Mama Quilla, Inca Moon
Mama Quilla is the Inca moon goddess, sister-wife to Inti the sun. She governs tides, calendars, and marriage, her silver light a protection against night-born harm.
Story beats
- 1) Born of Viracocha, Mama Quilla pairs with Inti to stabilize the sky and guide time.
- 2) Rituals honor her during eclipses, when a jaguar is believed to attack the moon.
- 3) Noble women look to her as protector; marriages and menstrual cycles are aligned to her phases.
- 4) She hears petitions to heal rifts among kin, acting as silver-thread mediator.
Context & symbolism
Mama Quilla’s light is softer than Inti’s but equally necessary—it marks months, fertility, and domestic harmony. Eclipses dramatize the threat to order and the community’s collective defense of their celestial kin.
As a sister-wife, she embodies dual roles: partner to the sun and balancing counterpart who tempers his heat.
Motifs
- Moon phases as calendar
- Women’s rites synchronized to the sky
- Eclipse battles with jaguars
- Sibling spouses maintaining cosmic balance
Use it in play
- Protect a moon temple during an eclipse from those who want the jaguar to win.
- Consult Mama Quilla to mend a feuding royal family.
- Time a heist to a waning moon to avoid her gaze—or to a full moon to gain her blessing.
- Track tides and fertility cycles as clues in an investigation.
Comparative threads
- Moon matrons: Selene, Chang'e, and Mahina.
- Eclipse monsters: Rahu and Ketu, sky serpents devouring light.
Hooks and campaign seeds
- A silver disk sacred to Mama Quilla is stolen; without it, months slip out of order.
- A coastal city’s tides go wild; restore the moon’s favor.
- Marriages arranged by her priests hide a political coup; uncover it before the next full moon.