The Hammock Papers: Xocolatl.

09 December 2014

Xocolatl.

In 1517 Hernan Cortes received his first taste of Montezuma’s beloved drink, Xocolatl, as part of a royal welcome. Montezuma and the Aztec people falsely believed Cortes to be the reincarnation of Quetzalcoatl, and thus paid him the homage of a god, welcoming him into the city. Montezuma realized his mistake too late, shortly before being taken prisoner by Cortes. By 1519 Cortes had conquered Montezuma’s entire kingdom and gained possession of an enormous store of chcahuatl worth a king’s, or in this case an emperor’s, ransom. It is said that Montezuma drank 50 cups of Xocolatl every day from a golden vessel, often before going to his harem.

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MARCUS AURELIUS

"Is your cucumber bitter? Throw it away. Are there briars in your path? Turn aside. That is enough. Do not go on and say, 'Why were things of this sort ever brought into this world?' neither intolerable nor everlasting - if thou bearest in mind that it has its limits, and if thou addest nothing to it in imagination. Pain is either an evil to the body (then let the body say what it thinks of it!)-or to the soul. But it is in the power of the soul to maintain its own serenity and tranquility."

VINCENT van GOGH

"What am I in the eyes of most people? A nonentity or an oddity or a disagreeable person — someone who has and will have no position in society, in short a little lower than the lowest. Very well — assuming that everything is indeed like that, then through my work I’d like to show what there is in the heart of such an oddity, such a nobody. This is my ambition, which is based less on resentment than on love in spite of everything, based more on a feeling of serenity than on passion. Even though I’m often in a mess, inside me there’s still a calm, pure harmony and music. In the poorest little house, in the filthiest corner, I see paintings or drawings. And my mind turns in that direction as if with an irresistible urge. As time passes, other things are increasingly excluded, and the more they are the faster my eyes see the picturesque. Art demands persistent work, work in spite of everything, and unceasing observation."

DAN CAMPBELL