The Incas, as described by the spanish witness, fit primarily into the archetype of The Noble King and The Golden Age Culture. They also resonate deeply with The Innocent and The Self (in a collective form).
1. The Noble King Archetype
- Definition:The King archetype represents ordered leadership, lawful stewardship, just governance, protection of the people, and connection to divine order.
- How the Inca Fit:
- The Inca state is described as being ruled by leaders "loved, obeyed and respected," and yet profoundly just.
- The people were not oppressed but guided into harmony—each knowing their place, work, and property without fear of theft or injustice.
- The Inca leaders embodied sacred kingship: they governed in such a way that divine order mirrored earthly order.
- In Jungian thought, the healthy King holds chaos at bay by ensuring fairness, protection, and abundance.
- Symbol: The golden sun (Inti) ruling over the land mirrors the archetypal King bringing illumination and life.
Conclusion:
In this deathbed letter, the Inca civilization itself becomes a symbol of the Ideal King archetype made manifest—a golden age of stewardship that even their conquerors regretted extinguishing.
2. The Golden Age Culture (Paradise Lost)
- Definition: The "Golden Age" motif is a collective archetype in which humanity lived in a time of innocence, justice, and harmony before a tragic fall.
- How the Inca Fit:
- The witness describes an Eden-like society: no locks, no theft, no lawsuits, no discord.
- Even immense wealth (gold and silver) could be left unguarded without fear—indicative of a pure state of communal trust.
- The Spanish arrival introduced corruption, locks, and fear—a "fall" from this golden innocence.
- Symbol: The open house with only a stick across the door is a literal symbol of paradise—the natural trust of human beings before the introduction of sin (theft, fear).
Conclusion:
The Inca civilization embodies the Golden Age archetype, a lost paradise corrupted by foreign influence.
3. The Innocent Archetype
- Definition: The Innocent archetype lives by trust, hope, and moral goodness, uncorrupted by the complexities and betrayals of fallen societies.
- How the Inca Fit:
- Their trust in one another, their sense of cosmic order, and their straightforward way of life align with the Innocent.
- They did not foresee betrayal because it was alien to their cultural psyche.
- Their loss came not from weakness, but from not being armed against deception—a trait often associated with the Innocent being preyed upon by the more cynical.
Conclusion:
In a Jungian sense, the Inca were an Innocent people betrayed by the corrupt "hero" archetype gone wrong—the spanish conqueror representing the Shadow.
4. The Collective Self (Individuation in Harmony)
- Definition: In Jungian thought, the Self represents the ultimate unity of the conscious and unconscious, the harmonization of all psychic forces. Cultures too, at their peak, can symbolize collective Self-realization.
- How the Inca Fit:
- Their society was not fragmented by class warfare or greed (at least, as described); it was internally cohesive, harmonious, well-ordered, and aligned with cosmic cycles.
- Their governance tied agriculture, astronomy, labor, law, and ritual into a coherent spiritual-political-economic system.
- This suggests a people closer to collective individuation—the alignment of society’s conscious goals with its unconscious archetypal structures.
Conclusion:
At the level of mythic psychology, the Inca represent a culture that had achieved a near-Self-state—they were as close to collective psychological harmony as human civilization could reach before external disruption.
Synthesis: Archetypal Summary
Thus, the Inca civilization, viewed through the lens of this deathbed confession, occupies the intersection of:
| Archetype | Expression in the Inca Context |
| Noble King | Just rulers governing by cosmic law |
| Golden Age | A society living in trust and abundance |
| Innocent | A people unaware of treachery, undone by external corruption |
| Collective Self | A harmonized society living near individuation |
In Jungian terms, their destruction at the hands of the spanish represents a Mythic Tragedy:
The corrupt shadow hero (conquistadors) destroys the Noble Innocent Kingdom, triggering not just political collapse, but a psychic trauma—a loss of a collective dream of human harmony.
Final Thought:
The deathbed confession, then, is not just about the death of a people—it is about the death of a sacred archetype.
The spaniard was not just witnessing a conquest.
He was witnessing the murder of a living myth—and his conscience understood it.