In Ceremony · Edition No 4

01     CACAO MAMA'S MIDWIvES

02    HONOURING BIRTH, FERTILITY, CREATIVITY

03    THE PORTAL OF BELTANE

04    From Seed to Bean

05    FERTILITY & Rain CEREMONIES

06    CACAO IN RITES OF PASSAGE

07    Cacao & Pregnancy

08    The Goddess IxCacao

09    Beltane EMBODIED RITUAL

10    Cacao & CREATIVITY

I was 'pregnant' with Cacao Mama for three years. This time would not have been possible without the support of midwives. Brothers and sisters who believed in me and the Cacao medicine. The one closest to my heart was Christine, a medicine woman. She held my hand during 'labour', witnessed my rite of passage and handed me the name Cacao Mama  in 2014 in Cape Town, South Africa.

Unaware of the ancient custom that Cacao is a part of the exchange between mother and midwife, I balanced Christine's services with Cacao. She accepted, although she was sensitive to eating or drinking it; but she loved the energy and presence.

Another important midwife was my spiritual teacher Mari Nil. She said: 'You have a deep friendship with Mother Earth and you have agreed that you will take one sacred resource and medicine that Earth has given and bring it to a new time. Cacao is this sacred medicine. With Cacao Mama, you're creating a midwife that will assist you in the transition. By doing so, you too will enter this new vibration. This is the agreement between Pachamama, Cacao and you.'

With this in mind, we dreamed Cacao Mama into being; a feminine force who would reconnect hearts, roots, and cosmic connections. Now that major cycles change, we're blessing the global transition and calling in Cacao's original medicine and commit to be in service.

People around the world are now able to channel Cacao Mama's energy, and some feel inspired to call themselves Cacao Mama also. Cacao Mama calls you to anchor a loving and heart-centred consciousness rooted in the divine origins  in this sacred time and sacred space.  

What starts as a little seed containing all the wisdom, grows well-nurtured into a beautiful cacao tree that can bear fruits within three to five years after planting. The five-petalled flower of cacao grows directly from the trunk and is pollinated by a specific, very small species of insect. From each fertilised flower grows a cacao fruit. The fruits develop into red, orange, yellow, blue, or purple varieties. In five to six months a fruit pod ripens, containing 20-25 beans, surrounded by a sweet pulp. A mature cacao tree will produce about 50 fruits, which are harvested twice a year.

Our ancestors were closely connected with Mother Nature and wove her elements into ceremonial and ritual practices, be it water, fire, air, plant spirits, animal spirits, trees, or mountain sites; they were regarded as sacred. Planets and stars were recognised as guiding principles in the web of life. This view was and in some cultures still is an essential part of a cosmology that takes the intimate connection between humans and nature for granted.

Water is life. Our ancestors respected water as a living being with an inherent spirit. Ceremonies were held to honour her essence. Water is associated with the night, winter and the cold, with the moon, caves and the female deities of springs and waterholes, representing fertility, birth and new life.

The Goddess of Chocolate/Cacao had humble but honorable origins as a Mayan Goddess. Named IxCacao, she was an ancient fertility goddess, an earth goddess in a matriarchal society where gathering crops and seeing to it that everyone was fed was a woman's work. Banishing hunger and providing for the safety and security of the people was her divine responsibility.

However, in these ancient times, a societal shift saw the patriarchy energy begin to take hold. At first, it was a golden age where Kings and dynasties began, and a ruling class was born. The wonders of Astronomy were introduced and flourished, as did the arts. History was beginning to be recorded as glyphs,  and magnificent statues, monuments, palaces, and temples were created in honor of the Kings and their many noblemen. Serving the patriarchy became the new order of life.

The King took notice of IxCacao. He saw her ability to provide abundance and this very much appeased his greed. On his request, she was taken away into his kingdom, away from the people and her fields. The King demanded her marriage to the God of Commerce. Soon her lovely, sacred cacao beans were being turned into currency. 

However, what really upset the goddess is that the King declared chocolate as the ‘food of the gods’, and made it only available to the rulers and the warriors in their service. 

IxCacao’s heart was finally broken when she got word that outside of the kingdom there was now widespread starvation. She hadn’t been tending her dearly missed fields and her people were suffering.

Furthermore, this began the time of human sacrifice in ceremonies to appease the thirst of the Sun so as to prevent catastrophic droughts. The compassionate Goddess of Cacao decided to accompany the sacrificed people in their final hours, climbing the steps beside them, and comforting them with goblets of cacao along the way. Thus she became an important part of the sacred rites each year.

The separation between the rich and the poor was becoming more obvious to IxCacao, as she saw the human suffering being caused by the greedy lifestyles of wealthy aristocrats.

It was then that the Goddess of Love saw that the people were no longer laughing, singing, and dancing. So the Goddess of Love joined with the Goddess of Chocolate and they conspired to bring back abundance and love to all.

They taught the greedy kings’ cooks how to ferment the wine, making it even more intoxicating, and then began to spread the word of cacao’s aphrodisiac properties. This led to a period of even more greed between the rulers as they overindulged in wine and cacao. This greed saw wars break out between the states. 

In many traditional Mayan communities, midwives play an important role as supporters during pregnancy and the birth-giving process and are oftentimes paid in food and money. Among the Poqomam of Chinaulta, Guatemala, a beautiful ritual is performed after a woman learns that she is pregnant: The mother-to-be chooses a midwife and asks for her support by offering a basket of chocolate, bread and guaro (alcoholic beverage made from fermented fruit). By accepting the basket, the midwife takes on the responsibility of helping the future mother to bring her child into this world.

Among Mesoamerican peoples, especially in the areas of Santiago de Atitlan and Guatemala City, Cacao is still an important component of the postpartum diet. Various types of cacao beverages, like pinole (containing maize and cacao), and the consumption of chocolate are considered to support the woman in stimulating a large supply of milk production on the one hand and in regaining full strength on the other. Few sources from Santiago Atitlan, Guatemala, also report the consumption of a beverage of chocolate just before the baby is born to accelerate the birth-giving process.

In the past years, we've shared space with women in all stages of pregnancy. To me, cacao and pregnancy go very well together. Old customs around cacao's use during pregnancy feel natural and aligned. These are rooted in Central America and honour Spirit in all forms. 

The magic unfolds with sacred space and intention and less with the amount. I witnessed pregnant women drinking a sip of cacao only, others drinking a full ceremonial cup and feeling great. Many mothers-to-be experience a deep communion with the unborn child when being in Ceremony with the Cacao Mother Spirit.

There are studies which indicate that chocolate is good for the baby. However, many sources point the attention to the fact that cacao contains caffeine, although much less than coffee which some believe harmful to the baby. This may cause insecurity in the mother, especially if she craves dark chocolate or pure cacao. 

When a pregnant woman feels called to join the Cacao ceremony, I discuss with her beforehand how she feels, what the wisdom of her body tells her and how much she feels okay to drink. Expecting mothers are more aware in the first and last trimester. Together, we tune into an amount that feels safe to her. An amount of 10-25g ceremonial cacao works usually very well during pregnancy. 

As I sip on my ceremonial cacao this morning, I am reminded how blessed I am for all the gifts Pachamama has provided. My current favourite being cacao. 

Our indigenous ancestors knew the potency of this plant medicine - and she has been such a catalyst, both before and during my pregnancy. 

Pregnancy is a very special time spiritually, and we seem to experience the world from a much more inner place than usual. I notice how my physical, spiritual, and emotional body becomes a portal to transcendence - and how my connection to Mother Nature expand and deepens. 

The Cacao Mother supports my journey, as I mature and soften deeper into the archetype of the mother. She heals my womb trauma, and I lean into her softness - unconditionally. Held, loved, and safe. 

In ceremony I interact with her essence by visualisation, an internal knowing, dance, song, and physical touch. During my pregnancy, the cacao mother often shows up as a kind of 'presence' in my womb space. I’ve felt her communicating with my placenta, encouraging it to move upwards - making room for a natural, healthy and vaginal birth. 

Feel the Cacao Spirit making space, clearing these last 6 months of winter. Letting go of old fears and limitations with compassion, so that you may again expand and receive fully. Welcome a soft movement in your hips. Small repetitive circular movements so the emotions may flow and not become stuck in your body.

Breathe deeply and with each exhalation lean into the earth of your body. Sense it preparing the rich soil for vital life energy in your sacral space. Sense the silence and pause that is needed to welcome the new. Like the calm before the storm.

When you feel you are quiet and receptive, light your candle and call in the masculine energy of the sun and fire. Visualise it as golden light coming from your head down into the feminine vessel of your body. It is fiercely attracted to this magnetic darkness. With each inhale bring in this light fire, and with each exhale bring it down.

Feel it making its way down to through your body and into your heart, where it expands into a golden flower. The alchemy of the heart together with Cacao irradiating glow throughout your body.

Welcome some fluid movement into your spine and torso area. Allow the energies to flow and keep the body flexible and present. Feel your chest opening and expanding.

As this electric current continues the journey into your sacral area, feel the warmth in your belly. This meeting is the alchemy of light and darkness, Yin and Yang, masculine and feminine, active and receptive. Let them merge into sacred union worshiping each other’s essence. Keep moving your hips and torso/spine in gentle circular movements. Keep breathing. 

 
Visualise golden threads through your body, filling you up with infinite love and golden energy. Let the Sacred Fire and the energy of the Great Mother be witness. Let Cacao work its magic through your body. Welcome expansion and openness, feel a new story emerging. The birth of something new, like tender buds blossoming into fullness. Flowering under this Beltane season, the gateway to the bright half of the year.

In her book 'Spirits of the Sacred Grove’, Emma Restall Orr, a modern-day Druid, speaks of the 'fertility of our personal creativity'. She is referring to our need for active and creative lives, our need for fertile minds to accomplish our work, to tend to our relationships, and to follow our personal soul's purpose.

The Cacao Spirit is a beautiful ally, reminding me of the fertile soil within my being. I consciously connect to Cacao, the midwife, and call in her support to overcome my fears and shadows, to unfold my inner potential outwardly, to get my creativity flowing, and to turn ideas, hopes, and dreams into action in every part of my life.

Walking unseen hiding behind the mists of sorrow, dissolving and broken, living in the shadowlands silently. It was there, Mama Cacao found me and gently restored my creative spirit in the sacred womb cave.

Protection dwells in the medicine of Cacao sipped from the rainbow cup. She quenches all the places that crave nourishment and attention, slowly weaving me back together. Mama Cacao gently smooths my brow and holds me tenderly, caressing my aching bones. Whispering words of encouragement, she says ‘listen to the stories that are weaved within you’.

Sat by the fire surrounded by my weathered baskets stuffed with gathered bundles of fabric, needles, and threads, I feel called to courageously empty my essence across the floor and allow the fragmented pieces to settle until I see patterns emerging of my raw creative flow. 

Mama Cacao winks at me as I lace a needle with red thread, remembering the language of my heart I begin stitching the story of circles and spirals and roots that spread tendrils down into the underworld of mending souls. The thread spins from my heart to my hands marking truth scars into the soul skin cloth as lost lands are found and stitched back to their remembered place, my purpose emerges.