23 Feb Cacao

What is Cacao?

The Cacao tree is a native evergreen found deep in the tropical regions of the Americas. The valuable bean comes from the tree’s fruit and is used to make cacao solids, cacao butter, cacao nibs and chocolate.

Cacao is a sacred, deeply luscious ancient plant medicine and a succulent blessing for the heart chakra, having a real emotional and heart opening, heart healing energy. She has other incredible healing properties and is considered as a superfood so she is deeply nutritious containing wonderful healthy fats, excellent levels of magnesium, copper, zinc, iron, calcium, manganese, sulphur and phosphorous, which our diet is generally deficient in. Our bodies need all of these wonderful minerals for our emotional and physical well-being and balance and she raises our emotional frequency containing anandamide, often referred to as the “bliss chemical” because of its potent activation of blissful feelings, euphoria, deep relaxation and the sense of a liberated mind.   These active components trigger neurotransmitters within the body, which can create a feeling of euphoria.  These components activate the release of serotonin and dopamine in your body (Dopamine is released when you fall in love)!  Serotonin is also known as the ‘happiness hormone’ because it makes you feel relaxed and balanced, which is the primary neurotransmitter and helpful if you suffer from anxiety, stress and symptoms of PMS and can help to re-balance the endocrine and central nervous systems, allowing for a sense of harmony, peace and well-being.

When to use Cacao

Pure ceremonial cacao is ideal to use when working with ritual, ceremony and intention setting in self-love, self-care, remembrance and divine connections awakening the god or goddess within as she amplifies intuition. Meditate, sit in reflection and contemplation, inviting cacao in to your most precious, wondrous bodies, when you want to magnetise a new life full of endless possibilities. Journal on anything that comes to you as these become profound experiences, awakening intrigue, encouraging you to step outside your comfort zone and take risks in love and experiment with new opportunities that come your way. Her power will overshadow any feelings of being undeserving or low self-worth as her waves of richness wash over you.

PRACITCE:

Play your favourite tracks, inhale and drink your cacao and let her take you where she will, be it stillness, yoga or dancing. Keep it simple. Keep it real. Journey with her.

AFFIRMATION: I DESERVE TO BE ADORED, LOVED AND PROSPEROUS

The benefits of Cacao:

• Good for the cardiovascular system
• Dilates blood vessels and reduces clotting
• Balances and acts as an anti-depressant
• Helps to protect from metabolic and environmental toxins
• Assists in regulating the heart rate and blood pressure
• Reduces the risk of strokes and heart attacks
• Builds strong bones
• Balances the brain chemistry
• Helps to regulate and reduce symptoms of PMS
• Helps to increase focus and alertness
• Detoxifies the liver
• Helps with healthy pancreas function
• Facilitates anti-aging and rejuvenation
• Reduces appetite helping with weight loss

The history of Cacao

The beans have one of the richest histories in the plant world and 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.  They would sit together in circle drinking Cacao to commune with their gods and it is no wonder that her Latin name translates as “food of the gods”.

In ritual use, cacao became mostly reserved for the male elite with the understanding that it was intoxicating and sexually stimulating and it was generally forbidden for women and children.

Cacao was also given sacred status and it wasn’t just used as a food source, but also a currency and it was used to trade with, was served in religious ceremonies, given to warriors when they returned home 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!

How to prepare Cacao

Daily serving – 10g – 15g

Ceremonial serving – 30g – 35g

Shave off the required amount from the solid block and whisk into filtered warm water or plant milk such as Coconut, Oat or Almond.  Coconut oil can be added for extra smoothness and creaminess and cacao butter for essential fats.  Infuse with intention and prayers as you chant your mantra.  You can add rose water, orange water or a drop of your favourite essential oil such as sweet orange or peppermint and sweeten with a natural sweetener such as Agave syrup, Jaggery, maple syrup or add a date. Add your favourite supplemental powders such as maca, hemp, wheatgrass or baobab. Why not experiment with your own recipes?

If you prefer to take cacao in it’s raw state, just add filtered water.

Do not boil your cacao as this will destroy its nutritional content. Heat to no more than 40 degrees centigrade.

Contra-indications

There are a few contra-indications to be aware of including serious heart conditions, very low blood pressure as cacao is a vasodilator and this could cause dizziness, chemotherapy or serious illness and anti-depressants.  If taking an SSRI anti-depressant, please consult with your doctor.

Where to source Cacao

Peruvian Ceremonical Grade Cacao – £30 per 450g bag

This ancient strain criollo cacao is sourced from organic farmer’s co-operatives in the Peruvian Andes. From “seed to ceremony” this cacao supports indigenous entrepreneurship, working with co-operatives and family-run businesses with the intention of working with small farmers to preserve traditional methods of cultivating processing and harvesting cacao.

The co-op’s founding principles are:

1) Prioritising quality over quantity

2) Supporting Andean mega-biodiversity, not homogenisation

3) Promoting organic methods of production

4) Fair income distribution amongst the people participating as suppliers, transformers and traders

5) Social responsibility, following the principles of Fair Trade

The co-op works alongside the small farmers, generating employment for the local community and offering training and financial support to encourage indigenous entrepreneurship, raising the living standards of small farmers and sustainably increasing crop yields.

Equadorean Ceremonial Grade Cacao – £30 per 450g bag

Revered for over 5,000 years, this heirloom cacao is a truly ancient variety of our sacred plant medicine, harvested with love by indigenous Quechua families in the Amazonian region of Tena.

Go ahead and take a breath! This variety is known as ‘Arriba Nacional del Fino Aroma’ and its ‘fine aroma’ immediately opens the senses! Harvested from 50 year old trees, this medicine bears the gift of naturally occurring variance in texture, or ‘grumos,’ as the grains, ripples and nibbles that swirl through the block are lovingly referred to in the forest.  This cacao harvest leaves the forest for the first time.

You can purchase yours by emailing me at amanda@puravidaholistics.co.uk or send me a message by clicking here and scrolling down to the bottom of my home page Home – Pura Vida Holistic Therapy (puravidaholistics.co.uk).