The Sky Temple of the Inca

High in the Andean mountains, where clouds veil the world below and condors ride the wind, sits a sanctuary of stone: Machu Picchu.

To the casual traveller, it is a wonder of ruins - but to the soul attuned to celestial rhythm, it is a cosmic sanctuary where stone remembers the stars. A city built not on a mountain — but with it. Here, the stones speak the language of the stars.

The Intihuatana: The Stone that Holds the Sun

Astrologer Kylie Frank sitting high on the Machu Piccu sacred mountain.

A City Between Worlds

Machu Picchu was more than a city — it was a gateway between worlds: the visible and invisible, the earthly and the divine. Built around 1450 by the Inca and abandoned before the Spanish arrived, it remained hidden beneath lush jungle vines for centuries.

The Inca believed in a threefold cosmos:

• Hanan Pacha – the upper world of stars, gods, and ancestors.

• Kay Pacha – the middle world of humans, where we walk.

• Ukhu Pacha – the lower world, the realm of shadow and seed.

Machu Picchu sits suspended between these realms — a mirror of the cosmos sculpted in stone.

The Temple of the Sun: A Celestial Compass

At the heart of Machu Picchu stands the Temple of the Sun, built in reverence to Inti, the solar deity who ruled both sky and time. The temple’s curved walls align with the June solstice sunrise, when light streams through a single window to illuminate a sacred stone within.

This is not coincidence — it’s cosmic architecture. For the Inca, the Sun wasn’t a symbol; it was a living god, the heart of cosmic order. Machu Picchu’s builders didn’t just worship the Sun, they spoke its geometry.

The Intihuatana: The Stone that Holds the Sun

On the upper terrace stands the Intihuatana, a carved granite pillar whose name means “the place where the Sun is tied.”

During the solstices and equinoxes, it casts no shadow — standing in perfect balance between light and dark. It functioned as a solar clock, marking the turning points of the year and anchoring human ritual to celestial time. In astrological terms, the Intihuatana is a cosmic dial, tracking the Sun’s journey through the zodiac, just as we follow it from Aries to Pisces, solstice to solstice.

Huayna Picchu: The Sleeping Guardian of Machu Picchu

Rising directly behind the ancient Inca citadel of Machu Picchu, at around 8,920 feet above sea level, Huayna Picchu forms one of the most recognisable silhouettes in the Andes. The Incas carved narrow stone stairways into its steep slopes, leading to temples, terraces, and lookout points that once served as spiritual and ceremonial sites.

From certain perspectives, the combined outline of Machu Picchu and Huayna Picchu resembles the profile of a man’s face lying on his back, with Huayna Picchu forming the prominent “nose.” The terraces and ridges around it suggest the forehead, lips, and chin, giving the impression of a great sleeping figure carved by nature itself.

The Stars Above and Below

The Inca didn’t just watch the stars — they read the darkness between them. They saw dark constellations in the Milky Way — the Llama, the Serpent, the Fox — shapes formed not by stars, but by the shadows within the river of light.

That Milky Way, called “Mayu,” was believed to mirror the Urubamba River winding below Machu Picchu. The heavens reflected the earth; the earth reflected the heavens. As above, so below.

The Astrology of a Sacred City

Machu Picchu is a Capricorn monument in every sense, carved into the bones of the Earth. Capricorn rules mountains, stone, time, and sacred architecture. It was built not for convenience, but for spiritual alignment, mirroring the Capricornian call to create legacy, order, and cosmic responsibility.

Virgo’s resonance with Machu Picchu lies in its ritual perfection. The Inca were master observers of nature, aligning their architecture with the cycles of the Sun, Moon, and seasons — pure Virgo medicine.

Scorpio emerges through the mystery, power, and spiritual initiation of the site. Machu Picchu was hidden for centuries, veiled in mist and jungle. It wasn’t conquered or destroyed — it simply vanished, like a secret waiting to be revealed. That’s Scorpio.

Machu PIcchu