Inca goddess of the moon, keeper of the calendar and protector of women.
Mama Killa was the wife of Inti, the sun. The Inca used her cycles to time their festivals, and they associated silver with the moon, as gold was linked with the sun. During lunar eclipses people made loud noise to drive off the creature they believed was attacking her.
Symbols
In the ancient sources
Colonial chronicles
- Mama Killa
- “Mother Moon” her name
- Garcilaso de la Vega, Royal Commentaries 3.21 (1609) In the Coricancha in Cusco, a hall covered in silver holds an image of the moon with a woman's face; she is honored as sister and wife of the Sun and mother of the Incas.
- Garcilaso de la Vega, Royal Commentaries 2.23 During a lunar eclipse, people believe the moon is sick and might fall and kill them all; they blow trumpets, beat drums and make dogs howl, since the moon was thought to love dogs.
Other chroniclers say Andeans feared a jaguar or serpent was attacking the moon. Garcilaso was the son of a Spanish captain and an Inca noblewoman, writing in Spain decades later.
Cross-checked against these texts and records, in public-domain or freely available versions where they exist. Line, section and chapter numbers follow the standard editions, so a particular translation may differ slightly.
Correspondences Explore all
These mix ancient attributes with modern associations from contemporary pagan and magical practice; the modern ones weren't part of her original worship.