What treasures might an ancient purse have held? In Assyrian reliefs, supernatural guardians carry handled buckets associated with purification and protection. At Göbekli Tepe, mysterious purse-shaped carvings crown a stone pillar. In Māori tradition, Tāne ascends through the heavens to retrieve three baskets of knowledge: treasures carried back for humanity. An offering, a blessing, wisdom itself: a humble container becomes a vessel for something precious.

In ancient Mesoamerica, that treasure may very well often have been cacao! The Olmec used it in ceremonial and funerary contexts; the Maya prized it in ritual life and exchanged its beans as currency. Here was wealth that grew on trees, nourishment worthy of the gods.

So valuable were the beans that counterfeiting them out of painted clay even became a thriving industry.

Our Purses of Magic, however, hold the real treasure.