All about cacao

What is a Cacao Ceremony?

There is no script per se for a cacao ceremony.

A cacao ceremony is a time taken to drink ceremonial-grade cacao with intention and focus on our connection with the plant, in order to open our hearts, physically and mentally.

A lot of the South-Central American traditions were lost due to the effects of the European colonization in the 16th century, and traditions that might have remained aren’t deeply shared with Westerners.

A ceremony will then likely be very different from one practitioner to another.

Over the years, I attended ceremonies where we sang, danced, meditated, received a sound bath, journaled, etc. One of the people who did the same training as me is using cacao with her patients attending couple’s therapy.

Cacao is a perfect companion for so many disciplines. Coupled with yoga, she allows to drop deeper into the facia. Paired with breathwork, she is a gentle, attentive guide on the journey. During a kirtan, she makes you sing from the heart. And the list goes on.

This is the beauty of cacao ceremonies: you will have a very different experience every time you’ll join a new practitioner.

What does a cacao ceremony with me look like?

I have several different themes for my ceremonies, like creativity or self-love, but I like to keep a few key elements important to me in each of them:

The mindful drinking of a cup of Keith’s cacao or Ora Cacao

Each cacao has different energies, based on who and where it was produced, the type of beans, the people who worked it, etc. After trying different ones, I picked Keith’s cacao and Ora Cacao for my ceremonies. Those are the cacaos I was able to do the deepest work with, and their energies adapts very well with different practices (meditation, dance, breathwork, etc.). Keith's cacao has three times less caffeine than most other cacaos and twice as much theobromine. Keith and all the people working there are really amazing at supporting their local community in Guatemala.

Explanation of what is cacao exactly, how does she work and her history

It’s very important for me that people understand what is the plant they’re connecting with, and what makes her so special, so if you come to one of my ceremonies (especially “Intro to cacao”), be ready to hear me nerding out about her!

A meditative sound bath

Sound healing helps tapping into the theta brain wave, which occur when we’re drifting off to sleep or are suspended in that light phase of sleep, just before we wake up. Coupled with cacao, we’re able to connect deeper to our subconscious and to the plant.

I’m always happy to design tailor-made ceremonies for individuals or companies. If you’d like to work on a particular theme, don’t hesitate to reach out to me!

How to make your own cacao ceremony at home?

This is something I struggled a lot with during the first lockdown of 2020 and pushed me to sign up for a training to better understand how to connect with the plant. From one time to the other, I was having very uneven “results”. Sometimes I would live beautiful experiences, sometimes I would feel “nothing”.

You don’t really get “results” anyway, even feeling “nothing” is indicative (of not letting go, being too much in the rational mind, or simply not taking the time to sit and connect).

As I mentioned above, there is no script to make the “perfect” ceremony, I really invite you to design your own, one that matches who you are and what you’re looking for, but here are a few pointers to help you get started:

Prepare for the ceremony

Start tuning into your intention, what do you wish to receive guidance on?
Drink plenty of water. Cacao is diuretic so you want to hydrate your body before, during and after the ceremony.
Ideally fast for 3 hours before the ceremony and avoid coffee, tea and dairy on the day to drop deeper into the process. These are just advices, you do you according to what you need.
If you’re on mood-altering medication (such as antidepressants), have a heart condition or are pregnant, you will need a smaller dose. Reach out to your doctor to get guidance.

Make your cup of cacao

I created a video to show how to make the perfect cup of cacao, and listed my favorite brands of cacao for you.

Chop 42.5g of cacao (or 20g for a daily creative dose) and add it to your cup
Pour a few drops of hot (but not boiling) water. This step is important, if you’re pouring too much water at once, it will be harder to melt the cacao chips. The slower the better!
Whisk until the chips melt completely, add more water as needed. It should eventually look like a chocolate mousse.
Top-up with hot water or your choice of plant-based milk.
Add a natural sweetener (honey, dates, banana, coconut sugar, etc.).
Add your spices (cayenne pepper, cinnamon, vanilla, ginger, etc.).
Et voilà ;)

Start your journey

Open the space: Take the time to connect with your body, with your breath, to go inward.
Take your cup in your hands and connect with the warmth of the cacao. Can you smell her aromas? Can you feel the soil, the sun, the tropical train that helped her grow?
Connect with your intention. Why are you here today?
As you take your first sip, invite her into your body as you ask for guidance to the cacao or your helpers (whoever you identify with).
It will take you 20-40mn to start feeling her effects in your body. I invite you to take the next 2 hours to do activities that are mindful and resonate with you: meditation, journalling, singing, yoga, breathwork, etc. The most important is that you carve out the time to be mindful about this experience and always come back to your intention.

I created a playlist to take you into a meditative state, it's available here.

You can receive help in many ways, often unexpected. Something bothering you during your ceremony can be her showing you something you are uncomfortable with, within yourself. Be on the lookout for any signs and focus on the feelings and emotions in presence.

Once you’ve gone through your journey, close the space by acknowledging the work that has been done, the shift, even small, that happened, and thanking cacao and your helpers (whoever you identify with) for their guidance and help.

Post ceremony