The Aztec Calendar / Photo: Jungle Boy

“Black gold,” as chocolate has been called, has a control over a majority of Westerners.

It’s always in the back of one’s mind, or in the front of one’s mind when obtaining some becomes more acute. Everyone has a specific craving, whether it be pure, refined, mixed, primed, or blended, but we all have experiences of one kind or another with the stuff.

I, for one, enjoy my chocolate mixed with nuts or berries, and I’m more partial to dark than milk, but I can’t recall ever refusing chocolate.

Given my enjoyment, I was surprised to learn that chocolate’s current form is far removed from its origins as a drink of the gods, a nectar in the literal sense, of the Aztecs called xoxocatl.

Award-winning professor Michael D. Coe of Yale University writes in his book, The True History of Chocolate that the first tangible evidence of chocolate consumption originates in mid-fifth century CE.

Yet emerging linguistic evidence suggests that the Olmec, a Central American civilization that predates the Aztec and the Maya before them, were not unaccustomed to the plant and its possibility for creating a beverage.

Food of the Gods

The origin of chocolate, according to Aztec legend, states that Quetzalcoatl brought the plant to Earth from heaven, not unlike Promentheus bringing fire to man, after man and woman, in a sacred garden not unlike Eden, attempted to steal the knowledge and power of the gods.

Photo: jubilohaku

Because Quetzalcoatl considered their banishment from the garden too harsh a punishment, he gifted them chocolate.

Carl Linnaeus, founder of the modern classification system of all living things (taxonomy), clearly had this legend in mind when he named the plant Theobroma cacao, meaning ‘food of the gods’.

As is so often the case with something reported to have come from the gods, royalty was interested in its consumption.

Aztec king Montezuma was reported to have drank the beverage from golden goblets that were only holy enough for chocolate to be used once. The fact is opulent enough, but it was reported that for him to drink more than twenty-five glasses per diem was not uncommon.

Aztecs often used cocoa beans as a currency. During a 1514 voyage to the New World Hernando de Oviedo y Valdez, a member of Pedro Arias Dávila massive 1500-men expedition, wrote in his journal claiming that four beans could buy a rabbit dinner, ten was standard price for a night with a prostitute, and he himself bought a slave for the price of one hundred cocoa beans.

Arrival In The West

From the Age of Exploration, chocolate entered into Western culture. While exact etymology is moot, it is clear that Europeans first came into contact with chocolate, or rather the cacao bean, via the Spanish, via the Mexico, via the Aztec, at the dawn of the sixteenth century.

Chocolate was again the drink the of elite, the delight of the plebeians, the bitterest of potables, the most saccharine of sweets, the iconic symbol of Mesoamerica.

In A Tale of Two Cities Dicken’s shows the transitional period of chocolate, between Mesoamerican luxury to the European commoners’ pleasure, when he explains with great detail Monseigneur’s elaborate consumption of chocolate in his Paris hotel room.

In Europe—during the time of the novel, and even before—the price of chocolate was a luxury because it had to be brought across the Atlantic ocean before it could be consumed.

The ceremonial aspect of the drink was, in some convoluted way, preserved when it entered into the Catholic Church. Whilst electing a new Pope, the College of Cardinals meeting in Concalve used to sip the beverage. And European royalty enjoyed the beverage as Aztec royalty had before them.

A New Renaissance

It was not until 1828 when chocolate changed from a sacred drink to a solid bar we know today, through the addition of cocoa butter.

Photo: mynameisharsha

Not only did chemist Coenraad Johannes van Houten of the Netherlands create the process of manufacturing cocoa butter, but he also discovered how to treat chocolate with alkalis to remove the bitter taste that had until that point been characteristic of chocolate.

While the addition of chilli had long since been dropped from the recipes by Europeans, vanilla was often retained, along with milk and sugar, the latter being unavailable to the Aztecs.

Thus, chocolate as we know and love came into existence after several thousand years of being consumed in liquid form with a pungent, bitter taste.

It’s interesting to note that producers of chocolate are experimenting even further, by adding not just sugar and milk but chilli, lavender, mint, and other flavours.

Some producers are even selling it with bitterness intact, giving all who love chocolate something to look forward to: new forms, new uses, new tastes, all continually inspired by its divine origins.

Further Reading:

• Chocolate: A Bittersweet Saga of Dark and Light by Mort Rosenblum – an anecdotal exploration of chocolate and the world of professional chocolatiers
• Chocolate: Pathway to the Gods by Meredith L. Dreiss and Sharon Edgar Greenhill – both photo book and history guide the book explains the origins of the foodstuff and delves into the symbolic nature of chocolate as the Mesoamericans saw it
• The True History of Chocolate, Second Edition by Sophie D. Coe and Michael D. Coe – a definitive guide to the history of chocolate ranging from its ceremonial origins to modern day consumption
• Chocolate: A Global History (Edible) (Edible) by Sarah Moss and Alexander Badenoch – a history of chocolate, from the Edible series, dealing with the usages of chocolate by the Maya as a stand-in for blood during ceremonies through to the modern age of mass-production in Europe and America

What do you think of the cultural history of chocolate? Share your stories in the comments!

Photo: hkoppdelaney

Given the relative safety of aviation, and the existence of many budget airlines such as EasyJet, SkyEurope, and Ryan Air, one might be tempted to conclude that travel is a common pastime, partaken of by most.

Yet, as any good traveller already knows, there’s more to travel than moving from one place to another. Travel is about broadening horizons and knowledge, and can be, as cliché as it may sounds, a way of life.

There will always be those that opt for one- or two-week holiday packages, preferring a slight respite to paradigm-altering travel that usually requires longer blocks of time and willingness to dive deep.

And then there are the wannabe travelers that have never traveled. This may be caused by the slew of valid reasons why one cannot travel—a lack of money, family obligations, legal restrictions, physical handicaps, inability for time off work, and the list goes on and on.

But assuming one is able to clear this checklist, it can be difficult to understand why someone would choose not to travel.

I believe this choice is greatly influenced by fear. The fear is layered à la Dante Aligheri’s depiction of hell; the outer layers comprise some of the more shallow fears, the inner for the more serious.

Layer #1 – Fear Of Leaving Things Behind

The first layer to overcome is the far of leaving things behind. Whether it be for a fortnight or for a year, the obstacle that every traveller or prospective traveller faces is that of what will be left behind when one departs.

There’s the inanimate that needs to be minded at home: the house, the cars, the valuables, and all the material things. Then there’s the sentient being one doesn’t want to feel like one is abandoning. Pets, friends, and the familiar faces of daily life can prove too difficult to relinquish, even for a short period of time.

Attachment is not the ally of a traveller. Instead, realize that material possessions are just that, things. They will be there when you return, or even better, can be sold before you leave.

Pets are more difficult to leave behind, though if you’re lucky, a friend or family member can adopt your animal while you’re gone. Or in the case of extended trips, a loving home can be found.

Layer #2 – Fear Of Not Reaching The Destination

Supposing the first layer has been conquered, the next challenge is achieving the act of reaching the destination. The demons plaguing this layer are the questions of:

How exhausted will I be upon arrival?
Will the plane crash?
How long will I have to sit on the train?
What if the car breaks down en route?

Often overcoming these fears can be conquered by having enough enthusiasm for the destination yet to be visited. Film, book, and word of mouth are often enough to catapult the timid from home, along with an understanding that bad things can happen, no matter if you’re at home or not.

Layer #3 – Fear Of Losing Our Security

Nearly everyone resides within a fortress of familiarity. We have our own homes, our jobs, and our daily routines. It’s this level of security and comfort that must be trounced if one is indeed to travel.

This anxiety can manifest itself in the form of prejudice. The aspiring traveller might assume the worst of the local population, convinced they are a target for violence or theft, and that the foreign cuisine’s only purpose is to spew havoc in their gastrointestinal tract.

These fears are easily counterpoised by a healthy scepticism and trust in regards dealing with the locals, along with trying a few traditional dishes before embarking on a journey.

Layer #4 – Fear Of The Unknown

The fourth band that binds the body to home is the first ardent impediment faced, as opposed to the other fears, which are largely products of conditioning and culture.

Fear of the unknown hails from something deeper, something practical at times. (Had the dodo been for frightened of visitors to its native Mauritius, where it had no natural predators, the dodo might be flourishing today.)

To defeat this obstacle it takes a strong will fortified by desire and validated with sufficient research to bring the purposed destination out of the shadows and into the light, ready for personal observation and experience.

Layer #5 – Fear Of Opening Our Minds

So, a caretaker has been found for the home and garden, friends have bid their ‘farewells’ and ‘bon voyages’, and an unquenchable thirst for the land from a childhood story has been stoked and the vigour to overcome a fear of flying is maintained.

Enough information about local custom and tourist traps has been acquired through friends, the printed word, websites, and documentaries. The expected food has been tried and emergency medications have been stocked. Research has shed enough light into the darkness of an unknown and foreign place to make it seem less than uncharted.

It’s time to brave the final echelon of fear.

The conquest of the first layers will have all been in vain if one is not willing to face the endmost trial, the last challenge. It is debatable whether or not I should even call it a fear, a trial, a challenge. Unquestionably, it is not easy, but it is something that should be embraced rather than confronted, accepted rather than conquered.

This last challenge—no, let us call it, the reward for accosting the worries of travel—is the prospect of having one’s own views changed.

Travel is the act of shattering what we know at home, the act of destroying our preconceived notions of foreign lands, of challenging what we believe based on our own cultures and previous experiences.

This is the great reward of travel.

For those afraid of having their paradigms altered, I have no advice.

What do you think of these travel fears? Share your thoughts in the comments!

A boy in Nepal / Photo: nromagna

Nepal has always seemed exotic for many travelers — not only for its litany of climates, which range from sea level jungles to the ice-caped apexes of the world called the Himalaya.

Despite the bevy of diversity amongst flora and fauna, its culture too has held sway over the imaginations of travelers from around the world.

I was fortunate enough to have had a teaching post in its capital Kathmandu. The duties were minimal and I was able to feed a few sportive passions like trekking and climbing, as well as a few more cerebral ones, including the odd bit of volunteer work and some personally relevant cultural research.

As an atheist with avid interest in religion I was keen to explore the culture that (for me) was tantamount to zealous and devout observance of Hinduism and Buddhism.

My first shock when I realized Sundays are normal work and school days in Nepal; a fact that started me thinking not so much about the role religion played in conditioning the Nepalese and Nepali societies, but rather, the role of religion on a global level.

God Bless You

NYC crowd / Photo: cwbuecheler

In the West, whence secularism arose, we are tempted to conclude that we live in a place devoid of religious dominance.

Of course, most people cognisant of history will acknowledge that bank holidays such as Christmas, Good Friday, or Easter Monday come directly from Christianity. Aside from these obvious examples, the prevalence of religion, and not only Christian, is woven throughout the experience of Westerners.

“God bless you,” one might say after sneezing, a statement with overtly religious origins. The phrase is thought to have originated during the reign of Pope Gregory I (aka Gregory the Great or Gregory the Dialogist) when sneezing was considered a sign of having plague. Blessing one another, as per the recommendation of Gregory I, was meant to provide alleviation.

In Law and Loss

In modern law, the phrase Acts of God can be readily found. What was once intended likely for reverence – now the mentioned ‘God’ is no longer inherent, yet the phrase remains intact, exemplifying the role of religion in even secular societies.

Perhaps the most prevalent of places to find religious connotation in daily life is in the bevy of exclamations people employ whilst expressing themselves on matters of relief, stupefaction, indignation, anger, and any other heightened emotion state.

“For heaven’s sake”, “Devil take the hindmost”, and “Thank God” might be heard on any given day, and all have religious suggestions even if the users are non-believers.

Tthe phrase “by Jove” conjures the head of the Roman pantheon by name directly, Jove, sometimes known as Jupiter, or in Greek, Zeus.

Eat, Pray, Eat

Hot (Jesus) Cross Buns / Photo: tico24

Many people also indirectly observe religion by way of eating. Or maybe it is more apt to say that what many people put—and do not put—into their mouths is dictated or at least influenced by religious observance.

Taboo foodstuffs are the easiest to consider, such as pork in Islam, which is forbidden a la Mohammed (owing to how quickly the meat spoils in the warm climate in which Islam was first founded). The sacred status of cattle in Hinduism that lead to the prohibition of beef amongst Hindus is another well-known example of the interplay between food and belief.

Vegetarianism on religious grounds is certainly not limited to Hinduism. During the Christian time of Lent, red meat is forbidden. This excludes beaver, which was declared a fish in the 17th century by the Catholic Church and is therefore not taboo throughout Lent.

In many English-speaking cultures, one of the ways in which the end of Lent is celebrated is with the pastry hot-crossed buns.

These sweet breads are decorated with a cross, commensurate to the Christian religion and evocative of resurrection of Jesus Christ. There is also evidence suggesting these specific breads having been part of an early Anglo-Saxon tradition celebrating spring.

Regardless of one’s own beliefs, country of origin, and country of residence — whether Nepal and India, or Europe and North America — the fortitude of religion has been secured through celebration, custom, food, and even colloquialism.

What examples of of religion influencing culture have you noticed in your travels? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Little girl at Day of the Dead / Photo by Senor Codo

Upon hearing the word “death” one instantly thinks of war, grieving, burial or cremation, Heaven and Hell, and for more than a few, fear.

Many Westerners consider death a taboo subject and considered a social faux pas when broached in conversation, especially when it refers to someone who has recently died.

The irony is that everyone currently alive-everyone reading this-will eventually die despite the fact that so few people seem to actually consider his or her own mortality.

But the universality of death is not what makes it a fascinating topic, but rather the cultural, individual and epochal attitudes that have changed and continue to change.

In the West, the concept of death as it is known today is relatively recent.

It is generally held to have originated sometime around the Renaissance, or even slightly earlier, during the Black Death, when conservative estimates state that a third of Europe’s population perished.

Immediately prior, during the Middle Ages, people considered death to be far less menacing, as the plausibility of death was more a fact of life, and therefore less frightening.

Death In The Ages

Even earlier, the Greeks and then the Romans were no strangers to dealing with death on a regular basis.

In Greek mythology, Hypnos was the god of death. His image changed from a harsher god in the earliest of references into a kind, sympathetic and almost Cupid-like god. This softer appearance invited people to adore passing into the Heavens, symbolic of the fact that death comes to all and should not be feared.

Roman culture went a step farther with gladiatorial combat, which basks in the revelry of death for entertainment. Despite the numerous changes that have occurred since the fall of Rome, this idea stayed with many cultures in the West for a long time.

English peasants were known picnic at the execution grounds and in the Napoleonic Age. During the American Revolutionary War it was not uncommon for spectators to watch some of the major battles.

Thanks to modern advances in medicine, communication, and technology, seeing someone die for the amusement of others does not have the same effect on people today. A greater proximity to death will almost always desensitize one to it.

And it can still be argued that through film, collectively the West still enjoys watching people die.

Influence Of Theology

Religion is also a contributing factor towards a culture’s attitude towards death. One theme that consistently presents itself throughout religion is that of duality – the idea that the body is nothing more than a vessel for the soul.

Roses for a funeral / Photo by Katie@!

This evokes the eastern religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism in which the soul is transferred from the body to a mysterious spirit world until it can once again reincarnate as an earthly creature such as man or animal.

In many ways this view is also paramount to modern Christianity, which believes the body contains a soul that then departs the body upon death.

Duncan MacDougall performed his now famous experiment in 1907 in which he weighed dying patients, postulating that at the moment of death the body loses twenty-one grams of mass.

Although there is little to no scientific merit for claim, in his eyes and the eyes of his followers this proves that the soul leaves the body at the moment of death.

The terror of executions such as beheading or burning lay not in the pain of dying and the taking of a life, but in forbidding the person being denied entrance into the afterlife. It was the eternality of death that made these types of executions so damning (literally).

A Continued Evolution

Death is now taboo in many cultures from the Inuit to Eastern African cultures.

In some of the most extreme cases the name of a deceased member of the community may not be spoken by those that still live. Australian aboriginals remove the pictures of the dead from public display, or have their faces covered; erasing their image as if they never existed.

But the death taboo is not universal. Many Hindus and Buddhists openly discuss death. In these cultures, death is strictly a period of time in which the soul searches for another body to inhabit. Death is less of an end and therefore less mourning is required.

Ultimately, the interpretation of an afterlife heavily influences attitudes towards death.

With ever-increasing access to customs and traditional practices through modern travel, the practices and rituals regarding death are rediscovered and examined anew.

It is an interesting to consider: what death practices with be in vogue as the world continues to shrink, blend, adapt and reinvent?