11 Benefits of connecting with ‘The Spirit of Cacao’

Do you know that chocolate is actually medicine? How cool is that? It is one of the most powerful, gentle facilitators, teachers, and guides that we know – and it is delicious too! You can discover how raw cacao ceremonial doses become a powerful heart opener that paves the way to transformation through self-love…

It’s thought cacao was first used as a health elixir and ceremonial medicine as far back as 1900 BC by the ancestors of Central America, the Olmec people, before becoming a ritualistic medicine used by the Aztec and Mayan cultures. It was used for spiritual, medicinal, and ceremonial purposes for inner awakening and creative guidance.

Pure cacao is used as a heart-opening medicine for people to safely experience awakening, revelation, and inner healing. It is also used to set intentions and once consumed, euphoric states are unlocked, negative emotions are released and we are able to connect to ourselves and the loving energy in our body.

SO WHAT IS CACAO?

Cacao is not cocoa. Cacao is the raw and naturally fermented, unheated form of chocolate, while cocoa is cacao that has been heated. Processed chocolate is made with roasted cocoa, sugar, milk, and other ingredients that turn it into solid food and studies have found that adding dairy actually blocks the absorption of antioxidants in chocolate.

Cacao has been used for centuries to heal the mental, physical and spiritual body. It is a natural and ancient plant medicine, with a high concentration of vitamins, and minerals and is a powerful antioxidant. Cacao also increases blood flow (oxygen and nutrients) to the brain as well as induces the release of feel-good endorphins

IS RAW CACAO A PSYCHEDELIC?

Cacao wasn’t popular as a psychoactive in the 60s because it’s not actually psychedelic (although many experience visions and powerful journeys in my ceremonies). It is gaining a lot of popularity now, because of all the shifts on the planet.

Cacao ceremonies are a type of shamanic healing – which is one of the oldest holistic healing practices used by indigenous cultures all over the world. These types of healing ceremonies work with rebalancing energies in the body to regain health. However, unlike other shamanic experiences, drinking cacao will not make you hallucinate or give you some sort of ‘out-of-body’ psychedelic experience.

Cacao contains the neurotransmitters serotonin, tryptophan, and dopamine that stimulate brain activity and are vital in regulating mood. Serotonin is the feel-good brain chemical responsible for feelings of well-being. Cacao also contains anandamide – taken from the Sanskrit word Ananda or bliss. This mood-improving chemical is known as the bliss molecule and leaves us feeling blissful and euphoric, but also plays a vital role in moderating pain perception and the memory of pain, as well as assisting in regulating appetite and mood.

The 11 benefits of connecting with ‘The Spirit of Cacao’

▶︎ HEART OPENER

Chocolate opens the heart and allows for a deeper, authentic love-based connection with yourself, others, the world, and all of life.

▶︎ WITHIN THERAPY USE – SOVEREIGN (RATHER THAN CODEPENDENT)

Helps in bringing awareness to things that have been preventing you from creating the life you love. Also aids in releasing repeated patterns, beliefs, and blocks which could be stopping you, slowing you down, or standing in the way of creating the life you love.

▶︎ CONNECTION WITH HIGHER SELF

Stronger connection with the higher self (intuition, soul, God, Goddess, etc.). This leads to an enhanced connection with your own power and truth; your divinity. Chocolate is a powerful facilitator allowing you to delve gently into your pain body.

▶︎ ENHANCES MEDITATION

Cacao enables you to connect with your inner spirit and wisdom, allowing for more profound meditation. It allows you to focus more on the present moment and its remedying properties can begin to work on your mind and soul.

▶︎ YIN/YANG ENERGY BALANCE WITHIN

More enhanced, balanced, connected male & female energy. Male and female energies are within everyone. When these energies are in balance, you live a harmonious life magnetizing all you love to you. This integration also leads to enhanced effectiveness as the divine creator and super manifesting machine that you are, in essence.

The balance of male and female energies allows you to receive inspiration (feminine energy) AND act on it (masculine energy).

▶︎ ENHANCED CREATIVITY

Access to the ‘one mind’ or unity consciousness allows the connection with creative ideas. You enter a zone where you are receiving ‘aha’ moments, inspiration, and ideas. With the enhanced male/female balance, these are made manifest….

▶︎ IMPROVED YOGA, CHI KUNG, AND SIMILAR PRACTICES

More effective, deeper, profound, easier yoga and Lomi Lomi flying practice. Your practice improves on every level; physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional. This is probably the case with other practices too (chi kung, aikido, kickboxing etc.) but I have yet to try others – so let me know!

▶︎ CAREER GUIDANCE

More clarity, ideas, and connection with your life purpose. Clarity on your talents, skills, and how you are here to serve – you easily connect with your creative abilities; writing, painting, dancing, music or whatever floats your boat really.

▶︎ INTEGRATION WORK

Cacao is a great facilitator for plant medicine integration work. A ceremony can be specifically designed to help you find clarity, and process some of the more confusing aspects of your psychedelic experience. Cacao is the perfect medicine to dive deep and integrate other medicines while remaining fully conscious and aware.

▶︎ SISTERHOOD

You can come together to sit in a ceremony with your soul sisters to transform the collective or patriarchal shadow, and release fears and doubts that have kept us small, so you can reclaim your power and shine bright, beautiful, and proud. Working directly on your hearts you will be clearing stale energetic blockages, healing ancient wounds, and working on ancestral ties to the mother and beyond. These women-only ceremonies create a safe, nurturing space to go as deep as you allow yourself to.

▶︎ SLOW DOWN

Drinking cacao for ceremonial purposes invites us to SLOW DOWN and intentionally set time aside for ourselves. This means stepping OUT of the daily hustle and stepping into our higher/inner-self. So often we rush from one experience to the next without even understanding why we’re doing what we’re doing.

Cacao ceremony invites us to tune in to our inner knowing, our inner-self, our inner-guidance system, and to take action from a place of inspiration (“in spirit”) rather than habit and/or our “to do” list.

Set your intentions, whether for the ceremony, the day, a specific event, or your entire life, and watch the magic unfold!

HOW DO WE AT ATMW RETREATS CONDUCT OUR CACAO CEREMONIES – WHAT’S THE RUN OF PLAY?

We honor the cacao with meditation, inner reflection, and prayer. In the ceremonies that we hold space for, we begin by sitting in a sacred circle, honoring the cacao spirit, and humbly asking for our intentions to be heard. We serve the cacao in liquid form and drink it together.

Depending on what’s being called for, we intuitively offer storytelling, meditation, and/or card reading. We then enter into a sharing with each other, of what we want to let go of and what we are calling in, which creates an intention for our journey. This is a very safe and intimate space, and the people that attend always surprise themselves at how they are able to open up to strangers, especially when they start to realize they we are all a mirror for each other, all just human beings with the same fears and sufferings, the same hopes and dreams.

We add therapeutic-grade essential oils and/or herbs to our Cacao mix, each blend is specifically attuned to the theme and group needs. Most of the time end incorporates breath work, movement, and dance, during which the cacao activates within the body and the heart, allowing a truly transformative and ecstatic process to unfold.

Our top 4 Cacao Ceremony themes

Sacred Plant Medicine Integration Ceremony

This cacao ceremony is specifically designed for those who are in need of some psychedelic or plant medicine integration work. This journey is specifically designed to help you find clarity, and process some of the more confusing aspects of your experiences. Cacao is the perfect medicine to dive deep and integrate other medicines while remaining fully conscious and aware.

Couples Ceremony

Both individuals must be committed to improving their relationship while looking inwardly at their own individual strengths and weaknesses. Knowing the traits and habits that make their partner tick could have a positive effect on making personal and relationship changes. Couples Cacao Ceremony isn’t meant for one partner to unload anger, resentment, and other damaging behaviors toward his or her partner. It’s about unlocking solutions based on love, dedication, and more.

Moon Medicine Journey’s

Together we will dive deep into Cacao, open our hearts and see how we can best serve humanity and Mother Earth. When a group of people comes together, with the right intention, we can change limiting aspects of the collective field. As we reach the peak of a Full Moon let’s utilize the energy to really make an impact on this planet and set clear new intentions for our personal wellbeing.

Deep Trauma

When we go through deep trauma, the trauma can stay in our energy fields for many years, even once we have emotionally and mentally healed from the experience. This unique Cacao ceremony is designed to help heal the vibrations of any deep trauma you have experienced. In a very gentle and loving way, Cacao will release the trauma around the heart and in your energy field so that you can let go of the past and move forward more empowered and liberated. These sessions are designed for one on one or smaller group work.

Precautions:

Eat light before the ceremony.
If you are on antidepressants please be aware, that cacao and certain antidepressants do not mix and can have harmful side effects.
Drink lots of water. Cacao is a diuretic and without proper hydration, headaches can occur.
Avoid coffee at least 4 hours prior to the ceremony.
You’ll also need to arrange a quiet, gentle evening for after the event as symptoms of physical and emotional detoxification can arise unique to each individual.

Note: If you are on anti-depressants, mood stabilizers, using St. John’s Wort, or any natural supplement containing 5HTP (check the label), it is not advisable to participate because the combination of raw cacao and such substances could be harmful.

What you see before you, my friend, is the result of a lifetime of chocolate.

– Katharine Hepburn

How to Prepare Ceremonial Cacao

Here is a suggested cacao brew This recipe is specifically for the ceremony, so it is a larger dose of cacao and there are some contraindications for those on antidepressants and/or taking herbs such as St. Johns's Worth.

Assemble the Ingredients

0.20 liters (with fresh ginger, and/or herbs like chamomile) per person
33-42gr of cacao per person.
Pinch of cayenne and salt
Optional, natural sweetener of your choice such as honey, agave syrup, cane sugar, etc. to taste. This is optional. It is not necessary to sweeten the cacao drink to benefit from the cacao in the ceremony. But most people will find the drink more enjoyable this way.
Optionally, add cinnamon, cardamom, and/or pink pepper
Optional, a drop of Essential oil, Tangerine or Wild Orange, and Frankincense.

How to make your own cacao brew

Start with the cacao bar and chop with a knife into smaller pieces so it softens easily in hot water.
Heat water with chili and herbs just before a boil. It should be just too hot to the touch but not boiling
Add the cacao into it, and stir
Add sweetening and spices to taste
It’s helpful to have a spoon or stirring stick to keep the consistency even as you consume. The cacao will settle at the bottom over time.
Do not heat the cacao, you will lose the benefit of all the nutrients!

There are some amazing cacao sources, like Cacao Source and Keiths Cacao. We are currently exploring a collaboration with Cacao Source, however, their delivery system isn't that easy at the moment. We are affiliated with Keiths Cacao which has a delivery system through the UK so it's easy to order just one bar. We have worked with Keith's cacao for over 6 years and still absolutely love it.

CACAO PASTE: THE ORIGINAL & WORLD’S FINEST 100% PURE CEREMONIAL GRADE CACAO

Guided by the Cacao Spirit, Keith buys Criollo (“wild” or “native”) cacao which is harvested, fermented, and dried by small-scale family farms in the mountain rain-forests of Guatemala’s Pacific coast. This region of Central America was revered by the ancients because it produced the finest ceremonial cacao. It takes significant time and Keith’s precise intention to find beans with both the right energy and flavor. It’s worth the effort, as our product has batch-to-batch consistency others cannot match.

Trusted by cacao practitioners and those in the know, Keith’s cacao is a wonderful heart opener, crafted for ceremonial grade energy and fine flavor. Hand peeled and hand-sorted for quality prior to milling into a paste, our cacao is the perfect partner with music, writing, art, dance, yoga, meditation, and spiritual or shamanic practice. Ideal for the workplace, Keith’s Cacao can enhance insight, presence, and focus – enriching creativity, productivity, clarity, and vision.

“Sacred Cacao was bypassed in the ‘60’s resurgence of medicine plants because it does not act like a psychedelic – it does not take you on its trip, but facilitates your own. There are Indigenous shamans in Central and South America who prefer cacao over psychedelics, but few have heard of them. I am not here to speak for them. I speak from my years of experience with cacao and cacao ceremonies since the Cacao Spirit began sharing and partnering with me in the metaphysical work that I do. And I speak through sales of the cacao that She guides me to.”

– Keith Wilson, the Chocolate Shaman

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*All the proceedings from our affiliated partners go towards our scholarship funding. We love to grow and contribute to many ways of resourcing.

Above artwork credit: Autumn Sky