Ciara Lemony, Healer, Ceremonialist, Artist, & Musician @ciaralemony, @jewels.light, @water.of.the.earth
Cacao Ceremony
If Cacao feels at all interesting to you, it is quite likely that the spirit of this beautiful plant medicine is already speaking to you through the pages of this book.
Create a personal ceremony...just you and Cacao to hear what she might have to say.
Start by pouring 2 cups of water into a pot. Turn on the stove and become very present of your breathing while the water begins to boil.
As the water boils, prepare yourself a space to chop your block of Cacao. Using unroasted Cacao is a very special option for ceremony. It is minimally processed and contains so much of the plant’s true essence.
Before chopping, hold the block of Cacao in your hands for a few moments. Bring it to your nose to slowly inhale the rich aroma. Then, chop about 2 tablespoons worth of Cacao. When the water has reached a boil, keep the pot on the stove but turn off the heat.
Now allow any song that expresses gratitude to spill from your lips as you begin to add the chopped pieces of Cacao to the hot pot of water. It can be any song of thanks, even one that you make up in the moment. Singing with a pure intention is what matters.
Once the Cacao is fully mixed in with the water, pour yourself a cup and find a quiet place to sit alone, if possible out in Nature.
The purpose of a Cacao ceremony is essentially to connect with the “spirit” or the energy of the Cacao plant. There are infinite ways to do this. Sipping your cup very slowly, breathing deeply, and noticing how you feel as you drink is a good place to start.
Perhaps you’d like to make your space feel ceremonial by lighting a candle, saying a prayer, or burning incense.
At some point in your ceremony ask yourself what is your intention for creating a ceremony today? It may not be obvious.
Take a moment to think and feel...
Maybe your intention comes from pure curiosity? Perhaps it is for healing, or to ask for guidance, to remember your true essence, to manifest something in your life, to feel deeper love, to be more spacious, to let go, to be joyful, to check in, to get closer to Nature, to make a nurturing space, to create magic, to commune with the Divine.
Connect with your own reasons for having a ceremony by closing your eyes and relaxing. Listen to your own inner guidance for what you should do in your ceremony and what it should look like.
Maybe you’d like to experiment with journaling, dancing, singing, stretching, playing an instrument, coming up with ideas, talking yourself through an issue, observing Nature, sitting in silence, meditating, creating art.
Open yourself to the spontaneous inspiration, heightened awareness, and expansive freedom that can happen when you create a sacred space of ceremony with Cacao.
Allow yourself to enjoy in whatever way you like.
After about 90 minutes, close your ceremony space. Extend gratitude once again to the Cacao plant, to the Earth for providing the plant, the the farmers who look after and harvest the fruits, to the many people who make ceremonial cacao available to the world and to yourself for connecting to this plant medicine in a respectful way.
Even when your ceremony has finished Cacao continues to speak to your energy and to your spirit. After this ceremony, a door between you and the plant world is opened and a relationship is formed.
As with all of our relationships, our relationship with Cacao thrives with nourishment, love, attention, and respect. If you want to strengthen your relationship with Cacao, listen to the subtle and unique ways that she shows up in your life, continue to drink it ceremonially if you feel called (each time tastes and feels different ;), ask the plant your questions, be creative in how you use her gifts, and practice giving and receiving her medicine in a reciprocal way.
May you use Cacao, the food of the Gods, the elixir of Love as a mirror to remind you of all that you are.
Water
Gives us the key
Gives us new life
Shows us to be
Water
Leading the way
Stronger she grows
Each time we pray
Water
that falls from the sky
you make rivers for me
you create streams for me
Water
shows wisdom
from the bottom of the Earth
of the depths of your Heart
Water
Your language is infinite
Your language is infinite
From waves and whirls
In the tide of the ocean
Water
Blesses all of Life
From the bottom of the Earth
of the depths of your Heart
The water of the Earth will heal you
the water of the Earth will heal you.
Ciara Lemony, Healer, Ceremonialist, Artist, & Musician @ciaralemony, @jewels.light, @water.of.the.earth
special contributions were featured in Regenerate your Reality, Book
Chapter 6: Plant Medicines - Getting to know herbalism, plant allies, cacao, psychedelics, and cultural traditions of healing.
