Thursday, April 5, 2012

Blessings of Ixcacao and the Cacao Tree


Easter often equals chocolate in the minds of many people as opposed to it's religious significance held by those of the Christian faith.


The Cacao Tree was worshipped by the Mayan civilisation of Central America and Southern Mexico, who
believed it to be of divine origin, cacao is actually a Mayan word meaning "God Food" hence the tree's modern generic Latin name 'Theobrama Cacao' meaning ‘Food of the Gods’. 

The Maya brewed a spicy, bitter sweet drink by roasting and pounding the seeds of the cacao tree (cocoa beans) with maize and capsicum (chilli) peppers and letting the mixture ferment. This drink was reserved for use in ceremonies as well as for drinking by the wealthy and religious elite, they also ate a cacao porridge.



The Aztecs prized the beans so highly they used them as currency.  they also regarded chocolate as an aphrodisiac and their Emperor, Montezuma reputedly drank it fifty times a day from a golden goblet and is quoted as saying of Xocolatl: "The divine drink, which builds up resistance and fights fatigue. A cup of this precious drink permits a man to walk for a whole day without food".

When Montezuma was defeated by Cortez in 1519 and the victorious 'conquistadors' searched his palace for the Aztec treasury expecting to find gold and silver, all they found were huge quantities of cocoa beans. The Aztec Treasury consisted, not of precious metals, but cocoa beans.


The Mayan Goddess associated with the cacao tree was Ixcacao, an Earth Goddess who was associated with fertility, as well as providing safety and security for her people.  According to Mayan creation myth, there was a great flood, devastating droughts and earthquakes that destroyed the Gods' previous attempts to create a race of humans that would love them and sing songs about their glory.  After all, the human race had been decimated by cataclysmic events before ... this was not the first attempt by the Gods to repopulate the world with humans who, like them. could think and speak, creatures who would be grateful to them, and honour and praise the Gods for giving them their lives.

A prayer quoted from an old Mayan legend to promote a good harvest in times of hunger goes:

Ixcanil, Goddess of Seed, hear me
Ixtoq, Goddess of Rain, help me
Ixcacau, Goddess of Chocolate, see my tears and come to my aid.

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"Dancing the Sacred Wheel" now available again

"Dancing the Sacred Wheel" now available again
The second edition of "Dancing the Sacred Wheel: A Journey through the Southern Sabbats" is now available through www.createspace.com or direct from the author (Australian customers only) for an autographed copy.

Great Goddess Isis

Great Goddess Isis

Exhortation of Isis

You are She in the dust of whose feet is the hosts of Heaven,
Whose body encircles the Universe,
Who turns the Earth in its orb,
Who gives light to the Sun,
Who rules the World.

You tread death underfoot.
To Thee, the stars are responsive,
To Thee the seasons turn and the Gods rejoice
And the elements are in subjugation.


You are She that is the natural Mother of all things,
Mistress and governor of all elements,
The initial progeny of worlds,
Chief of Divine powers,
Queen of Heaven,
Principle of all the Gods celestial and the light of Goddesses.

At Your will are disposed the planets of the air,
The wholesome winds of the seas
And the silences of the unseen world.