Chakana - Inca Cross

[Note: I bought two Chakanas in Bolivia and Peru. I was intrigued by the Andean Cross. The cross that I found in Bolivia had four animal figures at the N - S - W - E cardinal points: Condor, Owl, Frog, Turtle. The cross that I found in Peru had twelve sections which I was told were the symbols of the twelve months of the year. ]

Reference:
A Chakana is an Andean symbol of the Incan civilization. Derived from the Quechua (traditional language of the Incas) word "chakay," meaning "to cross" or "to bridge," a chakana is a 3-stepped symmetric "cross" with a hole in the center of it. The 3 steps represent the 3 tiers or worlds that the Incan culture believed in, with the centered hole representing the Incan capital of Cusco. This included the upper, middle and lower worlds. The upper wold (Hanan Pacha) included the stars, celestial beings and gods. The middle world (Kay Pacha) represented the world of human life, and the lower world (Uqhu Pacha) represented the underworld and death. These tiers/ worlds were also represented by their revered animals: the condor, puma, snake. The condor represented the upper world in the sky; the puma, a powerful land animal represented the middle world; the snake, living underground, represented the lower world.

Chakana

Wikipedia:
The cross has 12 points and legend has it that these points represent the following sayings, affirmations and life points I Live, I Work, I Love; The Underworld, The Current World, The Upper World; The Condor, The Puma, The Snake; Don't Lie, Don't Steal, Don't be Lazy.
The four flat sides represent the elements Water Air Earth Fire.

The Chakana (or Inca Cross, Chakana) symbolizes for Inca mythology what is known in other mythologies as the World Tree, Tree of Life and so on. The stepped cross is made up of an equal-armed cross indicating the cardinal points of the compass and a superimposed square. The square represents the other two levels of existence. The three levels of existence are Hana Pacha (the upper world inhabited by the superior gods), Kay Pacha, (the world of our everyday existence) and Ucu or Urin Pacha (the underworld inhabited by spirits of the dead, the ancestors, their overlords and various deities having close contact to the Earth plane). The hole through the centre of the cross is the Axis by means of which the shaman transits the cosmic vault to the other levels. It also represents Cuzco, the center of the Incan empire, and the Southern Cross constellation.