To the Aztecs, chocolate was a source of spiritual wisdom, tremendous energy and enhanced sexual powers. The drink was highly prized as a nuptial aid, and predictably, was the favourite beverage at wedding ceremonies. The Emperor Montezuma was reputed to get through fifty flagons of chocolate a day, always forifying himself with a cup before entering his harem.
Although drunk on a daily basis, chocolate was still considered an exotic luxury and consumed primarily by kings, noblemen and the upper ranks of the priesthood. (Some historians say that priests would not have drunk chocolate, arguin that it would have been the equivalent of a priest quaffing champagne every day).
Because of its renowned energy-boosting properties, chocolate was also given to Aztec warriors to fortify them on military campaigns. The chocolate was compressed into conveniently travel-sized tablets and wafers. Perhaps as a kind of incentive scheme a special law was instated declaring that unless warrior went to war, he was forbidden to drink chocolate or eat luxury meats, or wear cotton, flowers or feathers - even if he was a royal prince or nobleman.
The Spanish colonists, too, became infatuated by the chocolate mystique. Once they had become accustomed to the strangeness of the drink, they took to it with enthusiasm. The Jesuit, Jose de Acosta, wrote "The Spaniards, both men and women, that are accustomed to the country, are very greedy of this chocolate. They say they make diverse sortes of it, some hote, some colde, and put therein much of chili."
Increasingly aware of its restorative values, Cortes convinced Carlos I of Spain of the enormous potential of this New World health food: "... the divine drink which builds up resistance and fights fatigue. A cup of this precious drink enables a man to walk for a whole day without food:.
Thomas Gage was heavily reliant on it too. He wrote: "Two ir three hours after a good meal of three or four dishes of mutton, veal or beef, kid, turkeys or other fowles, our stomackes would bee ready to faint, and so wee were fain to support them with a cup of chocolatte".
RIGHTS, RITUALS AND CEREMONIES
The writings of New World travellers give us fascinating insights into the strange and sometimes barbaric rites, rituals and ceremonies attached to the cacao bean and the drinking of chocolate.
Religious rituals took place at different stages during cultivation. The Maya always held a planting festival in honour of the gods during which they sacrificed a dog with a cacao-colored spot in its hari. Another practice, calling for a certain amount of commitment, required the planters to remain celibate for thirteen nights. They were allowed to return to their wives on the fourteenth night, and then the beans were sown. Another somewhat gory planting ceremony involved placing the seeds in small bowls before performing secret rites in the presence of an idol . Blood was then drawn from different parts of the human body and used to anoint the idol.. Other practices include sprinkling "the blood of slain fowls" over the land to be sown. There were also tales of frenzied dancing, orgiastic rituals, and bloody sacrifices. The sixteenth-century Italian historian and traveller, Girolamo Benzoni, recorded that during festivals "they used to spend all the day and half the night in dancing with only cacao for nourishment". Another legend tells of how, as a prize, the winner of a type of ball game would be offered as a sacrifice. The unfortunate man was first fed vast quantities of chocolate in order "to colour his blood" before his heart was cut out and presented to the gods, who, it was believed, would be honoured by the chocolate-rich blood.
Another use of chocolate was as a face paint with which the Aztecs adorned themselves in religious ceremonies. Even the early Spanish planters believed that secret rites were necessary for a successful crop and performed planting ceremonies. From its earliest days, then chocolate was regarded as a substance of power, a gift from the gods, a source of vitality of life.
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