Experimenting With Cacao

I have been taking a journey with Cacao, which has also been known as the “Food of the Gods.”

The Goddess Hel brought it to my attention, so I started diving in. First through research and then personal experimentation, both with the drink and the spirit of Cacao.

At the bottom of this article I will list a variety of different resources and information about Cacao if you want to start your own research. As for now, I just want to stick with what I have personally experienced so far.

Why Cacao?

I had never heard of cacao before, but Hel was putting it directly in my path and urging me to learn about it. We had been working on some mirror aspects as they pertained to ancestor/ spirit work. After about the third time of Her bringing it up I decided to look it up. It didn’t take long to see the potential reasons why She wanted to incorporate this with the work we were doing.

It has a long history in shamanic practices in areas of spirit connection, heart opening, and meditative states. It also is made from the same plant as chocolate, but without all the additives, and I was familiar in the use of that after deep spiritual work/ death work and re-grounding you. OK, I got the hint, next was to find some.

I live in a small town so options are limited, but I did find this one at our local walmart. So I picked it up and jumped right in!

The First Cup

My first try was early evening. I heated up some water, put it in my coffee mug along with 2 tablespoons of cacao powder, and mixed until it was all dissolved. You can add other spices and sweeteners but I wanted to try it straight.

To be honest, it tasted awful!

It was like drinking bakers chocolate, and if you have ever tasted that I am sure you can imagine this. I made it through about half the cup and had to give up. It made me feel lethargic and light headed, but then again I had been outside in the heat all day which also makes me that way. This test was more to see if I could even tolerate it taste wise, so I just wrote off the first day.

Second Day – Mornings

I decided to start by experiencing it in the morning when I was fresh and more energetic. I have been doing a lot of my spiritual work in the mornings anyway for the past year, so I had already built up that rhythm. This time I went with 4 tablespoons, an amount some recommended for spiritual work, and added a little sugar to it this time. Still tasted bad in my opinion, but tolerable enough to drink it all down.

I was really surprised that I started feeling the same state I usually feel during trance. That moment right before you take the step into spirit walking, outside of yourself. Since I was considering this the first official day of experimenting with it, I was being very aware of every sensation. I wasn’t stepping into it from a spiritual sense yet, but looking at it through a more scientific one.

The Rest of the Week

I was feeling pretty comfortable after the first morning, so I decided to fully dive into the spiritual experience with cacao.

It was consistent. As I got near to the bottom of the cup, I was swallowed by that same feeling. Where the world and my body started fading into the background. I was still aware of them, but disconnected from them. Instead of staying grounded though, I just allowed myself to flow with it.

I am not going to get into the personal experiences and conversations I had in that state, but it did give me an idea. I have worked with a lot of people who struggle with the way meditation and trance work are presented. They have a difficult time focusing or quieting their brains enough to get there. It has led me to creating some different techniques that have been effective, but also take a little more training of the body and mind to get there. My theory is, this could be a much easier and quicker way to get them to that type of trance state.

I have a couple of people trying it now to see what their experiences are. I can not be sure if I got this effect so easily because I have done this kind of work for years, so I am more predisposed to it – or if the cacao really can work like this for anyone.

If anyone here decides to try this experiment, I would love to hear about your results!

Switching to Nights

I did this for several mornings in a row, with consistent results. So I decided to see if it would have any different effects if taken right before going to sleep.

Same procedure – 4 tablespoons of cacao powder, mixed into hot water, with a little bit of white sugar. Drank down the cup, and then went to sleep.

I have done this for several nights now and it seems to really enhance the dream state. Now, I dream regularly and they are often vivid/ lucid dreams. I think is important to understand the base line here. I did notice a distinct difference with the cacao though.

The dream context was consistently geared towards the past – not my past but like a look through history. The emotions while in the dream were enhanced and the senses in general seemed to be heightened. Now I have only done this part of the experiment a few days, but I plan on continuing this method for longer to see how it progresses.

Again, I have a theory that cacao may be a viable method for those with lucid dreaming issues, or just increasing their ability to dream in general. I won’t know until I find some people who are willing to give it a go and that also have issues dreaming/ remembering or controlling them.

Surface Conclusions

I say surface conclusions for two reasons. First, neither of these things are something I personally have issues with, so I can not say for sure that it will work for others in the way I think it will. Secondly, I only have about a week of working with it under my belt. I have a lot of different ideas to try and I need more time to go deeper into the spirit of the plant. To understand it better and what possibilities it holds for me.

I do understand why, the Goddess Hel pointed me there though. I can see some solid potentials for it when it comes to spirit and death work. It may be extremely beneficial to those who are going through the Death’s Emissary course and some of the work within that. I think there is also some deeper work, especially in the dream aspect and perhaps even in the mirror work we have been doing. I also found an experienced cacao practitioner that is going to give a special class on it for my participants, which is exciting!

Experiment for Yourself

I think there is a lot of potential when it comes to cacao and spiritual work. As we are all different, I think it will impact us differently. I do highly recommend giving it a shot though. Experiment for yourself and see what effects you feel, what doors open for you.

You can add a variety of sweeteners such as sugar or honey, but I would avoid adding milk/ dairy as that can affect how it binds and breaks down in the body. I’m honest, I think the taste is nasty, but it does get better over time… Kind of reminds me of what a friend said about beer once – “You just keep drinking it until you can tolerate it.” I never felt compelled to do that with alcohol (I hate the taste of any alcohol), but I am with cacao, and the same principal applies.

I’d love to hear about your experiences, especially if you decided to experiment like this with cacao!