harvesting. Because of this the festivities of these dates are associated with fertility, youth and rebirth.
Spring is undoubtedly the most important and most anticipated season in regions that subsist thanks to agriculture, here in Peru despite having various climates Spring is noted in all regions, both in coast, andes and jungle; even in the most arid places of the Andes. In this season the humidity levels rise at the end of winter, it is then that from the September equinox the days will be the same as the nights, gradually raising the temperature, resulting in an intense greenery. It is not a coincidence that the First flowering is the origin of the word Primavera.
In South America, our ancestors were great observers of the stars, their knowledge about the power of the Sun and the Moon on the Earth was vast. In this art, festivals and customs were written the path of the constellations that knew how to calculate with surprising accuracy. In Peru, some monuments are known where solstices and equinoxes provide a spectacle that amazes its visitors, a simple play of light and shadow that can only be appreciated by fragments of time, some in solstices and others in the equinoxes.
We can not fail to mention the progress that the ancient peoples of America had on agriculture was thanks to a pantheistic worldview that even until now retains the man of the Andes, his relationship with the Pachamama (Mother Earth), the Apus, (Sacred Mountains ), MamaQocha (Mother water), Mama Quilla (Mother Moon) and Inti (The sun). Everything that man in the Andes did or took away should be done by asking and offering these “beings” because we receive protection from them. Many activities related to agriculture were expressed through rituals and festivities.
It is amazing how even today in towns far away in the Andes there are still sowing and harvesting festivities where whole families and communities participate confirming the close relationship of man with nature, a relationship that has been cultivated based on respect, harmony and mutual protection.
Spring is very important in our Andes, it guarantees a season of good planting and harvesting of products such as maca, coca, quinoa, etc. These Superfoods are the gift of the Andes for humanity and it is a moral commitment to preserve these festivities so that they are not forgotten.
