AMARANTH
Known as 'huauhtli' to the Aztecs, it is thought to have represented up to 80% of their food before the Spanish conquest.
Grains are toasted and mixed with honey, molasses, or chocolate, to make a treat called 'alegría' meaning "joy" in Spanish.
One Aztec festival, Huitzilopochtli, which means "hummingbird of the left side" celebrated 7 December to 26 December,
They ate very little. A statue of the god was made from amaranth seeds and honey, and at the end of the month it was cut
to small pieces, so everybody could eat a piece of the god. After Spanish conquest, cultivation of amaranth was outlawed.
Grains are toasted and mixed with honey, molasses, or chocolate, to make a treat called 'alegría' meaning "joy" in Spanish.
One Aztec festival, Huitzilopochtli, which means "hummingbird of the left side" celebrated 7 December to 26 December,
They ate very little. A statue of the god was made from amaranth seeds and honey, and at the end of the month it was cut
to small pieces, so everybody could eat a piece of the god. After Spanish conquest, cultivation of amaranth was outlawed.
John Milton's epic Paradise Lost :
"Immortal amaranth, a flower which once
In paradise, fast by the tree of life,
Began to bloom; but soon for man's offence
To heaven removed, where first it grew, there grows,
And flowers aloft, shading the fount of life,
And where the river of bliss through midst of heaven
Rolls o'er elysian flowers her amber stream:
With these that never fade the spirits elect
Bind their resplendent locks."
In ancient Greece, the amaranth word amaranton, meaning 'unwilting' was sacred to Ephesian Artemis.
It allegedly had special healing properties. As a symbol of immortality, it was used to decorate tombs.
Chinese used amaranth for its healing properties such as treating infections, rashes, and migraines.
"Immortal amaranth, a flower which once
In paradise, fast by the tree of life,
Began to bloom; but soon for man's offence
To heaven removed, where first it grew, there grows,
And flowers aloft, shading the fount of life,
And where the river of bliss through midst of heaven
Rolls o'er elysian flowers her amber stream:
With these that never fade the spirits elect
Bind their resplendent locks."
In ancient Greece, the amaranth word amaranton, meaning 'unwilting' was sacred to Ephesian Artemis.
It allegedly had special healing properties. As a symbol of immortality, it was used to decorate tombs.
Chinese used amaranth for its healing properties such as treating infections, rashes, and migraines.