Why Sacred Cacao?

Day 1 of 30

Let me tell you a story about why I use cacao.

Glorious sacred cacao. I must admit, I was sceptic about this plant medicine when I 1st heard about it roughly 5 years ago. I thought, what is this sacred cacao and ecstatic dance thing they are talking about? Drinking hot chocolate makes you feel euphoric? No! what rubbish I thought and didn’t accept the invitation, brushing it off as a touch left side of woo.

5 years later, I would move from my home of 10 years in the Blue Mountains where I learnt about breath work, meditation, yoga, chakras, manifestation, witchcraft, sacred space, feng shui, herbalism and more to the Sunshine Coast of Queensland. Where I would meet Terri Scott. My beautiful neighbour, a sacred cacao and Yoga instructor. A woman who would change my life with her magical introduction to sacred cacao in ceremony.

When I received her invitation to attend her cacao ceremony, I was skeptical, but not entirely closed to the idea. This woman I had just met was glowing, happy, healthy and gave off a sense of utter calmness. She didn’t talk about cacao in some weird far off eccentric way, she spoke of it as if it was alive and how it builds connection with community and self.

She had me there, I was seeking a new community a connection to my new home that I hadn’t found just yet. I thought, well if I can manifest all this greatness around me and practice witchcraft on the daily, then maybe I should be open to this cacao thing that Terri gets so much from.

I purchased my ticket and wrote the event down on my calendar and waited for the full moon that month to rise. The ceremonies were based around the full moon each month. I read her information email the night before and gathered my blanket, journal, and water by the door ready for the next night.

The next morning, I got up went to work as usual and found that I couldn’t stop thinking about what it might be like, I kept having to tell myself to stop having expectations, to just go and be open to magic. I told myself, hey even if the cacao isn’t this amazing thing, they make it out to be, you’ll have at least met some new faces in the community, it’s a starting point to who you desire to be.

Work finished, I drove home had a shower, had a light dinner, and left off in anticipation of what could be. I was excited, yet I didn’t think I would be.

I arrived 5 min before the ceremony and saw all these wonderful women lined up outside the building, waiting their turn to be cleansed and greeted by Terri as they entered.

Joining the que, I introduced myself to the 2 closest women in line (one who I became friends with outside of circle) and waited my turn.

Terri was elated to see me there, she enveloped me in a big warm hug and cleansed me as I did a little twirl inviting the smoke to wash away my day’s low vibes.

I walked in and was greeted by Andy a dear friend of Terri’s helping her with ceremony, a warm, pleasant and calm presence came from Andy. I felt instantly accepted and very welcome.

I chose my spot on the floor in the circle, smiling at the other women surrounding me as I settled in. I took note of the pretty mandala, candles, and flowers in the centre of the room with a variety of oracle and tarot cards bordering them. I felt soothed and knew a lot of good intentions had gone into preparing this sacred space, something I was familiar with.

Once everyone was settled and Terri was seated, she welcomed and thanked us for being there. While she introduced herself and told us about her own journey with sacred cacao Andy passed around cute earthen ware cups of cacao to each of us. We were encouraged to sip the cacao as Terri took us through a blessing and intention setting ritual.

Well wow! I was blown away by the smell and taste and texture of this brown elixir in my palms. It was rich, thick, creamy with hints of other flavours such as cardamom, orange and cayenne which were explained to us as being supportive of our cacao experience. This was no mere hot chocolate. I felt drawn to bring the mug to my nose and take big purposeful breathes in of this amazing aroma. It filled my whole being with a sense of joy.

When I finished my cacao, I investigated the cup and noticed a fine network of veins along the sides of the cup where the cacao had been. They merged forming what looked like trees and dancing goddesses, birds, and even yonis. I found myself absorbed by the images in my cup similar to what I have experienced through tea leaf reading.

Terri gently guided us to lay down and proceeded to walk us through a guided meditation encouraging us to feel and embrace the spirit of cacao, to let her in as gently or as fully as we wished.

It was wonderful, I felt so happy like really happy within, I felt no judgement in this space at all. Sometimes in circles I have not been able to fully relax, always thinking about what everyone else there is doing or thinking about me. But not this time, this time I really did relax and let go of the world around me. I allowed visions to come and go, not trying to control them as I had, just letting them in and letting them be. It was ok that I struggled to see clear images in my mind. I was ok with that for the 1st time.

The images I see in my head aren’t like what we see with our eyes, I never understood that about myself. The images are more of a perception and feeling of that image, rather than a solid picture for me.

I had been going through a creative slump the past year, I had only drawn henna designs and hadn’t really gotten into my full creative expression since moving. I didn’t draw for the love of drawing or paint for the love of painting anymore, it was a chore. But in this guided mediation, something sparked in me.

I popped up from my lying position and grabbed my journal, I had to get this on paper right there and then.

I drew a woman laying down, made of a tree trunk, I drew a tree coming from her belly and roots going down from her back. As above so below. In the meditation we were guided to feel our energy expanding up and our connection to earth growing down. This is what inspired me in that moment. It was so joyful to just be drawing, no thinking just getting it out. I was in flow again. Breath work is the only other tool I have had a connection to my creativity like this, but this was a little different. This was gentler, kinder, lighter, but solid.

A feeling that didn’t fade a feeling that kept growing. My creativity was back, and it was back in a huge way.

After another guided relaxation and sound healing using the ethereal Koshi chimes, I stayed and chatted a while with the group and left floating on a cloud.

I attended these ceremonies for approximately 6 months adding in a new moon ceremony when Terri introduced them. And when they sadly ended, I embraced cacao even more at home and made her a part of my daily life. I introduced her to my friends and family and people I met through teaching sip and paint classes. I quit my baking job at Woolworths and embraced my art career fully and made the decision to share the magic that is sacred cacao with the world through my own ceremonies and art.

I haven’t looked back since, I have had huge breakthroughs and feel connected to a community again, but most importantly I found me, not the people pleasing fearful me, but the real authentic me through practicing sacred cacao ceremony.

She keeps my creative juices flowing. She reminds me of my worth and my light that only I can shine. When my mind is clouded even just the smell of cacao can bring me back to myself, she grounds me and reminds me to take care of myself, And I am so thankful she found me and grateful to Terri for introducing us.

Cacao is now a daily part of my life, I connect with her every morning through either smell or drinking a cup upon waking.

Tomorrow for Day 2 of 30 days of Cacao, I will share with you a some recipes I have created using sacred cacao, so that you can start sipping on and calling in the heart opening energy of mamma cacao too.

When you 1st heard about cacao, what did you feel about it? How was it explained to you? Id love to read about this in the comments below to get to know you all a little better.