A Virtual Cacao Ceremony

Since I've been mostly staying home, I've turned to virtual experiences. Nowadays, there are tons of amazing things that you can do from the comfort of your own home, as long as you have a decent Internet connection and a little bit of creativity. Some organizations like Air BNB Experiences or Atlas Obscura have created tons of fantastic virtual experiences to keep people learning and experiencing new things despite the pandemic.

Recently, I tried a virtual experience: a cacao ceremony.

I had to order some ceremonial-grade cacao (raw, unprocessed chocolate straight from the plant). I got it from Belize, and it came in a big bag of raw cacao discs. They're pretty bitter to eat on their own, but a cacao ceremony isn't about having a snack.

A cacao ceremony is an ancient Guatemalan ritual dating back hundreds of years. In fact, the woman running the virtual ceremony was Guatemalan, of Mayan descent. Long ago, chocolate was considered to be the food of the gods (and of the ancient Mesoamerican kings), and its history is steeped in ancient magic and ritual.

Today, a cacao ceremony is a form of meditation (it's honestly kind of new-agey) designed to help the participant relax and focus their emotions and energies.

I logged on to the Zoom meeting, and joined the other participants for the one-hour ceremony after brewing up a cup of ceremonial cacao (a few cacao discs in hot water) in a handmade mug my brother made for me for Christmas a few years back.

Cacao ceremonies are meditations on the self and one's emotions. During the guided meditation, the leader invited us to sip the rich, bitter cacao slowly (there's no sugar, only raw, 100% dark cacao). Some of the participants pulled out their journals to write about their emotions, but I just enjoyed the bitter cacao and the ancient Mayan music as the leader talked us through the ceremony. I don't know if I got any of the purported medical benefits of raw ceremonial cacao, but I definitely felt more relaxed and calm afterwards.