HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Yanantin is one of the best known and most defining characteristics of indigenous South American
Andean The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S l ...
thought and exemplifies Andean adherence to a philosophical model based in what is often referred to as a " dualism of complementary terms" or, simply, a “complementary dualism". Much like in Chinese
Taoism Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmony with the '' Ta ...
, Andean philosophy views the opposites of existence (such as male/female, dark/light, inner/outer) as interdependent and essential parts of a harmonious whole. Because existence itself is believed to be dependent upon the tension and balanced interchange between the polarities, there is a very definite ideological and practical commitment within indigenous Andean life to bringing the seemingly conflicting opposites into harmony with one another without destroying or altering either one. Among the indigenous people of
Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...
and
Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...
, the union of opposing yet interdependent energies is called ''yanantin'' or "complementary opposites."


Etymology

In the
Quechua language Quechua (, ; ), usually called ("people's language") in Quechuan languages, is an indigenous language family spoken by the Quechua peoples, primarily living in the Peruvian Andes. Derived from a common ancestral language, it is the most wid ...
, the prefix ''yana-'' means ”help,” while its suffix ''-ntin'' means “inclusive in nature, with implications of totality, spatial inclusion of one thing in another, or identification of two elements as members of the same category". Put together, ''yanantin'' has been translated as “the complement of difference.” However, according to some Andeans: :For us, ''yanantin'' doesn’t focus on the differences between two beings. That is what disconnects them. Instead, we focus on the qualities that brought them together. That is ''yanantin''. We don’t really see the differences. That’s why we see them as not necessarily opposed, but as complementary. One on its own can’t hold everything, can’t take care of everything. Not only are they great together, but they need to be together. There is no other way. When there is another, it represents extra strength for both. Some scholars break down the word ''yanantin'' slightly differently, translating ''yana-'' as “black” in the sense of “dark” or “obscure,” and contrast it to “light” (rather than in the sense of “black” as opposed to “white”).


Relevance to indigenous Andean life

Because the relationship of opposites as a harmonious partnership is considered the primary organizing principle of creation, ''yanantin'' infuses all aspects of social and spiritual life within the indigenous Andean worldview. Platt (1986) cited two examples of ''yanantin'' from his work with the Macha of Bolivia. When drinks are served, the Macha pour a few drops on the ground as an offering, while at the same time speaking the name of the receiving divinity. This is done twice. “This is explained as being ''yanantin'', for the conjugal pair”.Platt, 1986, p. 245 When
coca Coca is any of the four cultivated plants in the family Erythroxylaceae, native to western South America. Coca is known worldwide for its psychoactive alkaloid, cocaine. The plant is grown as a cash crop in the Argentine Northwest, Bolivia, ...
leaves (the most sacred plant of the Andes and an integral part of almost all indigenous ceremonies) are offered to a participant in a ritual, two handfuls are offered to each person, who receives them in two cupped hands. Platt (1986) wrote, “In all such cases, the pairing and the repetitions are explained as being ''yanantin''." In ''Yanantin and Masinitin in the Andean World'', Hillary Webb notes that the relationship between entities or energies is the essential component within indigenous Andean worldview, involving, “the relationship, the alliance, the meeting, and the unity between two beings."Webb (2012), p. 37 ''Yanantin'' contrasts with ''chhulla'', which refers to something that is unequal or odd—“one of things which should be twice." According to Vasquez (1998), the Quechua of
Cajamarca Cajamarca (), also known by the Quechua name, ''Kashamarka'', is the capital and largest city of the Cajamarca Region as well as an important cultural and commercial center in the northern Andes. It is located in the northern highlands of Peru ...
say that something that is incomplete is referred to as ''chuya'' lternate spelling meaning “the one who is missing its other." Vasquez explained, ”In order to be whole, one has to pair up." Whether something is paired or unpaired is an important distinction within the Andean cosmovision. Regina Harrison noted, “Quechua speakers persistently distinguish objects which are not well matched or ‘equal’. According to Platt, ''yanantin'' is the act of rendering equal two things that were once unequal—what he calls “the correction of inequalities."Platt (1986), p. 251 Likewise, some indigenous Andeans believe the following.
partnered people are missing an important part of them. They say that when you don’t have a partner, you are only half of a being. Alone, you are precious, you are unique, but you are only part. You are not whole yet. This is because when you are by yourself, you are either accumulating so much that it is overwhelming or you are draining yourself so much that you become weak. Because of that, you will feel fear or confused or lost. … you may know yourself, but you can never see yourself. For that you need another person. You need other eyes, another perspective to see that. When you are a child, you have your parents, but when you become older you no longer have your parents to see you, to recognize you. As an adult, your ''yanantin'', your partner, is the person who is there to see what you don’t see in yourself, just as you are there to see in that person what he doesn’t see in himself. That is why it is easier to take care of another person than of yourself—because you are not supposed to take care of yourself! For that, there is the other person.Webb, 2012, p. 139
It has thus been implied that a perfect ''yanantin'' relationship is achieved when two energies are brought into harmony. Among the Macha, Platt explained, “The elements to be paired must first be ‘pared’ to achieve the ‘perfect fit.’ Here the crucial notion is that of the sharing of boundaries in order to create a harmonious co-existence."


Masintin

The Quechua word ''masintin'' is often used in tandem with ''yanantin'', as in ''yanantin-masintin''. This indicates the process by which the ''yanantin'' pair becomes “pared” in Platt’s terms, or harmonized to achieve a perfect fit. Webb’s research participants described ''masintin'' as, “the process, the experience of that ''yanantin'' relationship.” :''Masintin'' is what is materialized. It is what is self realized, not what stays in theory. ''Masintin'' is to enter into the spirit and the essence of anything, of the thing. Of what has been materialized. Of what has been imagined. You must enter into the spirit of it. ''Masintin'' is to create, recreate, and procreate.


See also

* Pacha *
Quechua people Quechua people (, ; ) or Quichua people, may refer to any of the aboriginal people of South America who speak the Quechua languages, which originated among the Indigenous people of Peru. Although most Quechua speakers are native to Peru, the ...
*
Apachita (Puno) Apacheta (Aymara for the place of transit of an important pass in the principal routes of the Andes; name for a stone cairn in the Andes, a little pile of rocks built along the trail in the high mountains, also spelled ''Apacheta'') is a moun ...
* Pacha (Inca mythology)


Notes


References

* Ajaya, S. (1983).
Psychotherapy East and West: A unifying paradigm''
Honesdale, PA: Himalayan International Institute. * Barnard, Alan and Jonathan Spencer, Eds. (2002)
''Encyclopedia of social and cultural anthropology''
London: Routledge. * Harrison, Regina. (1989). ''Signs, songs, and memory in the Andes: Translating Quechua language and culture''. Austin: University of Texas Press. * Platt, T. (1986). Mirrors and maize: The concept of yanantin among the Macha of Bolivia. In J. V. Murra, N. Wachtel, & J. Revel (Eds.), ''Anthropological History of Andean polities.'' (pp. 228-259). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. * Urton, Gary. (1988). ''At the Crossroads of the Earth and the Sky: An Andean Cosmology''. Austin: University of Texas Press. * Vasquez, G. R. (1998). "The Ayllu." In F. Apffel-Marglin (Ed.), ''The spirit of regeneration: Andean cultures confronting western notions of development'' (pp. 89-123). London: Zed Books. * Webb, Hillary S. (2012). ''Yanantin and Masintin in the Andean World: Complementary Dualism in Modern Peru''. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.


External links

*

Hillary S. Webb {{DEFAULTSORT:Yanantin Indigenous culture of the Andes Dualism in cosmology Inca mythology Indigenous American philosophy