My heart relaxed as I finally sank into the medicine, into the cacao, into the visuals of Mama Cacao dancing around me. I was on day 4 of a 7-day cacao journey, and I was feeling alive! My friend, Kyshandra, had been talking up the benefits of doing a longer jounrey on cacao. I had had it before but not through deep ceremony or over multiple days. But I'm always on the lookout for new ways to find growth, so I ordered a bag and got started!
It's pretty simple. Cacao is known to ground you into the Earth's magic, and to open the heart space. I woke up every morning around 7 and began my ritual to make it. I boiled water, made a tea, threw it in a blender with some cacao and blended it until it was frothy. Then I found a sacred space to journey with it, usually my living room or outside. I placed a few crystals out, then turned on all my senses to the cacao. I visualized my roots growing deep and my heart lighting up. I smelled the rich aroma, felt the warmth of the cup in my hands, heard the bubbles gently popping, saw how silky it was, and finally tasted the beauty of it.
It's more of an acquired taste. I didn't want to add any sugar, so it was just pure cacao. But by day 4 I was really starting to like it! I was excited in the morning to start my ceremony and it gave me such focus and love for the rest of my day. And on day 4 I did a guided meditation to go meet the luscious Mama Cacao. I travelled inward, deep underground. There, I met an old lady. She was crusty like an old witch from the movies, but when she finally turned to talk to me, she transformed into a beautiful dark-skinned woman.
She didn't say much, and I asked her if she would help me on my path to open my heart and ground me. She took out a crow bar and shoved it into my chest. She pried my chest open and when it cracked a bright light poured out of my chest. Then she sank me halfway into the dirt below me. I was open and grounded at the same time. A beautiful treasure chest appeared inside my chest and Mama Cacao plucked a golden cacao bean from her tree and placed it in my chest's chest. She said "trust the path".
This is advice I've been getting for years. But it hits differently sometimes. With Mama Cacao it was more of a feeling. FEEL the path and you will know you are on it. Trust the literal feelings of the path. Feel grounded in the path. Feel open to the path. Feel love in the path. As I left her, I was still light. I was so bright I could barely see myself. When I emerged from the underground tunnel that led to Mama Cacao, I grew wings made of light and flew off.
I was free, but I was so grounded to the path. The rest of that day was so beautiful. My heart was so open and loving and caring and I was so productive. It felt like all the pieces of my life came together again. I felt what it was like to be on the path. I merged with the path.
Now, I think of sweet Mama Cacao and smile. I already want to do more cacao in ceremony. I know it's not even so much about the cacao than it is finding that continual place of ceremony and connection to myself. The cacao is one doorway. There are many. And the doorway of cacao is sweet and genle.
INSPIRED ACTION: What would it look like for you to do a 7-day journey of any kind? 7 days is a really great amount of time to try something new. What have you been wanting to get deeper into? Meditation? Body connection? Grounding? Open heart? Think about what kind of ceremony you could create or find that will bring you closer to your alignment. Then go out and do it! 7 days is short enough that it's not too overwhelming, but also long enough that it can help you truly go deeper. Let me know if you do one and how it felt!