Inca cosmology and religion is extremely fascinating. Much like other ancient civilizations, the Incas were polytheistic and believed that the gods were all related, father, mother and children. Much of their religion was based off of a sensitive balance of two opposing forces, light and darkness. The Incas believed that everything in the universe was connected somehow. The sun, moon and star constellations were extremely important to them for many reasons. One being that they believed the Sun and the Moon were gods, and that they were descendants of the gods. Similar to the Egyptians, the Incas believed that there was a god for almost every geological landform and natural element such as mountains, lakes, lightening, wind etc. In addition, the stars were also of great…show more content… When stars were not visible in the night sky, the dark areas in the sky also known as dark constellations, shown through. These dark constellations symbolized living creatures such as toads, serpents, llamas and other animals, which were all located in the Milky-Way galaxy. The Incas believed that the Milky Way galaxy was a vital aspect to the survival of these creatures and that the Milky Way was a “life giving river” that served as a life source for these animals to drink from (Quarks to Quasars). However, only during certain times of the year were these dark constellations visible. At these times the Incas would give offerings to the constellations to help protect them from the natural elements that might wreak havoc over their people. For example a dark constellation called the Mach’acuay or Serpent is responsible for serpent activity and is visible from August to February. It is during this time that the Incan would give offerings to protect themselves from deadly snakes. The Incas relied on the moon, sun and different constellations very