WHAT IS A CACAO CEREMONY?

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A Cacao Ceremony is a time and space to process and reflect upon what's happening in your life. Cacao is the medicine and the sacred ceremonial space created by the facilitator allows the healing to take place.

 

A Cacao Ceremony gives us sacred time and space for ourselves in a hectic and stressful world. It is the perfect space to switch off from the outside chaos and journey into the silence within, so that we can become clearer on who we are, where we are going, and the opportunities available to us.

 

A Cacao Ceremony is always done in sacred space with a facilitator who has taken the time to cultivate a relationship with the Cacao plant medicine. A facilitator who can hold space with reverence for the Cacao, allowing her to do her work.

Whether you’re looking for help shifting an emotional blockage, letting go of the past, finding your way, or you simply need to lift your spirits, these ceremonies can provide the focus you need to re-align and get back on track. 

To work with Cacao you are saying that you are ready to live fully in alignment with your own heart, and not anyone else’s ideas of what this is. This may be testing as we let go of who we think we should be, and become who we truly are.

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After extensive research, professional training on how to work deeply with Cacao in Ceremony and through my own intimate relationship with her, I have experienced and witnessed the physical, emotional and spiritual benefits that Cacao as a plant medicine has to offer.

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WHY DRINK CACAO AND HOW CAN IT HELP ME?:
 

As we try to keep up with modern day living and all of its demands, Our fight or flight systems are always turned on.

We are living in a constant state of stress, forever on alert, ready to fight or to flee from the next 'attack' at work, in our relationships or in our finances. We do not sleep well and when we finally do, we do not rest.

We can no longer think clearly, are overwhelmed and have forgotten how to relax long enough to solve our problems effectively.

Cacao is a very important medicine right now as it helps us reduces stress and anxiety and brings us the clarity and peace of mind needed to integrate our life's lessons.

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When used intentionally as a Plant Medicine and in ceremony, Cacao has a very specific purpose and that is to calm our busy minds and to bring our attention into the heart space to connect us back to ourselves and to nature.

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Cacao is a nutritional powerhouse, with over 300 compounds that help to positively alter a person's mood and boosts the natural production of serotonin and ability to fend off stress.

Cacao also contains Dopamine and Anandamide - known as the Bliss Molecule and Phenethylamine (PEA) that we naturally produce in our bodies when we fall in love. This is likely one of the main reasons why love and Chocolate have such a deep connection. It is the highest source of Magnesium and contains 40 times the amount of antioxidants than blueberries. It increases the blood flow to the heart and is known to support cardiovascular health and psychological well-being.

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Cacao helps us to access the part of the brain known as the neocortex, aka the ‘New Brain’ it is the center of creativity, innovation, inspiration and intuition. The brain of Einstein, Bach, Music and Mathematics. This part of the brain awakens through meditation, ceremony, rites of passage and moments of awakening. It feeds on healthy fats such as those present in Cacao. 

In Shamanism this part of the brain is related to the archetype of the Eagle that helps us to see our life from a higher perspective, where only possibility and transformation exist. Drinking Ceremonial Grade Cacao can help us to find meaning, direction and helps us to have the courage to achieve our goals. 

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WHAT IT DOES:

Cacao is a powerful Plant Medicine that helps us release emotional blockages that no longer serve us. It helps us to find forgiveness in ourselves and others, and shows us the way forward if we are stuck or afraid of making the necessary life changes in order to move on. It also enables us to access and release stuck emotions, conditioning, patterns of behaviour and addictions that are buried deep in the unconscious.

 

Working with the Cacao in ceremony, you will be clearing away all the excess baggage, negativity, and stale energy that you have been holding onto, enabling you to fully align with your heart. By being connected and in tune with your own heart, you can hold a pure space that amplifies the healing energy.

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When we come open-hearted to the Cacao Spirit, ready and willing to learn and full of gratitude for her medicine, we receive all the blessings Cacao has to offer. When we work with her, we need to remain in this purity, in order to get the sweetness of her medicine. You must learn to listen in the stillness, get out of your own way and let the cacao goddess speak to you.
 

BENEFITS IN A ‘NUTSHELL’ ( CACAO POD :)

*Clear emotional blocks

*Opens the possibility for forgiveness and self love

*Let go of past relationships

*Understand ourselves better

*Connect with your creativity

*Enhance focus and provide mental agility in the workplace

*Enhance therapeutic work, coaching and team building with individuals and groups *Enable a deeper practice in yoga and meditation

*Become a daily ritual in which you honor yourself and a spiritual or religious practice

*Cacao has can help to reset the fight or flight system as it works on the heart center.

*Source: Rebekah Shaman.

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CHOCOLATE OR CACAO?

Ceremonial Grade Cacao is not to be confused with Chocolate or even Raw Cacao. Cacao is Chocolate in its purest form before it is highly processed, heated and stripped of its life affirming properties and nutritional benefits. Milk and Sugar are also added to the processed Cacao bean making it a confectionary sweet treat that is consumed worldwide today.

 

Ceremonial Grade Cacao that is consumed during a Cacao Ceremony is intentionally grown and blessed by indigenous Cacao Farmers and carries a higher vibrational quality. Out of respect for mother earth and the hearts and hands that grow and harvest the cacao, I only purchase Ceremonial Grade Cacao where the Cacao Farmers and communities benefit from the sale and the cultivation of the land where the Cacao is grown is a priority.

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ANCIENT USE:

The word cacao  originated from the Maya word Ka'kau',  as well as the Maya words Chocol'ha and the verb chokola'j "to drink chocolate together".

 

In the Mayan culture, cocoa was so highly regarded that the Maya developed a creation myth concerning human beings involving cocoa. Any time a plant is given divine status in a culture, it means that the plant is central to that culture. For the Maya, cocoa was an integral part of the fabric of their lives. They cultivated cocoa, they used cocoa beans as currency, they developed numerous preparations of cocoa, and they topped it all off with a creation myth concerning the central Mayan god, known as Heart Of Sky.

 

*Source: The Medicine Hunter

 

Many are skeptical but she is the real deal! All of this on Chocolate they say?, we just love Chocolate because of the taste! This may be the case but what you love so much about chocolate and the way 'she' makes you feel is exactly what I am talking about and that feeling is only scratching the surface. I invite you to a Cacao Ceremony to experience the true essence of this sacred bean known as Chocolate. 

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I am honored to share this sacred earth medicine with all who wish take a journey into their heart, to learn, to love, to laugh and to create whatever they want more, or less of in their life. see you soon.

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Next Ceremony:

 

Sunday April 6th at 3-6pm Montclair NJ  ~  Friday May 11th 7-9pm Teaneck NJ

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