Mayan Gods: Hunaphu – the creator, an invisible and mysterious god so far above mortals that he was unknown by the people Itzam Na – sky, day and night, could split into four IxChel – moon god Ah Puch or Yum Cimil – god of death Chaac – rain god Kinich Ahau – sun god Yum Kax – corn god Tepeyolotl – jaguar god

Mayan Religion: Earth on the back of a crocodile 13 levels of heavens above our sky 9 levels of underworld below Each ruled by a god Also, regular work-related gods Most important gods were sky, corn, rain, etc. 5 stories of creation

The Drink of the Gods source:http://www.authenticmaya.com/cacao.htm The Maya believed that the ka'kau'  was discovered by the gods in a mountain… And so they were happy over the provisions of the good mountain, filled with sweet things, . . . thick with pataxte and cacao. . . the rich foods filling up the citadel named Broken Place, Bitter Water Place".  Popol Vuh

The Maya and the Ka'kau' (Cacao) A lord tests the heat of his chocolate in this painting on a Late Classic Maya vase  from Petén; note tamales (Maize cakes), covered with chocolate-chile sauce below him.

Cacao Growing Cacao, native to the Americas, was used in both Mesoamerica and South America from up to 3500 years ago. The cacao tree, called Madre Cacao, Theobroma

What’s in a name? KAKAU! Inside the cacoa seedpod: The word probably originated  from the Maya word Ka'kau', as well as the  Maya words Chocol'ha and the verb chokola'j "to drink chocolate together", These words were then adapted centuries later by the Aztecs.

Sacred Beginnings God of Chocolate According to Maya mythology, Hunahpú gave cacao to the Maya after humans were created from maize by the divine grandmother goddess Ixmucané.

The many faces of chocolate OOOhhhhh, so foamy! Flavors: Mixtures included maize, chili, vanilla, peanut butter and honey. Chocolate was also mixed with a variety of flowers, and sometimes it was thickened with atol, a corn gruel. AND! A red variety made by adding annatto dye The Maya drank its Chocolate hot and frothy that was  produced by pouring the drink back-and- forth from a height or with a beater (molinillo).

Chocolate Money An early explorer visiting Guatemala found that: A  large tomato was worth one bean, a turkey egg was 3 beans,  4 cocoa beans could buy a pumpkin, 100 could buy a rabbit or a good turkey hen, and 1000 a slave.. Cacao beans were worth transporting for long distances because they were luxury items. In Maya times, one of the privilege of the elite (the royal house, nobles, shamans, artist, merchants, and warriors) was to drink chocolate

The European Reaction… The Spaniards didn't like it at first, but they got used to it! Friar José de Acosta in Perú says: The Spaniards, that are accustomed to the country, are very greedy of this Chocolaté. "Loathsome to such as are not acquainted with it, having a scum or froth that is very unpleasant to taste. The Spaniards, both men and women, that are accustomed to the country, are very greedy of this Chocolaté. They say they make diverse sorts of it, some hot, some cold, and some temperate, and put therein much of that 'chili'; yea, they make paste thereof, the which they say is good for the stomach and against the catarrh." 

Mayan Chocolate Tree Illustration

1. Mayan use of chocolate/history with (2 paragraph min) 2 1. Mayan use of chocolate/history with (2 paragraph min) 2. How and where cocoa trees grow (2 pgph) 3. How cocoa is harvested (2 pgph) 4. How chocolate is made from cocoa beans (2 pgph) in CL – one page of facts in bullets!