Editing Muisca (section)

=== Religion ===
{{main|Muisca religion}}
Recent scholarship on the Muisca contends that [[Lucas Fernández de Piedrahita]]'s 1688 ''Historia general'' of New Granada, has unduly shaped understandings of Muisca religion, saying that it was "full of confident assertions concerning a Muisca 'religion' with a pantheon of deities, creation stories, and visions of the afterlife, led from great temples by high priests -- some of whom were pictured, at great expense, in three richly illustrated pages that accompanied his book."<ref>Cobo Betancourt, Juan F. (2024). ''[[doi:10.1017/9781009314046|The Coming of the Kingdom: The Muisca, Catholic Reform, and Spanish Colonialism in the New Kingdom of Granada]]''. Open access. Cambridge University Press, p. 23</ref>

Muisca priests were educated from childhood and led the main religious ceremonies. Only the priests could enter the temples. Besides the religious activities, the priests had much influence in the lives of the people, giving counsel in matters of farming or war. The religion originally included [[human sacrifice]], but the practice may have been extinct by the time of the Spanish conquest, as there are no first-hand Spanish accounts.

Oral tradition suggests that every family gave up a child for [[Child sacrifice in pre-Columbian cultures|sacrifice]], that the children were regarded as sacred and cared for until the age of 15, when their lives were then offered to the Sun-god, [[Sué]].

==== Deities ====
* [[Sué]], Suá, Zuhé or Xué (The Sun god): he is the father of the Muisca. His [[Sun Temple (Sogamoso)|temple]] was in [[Sogamoso|Suamox]], the sacred city of the Sun. He was the most venerated god, especially by the Confederation of the ''zaque'', who was considered his descendant. "was "full of confident assertions and visions of the afterlife, led from great temples by high priest --some of whom were pictured, at great expensse, in three richly illustrated title pages that accompied his book"
* [[Chía (goddess)|Chía]] (The Moon-goddess): her temple was in what is today the municipality of [[Chía, Cundinamarca|Chía]]. She was widely worshipped by the Confederation of the ''zipa'', who was considered her son.
* [[Bochica]]: though not properly a god, he enjoyed the same status as one. He was a chief or hero eternized in the oral tradition. The land was flooded by a [[goddess]], a beautiful and sometimes mean woman, or by [[Chibchacum]], protector of the farmers. Bochica listened to the complaints of the Muisca about floods. With his stick, he broke two rocks at the edge of the [[Tequendama Falls]] and all the water came out, forming a waterfall. Bochica punished Huitaca and Chibchacum:  He made Huitaca an owl and made her hold up the sky. Chibchacum was tasked with holding up the Earth.
* [[Bachué]]: the mother of the Muisca people. It was said that a beautiful woman with a baby came out of [[Lake Iguaque]]. Bachué sat down at the bank of the lake and waited for the child to grow up. When he was old enough, they married and had many children, who were the Muisca. Bachué taught them to hunt, to farm, to respect the laws, and to worship the gods. Bachué was so good and loved that the Muisca referred to her as ''Furachoque'' (Good woman in [[Chibcha]]). When they became old, Bachué and her husband decided to go back to the deep of the lagoon. That day the Muisca were so sad, but at the same time very happy because they knew their mother was very happy. Other versions of the legend say that after stepping into the lagoon of Iguaque, Bachué ascended to the sky and became [[Chía goddess|Chía]]; in other versions Chia and Bachué are two different figures.

==== Astronomy ====
{{Main|Muisca astronomy}}
{{see also|Muisca calendar}}
The cult of the Muisca centered on two main deities; [[Sué]] for the Sun and [[Chía (goddess)|Chía]] for the Moon. They developed a vigesimal (based on 20) [[Muisca calendar|calendar]] and knew exactly the timing of the [[summer solstice]] (June 21), which they considered the Day of ''Sué'', the Sun god. The Sué temple was in [[Sogamoso]], the sacred city of the Sun and the seat of the [[Iraca]] (priest). The Muisca name of the city, ''Suamox'' or ''Sugamuxi'', means "City of the Sun". On the [[solstice]], the ''zaque'' went to Suamox for a major festival where ritual offerings were made. It was the only day of the year when the ''zaque'' showed his face, as he was considered a descendant of the Sun god.<ref>Ocampo López, 2013, Ch.13, p.80</ref>