Christmas Cannibalism

What would Christmas be without chocolate? I, for one, like to begin my Christmas morning seeking out my favorite chocolates from the numerous Sees Candy boxes lying around my parents' house, for breakfast. Don't tell my parents.

The word chocolate originates from the Aztec cacahuatl, "black nut." The species name, cacao, from the Mayan language, is a reference to the tree, fruit and drink that was made from it. The Mayans regarded the cacao as a holy tree, both life sustaining but also as a portal to death.

The Aztecs often called cocolate yollotl, eztil - "heart, blood." In turn they called the still beating hearts ripped from the chests of their live human sacrifices cacahuatl - "cocoa fruit" or "Gods' food."

Just before a victim was actually sacrificed they were given a drink called itzpacaltl, "water with which obsidian blades are washed." It was used to intoxicate the victim into an ecstatic state.

Shamans or sacrificial priests took the sacrificial knives and washed off the blood from the last victim in water. They then combined it with chocolate and pumpkin. It is said that the drink had the following effect: "He became nearly unconscious and forgot what was said to him. Then his good mood came back and he started to dance agaain. It is believed that, bewitched by the drink, he gave himself, full of joy and happiness before death." - Diego de Duran

Our first Christmas-centric chocolates were produced in the guise of Father Christmas. Even if its only symbolic one could argue this practice still amounts to a sort of ritualistic cannibalism.

Keep all this in mind next time you gleefully decapitate and devour your chocolate Santa.

As long as we are on the subject of chocolate and after all, it is the Creepmas season - let's take a look at chocolate gifts with a creepy twist.

Famed parapsychologist, Loyd Auerbach has recently taken up another title - chocolatier. His new venture named appropriately enough, Haunted By Chocolate, features Ghost Drops. They come in various familiar flavors but also gourmet ones like dark chocolate with saigon cinnamon and dark chocolate with black sesame. http://www.hauntedbychocolate.com/index.html

Also, don't forget our friends at Cryptocurium http://www.cryptocurium.com/ who I posted about ealier this year - http://merricatblackwood.blogspot.com/2011/09/call-ofchocolate-yes-rlyeh.html They've promised a debut of a new candy today, December 5th. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a chocolate Krampus!