 THE SPIRITUAL WORLD  THE MATERIAL WORLD THE CUSTOMARY USE OF COCOA BY THE KUNA INDIANS

The Cacao Tree

THE FRUIT OF THE CACAO TREE

THE CULTURAL, SPIRITUAL AND DIETARY IMPORTANCE OF COCOA  Cocoa plays a very important role in ceremonies and it is also used in all sorts of different ways in every day life.  All the plants, all the animals and all objects are beings with which the Kuna live in the universe.  For the Kuna Indians, the universe is divided into two: the spiritual world and the material world.

The Cultural, Spiritual and Dietary Importance of Cocoa  The fruit of the cacao tree is totally integrated in the Kuna cosmology.  It is reputed to be one of the first plants that the creator sent to Earth and was invested with great powers and spiritual strength in order to make the lives of the Kuna Indians more comfortable.

The use of cocoa as a medicine

 All the healing practices carried out by the INADULED, medical herbalists, are accompanied by invocations to the Gods using cocoa beans.  When the INADULED visit a patient, they sing songs about cocoa (CIA-IGALA) and make lots of smoke by roasting cocoa beans in a ceramic bowl called CIA-NALA.

A Kuna woman drinking cocoa just before giving birth.

A cocoa drink is reputed to purify infants and keep them in good health.

The use of cocoa during pregnancy and child- birth  Cocoa plays an important role in making child- birth easier and it helps to avoid complications.  The future mother drinks her cocoa at four o’clock in the morning facing east.  Birth is reputed to be quicker and easier and the child in better health because of the cocoa in his blood (CIAGUA).

The use of cocoa during the puberty ceremonies of maiden Kuna girls.

The use of cocoa during the puberty ceremony  The puberty ceremony of a young Kuna girl takes place when she has her first period. The ceremony lasts for 4 days.  After these 4 days, the body of the maiden girl is painted using a drink made from a cocoa pod that has been cut from a tree celebrated according to the rites described below and called JAGUA.  In order to earn the right to be called JAGUA, the person who collects the JAGUA takes his CIANAR or ritual ceramic bowl to the cacao tree, burns 8 cocoa beans in it and surrounds the tree with the smoke.

The use of cocoa for cutting hair.

The use of cocoa during the ceremony of cutting hair  A young Kuna has her hair cut during an important ceremony that lasts for 3 days.  During these 3 days great celebrations are held, bathed in chicha.  During these 3 days, the smoke that is obtained by burning cocoa beans protects against dangers, curses and unfortunate happenings.

The use of cocoa when searching for KAMMU (flute)

The use of cocoa when searching for KAMMU  The traditional Kuna flute is able to communicate with the ocean and to pacify it, to appease earthquakes and bad spirits.  In order to collect the bamboo that is necessary to make the flute, the Kuna have to travel far to the only place where the bamboo grows.  Once they have arrived, the person designated to cut down the bamboo has to burn 8 cocoa beans in order to obtain stalks of the best quality.

The use of cocoa to prevent illness.

The use of cocoa at the start of an epidemic or when people are sick  The start of an illness or an epidemic will be treated by an ABSOGUET (the person who speaks) during a ceremony that lasts for 8 days.  The ABSOGUET enters into a trance and the wooden statuettes, which represent the good spirits, take him to the place where the demon who started the epidemic lives.  By using the smoke obtained from burning cocoa, he can capture the demon and try to keep him in his house, thereby reducing the epidemic.

Cocoa butter made from achiote (rocou)

MADUN (made with cocoa and ripe banana)

The use of cocoa when someone has died

The use of cocoa at burials

The use of cocoa when someone has died and after burial  When a Kuna is born, cocoa helps to revive the new-born and when a Kuna dies cocoa is used to direct his spirit to heaven.  Cocoa is used when someone has died to protect the family and the members of the community against illness.  When the undertaker comes back from the sacred mountain, he burns cocoa again, but this time mixed with garlic.