What does the chakana mean?

Construction method of the Chakana.

The chakana represents the Sun and the Southern Cross, but its shape, which suggests a pyramid with stairs on all four sides and a circular center, also has a higher meaning: the union between the low and the high, the earth and the sun, the human being and the higher. The chakana is not just a lucky architectural or geometric design, but it means a "stairway to the highest".

In the Inca culture, the chakana represents the three levels of life, each symbolized by an animal in the well-known "Andean triology":

• The snake symbolizes the underworld (in Quechua: Ukhu Pacha) and is the home of the dead and unborn babies. Also from rocks, minerals or fire. For the Andean people, the caverns on earth are passages to the underworld. The serpent also symbolizes the water and fertility that irrigates everything that flourishes on earth from the subsoil..
• The puma represents the world of the living (Kay Pacha) and where humans, animals and plants live, but also rivers, lakes and mountains. Cusco, the capital of the Inca empire, is shaped like a puma, with the head in the fabulous fortress of Sacsayhuaman and the tail to the east, in the district of Pumaqchupan, where the Saphy and Tullumayo rivers meet. The attribute of the cougar is strength and can transit between the three worlds.
• The condor symbolizes the heavenly world (Hanan Pacha). The Inca gods and supernatural beings live here: Viracocha (the creator god), Inti (the sun god), Mama Quilla (the moon), Pacha Mama (mother earth), Pachacamac (the god of tremors), Illapa (the god of lightning) or the Apus (the spirits of the sacred mountains).

Symbology of the Andean Chakana

And not only, the Andean cross is a compendium of the Andean worldview :

• Allin Ruray: do things well, with determination.
• Allin Munay: feel love for others, both for humans and animals and things.
• Allin Yachay: think well, that is, strive to be wise.

...and also:

• Ayni: know how to offer and receive from the community.
• Minka: know how to work collectively to carry out community tasks that interest the entire Andean community, such as harvesting or an irrigation canal.
• Mita: extended families must also contribute their work for the common good, such as building bridges, roads or temples.

Wiphala, the Andean flag, shaped like Chakana

Like all crosses, the chakana indicates the 4 cardinal points, the 4 seasons, the 4 elements... but, in addition, adding its 12 corners, it also represents the 12 months of the year. The chakana also indicates the four seasons of the year and the times of sowing and harvesting. Various Andean peoples celebrate May 3 as Chakana Day, because on this day the Southern Cross assumes the astronomical shape of a perfect cross and is a sign of harvest time. The southern cross was venerated by the pre-Inca Andean cultures and today the tradition of protecting crops is still maintained by marking the cultivated area with various chakanas.

Another peculiarity of the Andean cross is the hole inside it. Represents the circle of life and also the Inca navel. In this way, the Andean cross starts from oneself to transcend the other.

In summary, the chakana or Andean cross represents the journey from the self to the other, the ascension between the three worlds (the underworld, our world and the heavenly one), the 12 months of the year, the 4 cardinal points and the 4 stations. It is the key that connects Andean culture with parallel worlds, and is therefore a symbol of duality and transit, but also of union.

The Chakana is, in itself, the one and the whole.

Are you looking for jewelry online with own workshop to turn that jewel that surrounds you into precious metal? You design your custom-made treasure. I am your jeweler hands.

Esther, showing off her Atlantis ring and her Chakana by MeriTomasa.

Esther met me through a friend, Jasmina, who recommended my workshop to her. First she asked me to mend the ring of a chakana acquired on a very special trip, cut in a semi-precious stone. Then came other assignments, for her and for other friends. An Atlantis ring in silver arrived, and finally this chakana in sterling silver, 19mm on a side, also arrived..

This is one of my favorite formulas at The MeriTomasa's Treasures Factory. You design your jewelry. I am your jeweler hands.

I made a chakana for Esther, and little by little more requests were coming in. As in many other pieces, a personalized jewel made to measure for a first client has been bringing me other orders until I have elaborated a small Chakana Collection, to be able to adjust prices to the maximum and be able to offer it to you in shorter times, without losing authenticity or elaboration artisan in my workshop.

I need to tell you three more things about my chakanas:

• Finished in polished silver on the front and back, and in darkened silver on the sides and inner circle.
• The chain has a length of 45cm, with a ring to shorten to 42cm. It is also sterling silver.
• I do not sign my chakanas with my MeriTomasa punch for the same reason that I do not sign my Atlantis rings: they are symbols of sacred geometry, loaded with meanings of ancient cultures, and I elaborate them with artisan humility, and therefore I believe that it contributes more to their purity do not add my signature.

Comparative table between the different models of the Chakana Collection by MeriTomasa

The various chakanas at The MeriTomasa's Treasures Factory share the same design, faithful to the sacred geometry of the Andean chakana. The only thing that changes is the size of the chakana, either small (12mm high x 12mm wide x 4.5mm thick) or large (19mm high x 19mm wide x 6mm thick), and the combination with different materials to give it the shape of necklace, bracelet or keychain..

I do not offer you all the combinations because some would not be pretty. For example, the small chakana is too light to hang properly on a nylon thread, and that is why I only offer it with a silver chain in the case of the necklace. Another example: the large chakana would be too big in a bracelet, and that is why I only offer you the chakana in a small measure in the case of the bracelet. Finally, the small chakana would be too small for a keychain, and that is why I only offer you the keychain in the large chakana version.

In all cases, the Chakana is made 100% in sterling silver (if you want it in gold, tell me and we will expand the collection :-)

In this comparison table, ordered by price, you can see the differences:

	Metal	Price	In a few words
Chakana Bracelet	Sterling silver and black nylon cord	€74	Small Chakana (12mm high x 12mm wide x 4.5mm thick) combined with a black nylon bracelet.
Chakana Necklace with large Chakana and nylon cord	Sterling silver and gray or black nylon cord	€89	Large Chakana (19mm high x 19mm wide x 6mm thick) combined with nylon cord, either gray or black.
Chakana Necklace with small Chakana and silver chain	Sterling silver	€94	Small Chakana (12mm high x 12mm wide x 4.5mm thick) combined with silver chain.
Chakana Keychain	Sterling silver	€99	Large Chakana (19mm high x 19mm wide x 6mm thick) combined with silver key ring.
Chakana Necklace with large Chakana and silver chain	Sterling silver	€109	Large Chakana (19mm high x 19mm wide x 6mm thick) combined with silver chain.
Chakana Necklace with small Chakana and gold chain	18K gold	€789	Small Chakana (12mm high x 12mm wide x 4.5mm thick) combined with gold chain.

About The MeriTomasa's Treasures Factory and my Chakana Collection

Myself, in my jewelry workshop in Manresa, holding the Fashion Revolution "I made your Jewelery" campaign poster.

I am neither a magician nor a priestess. I am not a specialist in religion or the Andean worldview. Not in Feng Shui, Reiki, dowsing or kinesiology. Nor am I a specialist in personal growth or channeling positive energies. I am a jeweler. That is why on my website I tell you little about the benefits and uses of Chakana. My mission is not to explain how and when and why of these treasures that unite religion and worldview, nor do I want to convince you to use them as an amulet or talisman. If you have reached this page, perhaps you will know more about the subject than I do, and according to my experience, each client expects a different use or benefits from my treasures.

As a jeweler, my mission is to offer you top quality treasures both in relation to the metal that makes them up and in relation to the design, modeling and finishing process. That is why I adhere to campaigns such as Fashion Revolution or I presume to be accredited with the craft product badge (D’A), which certifies that my jewels are of my own production and are handcrafted in my workshop, kilometer zero.

My mission as a jeweler is to offer you treasures such as Chakana in the form of top quality jewels, both in relation to the precious metals that make them up and in relation to the design, modeling and finishing process. And also, do it from craftsmanship and humility. I do not manufacture in series in distant countries and I do not sell wholesale: I offer you handmade jewelry at fair prices.

On the other hand, it is true that I am very interested in the topic of personal growth and I have done courses on channeling positive energies, so that both from the point of view of jewelry and from the point of view of personal growth, I have been designing and modeling for years treasures of sacred and esoteric jewelry, and I have endeavored to document its design and optimal manufacturing process.

The MeriTomasa's Treasures Factory is specialized in custom made jewelry for all tastes and budgets: wedding rings, headbands, earrings, pendants, brooches, bracelets, rings, tiaras... My value proposition is to create quality jewelry, designed and manufactured by hand, with a focus on personalization. That is why I join campaigns like Fashion Revolution or I amb proud of being accredited with the craft product (D'A) distinctive, which certifies that my jewelry is of own production and they are made by hand using the processes of my trade and produced in my workshop in Manresa, kilometer zero. I offer a more intimate, romantic, exclusive and quality jewelry.

Many of the pieces that you will find on my website could be included as sacred jewelry or esoteric jewelry. It was not my first intention when I opened The MeriTomasa's Treasures Factory. But I have the feeling that some of those treasures, such as the Atlantis Ring or the Chakana Collection, have come to me to offer me paths to grow, and I have walked those paths with all humility and giving thanks for every little challenge that the twists and turns of the road have offered me.

Like all my pieces, my Chakana Collection is designed and modeled in my workshop in Manresa (Barcelona), from personalized jewelery orders since 2006, so that you can boast of wearing a zero kilometer jewel of artisan manufacture.

And if you like it but would prefer it with some changes... please tell me and we will talk about it :)