Let’s bring the ritual back into chocolate.
Indigenous tribes have sat in ceremony with cacao as a sacred drink for thousands of years.
Why should a chocolate bar be any different?
When we make our chocolate, we pray over our cacao beans, whether we harvest, ferment, dry & roast them ourselves from our own cacao tree, or whether we receive them roasted with wild jungle magic from our favorite organic Big Island cacao farms. We sing to the simmering pots of each batch of chocolate, and infuse them with Reiki, love and intention. We speak to cacao trees and greet them with our sacred drum. We study the day in the Mayan calendar on potent chocolate-making afternoons, drink in Mama Cacao’s beautiful feminine spirit, sit with the specific energy that comes through, before channeling that into the unique batch.
When you eat your cosmic chocolate bar, you can turn it into a ritual too. You can set your intention, call upon cacao’s powerful spirit, invoke all the thousands-of-years-old ancient Mayan energies waiting to be activated within, and take a moment of gratitude for the wisdom, love and guidance that you are about to receive from your mindful bar of chocolate.
We love calling upon and thanking the elements during this moment as well, along with invoking & thanking this Earthly plane + the other dimensions, your version of source/Spirit/the universe/God (whatever the center of collective consciousness means to you), and your ancestors, spirit guides, favorite divinities, and always, your higher self.
You can also use these fun & powerful tools we offer to assist you in connecting deeper with our chocolate::
~ Read about the unique energy of the Mayan cosmovision that is present in your specific bar of chocolate (by finding the blog post that correlates to the name on your bar’s wrapping)
~ Listen to a guided meditation or sound healing while you enjoy the cacao, so the chocolate can work with your spirit to invoke its own gentle medicine and healing within you
And most importantly, tune into your own breath, your intuition, and your body, because the most beautiful thing cacao can do for you is bring you into deeper presence and connection with the powerful cosmic being that is you.
Burning copal during a sacred cacao ceremony
Inside Our Cacao
These intention-infused, stardust-filled cacao experiences are made with local cacao* from certified organic Big Island, Hawaii farms, local farm honey*, divine heart-opening / mood boosting / spiritually enhancing herbs, inner fire-boosting spices*, coconut oil*, coconut flour*, love & a whole lotta Reiki.
*All organic. Always with prayers. Always with divine guidance & ancestral wisdom. Always without sugar.
More exciting, magical ins-and-outs::
~ Each batch of chocolate may have a slightly different blend of electric, mana-boosting spices and herbs harmonizing with the cacao. It depends on what herbs and spices were calling to our founder as she crafts each batch. Some common ones we use include ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, rose, maca, moringa, and cayenne. Moringa & cardamom are particularly fitting additions, as they tend to grow in areas of the world where cacao also grows, such as Guatemala, Peru, Costa Rica, Mexico and Ecuador. You can feel their energies dance together and pull you into these spiritually charged meccas of the world.
~ Sweet tidbit:: Cardamom and cacao are good friends; they often grow side by side. Cardamom reaches over the cacao tree and gives cacao the shade it very deeply needs to thrive. Think about their symbiotic friendship the next time you sprinkle some cardamom into your ceremonial cacao drink, or take a bite of one of our cacao + cardamom batches.
So many sacred jungles of the world, so many sacred plants. We’re so thrilled that here in this magical neverland of Hawaii, we get to infuse & blend so many of them together in this sacred dance called Goddess Cacao.
Ancient Mayan Wisdom
Every one of our chocolates carries the energy of the powerful day in the Mayan calendar on which it was crafted. These Nahuales, or sacred energies, reverberate through the cacao and act as a guide to transport you into your higher self’s purpose for the day, for the week, for the era.
Are you ready to step into your divine higher purpose?
Gratitude & Giving Back
As beings who make ceremonial cacao paste, cosmic chocolate bars, and ones who walk a devoted and sacred path with Mama Cacao, we are humbled by the indigenous roots from which this plant medicine originates. We are honored by the tribes and communities that have chosen to share their traditions, knowledge and practices with us, and we know that without their openness, love and kindness, the Western world would not have the relationship with Mama Cacao that we do, nor the privilege to be as close to her as we now can be.
The indigenous cacao farmers and Mayan Day Keepers that share their wisdom of Mayan spirituality and traditions, and provide chocolate medicine to all people, both within their communities and out to the Western world — they are owed our recognition, and our support. For them, cacao is not just their livelihood, their hard work and their passion; it is the Spirit-led path they have been called to walk and protect for generations upon generations.
We believe it is incredibly important to donate to these wisdom keepers in Latin America:: to the tribes that keep the ancient Mayan spirit of cacao alive. To the first and most resilient Guardians of Cacao. The ones who pass on the sacred ancestral wisdom to the West with love and pure intention, so that all beings and all people may become a bridge together to dissolve separation and heal collective consciousness. If you feel called, we invite you to give back a little of your gratitude, too.
~ Click below to view different causes and communities that you can support, put together by SNEHA; an amazing organization that works hard to support indigenous cacao farmers & medicine leaders, and to link their world to ours in harmony & healing.
:: Science Corner ::
Why is cacao so powerful?
Theobroma Cacao is the official name for the cacao plant. One of the main active alkaloids is Theobromine, which is also found in the tea plant. Theobromine is a much more gentle, healing cousin of caffeine. It stimulates your blood flow, allowing more blood to flow to your heart, to your head and to every part of your body; it is a heart opener and a third eye activator in quite the most physical sense. It allows you to become more connected and aligned, allowing your energy to fully move through you. The energy boost you receive from theobromine is a much more gentle and sustainable kind of energy than the ones you feel from more intensely stimulating alkaloids, such as caffeine and sugar.
Cacao also has an amino acid in it called Tryptophan, which opens up the dopamine receptors in your brain (without giving you any artificial dopamine). This means that instead of giving you a buzz for a few hours that then causes you to crash, tryptophan actually enables your brain to create more serotonin on its own, and this is something that stays with you for far longer than the effects you feel from your cup of cacao or chocolate bar. It is even possible to heal mental imbalances and restore a brain’s depleted well of serotonin for the long-term while sitting with cacao regularly, especially in an intentional or ritualistic way.
A large amount of magnesium is also present in the cacao bean. Magnesium works beautifully on the nervous system; it stabilizes it and relaxes you, doing wonders for anxiety, fear, low moods, stress and trauma. This is how cacao can stimulate you and give you energy, but also calm you at the same time.
Another main proponent in cacao, and perhaps our favorite, is anandamine, also known as the ‘bliss molecule.’ Anandamine is what that sounds like: an alkaloid that instigates a feeling of pure joy, home, and happiness. It makes you feel safe and alleviates pain, and has a similar rush to the endorphins after exercise. It produces feelings of euphoria and works as a natural antidepressant. This magical little molecule is only found in two other places: hemp seeds and breastmilk. It invokes a feeling of coming back home to the womb.
That's what drinking cacao always feels like to us: Coming home to the womb of Gaia, being wrapped up in the embrace of the Goddess mother, and returning to both the childlike wonder and the sacred parental nurturer we have within our own bodies, arms open and ready to welcome us.
Is there more? Oh, yes. We haven’t even gotten started on all the superfood components and immune boosters (such as zinc, iron and phosphorous) that are present in this medicinal plant as well! & Did you know that cacao is actually the highest antioxidant food in the world (15x more than blueberries)!?
It’s not just what we feel. Cacao really does make our brains & bodies so much better.
:: Spirit Corner ::
Why is cacao so sacred in indigenous cultures?
In Mayan & Aztec origin stories, cacao is known as the “Food of the Gods.” It was a plant that was gifted to humans by the gods, so that the humans may ascend and know what it is like among the stars. So that they may know their own divinity. Cacao is known as a motherly protector; a kind feminine spirit who acts as a loving guide and healer.
Many Central & South American tribes have their own legacy stories, sacred rituals and ceremonies around this medicine. Whatever the varying myths and traditions are, the center is always the same: that this revered bean is meant to be honored and respected, and if one does so, one will experience the power, love, higher intuition and manifestation that she generously provides.
We invite you to sit with your cacao, close your eyes and talk to her. Ask her spirit to come through. We think you may agree with these many cultures as you feel Mama Cacao’s love gently flutter down upon you.
Offering fruit to the ancestors during a cacao ceremony at Secrets Beach, Kauai