All About Cacao ❤
If you know me, you know that I love cacao and talk about it often. I’ve been holding cacao ceremonies for my community here in Alaska for the last two years and I’m super excited to currently be going through a cacao ceremony facilitator certification program to further deepen my connection to this incredible medicine. So juicy ❤
⊹ Read on for a bit of my story with Cacao and then we’ll dive into the beautiful medicine that is Ceremonial Cacao ⊹
First, A Little History
I was first introduced to cacao by hearing a woman, now friend, named Makenzie Marzluff talk about it on stage at an event I was attending in Australia in December of 2016.
However, it wasn’t until December of 2017 that I received cacao for the first time. I was in the darkest period of my life at that point and had asked my parents for KAKAO Ceremonial Drinking Chocolate for Christmas, the company that Makenzie founded.
I didn’t know what exactly I was getting myself into but I knew that she had talked a lot about how much she loved it and how it was affecting her life in a positive way.
My first time drinking cacao was in a virtual ceremony hosted by Makenzie and another woman online where they led us through an inner child meditation. I remember drinking my cacao and crying the entire meditation. Something felt like it unlocked inside of me.
I continued to make and sit with cacao every day. My whole world and identity felt like it had fallen apart a few months prior and I was in a really dark place. I’d hired a mentor around the same time I began my journey with cacao and I was deep diving into introspection and personal development. I was rebuilding myself from the inside out. Every morning I made my cacao and would apply some carnation essential oil to my chest. Every day, my intention was to open my heart.
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What I Noticed Over the Course of Sitting with Cacao
Over time, I realized that not only was I experiencing deep healing on an emotional level, I was also noticing a shift in my physical body. I felt calmer, and at the same time, more focused, more inspired, and more creative.
I’ve always been super sensitive to caffeine and this felt different. I was building my massage therapy business during this time and felt energized, inspired, and able to focus on what I was doing, but I wasn’t feeling jittery or like my body was on high alert like I did when I’d had caffeine when I was younger.
I’d also had a HUGE sweet tooth for my whole life. I noticed that over time, drinking cacao was helping me curb that (I had also been making a conscious effort to change this habit). Over time, I no longer craved sweets and sugars. Instead I was more than content with my cacao and all of the fruit.
I’ve now been sitting daily with ceremonial cacao for the last 2.5 years and looking back can feel the profound, yet subtle shifts in all aspects of my life. Along with my other personal work, I’ve noticed that I’m calmer, more grounded, present, more open, have a deeper connection to the Earth, and have a deeper Trust in myself and my path. I’ve grown into who I always was all along, but was too scared to be seen as or to acknowledge for myself.
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Okay, Let’s Talk About Ceremonial Cacao
Ahhh okay, I truly feel that I cannot ever do cacao justice when describing the benefits and effects it’s had on my life. It truly is MEDICINE. It’s heart medicine, straight from the jungle - direct from Mama Gaia, our Mother Earth. It’s here to assist us in reconnecting to our hearts, reconnecting to our bodies, and remembering our connection to all living beings.
There’s a saying I like to reference from Keith, The Chocolate Shaman’s blog where he mentions a saying that’s quoted in an anthropological journal, “When mankind gets out of harmony with the natural world, chocolate comes from the rainforest to open peoples’ hearts and re-establish the balance.”
From my perspective, our Western society has gotten a bit out of balance from nature. We live in a fast paced society that values doing over feeling. We are connected through technology, but our rates of depression, anxiety, and suicide are at all time highs. Stress is a leading cause of almost all of the diseases that we suffer and die from.
What a blessing cacao is - an opportunity that comes as a delicious drink, encouraging us to slow it down, to turn inwards, and to open our hearts again
My friends over at KAKAO Ceremonial Drinking Chocolate have an article about the physiological benefits of drinking cacao. So powerful! Ceremonial cacao contains scientifically proven chemicals that affect the body and brain in a positive way and if you’re curious, click that link!
This all ties into what makes Ceremonial Cacao different from raw cacao powders that you find at the grocers. Allll of the good stuff from cacao, all of those powerful chemical properties, lives primarily in the cacao BUTTER. This butter is present in ceremonial cacao but not in the raw cacao powder, where it has been removed to create the powder.
Ceremonial Cacao is created by using a strain of cacao that is native and grows in the wild (not farmed or sprayed), and the whole bean is used with very minimal processing. It’s then blessed and prayed into to infuse it with love and blessings, and for KAKAO, an intention for each batch (which rotates monthly).
This makes it truly special and unique from the powders that are processed and sold in bulk at the grocers. They are still beneficial for you, just not nearly as potent as you’ll find in Ceremonial grade cacao.
If you’re still curious about this whole, ceremonial grade thing, check out this article from KAKAO’s website.
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Okay Cool, But What’s a Cacao Ceremony?
When you drink cacao, it’s so powerful to set aside some time to be really intentional and really allow yourself to receive allll of the benefits of this gentle, yet powerful medicine.
This is where all the magic happens!
Cacao is a beautiful plant spirit that invites us inwards.
She reminds us that it’s safe to feel. It’s safe to open our hearts again. She does this is a way that is so gentle. Yes, emotions can come up so we can feel and release them, but this only happens if we allow it. She never takes us anywhere we don’t want to go. She’s an entheogenic plant medicine (one that takes us on an inner journey) but she’s not a psychedelic.
When we sit in ceremony, whether alone or in a group, we are creating intentional time to go inwards, to slow down, to be present. We set an intention, we invite the spirit of cacao into our hearts to assist us in this softening, slowing, re-opening… wherever you are at or with whatever intention you may have.
In my personal daily ceremony, I might journal, write poetry, pull oracle cards, listen to a meditation, or go for a walk. It’s different every time and you can’t really do it wrong.
Just like with meditation, group cacao ceremonies are especially powerful because there are multiple people coming together and joining our intentions, which amplifies the benefits and simultaneously reminds us that we are not alone.
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In our free virtual cacao ceremonies here at Wild Heart Expression, you can expect a soft and slow paced experience. One where we breathe, we tune into our hearts and our bodies… listening to what is present for us. You can expect an opportunity to share and connect with like-minded women who likely all share the same desire of reconnecting to themselves and living their authentic, Wild Heart Expression.
Join Us for Our Next Virtual Ceremony, beautiful.
