Cacao: intention, preparation, recipes, and more…
As an organisation whose offerings are centred around ceremonial cacao, we get many questions regarding the preparation, recipes ideas, dosage, to-do, to-avoid, etc. with this plant ally. This blog is a response to these questions, and include some additional thoughts from our personal journey with her.
Firstly, we are not associated with lineages of shamanic teachings in South America that boast a direct relationship to the medicine of cacao. Why are we so passionate about cacao, and ‘deserve’ to work with her medicine? We come from a school of thought (and heart) of herbalism that we are all able to connect directly with plants through direct communion and perception. Wise herb-folk from all cultures who did not have access to modern science all purport their teachers to be the plants themselves. When we silence our minds and drop into our hearts, we discover our innate intuitive capacities, and our ability to receive information beyond that limited by ‘normal’ sense perception. A book that we highly recommend if you are interested in learning more is ‘The Secret Teachings of Plants: The Intelligence of the Heart in the Direct Perception of Nature’ by Stephen Harrod Buhner. Stephen Harrod Buhner (1952–2022) was the award-winning author of 25 books on nature, indigenous cultures, the environment, and herbal medicine including numerous articles, memoirs, short stories, and poetry on nature, human plant, and human Earth relationships. Through his works, he helped millions of people. Stephen was an interdisciplinary, independent scholar, polymath, autodidact, Fellow of Schumacher College UK and has been head researcher for the Foundation for Gaian Studies for the past thirty years (gaianstudies.org). In recognition of his life’s work as a natural philosopher, Stephen was awarded the first McKenna Academy Distinguished Natural Philosopher Award for 2022.
All withstanding the above, due respect is of course to be given to psychotropic master plant allies which have a long co-evolutionary history in indigenous traditions, who have developed the necessary relationship to hold such ceremonies in a safe and respectful container for all involved.
PREPARATION
As with the most mundane of tasks, everything can be elevated to the status of high ritual with intention. One does not need to have ceremonial cacao to be participating in a ceremony/ritual. In the absence of cacao, you could have tea/coffee/herbal tea/water/a few conscious breaths. Contrary to appearances on social media, candles/tarot or oracle cards/incense/feathers/cystals are not required. All that is needed is your presence. Failing this key component, everything else is rendered superficial and void of deeper meaning.
How does one ground? A simple technique is to place a hand over your belly, and another hand over your heart to connect with the rise and fall of your hands as your body moves to accommodate the breath. Take a few breaths in this way without making any effort to deepen your breath. Notice where your breath has the tendency to fill your body - are both hands moving equally, one more than the other, or is the movement imperceptible? Now, connect with the sensation of the cool air as it flows through your nostrils, filling you up, and the warmth of the air as it leaves your nostrils having been humidified by your body. Make some conscious effort to feel both hands rise upon the inhale, bringing a quality of compassion and tenderness into your palms as though you were gently cradling a child. Notice how your body responds to this shift in the quality of your awareness and touch. You may find that your breath lengthens and deepens automatically. Explore the dimensions possible with the breath, playing with the vertical and horizontal planes; how deep can you take your breath, and how far/wide can you breathe?
The ancients of various traditions knew the breath to be more than just a mixture of gases in the air; their word for air was synonymous with life force energy (Qi, Ki, Prana, Pneuma, Ruach, etc.) which can be charged with intention.
We have personally benefitted from cacao’s potent heart-opening effects, her rich nutritional properties, and by how wonderful it feels to start our day with her delicious medicine. Our daily ritual consists of taking a few deep breaths to drop into the moment, preparing our cacao with love, sharing what we are grateful for as well as our prayers, singing or humming, and drinking our cacao. On some days, we simply light a candle, take a few breaths before drinking cacao in silence. There is no right or wrong way - that is the nature of our dualistic mind - drop into the unity which is your heart and you will find a way that feels good to you.
