Mama Quilla

Syllable breakdown

Name meaning and origin

Origin

Quechua (Andes, South America)

Meaning

the name of the Inca moon goddess, meaning Mother Moon in Quechua — mama (mother, honoured elder woman) and quilla (moon); Mama Quilla was the wife of Inti the Sun God and mother of the divine Inca royal family, and her cult was administered by the Chosen Women (Acllas) who lived in her temple; in Inca cosmology the moon governed the cycles of time and the agricultural calendar — particularly the planting rhythms tied to lunar cycles — and was the patron of women, marriage, and the Inca queens (Coyas); Mama Quilla's tears were said to create silver, as Inti's rays created gold, and silver was her sacred metal; the name is used in contemporary Andean communities as part of the Quechua cultural revival and expresses connection to the matriarchal dimension of Inca religious life and to the celestial feminine principle that Quechua cosmology enshrines

Gender

female

Also spelled

Mama Killa, Mamaquilla