Food24
  • Recipes
    • New recipes
    • Recipe round-ups
    • Easy weekday meals
    • Cooking with lamb
    • Delicious pork recipes
    • Braai recipes
    • Chicken recipes
    • Vegetarian recipes
    • Baking
    • Low carb recipes
    • Gluten-free recipes
    • Dairy-free recipes
    • Pasta recipes
    • South African recipes
  • News
    • Food news
  • Videos
  • Drinks
    • Non-alcoholic drinks
    • Wine
    • Beer
    • Cocktails
    • Coffee
  • Newsletters
  • More
    • Cooking guides and tips
    • Baking tips and tricks
    • Eat for good
    • Win
No Result
View All Result
Food24
  • Recipes
    • New recipes
    • Recipe round-ups
    • Easy weekday meals
    • Cooking with lamb
    • Delicious pork recipes
    • Braai recipes
    • Chicken recipes
    • Vegetarian recipes
    • Baking
    • Low carb recipes
    • Gluten-free recipes
    • Dairy-free recipes
    • Pasta recipes
    • South African recipes
  • News
    • Food news
  • Videos
  • Drinks
    • Non-alcoholic drinks
    • Wine
    • Beer
    • Cocktails
    • Coffee
  • Newsletters
  • More
    • Cooking guides and tips
    • Baking tips and tricks
    • Eat for good
    • Win
No Result
View All Result
Food24
No Result
View All Result

What is a cacao ceremony?

Cacao ceremonies are gaining popularity locally – here's why.

Kgomotso Moncho-Maripane by Kgomotso Moncho-Maripane
January 28, 2022
in Features
0
What is a cacao ceremony?
0
SHARES
6.8k
VIEWS
FacebookTwitterPinterestWhatsapp

We know cacao to be the essential ingredient that all chocolate is made from. However, it is also the centre of ancient Mayan healing ceremonies that have harnessed its medicinal, spiritual and ritualistic capabilities for centuries.

With the active ingredient theobromine translating into “food of the gods”, cacao got its sacred status from the Mayans who also viewed it as a medicinal plant used in their communal rituals. Because of this history, cacao ceremonies are popular in conscious communities of central and southern America and they’re now starting to gain popularity locally.

Ceremonial grade cacao as a superfood

Raw, unprocessed cacao is used, often as a drink, in cacao ceremonies. Its medicinal properties now enjoy a superfood status. Cacao is rich in antioxidants, iron, magnesium and calcium.

“Antioxidants are essential for slowing down the aging process and help fight diseases and illness. Cacao has the highest amount of antioxidants in any food (50 times more than blueberries),” says Johannesburg cacao kuchina and traditional healer Matthew Gabriel.

In these ceremonies, cacao is often referred to as a heart opener and this has both physiological and spiritual connotations.

Matthew explains: “Cacao is heart medicine because it literally opens up the heart by allowing the muscles to relax and allow more blood flow. More blood to the heart means more to be pumped around the body.”

We love chocolate for the feel-good endorphins that it gives us. In raw cacao, this mood-elevating stimulation is amplified, with more brain chemicals.

“There’s also anandamide (the bliss chemical), phenethylamine (the love chemical) and dopamine (the pleasure chemical), among others. All these chemicals make you feel so very good. The more we feel good, the more we are inspired to be and do good,” Matthew says.

Cacao ceremonies form part of shamanic healing practices, which are often linked to hallucigenic experiences. However, Nisreen Ismail, who facilitates cacao ceremonies in Cape Town, notes that cacao is very gentle.

“Cacao works in your neuro pathways, so you will feel it, but it is super gentle. You will not hallucinate,” she says.

What is a cacao ceremony?What to expect from a cacao ceremony

“My ceremonies are usually three hours long,” Nisreen says. “I want to make the best of it, especially when working with a group. I usually advise that you don’t have a heavy meal at least two hours prior to the ceremony. This is to give the cacao the space to do what it does when it gets digested in your body. I also advise that you be well hydrated. This is because cacao is extremely rich and dense in nutrients. It can make you feel nauseas, but this depends on quantity, where you are emotionally and spiritually, and how the cacao serves you in the ceremony.”

Ceremonial grade or raw cacao is very bitter. Once melted down and infused with water, some people like to add nutmeg, cinnamon, maple syrup or natural sweeteners to help with the bitterness.

“While I prepare the cacao I usually sing medicine songs to prepare the cacao with intention and open up the space. Before people drink their cacao, I usually ask them to say their intention to themselves,” says Nisreen. “Cacao is used spiritually as a heart opener and helps you connect to what your heart really wants. A lot of us think and act according to our minds. We struggle in the moment due to past traumas, previous patterns of behavior or acting from the ego. If you’re seeking clarity and you’re looking to do some inner work and processing, cacao really helps with that deep connection. You may feel a small or big shift and you may access what your heart has been trying to communicate to you. Cacao is also known as the food that shifts and unblocks, and helps release stagnant energy and negative emotion, helping us rediscover love in its different forms.”

Attendees are usually positioned in a circle and drink the cacao from small cups. And because the ceremony is deemed sacred, crystals, cleansing herbs and sentimental personal items are often included. Some people like to have cacao ceremonies at different times to mark different things like the new year, new moon or being a new mom. The ceremonies are often intertwined with meditation, dance or sound journeys to help facilitate the ritual.

Have you tried a cacao ceremony? If so, let us know about your experiences in the comments below!

Tags: DrinksFood NewsFood Trends


Related Posts

minced meat
Cooking Guides and Tips

How to bulk up a packet of mince to make it go further

May 26, 2022
Chef Marcus Modimokwane shares pro tips and tricks for cooking amadumbe
Cooking Guides and Tips

Chef Marcus Modimokwane shares pro tips and tricks for cooking amadumbe

May 25, 2022
We speak to food artist Parusha Naidoo about her plant-based Afro-Asian cookbook
Conscious cooking

We speak to food artist Parusha Naidoo about her plant-based Afro-Asian cookbook

May 24, 2022
Next Post
How to cook lamb to retain its natural flavour

How to cook lamb to retain its natural flavour

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Food24 Team Loves

rusks

We tasted store-bought buttermilk rusks and found the best one – just in time for winter

May 18, 2022
mielie rice

Whatever happened to mielie rice?

March 18, 2022
Khayelitsha’s Finest Wines goes global

Khayelitsha’s Finest Wines goes global

March 17, 2022
banana-peel-uses

3 fruit peels you’ll love for their waste-reducing appeal

March 10, 2022
sushi

Eat Out has announced its panel of judges for the first time ever

March 7, 2022

Recent favourites

  • rusks

    We tasted store-bought buttermilk rusks and found the best one – just in time for winter

    1 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • We tried 6 different cooking methods for lamb chops and found the best

    5 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • 5 teas that are great for digestion

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • You won’t believe what the trick is to get cake layers to come out perfectly flat

    2 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • We speak to food artist Parusha Naidoo about her plant-based Afro-Asian cookbook

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get weekly access to our best recipes, tips and tricks

Sign Up
Footer

Quick links

  • Home
  • News
  • Videos
  • Win

Collections

  • New Recipes
  • Festive
  • Baking
  • Dessert Recipes
  • Braai Recipes
  • Lunchbox
  • South African Recipes
  • Pasta Recipes

Other links

  • Advertise with Food24
  • Editorial Policy
  • How to Pitch
  • Contact us

Not in the mood to cook?

Visit eatout.co.za to find the perfect restaurant near you.

eatout.co.za

© 2020 Food24.com. All rights reserved.

  • About us
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • New Media
IAB
No Result
View All Result
  • Recipes
    • New recipes
    • Recipe round-ups
    • Easy weekday meals
    • Cooking with lamb
    • Delicious pork recipes
    • Braai recipes
    • Chicken recipes
    • Vegetarian recipes
    • Baking
    • Low carb recipes
    • Gluten-free recipes
    • Dairy-free recipes
    • Pasta recipes
    • South African recipes
  • News
    • Food news
  • Videos
  • Drinks
    • Non-alcoholic drinks
    • Wine
    • Beer
    • Cocktails
    • Coffee
  • Newsletters
  • More
    • Cooking guides and tips
    • Baking tips and tricks
    • Eat for good
    • Win

© 2019 Food24.com. All rights reserved.

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Fill the forms below to register

Subscribe to Newsletter

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
Close
Food24
Recipe Disclaimer

All recipe content is the responsibility of the party from whom such content originated. You agree that you use the content on Food24 at your own risk. Please read our editorial policy.
Close
Food24
Get the latest recipes delivered to your inbox weekly
Promotional Newsletter

Be the first to receive information about competitions and special offers from Food24 and it's partners.

You have successfully been subscribed!
Something went wrong. Please try again.
Make sure you have completed all required fields.
I don't want to see this again