Sacred Cacao Ceremonies
The Ancient Practice
"Sharing the wisdom of our Ancestors The Mayas"
On our ceremonial journey we need to look to the Mayans first. The word “cacao” comes from the Mayan words “Ka’kau” meaning “heart blood,” and “Chokola’j” meaning “to drink together.” This blood connection comes from the belief that the Mayan gods bled onto the cacao pods, and cacao was considered one of the ingredients used to create humanity. It was also believed that the gods gifted cacao to the people directly. The scientific genus name for cacao is theobroma, which translates to “Food of the Gods,” and the Maya believed that cacao was a key ingredient in restoring balance and connection to the divine.
“A Mayan legend tells us that whenever there is an imbalance between humans and nature, cacao comes from the rainforest to open people’s hearts and return the planet to a state of harmony. Some shamans, therefore, consider cacao the 'food for the shift.' It represents the new order of love and peace, which is being cultivated right now.”
Keith's Cacao
Keith's Cacao
The Original & World’s Finest 100% Pure Ceremonial Grade Cacao
The Original & World’s Finest 100% Pure Ceremonial Grade Cacao
16oz (454g) bar
Crafted to enhance the mind, body, and soul, our Ceremonial Cacao paste is the perfect partner in any personal pursuit. Trusted by Cacao practitioners and ideal for the workplace, Keith’s Cacao can enhance insight, presence, and focus.
Because this is a food product, returns are not accepted. Careem Box Delivery Available for Dubai
To the Sacred fire we offer the cacao. The spirit of cacao is invoked The spirit of air of fire of earth and the spirit of water. One drinks cacao to meditate to say thank you for what I have, for what I am, for what I need. Its your connection with the fire that allows the medicine that you have inside you begin to run in your veins begins to oxygenate you more… to open your mind to leave fears behind… open your word… the voice of cacao the voice that comes so that you can express yourself.
Besides the spiritual there are physical benefits of cacao happiness, fortitude, and strength as well as the physical energy it can give. Theobroma from these meaning GOD and Broma meaning food - food of the gods - it is a sacred food for the body, the spirit, the mind, and for the heart.
Cacao will show you all of its tenderness that will form us, that will guide us, that will transform us. To know the spirit of cacao is to have the respect… the spirit itself will speak to you… the grandparents, the ancestors will guide you. This is the guidance you can receive with the scriptures of your heart with the connection of your mind towards the sacred fire towards the medicine.
Let us sip this brew of ancients past. Feel its warmth oxygenate our blood flowing through our veins. A reminder of our place in the web of life. Not separate, but connected. Not broken, but whole. Traditional healers knew this secret. Now we remember. We return. We realign with nature's rhythms. And reconnect to the One Song that unites us all. Re-membering as a Path to Decolonization and Purification from the Past.
Fire is a Sacred and ancient element, we believe that it is the Ear of The Creator (Toj) to listen our offerings to pay with our flowers, special wood, seeds and herbs as a way of giving back to the sacred spirit. The Ear of Ajaw, it is pure presence and hears the prayers that come from the heart.
According to the Nahual (Spirit of that day) every ceremony has a purpose and before it starts we put our intentions towards it. In the sacred fire, We give special offerings as ocote, copal, incenses, herbs and barks origen, resins, seeds, flowers of different colors etc. to ask the Great Spirit Ajaw to protect our people, bring us abundance, well-being of the family and the community. We invoke the spirit of nature through words, elements, colors, shapes, and intentions to receive what we are greatfull for.
Cacao has long been used ceremonially by indigenous cultures. Guatemala was truly cacao's ancestral homeland, as evidenced by 7,600 year old cacao seeds found there in 2015 - among the oldest ever discovered. Ceremonial cacao like Keith's contains over 300 compounds including theobromine, anandamide, and phenethylamine.
Theobromine provides a calming effect without caffeine jitters. Instead of constricting your blood vessels like caffeine does, theobromine expands them.
Anandamide and phenethylamine are natural "bliss chemicals" that elevate mood. When prepared ceremonially, cacao takes on profound heart-opening and consciousness-raising properties.
The synergistic effect of its 300+ compounds works to subtly shift mind and mood. It boosts bliss chemicals in the brain, calms the nervous system, and gently opens the heart - supporting emotional and spiritual well-being. Ceremonial cacao nourishes from within at both physical and non-physical levels.
The power of cacao comes from its unique combination of nutrients and bioactive compounds- not just one element. Cacao is psychoactive vs. psychedelic/hallucinogenic.
Phenvlethvlamine (PEA) | 'love' chemical / Anandamide: 'bliss' chemical/ Neurotransmitter Inhibitors (MAOIs) PEA: 'love' Chemical in cacao increases dopamine production enhances attentiveness and elevated mood helps with athletic performance, depression, mood, weight loss, attention. Nickname is 'chocolate amphetamine’
Anandamide: 'bliss' Chemical in cacao | Endogenous cannabinoid found in brain neurotransmitter that targets the same brain structures as THC, the active ingredient in cannabis makes us feel high and blissful. Cacao contains anandamide inhibitors that slow its breakdown in the body prolonging its effects.
Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors | MAOIs: Cacao contains mild MAO inhibitors: maintain mood-altering neurotransmitters in brain. MAO metabolizes serotonin and dopamine; blocking it reduces depression.
Epicatechin | Cacao contains this compound which has been shown to stimulate the production of stem cells. This can promote tissue regeneration and improve overall cellular health and is packed with powerful compounds that can give your stem cells a boost. By drinking ceremonial cacao, you're providing your stem cells with the nourishment they need to thrive and support overall health and healing in the body. The anti-inflammatory properties of cacao also create an ideal environment for stem cell activity and tissue repair.
Embodiment Ally
Throughout the ages, our ancestors and indigenous elders have done their very best to continue to hand down indispensable knowledge and wisdom of sacred plant medicines to help us heal not only our physical bodies but our emotional, mental, energetic and spiritual aspects as well. A wonderful thing to realize is that many sacred plant teachers are earth medicines.
This means that one of their core offerings is to help us heal, reintegrate and root into our bodies and ground our Spirit energy within our incarnation whilst also opening and expanding our connection to the divine. One of the most powerful transmissions offered by Ixcacao is Her capacity to co-facilitate your embodiment. When I speak of embodiment, I am not merely referring to the dropping down and coming into the physical body as an alive, connected, felt experience of truly belonging in our own skin and the deep exhale that comes when we learn to utterly relax into the gravity of our own bones.
Let’s go deeper still, beyond the idea of embodiment as the tangible, visible and visceral sense of our own human form. What I want to name embodiment as here is the true incarnation and ever-unfurling actualization of the Soul. It is one thing to be born into a physical body from the womb of our biological mother, but it is yet another thing entirely to consciously incarnate and activate as our Soul, borne directly from The Great Mother.
Yes - that Soul that is the absolutely magnificent, elegant, kaleidoscopic aperture of pure divinity that is lovingly manifest in all of its perfectly messy, wild glory as the total precision and indisputable fact of YOU! It is your absolute, deep down core essence. You may have a perceptible, visceral, felt sense of the texture, flavour and complexity of your own Soul.
Our Soul embodiment is the entry point of our Spirit to actualize in its self-realization here in and as Pure Life through our intimate inner-outer world experience and relationships. It is through this sacred portal of our Soul that we realize the unique truth of who we are, or perhaps more accurately, what we are.
The exact content of that is naturally your own Journey. But Ixcacao can most definitely be a treasure-handmaiden in the allogamy, growth and blossoming of that Journey. In this sense, Ixcacao can be engaged with as a co-facilitator of Life, in it’s purest and most electrifying form. She supports the cultivation of personal power and life force energy with immense potency offered towards the felt discovery, mythical, mystical unfolding and realization of Self.
Keith's Cacao
Keith's Cacao
The Original & World’s Finest 100% Pure Ceremonial Grade Cacao
The Original & World’s Finest 100% Pure Ceremonial Grade Cacao
16oz (454g) bar
Crafted to enhance the mind, body, and soul, our Ceremonial Cacao paste is the perfect partner in any personal pursuit. Trusted by Cacao practitioners and ideal for the workplace, Keith’s Cacao can enhance insight, presence, and focus.
Because this is a food product, returns are not accepted. Careem Box Delivery Available for Dubai
About Our Cacao
Kaqchikel Mayan women from 20+ local families earn an independent income, while working at home, at their own pace, preparing our cacao beans. There are few employment opportunities for women in our community. As we grow, we will create jobs for many more local, indigenous women, providing them with good pay and flexible hours. We are proud to help our community grow in this way.
Our cacao is prepared in the traditional method to ensure full potency. Local experience of getting the “perfect toast” over wood-fired stoves goes back many generations, ensuring expert-level techniques that bring out the complex cacao flavors without burnt taste.
Hand peeled and examined twice by our at-home female entrepreneurs and local workshop team, each bean goes through a rigorous inspection in order to remove any low-quality beans or other contaminants. This meticulous process ensures that only the best of the best end up in our “Hand Peeled Cacao Beans” and in the milling process that creates the cacao paste we use in our ceremonies and daily drinks.
We are proud to follow in the footsteps of thousands of years of shamans by using their traditional approach, and delight in the ability to provide financial stability and a spiritual outlet for many members of our community.
Our cacao workshop is located in the Kaqchikel Mayan community of San Marcos La Laguna, Guatemala, overlooking the serene waters of Lake Atitlan.
What are the benefits?
Cacao in its raw or naked state is an ancient superfood abundant in high-end nutritional goodness and alchemical magic! Not only is it teeming with essential minerals, vitamins and antioxidants but it is abundant in naturally-occurring, consciousness-altering pharmacologically significant components such as endorphins, anandamide, histamine, magnesium, arginine, phenylethylamine (PEA), serotonin, theobromine, dopamine, tryptophan, and tyramine.
One of the significant specialities of cacao is that it’s native MAO inhibitors temporarily suspend the breakdown of potent neurotransmitters activated naturally in the brain and released into the rest of the body, which means that these organically-occurring, mind-enhancing chemicals and celestial molecules are sustained in our system for far longer.
We basically become elevated and healed through absorbing our own amazing neurochemistry! (This is also why cacao does not mix well with many types of anti- depressant medication!)
•sharpens mind and improves mental focus
•strengthens cardiovascular system, heart function and reduces risk of stroke and heart attack
•regulates blood pressure
•diminish appetite and aids weight loss
•regulates blood sugar levels
•facilitates regeneration and rejuvenation
•builds and restores stress defence shield
•balances hormones and brain chemistry
•strong detoxifier and repairs free radical damage
•potentator in amplifying the benefits of other herbs and medicines
•ideal delivery system for other medicines
•antidepressant qualities
•supports the rebalancing of PMS symptoms
•helps to heal and support liver
Cacao as an Entheogen
Due to its ability to interact with the mind, Cacao is also known as an entheogen. Entheogens are psychoactive substances (often derived from plants) that can induce temporary shifts in perspective, mood, or perceptions and are often utilized for spiritual purposes. While these substances canbe hallucinogenic (like psilocybin or Ayahuasca), they do not all fall under that category.
Cacao is one of the gentler entheogens. It is classified as a psychoactive (from the Greek psykhē "soul, mind, spirit; the invisible animating principle or entity which occupies and directs the physical body) but not a psychedelic. Though it influences the mind – especially in high dosages – unlike psychedelics, it is not hallucinogenic and therefore does not impair cognitive functioning.
In fact, despite Cacao’s phenomenal advantages for spiritual work, it was largely ignored in the 1960s resurgence of medicinal plants precisely because it does not work the same as psychedelics. For all the shifts in perspective and mood, Cacao provides a fully embodied experience, which is why it is a powerful ally to incorporate into daily practice.
Historically, Cacao has been used by the Maya-Chinchipe people, the Izapan, Olmec, Toltec, Aztecs, and others for various purposes. Although there is no evidence of a single tradition or way of consuming Cacao, traces of theobromine (an element found almost exclusively in Cacao) in vessels, as well as etchings and hieroglyphs, indicate that it has been used in rituals for centuries. Evidence allows us to safely conclude that Cacao was revered and used historically for marital, sacrificial, and baptismal rites, among others. Although we do not know the specificities or frequency of these occurrences, it is clear that Cacao was an essential component in all.
Event Preparations
Please arrive with an empty stomach - no food for 3 hours prior to event. A lightbreakfast of fruit, toast, green juices, etc,
is recommended. For a more intense experience, we recommend to abstain from alcohol and coffee (at least the night/morning
before the ceremony) we recommend fasting before the ceremony, or a light breakfast/lunch.
Please avoid caffeine and dairy cow products on the day - they do not mix well with
Cacao. Keep well hydrated by drinking plenty of water.
What to bring
You can bring Your important items to be part of the ceremony. We will prepare the Altar and You can leave Your sacred items on the Altar from the beginning to the end and You will bring it back with You. Altar items (include nature, flowers, leaves, seeds, something representing the 5 elements, bones, feathers, stones, crystals, mirrors, etc ~ or whatever you feel a connection with and that is relevant for you.
Full moon fire ritual writing prompt - bring a small written paper with something you want to release to burn in the fire
Warm, soft, comfortable, layered clothing that you can move around in, and an Eye mask
Notepad/journal and pen
Openness to connect authentically and honestly with your Self, your experience, Self-Love and the Wisdom of the Cacao Deva.
Post-Cacao Care
Cacao has a truly wonderful, sentient way of working to clear whatever is in the way of you connecting deeper to your self and life through the precious Temple of your Being. This subtle process can sometimes last for around three days ~ throughout this time,
transformation, release and realignment is taking place, although it should in no way affect whatever else you need to do in your day/schedule. The best way to support this process is to just accept, open, receive and be patient and compassionate with your self
and your experience. Allow the heart-blood river of the Cacao Deva to wash through you…
Post-cacao experience can show up in myriad, powerful and subtle ways including dreamwork and gentle emotional release and realignment. It is possible to support this process by being kind with your self, and supporting the body and energy system
through conscious nurturing diet, embodied movement and practice, time in nature, Epsom salt baths, bodywork, rest and stillness.
Cacao is a powerful diuretic and transformational aid so it is very important to keep well hydrated for 48 hours after the event - this increased fluidic flow supports the energetic and physical purification process. Very occasionally, there may be an experience of
headache/nausea, which is often an indicator of some resistance and/or strong healing and clearing ~ if this lasts for more than half a day, you are welcome to contact for support.
Additional Information
Cacao in its raw or naked state is an ancient superfood abundant in high-end nutritional goodness and alchemical magic! Not only is it teeming with essential minerals, vitaminsand antioxidants but it is abundant in naturally-occurring, consciousness-altering
pharmacologically significant components such as endorphins, anandamide, histamine,magnesium, arginine, phenylethylamine (PEA), serotonin, theobromine, dopamine, tryptophan, and tyramine.
One of the significant specialities of cacao is that it’s native MAO inhibitors temporarily suspend the breakdown of potent neurotransmitters activated naturally in the brain and released into the rest of the body, which means that these organically-occurring, mind-enhancing chemicals and celestial molecules are sustained in our system for far longer.
We basically become elevated and healed through absorbing our own amazing neurochemistry!
