on cacao rituals
Being half Ecuadorean on my mothers side has always been a very important part of my identity. Other than my features, which most certainly dominate over my dad’s white pasty German complexion, I very much believe to have a very fiery, latina side to me.
Apart from the overall breathtaking, rich wildlife and nature of the country, its divine cuisine, colourful, expressive arts and crafts I don’t actually know that much about my own family lineage pre-dating Spanish colonialism.
In recent years as I’ve reached maturity, I have been setting more time aside for inquiry, wanting to getting closer to understand my Self. It is during these times that I have developed a real longing to connect to Cacao, Pachamama (Mother Nature) and my roots. Whether I know which tribe(s) are represented in my genetic makeup or not, it doesn’t really matter I have come to understand.
Although I do hope to get the answers eventually!
In the agricultural sector, Ecuador is a major exporter of bananas (the largest in the world in fact), cut flowers, coffee, shrimp, wood, fish and cacao.
Only recently archeologists found an artifact in Ecuador, that is 5.700 years old and dates the history of Cacao back a 1.500 years earlier.
A brief history of Ecuadorean Cacao
The production of cacao constitutes without a doubt a relevant subject with regards to the Ecuadorian economy and society. As central to the nation as the cultivation of cacao can be, it seems however that this has not been reflected on the life conditions of its main producers.
As explained by Professor Martin, Carla D. from Harvard University, the cacao tree (Theobroma cacao L.), is native from the Amazonian basin on the foothills of the northern Andes, a region that spreads on what are now Ecuador and Colombia. A ceramic pottery dating 3300BC and found in Ecuador’s southern Amazonian region of Zamora Chinchipe, contained microscopic remnants of cocoa, suggesting that cocoa beans were being harvested and consumed there more than 5,000 years ago.
Cacao production became a business under the colonisation of the territory by the Spaniards. “Around 1600, the collection and exploitation of the cacao beans constituted one of the most important activities of the old province of Guayaquil. Almost 9 boats were leaving annually the port transporting cacao” (Chiriboga, 2013: 27).
The indigenous people of Ecuador
The indigenous population of Ecuador is close to 1.1 million, out of a total population of 17,200,000 inhabitants. The country is inhabited by 14 indigenous nationalities, joined together in a series of local, regional and national organizations. 24.1% of the indigenous population lives in the Amazon and belongs to ten nationalities.
There are several nationalities with a very low population who live in a highly vulnerable situation. In the Amazon, they are the A’i Cofán (1,485 inhabitants), the Shiwiar (1,198 inhabitants), the Siekopai (689 inhabitants), the Siona (611 inhabitants), and the Sapara (559 inhabitants). On the Coast, they are the Épera (546 inhabitants) and the Manta (311 inhabitants).
According to my research I haven’t been able to identify a tribe which are known for their Cacao ceremonies and how it would be performed. It seems that for most Ecuadoreans, Cacao is not a ceremony. It’s a daily way to have contact with the plant. All this is a part of that culture, of that legacy.
In ceremony
I don’t believe that we have to follow a specific ritual based on ancient cultures when it comes to drinking cacao and have come to realise that I don’t need to search any further than within my own kitchen, body and intuition.
It is the actual Cacao that has showed me my way! In fact, I wrote this whole post following a cup made of ca. 28gr of ceremonial Cacao with just a pinch of salt, cinnamon and dash of almond milk. Sometimes, I sing to it, I thank my ancestors, I ask questions, set an intention, I journal with it or just have a fab time with it really.
If Cacao is something that you would love to try out for yourself or already regularly drink, I invite you to do the same rather than to look for how others do it. Bearing in mind, ceremonies performed in the West, are, more often than not, wildly different than what is practiced by many indigenous cultures.
“Many people share the belief that plants like cacao should not be incorporated into Western spiritual practices, especially when these practices are led by practitioners who have little or no connection to the indigenous heritage of the plants. But, completely removing the spiritual when engaging with these plants comes with its own set of problems — like reducing the value of entheogenic plants to merely their active chemical constituents.”
from an article in Double Blind Mag.
There are different ways you can use it as a practice. Be it as a heart opener, for meditation or to share in community. What I would say is that the connection to a higher power is what sets it apart from just having a cup of hot chocolate. You’ll mainly notice on the price tag, when purchasing ceremonial grade (original non-hybridised).
“These medicines were discovered for spiritual transformation as a means to connect to a higher power, a higher being, and then also to do that and community with others,”
says Jamilah George, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Connecticut.
To me cacao carries an incredibly feminine, loving, caring and nourishing energy which is an act of love. Towards oneself, nature and others, be it performed in solitude or in company.
I prefer in solitude. But that’s just me.
