Member-only story
2021: Creating a Lexicon of Future
A is for Ayni
Ayni (Quechua and Aymara also spelled Ayniy or Aini) can refer to either the concept of reciprocity or mutualism among people of the Andean mountain communities or the practice of this concept. As a noun, the law of ayni states that everything in the world is connected, and is the only commandment that rules daily life in many communities like the Q’ero. As a verb, this often refers to the cooperation between the members of a community when one member gives to another, he or she is entitled to receive something back ~ Wikipedia
Ayni is inspired by Nature itself, which forms (and restores) its balance permanently through the symbiotic interaction of all the agents that participate in it; and then the sacred, social, political, territorial and all dimensions of human activity are expanded to the sphere; being the basis of the “welfare state” that reigned for centuries in ancient Tawantinsuyu of the Incas, so it would not be an exaggeration to affirm that it is the ontological precept that best characterizes the thought of ancient Peru.
Interestingly, all the complexity of the Ayni can be expressed in a simple social and ritual rule: Give and receive whatever is necessary to restore balance in a cyclical and permanent way. ~ Ayni, a message from the past to heal the world from the pandemic
