A little bit about the beautiful plant medicine Cacao and how you can take it into your daily Spiritual practice.
The Maya believed Cacao held the power to unlock hidden yearning and reveal destiny’s. Chocolat Where and when did cacao ceremonies originate? It’s thought cacao was first used as a health elixir and ceremonial medicine as far back as 1900 bc by the ancestors of central america, the olmec people, before becoming a ritualistic medicine used by the Aztec and Mayan cultures. signifying both life and fertility. Cacao is associated with universal love and considered to be a divine spiritual elixir, sacred medicine healer and ritual aid. In ritual use, Cacao became mostly reserved for the male elite with the understanding that it was intoxicating and sexually stimulating, it was generally forbidden to women and children. First grown in South America and used by the Aztecs and Mayans thousands of years ago, they would sit together in circle drinking Cacao to commune with their gods. Back then, Cacao was also given sacred status and was used as a trade currency, given to warriors when they returned home, was served in religious ceremonies and appeared on the tables of the royal courts of the day. It was the Spanish who took it out of those native cultures as they invaded and colonised. They realized the value of Cacao and brought it back to Europe, sweetening it with sugar and spices. They kept it a secret for the next 100 years! Word did eventually spread though and slowly it was made into solid chocolate. Today much of it’s ceremonial understanding has been lost, as millions of us consume vast qualities of Cacao, heavily mixed with vegetable fats, processed sugar, milk and just about everything else you can mention. In actual fact, Cacao is a super food and is now being reintroduced in its purest form, its sacredness being realized once more as the western world is slowly becoming more conscious in how they think, live and want to feel. 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. 
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Nicky
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Why drink ceremonial Cacao?
Using intention, quiet time and meditation to work on yourself to find and maintain peace in a chaotic world is how and why you might drink Cacao and hold space for yourself. Cacao has incredible healing properties and is very nutritious, don’t get it confused with cocoa powder of hot chocolate – ceremonial Cacao is raw chocolate without all the vegetables oils and sugar we see put into processed chocolate. It is the purest form of Cacao and you’ll need to source it ethically. You won’t find ceremonial cacao in powder form as ceremonial cacao has all the original healthy wonderful fats still in it and so it will come as a solid – usually a block and you will shave off what you need with a sharp knife to prepare it. Cacao has great natural health benefits, with a tangible emotional grounding and heart opening energy to it. Benefits are many
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