The Magic of Chocolate
Jan. 2nd, 2021 01:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithHere is a fantastic article about the history of chocolate with regard to magic, power, feminism, colonialism, and Latina heritage. \o/ I am impressed with the depth, breadth, and respect it covers. Some highlights:
* Chocolate is an entheogen and an aphrodisiac. Yes, that actually makes it a terrific vehicle for magic
* It isn't addictive, but it is supremely seductive. Despite banning a bunch of other native stuff, not even the asshole conquistadores could resist the sweet siren song of chocolate.
* Ethics of magic rely a lot on cultural context. Where people routinely get screwed, the ethics tend to focus on survival rather than respect. If nobody gives a flying fuck about anyone else's free will, then the magicians in that culture tend to use magic to balance a very stacked deck. This is also why all the Afro-Caribbean stuff is so hardcore: only the most effective bits survived brutal oppression.
* Men would rather risk being hexed or poisoned than make their own morning brew.
* If you oppress people and force them to work for you, then you damn well deserve to be afraid.
* Chocolate is an entheogen and an aphrodisiac. Yes, that actually makes it a terrific vehicle for magic
* It isn't addictive, but it is supremely seductive. Despite banning a bunch of other native stuff, not even the asshole conquistadores could resist the sweet siren song of chocolate.
* Ethics of magic rely a lot on cultural context. Where people routinely get screwed, the ethics tend to focus on survival rather than respect. If nobody gives a flying fuck about anyone else's free will, then the magicians in that culture tend to use magic to balance a very stacked deck. This is also why all the Afro-Caribbean stuff is so hardcore: only the most effective bits survived brutal oppression.
* Men would rather risk being hexed or poisoned than make their own morning brew.
* If you oppress people and force them to work for you, then you damn well deserve to be afraid.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-01-02 07:28 pm (UTC)On a similar subject, YouTube just suggested a video I thought I'd share, on the making of Tuh'u, an ancient Babylonian dish. I don't doubt the Babylonians made magic with their food too. Food is family, culture, life.
Link: A 4000 Year Old Recipe for the Babylonian New Year from the channel "Tasting History with Max Miller"
Fixed!
Date: 2021-01-02 08:24 pm (UTC)History has left some interesting recipes!
(no subject)
Date: 2021-01-02 09:30 pm (UTC)Might be that I want to be far more careful in my consumption of chocolate from now on, regardless of whether or not climate derangement makes it a scarcer thing to have.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-01-03 02:23 am (UTC)Another interesting fact: Counterfit cacao beans were a thing, once upon a time! (They used to be used as money.)
>>Where people routinely get screwed, the ethics tend to focus on survival rather than respect. <<
Not just magic. There's /reasons/ no-one ever taught me to [physically] fight 'fair'...
If you're stuck in a rashida that you can't win, why on earth would anyone expect you to be nice?