What is a Cacao Ceremony?
Whether you’ve never encountered a cacao ceremony, or you are a seasoned cacao ceremonialist, we are diving into the elements of ceremony, why it is so needed globally at this time and some ways you can start or enrich your journey with cacao.
Why Ceremony?
Ceremony is a term utilized to inspire a sense of reverence, honor, and humility for those gathering. When we move through life with these qualities, we become aware of our impact on the world and work towards creating a world that is harmonious for all. With the current challenges the world faces as waterways continue to be polluted, animal species continue to die off, and more and more report suffering in a worldwide mental health epidemic (to name a few), we need ceremony in our lives now more than ever.
‘Cacao ceremonies’ are typically referred to as ‘fire ceremonies’ in the Mayan tradition.
Historically, ceremony was a place to connect in community and remember our connections to God, nature, Spirit, the Great Mystery, our ancestors, and more. In fact, Shamanic & Animist traditions are the oldest of all the traditions in the world. All of our ancestors, regardless of cultural background, practiced ceremonies for generations. However, the boom of technologies during the industrial revolution led to the concept of ceremony slowly slipping away from the forefront of our lives to be replaced with gadgets and gizmos. Without ceremony, we have been becoming increasingly distant and disconnected from ourselves, each other, and the earth we inhabit. However, thanks to our ancestors, we have the memory of ceremony in our blood and can call upon it and strengthen it through working with allies like ceremonial cacao to re-establish our connection to the living world.
The Pillars of Ceremony
By definition, a cacao ceremony is best described as an opportunity to commune with the spirit of cacao and welcome this medicine as an ally into your life, through ingestion. Cacao is a beautiful friend that encourages us to trust in our hearts, to trust in love, and to trust in the beautiful way of letting love lead.
There are many ways to create your own cacao ceremony, and many points of reference to honor this medicine in accordance with the lineage of where it is sourced from. However, there are some pillars of ceremony that you can see across many lineages and traditions — preparation, setting sacred space, opening, prayer, ritual, and closing.
Passing a cup of ceremonial cacao. When you hold a cup to give to another person, charge it with your most loving intentions for them.
A ceremonial space is a space, not always physical, where we find vertical alignment with spirit, God, source, our souls, and whatever you call the thing that is beyond our humanity. We encourage you to align yourself vertically through prayers, calling on your guides, angels, healthy and well ancestors… what we call your “A team”. They protect, guide, and support your ceremony and sacred space.
You can create a sacred space through your prayers, through rituals that are meaningful to you or your lineages, or through creating an altar, as some suggestions.
Creating your own Cacao Ceremony
Now, it’s important to think of a cacao ceremony like a story; there is a beginning, a middle, and an end. What story does your cacao ceremony want to share today?
Perhaps a story of grief? A story of celebration? A story of romance? Whatever it is, let it be unique to you, while bringing care into each step of the ceremony.
Though the story may have begun long before the ceremonial cacao arrived in your kitchen, let your story with the cacao begin how it feels natural for you. To do this, close your eyes, breathe into your heart, and ask for guidance from the spirit of cacao. Preparing the cacao is part of the ceremony, so do so with your heart guiding you. Whether that means singing songs or moving in silence, let it be true for you, this is your ceremony.
You may even be guided to begin connecting with cacao as a ceremonial ally by having some of this medicine on your altar, so that you can start to feel it working on you before you are called to take it into your body.
Meet cacao where you are at and don’t feel pressured to ingest it. If you have resistance, rather than ignoring it, allow that resistance to have space and listen to it. It is possible the resistance is guiding you into a way to work with the cacao that you haven’t considered before. See where it wants to take you.
Ask the spirit of cacao how to best receive the wisdom it is offering with reverence and integrity. This could be outside in nature, sitting at your altar, or in a room with friends, however, it is, let it be true for you.
As you connect with the cacao spirit, connect your heart to the medicine, and before speaking your intentions, ask the cacao spirit to show you the way, to merge with you, and show you what you need. If you don’t have an intention, start there. Ask the cacao spirit to show you what is in your heart, what your heart longs to know. Your heart knows the medicine that your soul needs, more than anyone outside of you. It’s helpful and supportive to come into any ceremony with intentions. After all, the energy goes where intentions flow. The stronger and more concise our intentions, the more easy it is for them to be heard.
Cacao, with her gentleness, invites us to bring ceremony into each day if we desire that way of living… connected to spirit, ourselves, one another, and nature. Connected to all things. That’s why our Co-Founder, Krystal, calls cacao a “Gentle teacher, and a lifelong companion”.
How can you include ceremony into your life each day?
