Editing Viracocha (section)

==Cosmogony according to Spanish accounts==
According to a myth recorded by [[Juan de Betanzos]],<ref>[http://www.mc.maricopa.edu/dept/d10/asb/ancient_religion/pages/viracocha.html Alan Kolata, ''Valley of the Spirits: a Journey into the Lost Realm of the Aymara''] (1996), pages 65–72</ref> Viracocha rose from Lake [[Titicaca]] (or sometimes the cave of [[Paqariq Tampu]]) during the time of darkness to bring forth light.<ref name="Nature Myths">{{cite book|last=Andrews|first=Tamra |title=Dictionary of Nature Myths|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2000|pages=216|isbn=0-19-513677-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7jS65aClvFEC&pg=PA216}}</ref> He made the sun, moon, and the stars. He made mankind by breathing into stones, but his first creation were brainless giants that displeased him. So, he destroyed them with a flood and made humans, beings who were better than the giants, from smaller stones. After creating them, they were scattered all over the world.<ref name="Bloomsbury">{{cite web|url=http://www.credoreference.com/entry/2121372|title=Viracocha|year=1996|work=Bloomsbury Dictionary of Myth|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing Ltd., London|access-date=2009-02-10}}</ref>

Viracocha eventually disappeared across the Pacific Ocean (by walking on the water), and never returned. He wandered the earth disguised as a beggar, teaching his new creations the basics of civilization, as well as working numerous miracles. Many, however, refused to follow his teachings, devolving into warfare and delinquency; Viracocha wept when he saw the plight of the creatures he had created.<ref name="Bloomsbury"/> It was thought that Viracocha would re-appear in times of trouble. [[Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa]] wrote that Viracocha was described as "a man of medium height, white and dressed in a white robe like an [[alb]] secured round the waist and that he carried a staff and a book in his hands."<ref>[http://www.sacred-texts.com/nam/inca/inca01.htm "Viracocha and the Coming of the Incas"] from ''History of the Incas,'' by Pedro Sarmiento De Gamboa, translated by Clements Markham, Cambridge: The Hakluyt Society 1907, pp. 28–58.</ref>

In one legend he had one son, [[Inti]], and two daughters, [[Mama Killa]] and [[Pachamama]]. In this legend, he destroyed the people around Lake Titicaca with a [[Deluge (mythology)|Great Flood]] called ''[[Unu Pachakuti]]'', lasting 60 days and 60 nights, saving two to bring civilization to the rest of the world. These two beings are [[Manco Cápac]], the son of Inti (sometimes taken as the son of Viracocha), which name means "splendid foundation", and [[Mama Ocllo|Mama Uqllu]], which means "mother fertility".  These two founded the Inca civilization carrying a golden staff, called 'tapac-yauri'. In another legend, he fathered the first eight civilized human beings. In some stories, he has a wife called [[Mama Qucha]].{{CN|date=March 2023}}

In another legend,<ref name="first nation">{{cite web|url=http://www.firstpeople.us/glossary/native-american-gods-south-america-inca.html|title=Glossary, Inca Gods|publisher=First People of America and Canada – Turtle Island|access-date=2009-02-10}}</ref> Viracocha had two sons, Imahmana Viracocha and Tocapo Viracocha. After the Great Flood and the Creation, Viracocha sent his sons to visit the tribes to the northeast and northwest to determine if they still obeyed his commandments. Viracocha traveled North. During their journey, Imaymana and Tocapo gave names to all the trees, flowers, fruits, and herbs. They also taught the tribes which of these were edible, which had medicinal properties, and which were poisonous. Eventually, Viracocha, Tocapo and Imahmana arrived at Cusco (in modern-day Peru) and the Pacific seacoast, where they walked away across the water until they disappeared. The word "Viracocha" literally means "Sea Foam."<ref name="first nation" />