How To Host Your Own Cacao Ceremony
Having spent over a year in Central America, I have been lucky to have attended many different kinds of cacao ceremonies, hosted in a variety of ways, drinking cacao from one of the places in the world where it naturally lives and grows.
There are many ways to host your own cacao ceremony, and all styles and flavours are welcome. And so, it is encouraged to share from your heart space, from a place of authenticity and love, for that is indeed what the cacao medicine supports: opening the heart! But if you’re looking for inspiration on how to start, I would love to share some ideas on how to host a cacao gathering based on my experience as both an attendee and host.
And that’s exactly what we are going to do! But we dive into all things cacao, let’s first talk about ceremony and what it means.
Cacao pods with delicious white fruit pulp and 25-40 cacao beans inside. The pulp was the first part of the fruit to be eaten before the beans were discovered.
What is ceremony?
It is a circle of energy that creates intimacy, encourages presence and offers an opportunity to hold oneself with focus and open-hearted awareness with others. It is a portal to give and receive, to deposit and retrieve. It is a place to practice the art of releasing expectations, for we never know how the ceremony will really go, and what opportunities we will have to step into. The mystery unfolds in real time.
Intentions and dreams can be super amplified in ceremony. When we state our intention, we direct focused energy to its specific place, and with the help of the plant medicine, high frequency songs, and the group dynamic, the manifestation can be accelerated to wherever it needs to go.
Our intentions feed those around us, uplifting the entire group, and from this building energy, intentions grow in power. To get the most out of ceremony, we are required to listen actively, have focus, have humility, respect the space, and attempt to build a relationship with the plant. Like in any relationship, both parties need the safe space to show up, state what they need honestly to each other and be kind. It is not a one-sided conversation.
How you digest and integrate after ceremony is key for the experience to anchor in the body and solidify the shift in the brain neural pathways and body DNA. Integration is constantly occurring, not just for a few days after ceremony.
Ceremony is a chance to remember the sacredness in all things, and this increases feelings of gratitude. And soon we begin to see everyday life can be holy if we choose to see it in that way. Everyday is ceremony. We never leave the ceremony, and there is always more work to be done.
Cacao pods grow directly off tree branches.
Being part of ceremony is a path of love, compassion, strength, creation, and community. It is a path of passion for life, and honouring and respecting all in the web of life.
Hosting your own ceremony doesn’t need anything fancy but should include a few themes:
It has a purpose or intention.
It is performed on or for a special occasion.
It consists of artistic components.
Rituals or observances are made.
Cacao beans are fermented, sundried, shelled and ground up into paste.
So how can we bring these elements into cacao ceremonies? First and foremost, we need to understand the medicine that we are working with. Comprehending the purpose and capabilities that the plant has, as well as the industry challenges, increases knowledge and thus appreciation.
Back in the day, people traded with cacao as a currency. Money did grow on trees! The Mayans called cacao The Fruit of the Gods. Before it was made into a cacao drink, the white pulp stored in the pod was eaten (FYI, it is super tasty!).
Cacao trees provide 40 pods a year with each pod holding 25-30 seeds inside it. The process is certainly a big one that includes removing the seeds, sun-drying and fermenting them for over a period of a week, followed by shelling the seeds, leaving just the beans to be roasted and ground up. You need up to 600 beans to make up 1kg. And with one tree averaging on providing just 1kg of cacao per year, you can imagine how many cacao trees are needed for feed the global desire for raw cacao, chocolate bars and all the rest!
The global industry is a sobering picture. It is worth $100 billion a year and is built on slavery and systemic poverty. Ivory Coast produces 40% of the world’s supply, while Ghana creates 20% and Indonesia produces 17%. Niger, Cameroon, Mexico and Brazil are also amongst the top world’s producers. Millions of small-scale farms around the world are the producers of cacao. Over two million children work on cacao plantations and are either underpaid or not at all, with many unable to go back home. There are three major companies who control the supply and demand and how much they will pay per kg. These companies buy at a low, local price from the small-scale farmers which they then sell to manufactures in the form of cacao nibs or oil, for example, who in turn, add their own ingredients like dairy, sugar and/or palm oil.
How can we support a new chocolate paradigm? If possible, supporting local farms, local cooperatives, craft chocolatiers and organizations that protect locals are powerful places to start. Purchasing from farms that promote that they are “tree to bar” or “bean to bar” means there are less parties involved, and more of the processes and income are kept within one farm. Support local as much as possible.
Understanding who we are buying from as well as the process of growing cacao increases our appreciation for this medicine.
Knowing how it works with the body also brings us closer to the medicine. The cacao medicine has stimulating effects, where the heart pumps faster, and the blood moves quicker. This is because it is vasodilator, aka it widens the blood vessels. It brings feelings of euphoria and openness by increasing the production anandamine, the bliss molecule, dopamine (motivated, accomplished, and productive), serotonin (happier, calmer, and more focused), and phenylethylamine, the love molecule, of which cacao has the highest concentration of than any other food! It is truly a powerful feel-good, heart-opening medicine that carries the spirit of love.
There many different tastes that cacao can take on depending on climate in which it is grown, how they were roasted, and if anything else was added, like sugar.
With all of this knowledge about cacao and reverence that comes with greater understanding, it is time to prepare for ceremony!
Ceremony is about entering a portal beyond time and space where we can connect with Highest Selves and other spirits, helping guides and the Divine. Plant medicines are not just substances that we take to feel good; they are spirits, each with their own consciousness, gifts, and healing powers. And cacao is indeed one them! Cacao forms the foundation of the feminine energy of all plants whilst tabaco is the basis of the masculine energy. Meeting with the cacao spirit - an elevated being - is an honour. She is always ready to bestow her wisdom to those who seek it. She is our teacher and so approaching with reverence and humility is good practice.
Creating your cacao ceremony can be done in a five steps:
1. Set and Setting
Purchase your cacao from someone you trust. It can be in powder form, but I prefer to use a brick raw cacao to create the elixir. The process of making cacao requires some basic knowledge, so head here for my Ceremonial Cacao recipe. Then decide when you would like to hold the ceremony. Sitting on a New Moon, Full Moon, Equinox, or a day of personal special significance increases the potency of the experience. Decide whether you would like to perform your ceremony alone, or with friends. If you’re in a group, sit in a circle together, perhaps around an altar you have all created together as a collective offering. For the altar, you can include items from nature, crystals, fabrics, angel cards, Tarot cards, candles, and any objects that hold meaning to you.
2. Introduction and Group Landing
Dropping in together with a meditation and breathing practice are great ways to set the group energy. From there, you can explain any astral insights if you are hosting on a New or Full Moon, talk on a theme that is close to your heart, or share the benefits of drinking cacao. You can then start pouring and passing the cacao around the circle. Singing a high-vibrational medicine song or mantra together while the pouring not only feels good for us, but also makes the cacao happy!
3. Intention Setting
With everyone with a cacao in hand, you can go around the circle sharing an intention. This can be something you wish to release like an old wound or something you want to step into and manifest in your life. It can be something you would like to heal and integrate, a desire that you would like to call in, a deepening of your connection to the Divine or your Highest Self. Every person can state their intention, one by one. After each person, an acknowledgement that the intention has been heard by the group can be made with the word “aho” (a word used by Lakota people of the Sioux tribes meaning "yes, I agree", “I understand”, or “I acknowledge") and a sip of cacao.
4. Movement and Play
With all that blood pumping faster, you can be sure that your energy will be increased after drinking cacao. With extra happy hormones swirling around your body, it is time to move, have fun and let go. Put on a feel-good playlist that you’ve crafted ahead of time and dance with the magic. You have set your intentions and now you can surrender to the medicine and express whatever wants to come through. How would you feel and act if your intentions were fully realized? Treat this moment as a celebration. After dancing, you can pull some angel or Tarot cards, and take time to journal and reflect on what came through during the ceremony.
5. Share and Close-ish
Once the ceremony has come to an end, and the medicine has worked its magic, everyone can return to the circle and share their experience. There may be insights and transformations, laughter, tears and afterglows. Welcome it all. Snacks or a meal, a dip in the ocean, a bonfire, more dancing and hugs are all great ways to continue or close the ceremony.
Feeling like you would want to add some extra sparkle to your ceremony? Check out my Mushroom Chocolate recipe.
I trust your next ceremony will be enjoyable, meaningful and fun. Let me know how it goes! I would love to hear how cacao has touched your life.
Remember to get my Ceremonial Cacao recipe here.
All my love,
Francesca
Get the recipe for my ceremonial cacao here.
Images by Maria Derevianko, Rodrigo Flores, Jenni Miska, Pablo Merchán Montes and Maddi Bazzocco available from Unsplash.