Cacao, Ceremony and Circles
Lorna has felt inspired to offer Empowerment Circles for Women since 1995. This was after attending a rather corporate women's workshop about getting back to work, as she had taken 6 years of wonderful time out to bring up her young children. She eventually started offering these circles in 2001. These circles and gatherings have since evolved over many years. They can have a different focus and intention, although they can often be similar in content. However, there are never two the same and it is always a most nurturing and nourishing way to spend a few hours in the company of warm hearted beings who help hold each other in a very healing an sacred space. In our Circles we often share, drumming, poetry, movement, songs, ceremony, love, gratitude and ceremonial grade Cacao.
~ A lifelong chocolate lover at heart ~
Lorna has been interested in the deeper qualities and properties of the Medicine of raw chocolate ~ Cacao. Initially learning about this high vibrational plant superfood with Annu Tara in 2014, then deepening her personal practice and relationship with this beautiful Plant Medicine Teacher over the past years. Lorna has worked with Cacao from various suppliers around the World. However her favourite Cacao by far is from Cusco in Peru and can be easily accessed through her most recent teacher Erika Huarcaya, an Ancestral Cacao Guardian who’s grandmother was a traditional Andean midwife of the Quecha speaking Chanka lineage .
It is no surprise then, with her connection with Peru and the Munay Ki, that Lorna has again been diving even deeper in her own personal practice, this time directly with Erikia, to experiencing more of this beautiful and ancient wisdom.
~ Some Cacao Information and Benefits ~
Historically and traditionally, Cacao has been shared in Ceremony as Ritualistic Medicine by the Ancestors of Central America, The Mayans & The Aztecs for thousands of years.
True Ceremonial Cacao retains the original healing chemical medicine of the Cacao Plant and the wonderful Spirit of the Cacao… often referred to as Mama Cacao, Ix Cacao or Lady Cacao… SHE is a gentle but powerful wisdom medicine guide.
The raw and organic true Ceremonial-Grade Cacao we share in our Circles comes from the Cusco cloud forest area of Quillabamba in Peru. Sourced 100% native, wild-crafted, organic cacao beans. Working with one small indigenous family, the farmers commit to a life of ‘selective harvesting’, ensuring that this cacao isn't mixed with any other lower-grade, genetically altered, or hybridized cacao, ensuring only the highest quality ceremonial-grade cacao available. The cacao is cultivated with reverence, respect, integrity, and intention, with a strong focus on the ancestral concept of ‘right relationship’, ensuring balance and harmony. The entire process is approached with respect for the land, the people, and the culture responsible for cacao's cultivation. These cacao beans are ground whole using traditional and ancestral means. This means that this product also includes cacao butter, giving a higher nutritional value. It also means that the cacao is produced with the presence of unique and living plant compounds that elicit cacao's ceremonial effects.
Cacao is not a psychoactive plant medicine. This well sourced Cacao is truly Rich in wonderful health enhancing properties, packed full of vitamins and minerals such as magnesium, calcium, chromium, potassium, phosphorus, iron, zinc & copper. It helps the body to heal, detoxify, and to give your immune system a good boost. Combine this with a sacred, ceremonial set and setting, and you have a recipe for deep healing and expansive transformation.
The most vital element of true ceremonial cacao is retaining the **cocao butter. Some of the other contents of this Cacao include ‘feel good’ endorphins and hormones… Theobromine, Dopamine and Anandamide, often referred to as the Bliss molecule which can give a natural feeling of pleasure and motivation. This gentle cacao facilitator can assist us on a beautiful relaxing and meditative journey, helping us find our true and tender heart and bringing feelings of gratitude, love, joy and peace. It can also reduce stress, improve mental agility and increases blood flow to the brain which helps to strengthen awareness and focus.
(** Cacao Butter is often removed when creating cacao powders. Unfortunately this removes much of the health benefits of this amazing superfood )
This ceremonial-grade cacao is also a naturally occurring source of caffeine. Caffeine content fluctuates between the varietal of cacao being used and the region from which that varietal is sourced. On average, a cup of ceremonial-grade cacao contains about 1/2 to 3/4 the amount of caffeine found in a cup of black coffee.
This wonderful Medicine, truly is a gentle facilitator Heart opener and has been referred to as a ‘Food for the Gods’. Lorna brings Cacao to you in Circle if you feel drawn to meet the Spirit of Cacao…. either in a 121 session or in a group circle.
“With your support we continue helping indigenous people to maintain their land, planting organic cacao beans to carry on their ancestral knowledge, traditions, and connection to Pachamama (Mother Earth), and in exchange we receive this medicine in our soul, reconnecting with our ancestors and the beauty of life, healing wounds and creating community everywhere we go.” ~ Indigenous farmers, Quillambamba, Peru
For more information on Lorna’s most recent Cacao Teacher and her offerings, please go to ~ https://www.erikahuarcaya.com/store