A Note from Our Founder & Owner

Discovering the true spirit & origins of cacao

I love cacao. Before I ever got into making chocolate, I discovered the power of ceremonial cacao.

Many years ago, I went to a cacao ceremony for the first time in New York, and started drinking ceremonial cacao regularly. The facilitator of these ceremonies was a woman who had studied directly with an indigenous Mayan tribe all about cacao, the Mayan history and traditions. I trained under her, and ended up being able to spend some time with the tribe in Guatemala, and I discovered the power behind cacao and the true ancient importance and energy behind it. I learned a lot about the spirit behind this plant and she completely changed my life. When drunk in a pure ceremonial way, when the cacao is sourced from a good place and handled properly with prayers & intention, it is a true powerful plant medicine. It is a loving, divine feminine, nurturing spirit. It healed lots of pain and trauma within me and enabled me to step into the empowered person I am today.

I began leading cacao ceremonies myself as well, drawing from the now extensive knowledge I had gained from this beautiful Mayan lineage, and tapping into the newfound deep and connected relationship I had with Mama Cacao’s loving spirit.

What many large chocolate companies do wrong

Through the years-long process of acquainting myself with the Mayan knowledge of cacao, I unlearned a lot of myths and misconceptions most of Western society has around cacao. I learned that before the first chocolate bar was ever made, cacao was only consumed in sacred ritual as a ceremonial drink by indigenous tribes. It was a way to bring the community together, to celebrate and mourn, to pray and to sing and to heal. Europeans were the first ones to turn cacao into chocolate, and while doing so they also lost a lot of the potency and spirit behind cacao. Even today, when most chocolate bars are made, they are made without an understanding of the spirit behind cacao and the importance of preserving its healing properties.

A lot of large chocolate companies undergo a process where they separate the fat from the cacao and turn it into powder, which takes away both the spirit and the scientific alkaloids (theobromine, Tryptophan, magnesium, and anandamine). Many chocolate companies also concoct the chocolate on high heat, which also kills the spirit and removes the alkaloids that are so healing for our body & soul. Many companies also use cane sugar, stevia, agave or other overly processed sweeteners, which also takes away from the medicinal content and spirit of cacao; when you mix a processed, impure material with medicine, you cause the medicine to become less pure as well.

Infusing the ceremonial qualities of cacao into chocolate

When I set out to make chocolate bars, I wanted to take all my knowledge of sacred, ceremonial cacao, and of the indigenous wisdom and traditions behind this plant, and I wanted to make a chocolate bar that was medicine instead of just something sweet. I wanted there to be a way to consume chocolate in a bar form that could be comparably as sacred and powerful as the ceremonial drink. So I make my chocolate bars on low heat to preserve the spirit and alkaloids. I source my cacao partially from local organic farms on Hawaii Island that have some knowledge of the beauty and power of cacao, and I partially source from sacred communities in South America who are also keeping the spirit and medicine of cacao alive in their process. The only sweetener I use is local Hawaiian honey, from small farms of home stewards that I know personally, whom I can trust are practicing ethical and organic and love-filled beekeeping practices, so that the honey I add to my chocolates is fully pure, and medicine on its own as well.

And I am connecting with, and praying to the spirit of Mama Cacao every step of the way when I make my bars. That way, when you bite into a Goddess Cacao chocolate bar, you are biting into more than a delicious sweet treat — you are taking a moment to sit and pray with the sacred spirit of Mama Cacao. You are honoring & contributing to the livelihood of the indigenous Mayan communities who have been guardians and keepers of this plant for millennia. You are inviting her into your life, to heal you, uplift you, answer your prayers and bring you more love, abundance, joy and sacredness. You are sitting with medicine with intention. 

That is also why I have this page on my website with ritual tools — a prayer invocation, suggestions of how to create a sacred space while you imbibe in cacao, meditation songs and sound healings I’ve recorded, and suggested ritual practices. Because the more you honor cacao, give her gratitude and sit with her with intention, the more power and magic you feel from her.

An herbalist’s touch

I have spent much of my life with a deep relationship and connection to herbs and plant allies. In addition to my own studies through books and resources (mostly from the Wise Woman herbalism tradition), I was fortunate to apprentice under an amazing established herbalist during my time in New York. Such a majority of my life’s work has been in relation to using plants to assist myself & others in taking ownership of their health, especially mental health. 

I set out on this chocolate journey to create medicine. That’s why I infuse my chocolates with different herbal blends that empower the mind and elevate mood and enable you to step into a variety of intentions; such as blue lotus for third eye activation, rose petals for heart healing, mugwort for manifesting, damiana for serotonin boosting and medicinal mushrooms for clarity & energy. When working together, cacao and herbs create a beautiful orchestra of healing.

Local sustainability

One of the things that doesn’t sit right with me about our society is how far away most of us are from the source locations of the food we consume. Many products are shipped around the world multiple times before they reach our grocery store. While there are things that I am grateful modern society & shipping has allowed me to receive access to — ceremonial cacao from indigenous Meso American communities, for instance — I do believe that we should aspire to draw from local resources and small farms in our areas to nourish ourselves as much as possible. This helps us on an ethical and environmental level, it brings healthier food to our bodies, and it also serves us for the sake of long-term sustainability. 

I am incredibly lucky to be living & operating my business in Hawaii, on sacred land that is highly abundant and full of resources — where cacao trees grow and flourish, and where a large majority of the people on the island have seen the importance of sustainability and practice regenerative farming & organic permaculture. 

I have a commitment to sourcing local ingredients whenever possible, and to creating a bar of chocolate that is as medicinal, organic, sacred and sustainable as is in my power to make.

Final word

If you feel the spirit of cacao when you bite into one of my cosmic bars… If you come away from this experience feeling a tiny bit more connected to indigenous culture and old ritualistic ways… If you came here expecting chocolate and walk away with medicine, my job is complete.

Thank you for supporting my small one-person solo business of love, dedication, prayer and devotion. I hope you discover Mama Cacao’s beautiful spirit and take a step further down the healing path with my medicine. I am endlessly grateful at the ability and blessing to do this work.