Is this for me?

Tired? But you just can’t get away and you are all tied up? Restless? But feeling so restrained? Life is good… but it can be better. That feeling of needing a break but don’t know where to go? Maybe this material is really for you. Let’s talk about a certain time and space beyond the world that we know about… Cacao Ceremony.

It’s history, It’s allure…

Generations ago and few tribes’ cultures up to now consider ceremonial cacao a sacred drink available only on very significant occasions. They only serve it during important birthdays, weddings, and other highly esteemed events. More importantly, these cultures drink it for a deeper connection done through a very sacred cacao ceremony; not just merely for consumption.

Much different from how we look at chocolate nowadays, they do it not just for its luscious taste either, but for its powerful nature. It holds an important part of their culture, they only use it during cacao ceremonies. A time and space where ceremonial cacao gathers and connects people, more importantly, it takes them back to their roots. It puts them in a time and space beyond the world that we know where they can connect to the earth and its elements, to the ancestors that came before them, and to their bloodline that brought them where they are now.

Furthermore, it places them in a sacred time and space where they can open up their hearts and widen their minds, enabling every person who consumes it to connect to the universe, its creator, and its heart. It gives an avenue for someone to tap into earth’s energy, enabling them to connect ever more deeply with their emotion and awareness.

This time and space beyond the world that we know, is a venue of complete freedom, the kind that enables a deeper sense of compassion and love. It is a moment of empowerment, for someone to fully embrace oneself and everything that surrounds him or her. For some, a cacao ceremony could even lead to deeper healing.

Beholding its beauty…

There are many things to be amazed about the cacao ceremony, but maybe its main captivating part is its power to connect to deeper things. During a cacao ceremony, ceremonial grade cacao empowers someone to fully embrace oneself and everything that surrounds him or her. It leads everyone in that time and space to ask questions, but at the same time grateful for the answers. Gratefulness for what that person has, grateful for what that person needs, and more importantly who that person has become.

As the ceremonial cacao runs through a person’s veins, it inspires the person to be brave and confront the previous hurts, frustrations, addiction, and brokenness that he or she encountered. The cacao ceremony gives that person a sense of where he or she is, at the same time the bravery to move forward.

The secret behind its splendor…

As you take in a cup of cacao in a cacao ceremony, you slurp a high number of flavonoids. This is a class of polyphenolic secondary metabolites that helps improve your blood flow. It effectively increases blood circulation, especially in the hippocampus (the region of the brain where learning and memory happen). It dramatically helps your focus, attention span, and helps you have a deeper sense of awareness.

Along with the focus that flavonoid enhances, ceremonial cacao, contains an abundance of “bliss molecule” or the anandamide. The neurotransmitter binds cannabinoid receptors in the brain and body, stimulating a sense of happiness and peace. Anandamide also boosts your serotonin level, fighting any depressing feelings, or even mood swings on a bad day.

And to top it off is the robust magnesium that it carries. This is an important note, since that feeling of “not feeling it today”, or the “this is not my day” even having a good night’s rest, is attributed by experts as magnesium deficiency. Amazing how a cacao ceremony helps one’s whole being. 

A sip-by-sip guide in falling in love with cacao…

Since cacao has a significant place in the traditions of the cultures, traditional ceremony preparation starts from a particular process of harvesting its fruits to fermenting, roasting, grinding, mixing it with hot water up until it’s being served.

What is certain throughout this process, is it is done with lots of mindfulness and intention. During the actual ceremony, some often have a sacred fire in the middle of the space. This fire represents the spirit of fire, the spirit of air, the spirit of the earth, and the spirit of water. While feeling the fire’s warmth, everyone drinks the cup of cacao with much intention to connect to their ancestors or deceased loved ones and gratefulness to where he or she is now.

To inspire you to slurp further…

While the traditional ceremonies are done in a very specific manner, nowadays it comes in many forms. And believe it or not, chances are you will never see two ceremonies done exactly the same. That’s the exciting part, what it is evolving into now. If that stirs you, you might want to explore tribalmooncacao.com and jayhoad.com after reading this.

This means you can have a cacao ceremony in groups, create one alone as part of your daily practice, especially that tough 3 pm stretch. You can have it guided by a shaman or you can have it with someone who has decided to create their first ceremonial offering and be lucky enough to witness and support them in this. You can have it to start your day or you can also have it while staring at the stars before you call it a day.

Just like how it is done, you can also prepare your ceremonial cacao to your preference. Just make sure it melts and mixes with your hot (or maybe just even warm) water.  But beyond that, everything else is according to what suits you. You can use dates, honey, cinnamon, or plant-based milk, a little bit of all I mentioned or you can have it entirely different. If you want some tips you can of course visit, tribalmooncacao.com it has hundreds of recipes.

At the end of the day, what is important is you have access to a time and space that you can fall back to whenever you feel like it. And its wonders are readily there just waiting for you.