Cacao Ceremonies have been known for their healing potential for thousands of years. Original grown in Guatemala Cacao has found its way in many ancient civilizations. Especially the Incas, Mayan and Aztecs uses Cacao in sacred ceremonies to create a communion with the Gods.
What makes Cacao so great for a ceremony in comparison to other substances its is non psychedelic/psychoactive impact. Even tho the person who uses the Cacao in the right way can have very profound experiences.
Difference between raw cacao and ceremonial cacao
Ceremonial Cacao differs very much from the “raw chocolate powder” we can find in health store shops, not to mention the ordinary chocolate bar form the supermarket. Ceremonial cacao in comparison to other cacao still contains all of its fat. This means that many living enzymes, healthy fat and most of the subtle energetic properties of cacao are still in the cacao. It is made from whole bean, organic cacao which undergo a fermentation process necessary for cultivating their flavour profile and activating certain natural compounds. Ceremonial Cacao is harvested and cultivated with intention. The beans are normally roasted at low temperatures, cracked, and stone ground by traditional means. Ceremonial cacao is NEVER tempered.
Furthermore some people have said that the raw cacao powder that you can by in health stores can have an overstimulating effect on your nervous system. Similar to coffee and should only be used in moderation.
Honouring the ceremonial cacao
To be able to fully understand and make use of the Ceremonial Cacao it is important to honour its preparation, harvesting and cultivation. Always look for sustainability, organic produce and ethical trade.
Cacao is a sacred plant and when you consider the points above you are on the right track to fully make use of its power, qualities and to access its wisdom.
In my shamanic cacao ceremony I make sure that I only use the best cacao available. Additionally I also include important spiritual points when I conduct a ritual or ceremony to get the best benefit of the ceremonial cacao.
1. Intent
Any spiritual work I do is based on an intent that I set before I start my work. An intent reflects my basic motivation or energy that I use to create or invoke something. This way it allows me to direct my energy in the most suitable and focused way. Therefore before you drink or use cacao you should be clear of your intent.
Questions such as the ones listed below can help you to clarify and find your intent or motivation:
a) What do I want to achieve with this ceremony?
b) What is my problem that needs clarifying/healing?
c) How do I feel in this present moment?
d) What would be the best outcome of this?
2. Time
The right time plays a major role in any ceremonies or rituals. This allows to to enhance the power of the whole ritual if the ceremony takes place on astrological or energetic important times. Many cacao ceremonies are mostly held around the Full Moon as this marks the highest charged time of the month. However there are other times that can be very suitable to conduct your ceremony or ritual and that depends on what your intent is for the ritual. Is it releasing or gaining something? What is it that you want to heal? Are you doing the ritual by yourself or with others?
The right timing
The full moon of course is said to offer the best time for group gatherings but also to release pent-up emotions. The full moon represents the climax of the moon cycle and what started during the New moon fill find its peak here. Often people experience an emotional crisis or a crisis in consciousness. Pushing the boundaries that something needs to be seen or released to be able to move forward is very strong around this time.
You could use a moon calendar to find out what time would be suitable.
3. Setting
The right setting is as important as the right timing for any ritual or ceremony. It allows you to have a great experience and enhances your overall energies for you ritual. The setting can be inside or outside as long as you feel confident about the location. I personally feel it is very important to cleanse the space before I conduct any spiritual work. You want to make sure that you keep any low vibrational energies away and honour the space you work in.
For this reason I would recommend to you: Get one of our Space Clearing Sprays here…( free shipping within the UK)
How to cleanse the place and yourself
My astroshamanic sprays offer you a total removal of any negative energies. Just a few sprays ( 3 – 4) into your auric field and walk a circle in/around the setting and spray a few times to cleanse it properly.
You should also spray and cleanse the people who actually take part in the ceremony. Only this way you can make sure that no one is actually bringing in any negative energies that could disturbed the ritual.
If you hold a cacao ceremony with others it is utterly important that the group harmonizes with each other and people feel comfortable with one another.
4. Journey
Once you drank the cacao you will be soon going on a shamanic journey, vision quest or do a guided meditation.
This helps to receive insights, release blockages and work with grievances.
It is very important you have decided what kind of journey you would like to do before you start the whole ceremony.
A guided meditation can be the perfect start especially if people are new to the cacao ceremony. I have a perfect guided meditation for you if you want to dive deep into the cleansing and healing properties of the cacao.
Check out our “Energy Purification Session” with immediate download here.
Using other instruments for your journey
If you are more experienced or you work already shamanically you can introduce the drum, rattle, gongs, sound bath or other music that can help to send you off on a journey.
The cacao unfolds it full potential after 20 – 30min. after drinking. Allow it to take you on a deep quest into yourself and maybe show you places that you have not been before – by opening your heart.
5. Dance
Most of the people who hold a cacao ceremony do this more quietly and get a lot out of their inner journey. However in astroshamanic or any shamanic work we believe that to embody your inner journey is rather important. This will help to integrate the energies or release the blockages and grievances on a physical level. In Astroshamanism we work with a ready-made playlist of 12 or actually 13 songs ( each will resonate with one star sign) + one that acts as a transition song.
Of course its totally up to you if you want to add more or less of the songs.
Whatever music you are playing, most important is that you keep moving till the music stops. How you move is up to you, you can dance wild and when you get tired you might just sway or swing around. You can roll over the floor or just move very gently but you need to keep moving. This is so important not to break the energy that has been accumulated and allow all the things to come to the surface. This is energy alchemy!
6. Food
Food plays a major role in any ritual, ceremony and spiritual work. First of all it acts of course as fuel for energy for our bodies. On the other hand side it can be grounding and also weigh us down.
For this reason we recommend that you have some light food up to 2 hours before the ritual/ceremony starts. This will make it easier to access the higher dimensions and realms. If you would have a heavy meal before the cacao ceremony it could happen that you might feel to full or sick during the event.
Food enables grounding
However after the ceremony it is truly helpful to have something to eat which is grounding. It happened before that some people maybe feel they want to eat meat even tho normally they don’t eat meat. This can be a normal desire to ground oneself in this physical world. If you are okay with that we would say that you should eat what you feel drawn to.
If you hold a ceremony for others prepare the meal before the ritual and make sure you consider any allergies someone might have. We recommend the food to be organic and natural as possible. At the same time it should be grounding and satisfying.
This is also the right time to open up to each other and speak about your experiences while you eat. When we hold a ceremony we prepare the food that it fits with the moons cycle. Depending where the moon is moving at this point in time we prepare the food that it holds the best ingredients possible to nourish body, mind and spirit in alignment with the lunar cycle.
At the end – trust your body!
7. Highs and lows
Just like the moon every journey has its peak and climax and euphoria and it will last even a day after your journey. Once you hit the second day after the ceremony you might experience a sudden drop in energy or mood. It can feel like a soft landing or a hard crash sometimes. You might experience feelings of emptiness, loneliness or vulnerability. Allow yourself to drink a lot of water and be gentle to yourself. This is normal and nothing to worry about. The body now needs to find a new balance after all this releasing and healing. It will only last a few hours maximum a day and you will be back to normal.
8. The right preparation of the cacao
It is utterly important to follow the right preparation method for you cacao to make it a sacred drink. There are certain things to consider and some things to avoid.
Download the recipe on how to prepare ceremonial cacao for “FREE” here.
9. Things to consider before using cacao:
a) If you are on anti-depressant start with a maximum dose of 5g and see how you feel about this. Ceremonial Cacao is contraindicated with anti-depressants, especially MAOIs and some SSRIs. This means it can lead to major headaches or in the worst case it can push your serotonin levels to a dangerous high this can be very dangerous. Therefore start slowly and see how you feel about the cacao.
b) Don’t mix cacao with alcohol or any other chemical drugs. This means avoid any alcohol at least 48 hours before the cacao ceremony. And stay away from chemical drugs.
c) Cacao increases your heart rate. If you have a serious heart problem you need to be careful here and best not take cacao at all. Especially high doses can he dangerous. If you have a not so serious heart problem you might be okay to take up to 10g of cacao. The best would be if you consult with your doctor to be really sure about that. Also try to listen to your body and if you feeling unwell or dizzy slow down. You take cacao at your own risk. Be also mindful about activities that heighten the heart rate such as running, sauna as well as too much caffeine.
d) Caffeine can also have a bad effect on your cacao experience we would recommend not to drink any coffee on the day to avoid any issues. Even though some people have said coffee didn’t affect their cacao experience much we just recommend to leave the caffeine on this day.
e) Highly sensitive people should not have any higher dosages of more than 10g cacao after 3pm in the afternoon otherwise it might keep them awake all night. It still is a stimulant and it will stimulate your body, mind and spirit.
f) If you are pregnant you should consult with your doctor if taking cacao is safe for you to use.
g) Don’t give any cacao to animals. Some of them will have a toxic shock and can die.
h) Ceremonial doses work best when taken on empty stomach but for highly sensitive people we would recommend to have a light snack up to 2 hours before the intake of the cacao.
