How to make a banging cup of ceremonial cacao
There are so many ways to make cacao... the ancient Mayans - for who cacao was a sacred plant integral to their rituals and even trade - used to pour the cacao back and forth between cups from a height to make the final drink super frothy.
But here’s how I make mine on a daily basis:
Finely chop up 25g of cacao and add to a saucepan with a small amount of boiling water in it.
With a fork or whisk, whisk the cacao until it has all melted and is silky smooth.
Next, add a mug’s worth (250ml) of boiled water to the cacao. Bring to the boil and add any form of sweetener or milk.
Let some of the water boil away if you want the cacao thicker - or add less water next time.
To make your cacao extra potent, hover your hands over the saucepan and infuse the cacao with the energy of your intention.
Other stuff you can add to your cacao to make it more magical- cayenne pepper, vanilla, rose water, date syrup, fresh ginger... get creative!
If you want your cacao extra smooth and creamy, add to a liquidiser and blitz for a few seconds.
Serve in a favourite mug and savour with mindfulness and gratitude.
Cacao after care (more relevant if you’ve made a ceremonial dose of 40g):
Drink lots of water throughout the ceremony and after. I like herbal tea too, especially chamomile for an easy “come down”.
I tend to also crave salty foods and protein after cacao, so I recommend this too.
Listen to your body and mind- you might need rest or to release energy through dance or a walk.
Important information before consuming cacao:
If you’re on antidepressants, are pregnant or breastfeeding or have a heart condition, we recommend consuming a lower dose of cacao or checking with a medical professional before consuming.
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Jungle Cacao Peru
Peruvian Cacao from the Amazon
The Body Love Babe
Body Love Coaching
Time to get real. About cacao, connection and cross cultural relationships.
I can honestly say that cacao has been an integral fuel in helping me be more present and connected in my relationship with Rómulo - not only do we have colossal cultural differences, but a 14 year age gap (I’m older, would you believe it). And also lots of work with my coach Hannah, too, is helping me live a more connected and loving life, too.
The presence, love and connection cacao helps me feel is super useful in transcending ego and viewing life through the lens of the present rather than the past. I think it has helped us connect despite these colossal differences in cultural and views on life.
In Peru, I’ve been living in a culture that is super triggering for me at times... heightened against a backdrop of global fear and panic. Cacao has given me support and strength to process the deep triggers associated with being in a machismo and rural culture that I OPINE to be regressive, as I am a person who feels uncomfortable with unconscious and repressed sexuality, normalised domestic violence, non-consensual infidelity and deeply entrenched gender roles that people blindly accept. Because I am a person that believes that the paradigm has to change if our species is to survive. Connection over conditioning and status quo.
All this has been challenging and uncomfortable, but also rewarding for its growth. This is the remit of anyone consciously navigating relationships, life and their inner world, I believe.
Relationships and life are not roses and sunshine all the time. They’re real as fuck.
They’re like the jungle: wild, raw, heaving, unpredictable, fierce, beautiful, peaceful, mysterious, boring, healing...
Life is raw and messy, but it is also studded with jewels. And I believe there is hope for the us as a species, I believe we are headed to more connection. And these plants are here to hold our hands along the way.
Picture of us when we were living on Sumaqao cacao farm for a magical six weeks June-August this year.
🧡🍫🦜💓🌪☄️😈🌟🤩😍
How cacao got me through 2020
I believe cacao is an undervalued healing plant. Sure, cacao ceremonies happen left right and centre, but I feel that it isn’t celebrated enough as a powerful healing plant.
My heart and mind this year have been blown by its power and potential, and I feel a deep connection with and knowledge of its shamanic properties, as well as its physical, emotional and mental super powers.
Dive in and watch the video to know how cacao got me through 2020. And I am dying to hear about your experiences with cacao and also please fire ALL your questions at me about ANYTHING: Cacao, farming, jungle life, 2020, massage, astrology... 😂
Supporting our local community of cacao farmers with massage
Did you know that besides producing cacao, I am actually a qualified massage therapist? Since living in Lucerna, the small farming community where we have our cacao farm, I’ve started giving massages to the people here. Most had never had massages before.
Farming cacao in the Amazon is hard as fuck work. The heat, insects, humidity, jungle vegetation, the physical aspect of the work and also the time and dedication and patience involved. No work in the city ticks all these boxes.
This is the last place on earth I thought I would experience. Especially farming a plant I have previously not enjoyed (see previous post (insert link to previous post) for more on that).
But here I am now farming cacao and enjoying the colossal task of building a cacao farm up from destitution. Obviously I don’t work as hard as most people here, but I’m doing what I can. Rómulo works a lot harder than I do though 😉
I might not work the hours in the farm that all in Lucerna do, but I am giving back by massaging their hard working and often pain filled bodies. The Massage a Cacao Farmer campaign was created to give ongoing support to the people in Lucerna so that they can access care for their well being (ain’t no massage clinics anywhere near here!).
All in Lucerna would love to receive more massages: for every £30 donated, a give one person a one hour healing massage.
To support the campaign, click here:
From hating cacao to working with the medicine in all kinds of ways: my history with cacao
Can you believe that this time a year ago I actively hated cacao and all chocolate and avoided it at all costs? It gave me a hangover and due to my highly sensitive nervous system, its stimulatory effects were at times a bit too intense for me.
Now things are totally different. While I enjoy the uplifting effects of the theobromine, I also tap deeply into the vagus nerve stimulating properties of the plant, that opens blood vessels - ie chilling you the fuck out.
My time in Peru this year has connected me deeply with the cacao medicine: not only through consumption but also through its cultivation.
I genuinely feel that my connection with cacao is utterly unique and operates at a spiritual and shamanic level. And that my previous aversion to it was simply me not being ready for what cacao was going to crack open in me.
My story with cacao is many layered and I couldn’t do it justice in a post. Luckily I’ve got this here blog to talk all about that more in future posts.
Stay tuned.
But I want to hear about your relationship with cacao. Is it limited to a bag of Maltesers now and again? Or maybe you’re even more of a cacao head than I am.
Talk to me