THE SPIRIT OF CACAO

Inspiration

The knowledge that Cacao is both physical and spiritual heart medicine has an ancient history.  The Mayan words “Ka’kau, meaning “heart blood,” and “Chokala” meaning “to drink together.”  The health benefits of cacao are enormous. Recent studies have shown, by improving the flow of blood, cacao increases brain function and is a natural mood booster.

All the ancient civilizations of Mesoamerica revered cacao.  It was used as food, stimulant, medicine, even currency especially for the pay of prostitutes.  Because cacao was considered so valuable in ancient Mexico, the Maya believed it was the first plant regenerated from the supreme, Maize God’s body as he renewed the world.  Cacao also has an ancient use in Mesoamerica as incense.  There are hundreds of incense burners that depict cacao or the Gods associated with cacao.  The Mayan god of cacao, Ek Chuah, was often depicted on incense vessels.   In Panama, the Shamans of the Cuna Indians also used cacao beans as ritual incense.  The medicine people used cacao incense to get a diagnosis.  The cacao beans were placed on a red coal that had been lit in a special incense burner.  The healers would read the patients illness in the form and behavior of the smoke coming from the incense burner.

From psilocybin mushrooms to hot chili peppers, there are many pairings of cacao with other plants described in the ancient writings. The classic form of the beverage is similar to a recipe for making incense.  It was made from roasted, ground cacao beans, corn meal, honey, vanilla beans, allspice, capsicum, and a small amount of water. This was mixed and shaped into cakes, which were dried and stored until needed. To prepare the drink, a piece of the cake was mixed with water, and whisked to make it thick and frothy.  It is hard to imagine that someone didn’t think about placing some of this cake in an incense burner.

Traditional, indigenous Meso and South America cultures are well known for their use of psychedelic, mind opening plants and the mixtures they make from these plants.  Many pre-Columbian cultures used hallucinogens for magical, therapeutic and religious purposes. What is less well known and discussed is the rich olfactory culture of Meso and South America that was the result of the vast variety of indigenous, fragrant plants that rivals even that of India:  Plumeria, Vanilla orchids, Rose, Saffron, Angels Trumpet, Cup of Gold, Tagetes, Cactus Flowers, Peru Balsam, Tolu balsam, Tonka are only a few.  An environment rich in both psychedelic plants and fragrant plants resulted in the Mayan belief of a fragrant flower world called “Flower Mountain”.  Flower Mountain was the ancestral place of origin and return. Gods born there embodied flowers, fragrant plants and trees.  The Aztecs had an annual, summer celebration called the “Festival of Flowers” in honor of the male and female aspects of the fertility and creation that were connected with fertility and agriculture; Xochipilli (Prince of Flowers) and Xochiquetzal (Precious Feather Flower).  The Festival of Flowers celebrated the pleasures of summer; smelling flowers, performing poetry and music, drinking fermented beverages and taking psychedelic mushrooms.  The high caste and priestly Aztecs adorned themselves with particularly large, gold nose ornaments that went through the septum.  These wide ornaments had elaborate designs that could collect odors and pass them into the nose and up to the third eye.  Aztec and Mayan physicians routinely prescribed that patients smell the fragrance of certain flowers to alleviate depression and fatigue.  Both the Aztec and the Mayas planted enormous public gardens filled with fragrant plants valued for their healing effects and pleasurable effects.  These ancients used perfumes derived from the flowers and raised flower arranging to an art.  Incense was an everyday part of life as seen by the quantities of incense burner found in ruins.  While incenses based on Copal resins and Palo Santo wood have survived conquest many other mixtures have been forgotten.