THEOBROMA, THE FOOD OF THE GODS AND A FOREST GARDEN OF EDEN - PART 2

On April 18, 2022 I register Fruiting Bodies LLC, as an intention to weave stories of human and planet healing and connection through somatics, medicinal plants, and the embodiment of love symbolized by chocolate. It can be hard to embody and hold inner space during the difficulties of our lives so why not get by with a little help from our friends, the plants and fungi that coevolved with us. My vision is to share my love through holding space for others to experience liberation in their bodies and the earthly pleasures of chocolate combined with medicinal plants and fungi. This is a seedling, a fragile idea needing tending and nourishing. To be honest I was scared when I registered the business and putting something in motion that I didn't have a fully fleshed out plan for - irresponsible? Or was that was fear sneaking up on me that couldn't handle failure? I quickly reminded myself that this is merely an adventure where everything becomes a learning, so there is no failure, and it is a natural step toward growth and new life which can naturally feel terrifying.

On April 20th I flew to Oaxaca, Mexico for an artist residency on Community and Care at Pocoapoco (which means little by little) with the intention to learn about practices of care and an intention to dive into the world of chocolate in Southern Mexico. It was my first trip abroad alone and the first time I would be returning to Mexico since the beginning of the end of my former life.

It was no surprise that at the artist residency I met a woman named Christie Wong, who is also starting an incredible chocolate project called Sonder Taller and combines her coaching and art practice to explore the multi-facets of our entangled being. She is a badass maker of things with an earth based art practice playing with natural plant dyes and paints. And is now a good friend of mine. We both had extended stays in Oaxaca beyond the residency and she played a big part in some of the magical moments I had in Oaxaca.

“I've come to believe that there exists in the universe something I call "The Physics of The Quest" — a force of nature governed by laws as real as the laws of gravity or momentum. And the rule of Quest Physics maybe goes like this: "If you are brave enough to leave behind everything familiar and comforting (which can be anything from your house to your bitter old resentments) and set out on a truth-seeking journey (either externally or internally), and if you are truly willing to regard everything that happens to you on that journey as a clue, and if you accept everyone you meet along the way as a teacher, and if you are prepared – most of all – to face (and forgive) some very difficult realities about yourself... then truth will not be withheld from you." Or so I've come to believe.” - Elizabeth Gilbert

Christie recommended a workshop by OAXSessions on Cacao and Maize led by her friend Chris Tou. The tour started at La Merced Market, accompanied by Mexican pastries and a chocolate atole drink that came out hot and bubbling with foam. He began the tour by teaching us the process of cacao from bean to bar. Theobroma cacao is the modern scientific name for chocolate, and it is indeed fitting, for Theo “of Gods” broma “food”in Greek. means “food of the gods.” He showed us two different varieties of cacao: Theobroma cacao and cacao blanco or pek, or pataxte (Theobroma bicolor). Chris then opened a copy of the Popol Vol, or Book of Community, a text recounting the mythology and history of the K'iche' people, one of the Maya peoples. It contains the Mayan creation myth and Hero Twins Hunahpu and Xbalanque story. The story of the hero twin begins with two boys, One Hunahpu and Seven Hunahpu, playing ball which was causing a lot of noise which was heard by the gods of the underworld, Xibalba, agitated the gods invited the boys to take part in a variety of tests. After they failed the tests the gods severed one of their heads and placed it on a tree (becoming the calabash tree that is used to make the jicara cups/bowls that ceremonial drinks are poured in). Xquic, a daughter of one of the gods from Xibalba was told to stay away from the forbidden tree. She disobeyed, speaking with the severed head of Hun Hunahpu on the tree, it spit on her and she was soon pregnant with twin boys, Hunahpu and Xbalanque. They were both good at ball like their father and uncle, they had learned what had happened to them and knew the gods would put them to test too. They were clever, using the ball to get the attention of the gods they were invited into the underworld. They passed the tests and then played a game of ball with the gods, when the boys won the gods were furious and sentenced them into an oven, grinded their bones, and then threw their ashes into the river. They were brought back as two catfish, beating their tail against the water creating foam.

"Foam is to water what smoke is to fire"

Their self-sacrifice in the underworld parallels the stages of cacao processing: entrance into the underworld (burial, fermentation), burning (roasting), grinding of their bones on a metate, and pouring them into water. Subsequently, the twins are reborn as two fish. The first syllables of kakaw are homophonous with the first consonant and vowel in the proto-Mayan words for ‘two’, *ka, and ‘fish’, *kar. A visual representation of this wordplay occurs in glyphic spellings of kakau (figure 1.), in which a fish, or a fish fin, is read as the syllable ka. The association between

cacao and fish can subsequently be traced through Figure 1

mythology and iconographic representations, providing insight into the metaphorical value of cacao as a potent symbol of rebirth (Grofe, Michael J. Ph.D., Recipe for Rebirth. 2007).

Our next stop was at La Cosecha Organic Market where we had the ceremonial drink, Tejate and empanadas made with heirloom corn. Tejate combines cacao, masa(ground corn), flor de Rosita and mamey seed. It is a cold drink and the process of making it involves scooping and pouring the mixture until the cacao fat separates and forms thick clumps that float to the top and it is served in a jicara cup.

The story of maize is nonlinear and spreads across different timelines. When domestication of maize first began it was completely inedible, it took nearly 7,000 years of intentional cultivation to make the edible and nutrient heirloom corn. The co-evolution of corn and people braided people and corn across time together. Without humans corn would disappear alongside us. It was shocking to learn that 90% of Mexico's corn now comes from the US and what is grown nowadays offers no nutritional value and is removed from the very hands that cultivated the species. Also the majority of corn grown in the US is GMO, making it more resistant to disease and insects which are common in monocultures. While more 'efficient' for productivity, it is a threat to ecosystems and farmers. This technology goes against the original relationship between humans and corn.

There's a brilliant article on Maize by Robin Wall Kimmerer https://emergencemagazine.org/feature/corn-tastes-better/ if you are curious about learning more about our fractured relationship with Maize.

One of the human creation stories that was shared was when the gods first attempted to create humans they made them out of clay. Those humans couldn't walk, talk, or remember who made them or where they came from. The gods disappointed in these humans then made humans out of wood, this didn't make them happy either, frustrated they set fire to these humans. Out from the forest came a fox and squirrel with an idea for the gods. They carried in their mouths maize. The gods then make humans out of maize, realizing they had so much power the gods limited their sight and capacity, they couldn't remember who made them or where they came from. It is said that the chocolate atole drink which is made from cacao and masa (ground maize) was made by a woman to remind us who we are and where we come from. When we drink maize are we consuming ourselves or our ancestors? The cacao plant is also known to be planted over ancestors so when you consume your drink you are being nourished by your ancestors and you know that you will one day be an ancestor for future generations. These stories of rebirth and connection are interwoven throughout these myths. It is even said that the Maize God is equivalent to Hun Hunahpu in the Popol Vuh, whose death and rebirth represent the agrarian cycle of planting and harvesting maize. In my research I also read that the Maize God as is related to the inverted caiman imix yaxche ceiba world tree, with which the Maize God is often conflated and named. Furthermore, inverted human or caiman forms are similarly depicted with vegetation and fruit emerging from their bodies, including cacao fruit (Martin 2006:166–67). The ceiba has ovoid seedpods that closely resemble cacao pods and the Maya compare the shape of cacao pods with human breasts on several ceramic vessels. Talk about Fruiting Bodies...

In the center of the courtyard at Pocoapoco, the artist residency is a beautiful ceiba tree, with green bark and spines reminiscent to a crocodile you can see why it was likened as an inverted caiman through mesoamerica. The caiman is a symbol of the fertile mountainous floating upon the ocean (Miller and Taube 1993:48). The ceiba is the most sacred tree for the ancient Maya, a symbol of the universe. The tree signified a route of communication between the three levels of earth. Its roots were said to reach down into the underworld, its trunk represented the middle world where the humans live, and its canopy of branches arched high in the sky symbolized the upper world and the thirteen levels in which the Maya heaven was divided.

One day after researching about the ceiba tree, Christie had invited me to Teotitlan de Valle, an artisan town known for their plant (and bug) dyed wool woven rugs and textiles. We jumped on a bus in Centro at 10am and arrived to our first stop 30 minutes later to visit clothing designer Maria Ospina. After trying on some clothes I noticed a beautiful dog following Maria around, I commented on how well behaved and sweet she was and to my surprise Maria said they had just rescued her during their hike in the woods earlier in the week. At this point I had known I was going to stay longer in Mexico than the original month I had planned, but living out of airbnbs didn't seem like the most stable option for a dog so I reserved my impulse to take her. Still I felt drawn to this dog and at one moment we were all sitting on the floor talking and this dog came and sat between Maria and I. In that moment I looked at Maria and said without thinking at all 'we should name her Ceiba', Maria looked back at me in disbelief and responded 'that's what we named her!' It was in that moment I knew that she was my companion. And yet another life changing decision that had also chosen me. As devastating life can feel after loss and then that initial freedom of I never need anything again (for me was probably the fear of loss repackaged as 'freedom') these 'voids' redecorate themselves and somehow life seems to keep pulling us toward more life. I didn't take Ceiba home that day nor did I know when I would get her I still needed to talk with my airbnb - and I do think sleeping on a decision before making it final is important no matter the significance of the meaning. The day I ended up getting her was the day Christie and I went to a Curandera medicine woman on a regenerative homestead, compost toilet and all, seated at the top of the valley surrounded by yellow grass and birds. While there were no drugs used, energy was opened through copal smoke, mescal water spit on me, an egg rubbed all over my body, and herbs ripped and then rubbed on my body. I saw visuals of Ceiba and knew that day was the day I would bring her to my airbnb. Afterwards, I told Christie who said she was planning on seeing Maria to get her pants she had made so she would ask if she could bring Ceiba too. That day was the day I brought her home with me and later realized that was Mexico's Mother's Day.

It would become a bit of a bumpy road shortly after that getting a stomach infection that lasted two weeks and then Ceiba falling ill for a month after her spade surgery didn't go entirely smoothly. Somehow despite the difficulties she never left my side and made me feel home when the homesickness kicked in. We lived on a ranch in Etla, 40 minutes outside of Centro Oaxaca in a cob house, getting out of the city during some of the hottest months was good for me and Ceiba had room to run around and three other dogs to play with. I would go into the city once a week to get groceries and visit friends. During one visit I bumped into a man named Francisco who wanted to know where I had gotten the box of groceries I was carrying (PETRICOR is the name of the amazing shop I went to). At this point I had not made many chocolate connections aside from the shops in town, I felt called to share with him my intention to learn more about cacao and where it was grown. He immediately shared with me some contacts of his who could help me. It felt like a glimmer of hope and a wink from the universe for staying committed to this plan despite all the difficulties. I knew my family was waiting quietly and anxiously for me to come home and I really couldn't explain to them why I was still there aside from appreciating the pace of life there, the fated connections, there being so much I wanted to learn about and see, and this desire for chocolate. I knew I would at least complete the 2 month stay at the ranch.

In my last week I got a message from Francisco's friend Jose who works with communities growing cacao in the sierras, she had created an experience to learn the whole bean to bar process and invited me to join that week. I got everything in order to make it happen and set out on my first solo bus ride 5 hours into the northwest region, not far from Veracruz. I missed the stop getting to the town not realizing you have to tell the driver when to stop for you. I eventually found Jose but it would take us another 3 hours before arriving to the village where the cacao is grown - due to the condition of the road and the limited modes of transportation to get there. There was no signal in this part of the world, as the truck navigated the side of the mountain avoiding sliding in the mud that had slid down the mountain during the weeks prior downpour I felt an untouchable expansiveness in my disconnection to any forms of communication and driving into the unknown. We arrived at Dionysus's home an hour later, one of the farmers Jose works with. She was sitting on a tiny stool shelling the cacao beans, I asked if I could join her and we shelled away. That evening under a sky painted with pink clouds we walked along the river until we reached a swimming area. I couldn't help but dive in with all of my clothes on.

More on what I learned in the days that follow in the next post...

While this business is just getting started there have been many expenses I have paid for upfront and things I still need like chocolate equipment and I would also love to start a scholarship fund for people who need to take time off for their mental health and to be able to provide support for people with limited financial means. I know how much getting things that contributed to my healing at a discounted rate while I was unemployed helped me tremendously and I would love to be able to give back in the same way. If you can provide any support for any of these expenses, including connecting me with anyone with chocolate making equipment and experience it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for taking the time to read and be a part of my story.

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