Inti Raymi: the Festival of the Sun and the Andean new year

Every 24 June, Cusco fills with music, costumes and offerings to celebrate Inti Raymi, the Festival of the Sun. For the Incas it was the most important ceremony of the year: it fell on the southern winter solstice, the shortest day, when the Sun seems to move away and then begins to return.

A festival that survived in silence

In 1572 Viceroy Francisco de Toledo banned Inti Raymi as contrary to the Catholic faith. The festival did not disappear: it lived on quietly in Andean communities. In 1944 it was publicly reconstructed from the chronicles of Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, and since then it has been staged every year across three settings: the Qorikancha, the Plaza de Armas and the esplanade of Sacsayhuamán.

What it celebrates: the return of the light

In the Andean worldview everything is a cycle. Inti Raymi thanks the Sun for the harvest, asks for the year ahead and honours ayni, reciprocity: what we receive from Pachamama is returned with gratitude and care.

A small ritual to do at home

You don't need to be in Cusco to take in the message of Inti Raymi. On the solstice, or on any morning when you feel a chapter is closing:

• Watch the sunrise, or light a candle at dawn.
• Write down three things you are grateful for from the cycle that is ending.
• Write one thing you want to release and one seed you want to grow.
• Give something back: water a plant, help someone, make a simple offering to the earth.

If you feel you are in a change of cycle and want clarity about what comes next, a tarot reading can help you order your questions and see your options.