Mayan Ceremonial Cacao Facts

Mayan Ceremonial Cacao is provided in the village of SanPedro La Laguna in the afternoons.

  • This offering is provided only if you have a purpose, not a tourist offering or attraction to fill in time.
  • The Ceremonies are provided by Mayan Shaman, and the price per person is $50.
  • We request you book at least three days in advance.

Mayan Ceremonial Cacao Facts. The cocoa bean or simply cocoa (/ˈkoʊ.koʊ/), which is also called the cacao bean or cacao (/kəˈkaʊ/), is the dried and fully fermented seed of Theobroma cacao, from which cocoa solids (a mixture of nonfat substances) and cocoa butter (the fat) can be extracted. Cocoa beans are the basis of chocolate, and Mesoamerican foods including tejate, a pre-Hispanic drink that also includes maize.

The Aztecs, who drank the cacao cold, believed cacao to be a gift from the god Quetzalcoatl, and drank it to gain divine wisdom. Both the Aztec and Mayan cultures used cacao not just for religious rituals but for medicinal purposes as well.

Mayan Ceremonial Cacao Facts

Cacao packs in more calcium than cow’s milk. Cacao is packed with iron, magnesium, and antioxidants. Consuming cacao can help with issues such as depression, stress, blood pressure, and heart health.

The three main varieties of cocoa plants are Forastero, Criollo, and Trinitario. The first is the most widely used, comprising 80–90% of the world’s production of cocoa. Cocoa beans of the Criollo variety are rarer and considered a delicacy.

Criollo plantations have lower yields than those of Forastero and also tend to be less resistant to several diseases that attack the cocoa plant, hence very few countries still produce it.

One of the largest producers of Criollo beans is Venezuela (Chuao and Porcelana). Trinitario (from Trinidad) is a hybrid between the Criollo and Forastero varieties. It is considered to be of much higher quality than Forastero, has higher yields, and is more resistant to disease than Criollo

Many cacao ceremonies will involve a group of people sitting in a sacred circle, taking prayer, and setting intentions to be received. The ceremony ends in dance, which allows the cacao to activate within the heart and body, and create transformation.

Mayan Ceremonial Cacao Facts

Mayan Ceremonial Cacao Facts

Mayan Ceremonial Cacao Facts

Today Mayan Ceremonial Cacao can be found offered as part of Tourism in Guatemala in Particular Antigua and Lake Atitlan. Criollo beans are the types of Cacao used by Mayans for the Ceremonies used to offer respect. This Variety of Cacao is very hard to find in Guatemala. In a few very remote areas in a small village, you will find Criollo.

For the most part, if you attend a Mayan Ceremonial Cacao event the Cacao beans most likely come from different varieties of Cacao Forastero, and Trinitario is what is available for such Ceremonies.

Mayan Ceremonial Cacao Facts

Mayan Ceremonial Cacao Facts

In the Mayan culture, cocoa was so highly regarded that the Maya developed a creation myth concerning human beings involving cocoa. Any time a plant is given divine status in a culture, it means that the plant is central to that culture. For the Maya, cocoa was an integral part of the fabric of their lives.

They cultivated cocoa, used cocoa beans as currency, developed numerous preparations of cocoa, and topped it all off with a creation myth concerning the central Mayan god, known as

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