Cacao and religion

 The thesis of this blog is the following: “Cacao as well chocolate consumption have been viewed very positively in many different religions of the world.” The first question that readers should ask themselves when they are reading this blog is the following: Which religion(s) mention cacao at all?” With regard to the topic of cacao and how it has been viewed by various different religions, there is definitely much to be said. In order to begin talking about this topic, it is important to remember that with regards to the major religions of the world, beginning with Judaism, Islam, and the various different sects as well as denominations of Christianity, there are no mentions of chocolate in any of their holy books, be it the Christian Bible, the Quran, or the Hebrew Bible. The reason for mentioning this is because today when most people think of religion, they think of these three religions. Right away the reader should know this because these are the religions that people think of the most when the topic comes up, let alone when they would be trying to see any mentions of cacao in religion. The part of the world where cacao had the most and perhaps the only significance is in the civilizations of the Americas. Some examples could be (but of course not limited to) the Aztecs, and the Mayans. Now that readers understand which civilizations and their religions had any view and commentary of cacao in their religious beliefs, it is time to ask the next question of the following: “What was the significance of cacao in the religions of the Mayas as well as the religion of the Aztecs?” According to writing titled “Early Origins of Chocolate Under Aztec Rule” (published on the date of June 01, 2015, Mariebelle.com) there is an important verse that I will paraphrase for the readers to better understand what the Aztec religion had to say about cacao “The Aztecs held the cocoa tree in high regard as their bridge between heaven and earth. Even humans who were offered as sacrifices to appease the Gods were first blessed by consuming chocolates.” Notice how the end of what has been paraphrased makes mention of how the sacrificed humans would consume chocolate and not just cocoa beans, this is important to remember because it implies correctly that the Aztecs had a way of making chocolate, which was completely different to how we consume it today, namely with milk and sugar. The Aztecs considered cacao the literally be of divine origin, to be exact they viewed it as a creation of one of their gods, they called this god Quetzalcoatl. Onwards to another religion that had a positive view of cacao is the Maya, this civilization viewed it as a sacred food, which could possibly explain the origin of the etymology of the name “kakau” sounding very similar to cacao in English. There are many different archeological forms of evidence that shows how their gods were sprouting from the pods of cacao, and what is even more interesting is how they held the belief that cacao was an ingredient in human creation. According to many different writings of the Mayans, cacao was an acceptable form of a marriage dowry. Speaking of marriages and cacao in these ancient civilizations, some other uses of cacao in their religions also included funerals, as well as celebratory events such as religious ceremonies. To summarize this blog for the readers, this blog mentions how the religions of the various different peoples within the continents of north and mainly south America had very positive views of both the cacao plant itself, as well as the various different ways that they prepared them, for their consumption. Their consumption which was indeed for many different religious purposes held cacao in cult-like worship, one must almost be shocked at how there was not a specific god that either the Aztecs or the Mayans would have made, which would be the god of cacao. Similar enough to some civilizations had gods for things such as victory (think of the Greek god Nike), but nevertheless, cacao was something of major importance to their religions, leading to them constantly not only figuring out newer and better ways to enjoy cacao, but also to always being in the possession of a good amount of cacao beans, and even feeding their human sacrifice victims (yes they, unfortunately, would be killed in those situations) before they would kill them as a sacrifice to the gods of their religions.

Bibliography

https://www.heritagedaily.com/2020/03/medicinal-and-ritualistic-uses-for-chocolate-in-mesoamerica-2/98809#:~:text=The%20Maya%20and%20the%20Aztecs,offerings%20and%20rituals%20to%20him.