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This ancient superfood is abundant in essential minerals, vitamins and antioxidants, plus naturally occurring, consciousness-altering compounds that bring:
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Cacao has been used as a food and ceremonial aid for millennia.
Its earliest recorded use comes from The Olmec, a Mesoamerican civilisation based around the Gulf of Mexico around 2000 BCE.
A cacao creation myth tells how the great god Quetzalcoatl, a magnificent plumed serpent, stole the cacao tree from the Mountain of Sustenance and delivered it on the beam of the morning star as a gift to the people of Mexico. The cacao bean is also associated with Xochiquetzal, an Aztec fertility maiden goddess of love, beauty, crafts, childbirth and female sexual power.
What makes this cacao so special? These highly prized beans are harvested, fermented and dried without roasting to preserve the cacao’s full nutritional and medicinal properties. This fermentation process is unique to ceremonial cacao and activates certain compounds within the bean for maximum potency and pleasure!
The beans contain anandamide (the ‘bliss’ chemical), histamine, arginine (nature’s Viagra), phenylethylamine (PEA – the ‘love’ chemical), theobromine and dopamine.
Cacao is a beautiful partner for all manner of inner, outer and creative work, relaxing smooth muscle, stimulating the heart, enhancing mood and oxygenated blood flow to the brain and major organs without charging up the nervous system like caffeine.
Its native MAO inhibitors temporarily suspend the breakdown of potent neurotransmitters activated naturally in the brain before being released into the rest of the body. When we consume this precious food, we are quite literally getting high on our own supply!
Contraindications
Ceremonial grade cacao is incompatible with many antidepressants and some heart conditions - please check your medication before consuming! Remember to drink plenty of water after consuming ceremonial grade cacao.
A cacao creation myth tells how the great god Quetzalcoatl, a magnificent plumed serpent, stole the cacao tree from the Mountain of Sustenance and delivered it on the beam of the morning star as a gift to the people of Mexico. The cacao bean is also associated with Xochiquetzal, an Aztec fertility maiden goddess of love, beauty, crafts, childbirth and female sexual power.
What makes this cacao so special? These highly prized beans are harvested, fermented and dried without roasting to preserve the cacao’s full nutritional and medicinal properties. This fermentation process is unique to ceremonial cacao and activates certain compounds within the bean for maximum potency and pleasure!
The beans contain anandamide (the ‘bliss’ chemical), histamine, arginine (nature’s Viagra), phenylethylamine (PEA – the ‘love’ chemical), theobromine and dopamine.
Cacao is a beautiful partner for all manner of inner, outer and creative work, relaxing smooth muscle, stimulating the heart, enhancing mood and oxygenated blood flow to the brain and major organs without charging up the nervous system like caffeine.
Its native MAO inhibitors temporarily suspend the breakdown of potent neurotransmitters activated naturally in the brain before being released into the rest of the body. When we consume this precious food, we are quite literally getting high on our own supply!
Contraindications
Ceremonial grade cacao is incompatible with many antidepressants and some heart conditions - please check your medication before consuming! Remember to drink plenty of water after consuming ceremonial grade cacao.
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Recipe For A Sensuous Long Drink For 22-3 tablespoons cacao
1 tablespoon almond butter 1 tablespoon coconut oil 1 teaspoon hemp hearts 1 teaspoon lucuma 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1/4 of a vanilla pod 6 dates (stones removed) Add spring water up to 750ml and blend until silky smooth! |
Ceremonial Notes
42g is the maximum recommended dose. After preparing hundreds of ceremonial elixirs using this particularly potent variety of cacao, I've been guided to offer 30g servings for a full, immersive experience. Cacao is naturally self- limiting as higher doses soon produce nausea (any bitter in great enough quantities is emetic). A 20g dose is often enough to facilitate profound inner work. Many experience deep emotional release or immediate energetic meeting with the cacao deva from very small servings. You know you have a cacao partnership when she smiles with you in this way!
To prepare cacao for a group, fill a large jug or pan with water using the serving cups that will be used for the ceremony. Mark the jug so you can see how much elixir is needed and empty the water. Add 30g cacao x number of cups required, then your sweetener and flavourings of choice. Add water to the previously marked fill level, transfer to a pan and warm slowly on a low heat until the cacao melts. A wooden spoon pressed into larger clumps of cacao in the pan helps here. Prepared in this way, the elixir is very thick, and will usually need to be served with a spoon.
A blender can also be used to quickly prepare larger brews in batches, before warming the whole drink through in a deep pan.
To prepare cacao for a group, fill a large jug or pan with water using the serving cups that will be used for the ceremony. Mark the jug so you can see how much elixir is needed and empty the water. Add 30g cacao x number of cups required, then your sweetener and flavourings of choice. Add water to the previously marked fill level, transfer to a pan and warm slowly on a low heat until the cacao melts. A wooden spoon pressed into larger clumps of cacao in the pan helps here. Prepared in this way, the elixir is very thick, and will usually need to be served with a spoon.
A blender can also be used to quickly prepare larger brews in batches, before warming the whole drink through in a deep pan.
Indigenous myth recounts how whenever the balance between humans and nature becomes threatened, cacao leaves the rainforest to open people's hearts and return the planet to harmony.