Julia took part in our cacao ritual training in October and with the following report she describes her experience with cacao and our training. Thank you Julia for your detailed and loving description.
Ceremonial cacao has fascinated me for some time. I first came across it by accident on the internet. I tried my first real Ritual Cacao this year at a yoga festival. To be honest, for me it had little to do with cacao as I knew it. It tasted very tart and unusually spicy, but it immediately cast a spell over me. Since the offer at the festival was so varied, I didn't manage to take part in the cacao ritual.
Ever since the first sip of cacao, I've been addicted to cacao, even without a ritual. From then on, my wish was to take part in a cacao ceremony - but not that easy in the current times, at least I thought so. An online ritual was out of the question for me at first. As I live in a rural area, it was far from easy to find something in the area.
When I got home I started researching on the internet. I read a lot about cacao and found some offers for rituals online. Nothing really appealed to me until I found Cacaoloves.me. When I saw that Leni and Felix were offering a cacao ritual training course, it quickly became clear to me - that's it. No ritual experience, but that didn't matter to me. It felt like the cacao spirit was calling me to delve deeper into the work with this plant medicine. Said and done.
After a great conversation with Leni to make sure once again from both sides that it was the right thing to take part in the training, the anticipation for the weekend was huge. I was actually counting the days. As soon as my lovingly wrapped package of cacao arrived, I felt as if Christmas and my birthday were on the same day. I immediately opened the bag to sniff the cacao - a stunning smell that came towards me. What particularly fascinated me were the large chunks of cacao, which I saw for the first time - beautiful with the individual layers. I had a hard time closing the bag again and putting it aside. However, I wanted to keep the anticipation for the training alive and, with a heavy heart, resisted preparing a cacao directly.
Then it was finally time. We started the training on Friday evening with an introductory round and a small, first ritual. I was pretty excited because my first cacao ritual was just around the corner. Leni lovingly guided us through the ritual. I clearly felt the effect of the cacao with its heart-opening effect. After drinking the cacao, a pleasant and slightly euphoric feeling spread through my body. Getting together with the group was also indescribable. For me online previously unimaginable, but all the more intense. Since the opening ritual, I felt a strong connection with the group. It was a feeling of coming home, meeting like-minded people, inviting the cacao spirit into my life.
On Saturday we were allowed to experience a second ritual and talked about mindfulness. Leni and Felix gave us an overview of what mindfulness means and how we can integrate it into our rituals. The next step was the knowledge module. An overview of the history, cultivation, getting to know different types of cacao and an insight into the production and processing process. The health aspect was particularly exciting for me, where I realized what a great gift cacao really is.
We started Sunday with an exchange on the topic of holding space and received practical tips on how to create space when working with the Cacao Spirit and hold it in our own rituals. Here, too, I learned a lot and was able to get to know new perspectives on the subject. We dedicated this second day of training to our personal journey with the Cacao ritual and worked on our Cacao mindset. Leni and Felix showed us the possibilities of working with Ritual Cacao in the future and bringing it into the world.
The most exciting part of course came at the end of the training, where we were able to put our applied knowledge into practice - we held a ritual together as a group. Each small group prepared part of the ritual and we guided each other through the ritual. It was unique to create a joint ritual in this way, in which every participant took part. As a result, the final ritual had a particularly transformative energy.
Today I am infinitely grateful that I had the opportunity to take part in the first Cacao Loves Me Cacao Ritual Training. The workout was magical! Since the training weekend, cacao has become my daily companion and I can no longer imagine my life without it.
Your Julia Schäfer
