By Leyla Camacho
Cacao –which Greek name “Theobroma” Cacao literally means “Food of the Gods” being Thea (god) and Broma (food) – has come a long way before it gets to us so we can enjoy its powerful energy… from old cultures from the Central and South America to our present day! So, to understand cacao better, let’s see some facts and a little history about it.
It’s unclear exactly when cacao came on the scene. Still, history says that the cacao’s four-thousand-year-long path started in Mesoamerica, where the first cacao plants, precisely in one of Mexico’s earliest civilizations, the Olmec culture. According to some history researchers, vessels with theobromine traces were found in the ancient Olmec settlements. Olmecs were the ones who considered using cacao as a medicine and who made of it a ceremonial brew consumed during rituals.
Many centuries later, the Maya, which undoubtedly received this cacao knowledge from the Olmecs, not only start consuming the cacao but to revere it. They believed that the Gods discovered the cacao tree in a mountain along with other foods found there, and subsequently, the Feathered Serpent gave it to Mayans to cultivate. From here, it was the Mayans who praised cacao as “the food of the gods”. The Mayan cacao brew –made of roasted and ground cacao beans which then were mixed with other different elements such as water, chilies, cornmeal, honey, etc.– was called “xocolatl”, which translation reads “bitter water”. Mayan xocolatl was considered important and used mainly in celebrations and to give closure to relevant rituals, ceremonies, and even transactions. However, despite its importance, it was not a brew only for the wealthy and powerful but for almost everyone who was part of that culture.
Later on, around the 15th century, the Aztec culture took admiration for cacao to another level and started to worship this medicine plant, too, since they believed that the cacao tree was a gift from their god Quetzalcoatl. The Aztecs also had a cacao brew, which was consumed as a refreshing beverage, an aphrodisiac, and even to prepare for war; however, contrary to the Mayans, this drink was mostly consumed by an upper-class extravagance, and the lower classes enjoyed it only occasionally, mainly at weddings or other kinds of celebrations. The Aztec culture not only used cacao as an important brew but also as an element to make transactions. To them, cacao beans were considered a currency –even more valuable than gold– to buy food and other goods, and their deity, Ek Chuah, was the one who presided over both the cacao beans and the trade.
No one knows exactly when and how cacao left Central and South America to enter the Western World and went from “food of the gods” to “food of humans”; however, many historians agreed that cacao first arrived in Spain, and by the end of the 15th century it was a much-loved delicatessen not only in Spain but also in Italy and France, which visited some parts of Central America and learned about the magic of cacao, too.
Nowadays, despite most of the Occident countries consume cacao not pure but in combination with other ingredients, mainly to prepare different kinds of what we currently known as “chocolate”, much people around the world have kept alive the tradition of venerating mama cacao in its purest form by reclaiming and getting back on track again rituals and traditions having cacao like the heart of these events.
The most known ritual using cacao is called “cacao ceremony”, and even when contemporary rituals may not be the same as the old ones held by the ancient cultures (let’s face it, we don’t know how these ceremonies were conducted), modern ceremonies do have a main thing in common with the authentic ancient ceremonies: enjoy the experience of the heart-opening effect that mama cacao gives to anyone who mindfully sits with this medicine plant.
Of course, every cacao ceremony is different, and there are no exact rules to follow, the only required is that the person or people wanting to hold this ceremony allows mama cacao to work inside herself/himself or themselves.
A cacao ceremony is a healing practice that mainly helps to rebalance our energy and to restore oneself internally, a great experience everyone should try at least once in a lifetime… and we are pretty sure many times more after this first trial 😉
That’s why, from Kawsay Cacao, we invite you to experience the powerful energy as well as the multiple health benefits, that the food of the gods has to offer, and to enjoy of the cacao ceremony journey where you can experience all of mama cacao goodies: heart opening, oneness, blissful, and love <3