Cacao (Theobroma cacao) is a plant native to the Americas that occupied a fundamental place in the ritual, economic, and therapeutic practices of Mesoamerican peoples. Considered a gift of the gods, cacao transcends its role as a food and forms part of a complex system of meanings and knowledge transmitted from generation to generation. This small tree grows in the warm and humid regions of southeastern Mexico and the Soconusco region (Chiapas and Guatemala). Although its center of domestication remains a subject of debate, between Amazonia and Mesoamerica it is known that cacao has been cultivated in Mesoamerican territory since at least the Early Preclassic period (2000-1000 BCE). In the Maya area and among the Olmecs, ceramic and sculptural evidence exists for the ritual consumption of cacao by elite groups. Likewise, colonial sources provide detailed accounts of its use among the ancient Nahuas of the Highlands, where cacao was a scarce commodity.
Because it was considered a precious product, cacao was widely used as currency, tribute, and payment for services and labor, including during the Colonial period. Its possession was largely restricted to the upper classes, and its exchange value depended on the variety of the fruit. For example, the “red cacao” of the Pacific coast was paid as tribute to the Mexica Empire, while lower-quality beans were exchanged for items of lesser value. With the arrival of the Spaniards, the production and circulation of cacao came under the control of the haciendas.
The fruit was also present in rites of passage such as marriages, births, and funerals. In the burial wrappings of lords, cacao beans were included to provide nourishment for the deceased. The relationship between cacao and power is evident in the consumption of ground cacao and special beverages by nobles, prepared from mixtures of cacao, maize, chili, honey, flowers, and other ingredients, with the purpose of invigorating the body, since the exercise of government was believed to cause fatigue and the weakening of vital soul-components. Some of these mixtures included plants and fungi with psychotropic and stimulant effects. In contemporary therapeutic practice, cacao is used to treat dysentery, snakebites, and skin ailments. In Morelos, it is still believed that the foam of cacao contains the animating force of the seed; for this reason, the backs of women in labor are anointed with this liquid, or chocolate mixtures are consumed to help endure the pains of childbirth.
The sacred dimension of cacao is reflected in narratives and rituals of the Maya area, where the monkey, an animal associated with sexuality, pleasure, and gluttony, plays a privileged role as the mythological giver of cacao and as a sacrificial offering to the cacao gods. According to a reconstructed myth, a celestial deity, perhaps the nocturnal Sun, dropped cacao seeds into a sacred mountain. The god K'awiil took the fruits of the cacao trees and carried them to the earth's surface in order to deliver them to the newly created humanity. However, a monkey stole the fruits to consume them. By defecating on the ground, the animal produced fertilized seeds, generating a new planting. In response to this act, a woodpecker was sent to pierce the monkey's belly and recover the precious food. In this narrative, the monkey remains an intermediary between the divine and the human realms, while also expressing the cold, dark, and nocturnal nature of cacao.