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Cacao Ceremony - A Mini Meditation Retreat
An immersive sound and meditation experience taking us straight to our wise selves.
Perth’s original Cacao Ceremony has been running continuously since 2010. Working with fine ceremonial cacao, heart-focused meditation and sound technology
A Cacao Ceremony
This session incorporates a potent combination of modalities that take us straight to our rested, insightful, and heartfelt selves. The structure of the ceremony has been refined over many years.
During the ceremony, you will be guided through heart-focused and mindfulness meditations. You will experience an immersion into leading-edge sound technology and evocative soundscapes. Enjoy the support of the pharmacology of cacao. Connect with the power that comes with collectively shared intention and presence.
A cacao ceremony will deepen your capacity to engage renewing and transformative emotions such as gratitude, compassion, forgiveness, and dignity. It will give you the space to rest deeply and reset your nervous system. The cacao, sound technology, and structure of the ceremony put the body into the best state for self-healing and access to spiritual guidance and creativity.
Cacao in Ceremony
When Willow and Catherine met in 2008, they began working with cacao together, and almost immediately it became an integral part of their lives.
Over time, they began to feel subtle shifts—a more buoyant playfulness and a deeper experience of gratitude. They found themselves turning more directly to compassion and forgiveness. A gentle sense of internal latitude and worthiness arrived. A commitment to developing other refined human qualities, such as dignity and open-heartedness, was reinforced.
They became certain they could offer cacao in a ceremonial context. The intention: to support the mental, emotional, and spiritual health and well-being of participants.
They sought out a facilitator in Guatemala who had been working specifically with cacao in ceremony for decades. Cacao has traditionally been used in ceremonies in Central and South America. It was usually, however, used as an adjunct with other ceremonial offerings, such as psilocybin mushrooms.
The work they did in Guatemala provided the foundation for the ceremonies here. Catherine and Willow have then evolved and refined the ceremonies over time. They utilised their medical, holistic, and ceremonial backgrounds to guide the unfolding of the Reverence Event’s Cacao Ceremony which has now been running continuously since 2010.
Why attend?
Their focus has shifted over the years as our culture has seemingly sped up and become more chaotic. Individuals are feeling more and more internal pressure to achieve, “succeed,” and keep up with a rapidly transforming technological environment. With this amount of pressure and speed comes an unsustainable strain on our nervous system.
We experience an ever-present feeling of “not good enough” and urgency, with the resultant feelings of disappointment and depletion. In this urgent and depleted state, it is difficult to attend to the wise whispers of our heart and spirit and the nurturing nudges of our soul that are always able to guide us so well—when we can listen.
We require access to a metaphorical oasis in order to rejuvenate and relax. A place to unburden ourselves and slow down our nervous systems. An opportunity to reconnect with deep stillness and true inner listening.
There are as many ways to run a Cacao Ceremony as there are individuals with the skills and the will to do it.
The approach to these ceremonies tends to draw in individuals who value care and kindness. Those who are selflessly serving others but require a safe, grounded, warm, and welcoming environment to “top up.”
This mini meditation retreat allows access to a space to do their own inner work with the support of the structured but non-dogmatic ceremony, the heart-centered, earnest people we tend to attract, our commitment to creating a genuine environment for the qualities of humanity to flourish, and a space where people report they can feel safe to let go into.
Our approach to Ceremony
1. A parasympathetic system response in the autonomic nervous system (rest, digest, restore, heal, relax)
2. A connection to noble qualities of humanity such as gratitude, compassion, inner latitude, and dignity
3. A connection to the wisdom and creativity of our heart, soul, and spirit, and the ineffable majesty of life
Our ceremony is not about movement or an outward focus; it is about stillness and an inward focus. There is plenty of “doing” going on in our lives. This is an opportunity to pause and… exhale.
We work with empirically-based guided meditation, sophisticated sound technology that supports the brain waves to gently slow down (allowing us to more easily access more refined states of consciousness), specific non-dogmatic ceremonial practises (such as how we set up the space and open the ceremony) to ensure a purposefully set and deliberately supported event, and of course, the pharmacology and spirit of the cacao.
We invite you to join us.
At this point in history, we believe we need to be much more proactive and deliberate in our care for our mental, emotional, spiritual, and soul well-being. It is challenging to be doing this purely on our own, and we feel that we benefit immensely from safe, supportive, and mature spaces that affirm who we really are, the truth of the important work we are offering in the world, and give us well-needed regular recharges so we can continue and thrive. We feel that having access to an oasis like the Cacao Ceremony is essential!
So, if you feel that this approach resonates with you, please come and join us for our next ceremony.
“Ceremony is more beneficial for human continuity than any machine or technological development.” Thomas Moore
More about the Sound Technology
We incorporate a blend of leading edge brainwave synchronising technologies, including sound engineering from The Monroe Institute (Spacial Angle Modulation) and IAwake Technologies, as well as alpha, theta, and delta synchronising frequencies.
These frequencies assist the brain in slowing down to deeper rhythms. These states are normally accessible only to those with extensive experience in meditation or trance work.
When the brain rhythms start to slow down, our awareness shifts, and we become more open to perceiving life in a different way. Many participants report increased creativity, inspiration, self-reflection, self-healing, and deep relaxation.
Time slows down in these altered states, and we can become more present, relating to ourselves in new ways.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is Cacao?
A: Cacao is the seed from the fruit of the Theobroma Cacao tree, native to Central and South America. This is the chocolate bean. Most chocolate though is highly processed, cooked and with many other ingredients added, and so loses much of it’s therapeutic affect.
Q; What is Ceremony?
A: An opportunity to connect more deeply and deliberately whereby a purposefully set and held space, concentrated intent and collective attention creates a richer moment.
Q: What is involved in the Ceremony?
A: When you arrive, we will help you settle in and you will immediately notice that the space has been meticulously prepared for something special – it is pristine, beautiful and still.
We will talk you through how the afternoon will unfold and give you some suggestions for navigating your journey. You will always have access to support or to ask questions at any time.
Over the afternoon we then utilise the cacaos, gently supportive processes to assist you to still your mind and connect with your heart as well as the brain balancing music technology and a beautiful eclectic soundscape.
We respect your time frames and will be supporting the ceremony throughout
Q: What is in the Cacao Drink?
A: The drink is specifically prepared for the ceremony from the Guatemalan recipe we were trained to serve. It contains a special raw cacao paste, raw cold-pressed organic dark agave nectar (a natural low GI sweetener from the agave succulent), a small amount of organic panella (unrefined whole cane sugar), organic vanilla bean powder and a pinch of chilli.
* We work with Organic Raw Criollo Cacao Paste – the cacao beans are hand picked and then milled very finely but not roasted or processed in any other way
Q: Is there any caffeine in Cacao?
A: There is no caffeine in Cacao. There is an alkaloid called theobromine, which has a similar chemical structure, and has been mistaken for caffeine in the past. Theobromine is a very mildly stimulating cousin of caffeine and does not have the intensity or jitteriness of caffeine
Q: How do I best prepare?
A: Ideally you need to be able to allow yourself a gentle evening after the ceremony – some people have very deep experiences (e.g. don’t book to go to a 3 year old birthday party straight after the event)
You will need to limit caffeine and avoid chocolate on the day and ideally alcohol and rich foods the night before.
If any of the below apply to you, you will need to let us know before the ceremony so we can adjust the amount of cacao for you.
- Are on anti-depressants
- Having chemotherapy
- Are pregnant
- Follow a 100% raw food diet
- Have very low blood pressure or are on blood thinners
- If you have epilepsy, please contact us before booking in
Q: Do I need any meditation experience?
A: No formal experience of meditation is necessary, just an earnest desire to stop and look within. We have a very supportive sound technology that slows the brain wave patterns to support a movement into a more relaxed meditative state, though if you are an experienced meditator of any level you will find you can really have a very deep experience in the Cacao Ceremony. We offer some suggestions for navigating the ceremony based on our experience, as well as a short guided meditation towards the beginning to support all participants to settle into the afternoon.
