The Nature and Origin of Cacao Ceremonies
Cacao ceremonies are moments in time where we honor the sacredness of life, and gather with this beautiful plant ally, to accompany each one’s journey home.
It is an opportunity to harmonize between earth, heart, and sky. Each cacao ceremony is unique, depending on the facilitator, the set and setting, the medicine itself, and the content of the offering.
Preparation of a cacao ceremony in Northern Peru.
Modern day cacao ceremonies are literally just surfacing after a long dormant period that leaves us with many questions. It is now that some of the oldest history of cacao is being discovered, and every new piece is captivating. This includes how you, and those serving cacao, are currently rewriting the history of cacao as the rooted ancestors of tomorrow.
When you participate in a cacao ceremony, you can experience significant shifts within, as the spirit of the cacao plant — and a mature cacao shaman, guide, or safe space holder — tunes in to your energy field, and guides you through a journey of self inquiry.
It is important to choose someone and a context where you are seen and heard. A context where cacao is honored, and the best circumstances are created for you to connect with yourself, with moments of silence, as the medicine of cacao works its magic in your body.
The ritual aspect of a cacao ceremony involves reverence to the plant, your lineage, and the collective group support. With this intention, cacao weaves a new tapestry to a deeper knowing that there is something in you, waiting to be celebrated, and lived to the fullest. Cacao allows the wisdom of nature to move through you with more clarity, and grace.
What to Expect From a Cacao Ceremony, and How to Know What is Right for You
There are a number of diverse offerings being called cacao ceremonies, that include ecstatic dance, yoga and somatic practices, fire offerings, guided meditation, sharing circles, sound healing, and more.
In any case, a cacao ceremony needs to aim toward connection, and not distraction, in order to support the healing and growth of each participant.
Preparing ceremonial cacao in nature.
A cup of ceremonial cacao enjoyed in nature.
You may first be drawn to the marketing material such as a poster advertising the event. The title, host, and proposed activities may draw you in. It comes down to knowing:
If you are more at ease with large group events, or small ones
If the event communicates well what will take place, or if it feels abstract
And if the ceremony is hosted by a mature facilitator with whom you resonate with
With this range of diversity, let’s list what are probably the most common principles included in a cacao ceremony:
A brief introduction of the facilitator and the medicine of cacao
Intention setting and getting to know the why of each participant
Opening prayer or ritual preparation
Service of the medicine of cacao
Guided offering to support the integration of the medicine in your body
A second service of cacao (optional)
Second guided offering to complement the first
Sharing circle
Closing of the ceremony
How Will a Cacao Ceremony Benefit You
In our modern world, many people struggle with anxiety, depression, loneliness, grief, lack of clarity, health issues, and are looking for sustainable solutions. Ceremonial cacao comes with the advantage of being beneficial for all levels of human existence: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual.
Altar made out of native cacao pods and different plants, for a cacao ceremony hosted at Montegrande, in Northern Peru.
Cacao is a safe plant medicine that can help circulate blood from the heart, to the rest of the body, opening up physical, emotional, and energetic networks to support healing and transformation. Gathering with cacao as the center piece, is what already sets the tone for the growth of what human beings are meant to experience: love, reciprocity, and self actualization through unity consciousness.
Similar to the spectrum and polarities of life, and the diverse expressions in nature, cacao can support you through healing traumatic experiences, as well as help you connect with creative life force energy that propels you towards a nourishing renewal. This can show up as:
Rebuilding self esteem and self worth
Connection to inspiration, creativity, and purpose
Self love and self care
Clarity, insights, and wisdom
Disolving limiting beliefs
Understanding the origin of trauma and childhood emotional wounds
Clearing emotional blockages and energetic imprints
Stepping into your power, mission, and life legacy
The History of Cacao Ceremonies
The history of cacao is now being rewritten, as new findings emerge from ongoing excavations in Northern Peru and the South of Ecuador.
Diana and Alku, founders of Aynua Amazonas, visiting the Montegrande Spiral Temple, in Northern Peru. There, ceramics with traces of Theobroma cacao were found and dated back at more than 5000 years, 3000 years older than the most ancient findings of Central America.
There is very little known information as to how exactly our ancestors were using cacao in a ceremonial context. We know that at one time, cacao was used as currency, and as part of rituals and ceremonies, but we don’t know what role, exactly, cacao was playing.
Golden necklace with representation of cacao pods, found in Northern Peru.
In Central America, there are traces of Mayan and Aztec hieroglyphics, where gods and elites are drinking cacao. In Peru, there are ceramics of cacao vessels with traces of Theobroma, and even other psychedelic substances. Jewelry made out of pure gold was also found, in Northern Peru, revealing that it was a highly respected tree and beverage.
In Northern Peru, and Southern Ecuador, recent studies revealed, through carbon dating tests on ceramics found at the archaeological sites of Palanda and Montegrande, that Theobroma cacao was used for ritual purposes, dating over 5000 years ago, which pre-dates Mesoamerica by over 3000 years. These archaeological sites are currently going through excavations, and as of 2024, opening up even more hidden questions, that could very well give us more answers in the near future.
The most recent findings indicate that the use of cacao in beverage form was for funerary, weddings, and birth offerings. The exact blueprint of these occasions is still unknown, and how they were named specifically isn’t necessarily similar to what is happening today. Would it be in any way productive, to compare the reality of the past, to the reality of now? The people of the past had sacrificial rituals which is far from what we would want to re-create today. We can have a profound influence when we address the physical, emotional, and spiritual strengths and weaknesses we face as individuals and a collective in these times. To focus on this generation, and the next one, will be more beneficial than to compare to the past. This is food of the gods… for thought.
Many of us receive the call to connect deeper with cacao, and many, every week, participate in their first cacao ceremony. Based on our personal connection with cacao, for more than a decade, it is clear that this sacred fruit has an inspiring mission in these times of great change: to unite humanity. You, and those offering cacao, play an important role as pioneers of how cacao is being used for spiritual growth and healing today.
Blessings from Northern Peru,
Diana & Alku
Archaeologist Quirino Rivera with Diana and Alku, founders of Aynua Amazonas, at the Montegrande Spiral Cacao Temple, in Northern Peru.
