HOW I DISCOVERED SACRED CACAO MEDICINE - By Preeti Berar
I have always been on a quest to live in a place of peace and happiness; to find the deeper truths of life, of our minds, of our bodies and understanding the concepts of the universe. I have always marched to the beat of my own drum and sang a different tune than what is commonly heard. I understand that love is always the answer, and that my heart must always lead the way forward.
I am blessed to have crossed paths with many wise Elders, Wisdom Keepers, Indigenous people, Buddhists, Monks, Yogis, Shamans, Witches, Sound Therapists, Energy Healers and Holistic Medicine Practitioners who have shared their wisdom with me. I always remained open and curious, deeply appreciating the value of their messages and teachings. I learned so much from observation, tuning into my heart and feeling into everything they offered to me. Every bit of wisdom shared to me throughout my life has shaped me into the person I am in the here and the now.
Having spent many years working with Energy Healing Practices, Holistic Nutrition, Yoga and Meditation, I have always viewed life through a Quantum physics lens, seeing everything as vibration. Through many years of experience, connecting to spiritual medicines, I have created a very strong connection to source energy. I listen to the nudges of Spirit to guide my way forward. Feeling into each moment, tuning into my own inner guidance system to show me where I need to focus my energy and to help me see where I am heading.
Being so highly connected to Spirit, I was taken down a path to explore South American Medicine. I was pulled towards exploring Ayahuasca, which is a psychoactive brew that is used in Ceremonies among Indigenous people of the Amazon basin. It has a psychedelic effect since this tea contains DMT, known as “The Spirit Molecule”. This is responsible for our dream state at night as our pineal gland produces this chemical in the brain. During the process of an Ayahuasca ceremony, the DMT can produce visuals and insights during the waking state. However, Mother Ayahuasca is extremely powerful and begins working with you the moment you say ‘Yes’ to this medicine. She is considered to be a Grandmother spirit that works closely with this respected sacred Plant Medicine. Once you agree to work with Grandmother Ayahuasca, the Spirit of this Medicine stays with you.
I sat through two Ayahuasca ceremonies and by the end of the second one, I felt like my heart was blown wide open. Up until that moment, I had never experienced this level of heart opening before. I had been so guarded with my heart before this ceremony. I had built a strong wall around it to protect myself. Once my heart was open, so many beautiful blessings were easily welcomed into my reality. So many things changed from this experience that it would be a chapter in itself to share. However, this experience has been so deeply profound and it shifted the course of my journey positively.
A week after my first two nights siting with this sacred Medicine, I met up with a friend that wanted to share Ayahuasca stories, as she too had worked with this Medicine before. Through our time together, she spoke about a place called The Yoga Forest, which is a retreat centre in Guatemala. It was the first time I had ever heard of it, and the moment she spoke of it, the light above us had flickered. It is not uncommon for me to experience lights flickering around me. I often take it as a sign that I need to pay attention to what is going on in front of me. So the moment I heard about The Yoga Forest, I knew it was significant because of the lights flickering. However, I did not know why at the time.
The next morning, I was scrolling through Instagram and I was looking through some of my friends story posts. I often would watch one particular friend who has been down south for a few years, and all of a sudden it dawned on me that he is in San Marcos, Lake Atitlan, Guatemala, which is right where The Yoga Forest is situated. The energy from this place connecting with me in such a profound way. I could feel spirit trying to get my attention, not knowing fully why. So I let it be.
Fast forward to a few months after my first Ayahuasca experiences: I attended a sweat-lodge ceremony, where the facilitators offered us a short cacao ceremony to begin with along side a few other South American medicines. My curiosity around sacred cacao grew after this experience. I wanted to know more about this medicine. I started researching it and came across an interesting podcast that discussed cacao ceremonies. During this podcast, they began to mention San Marcos, Lake Atitlan, Guatemala where some of the best ceremonial cacao is produced, respected and honoured for this ancient tradition. I was surprised that Lake Atitlan was presenting itself so strongly again. It was being highlighted to me by spirit so I knew there was something significant about all of this.
Up until that moment, I never acted on the impulse to go to Lake Atitlan or to The Yoga Forest. I decided to go back for another two nights of Ayahuasca ceremonies a couple months after my first cacao ceremony experience. Between my first and the second Ayahuasca ceremony during this particular retreat, I had a light bulb moment where I realized I need to work with sound as medicine. I was always told by different intuitive women that I will be working with sound healing, but I always brushed it off. I never considered myself a musician, so it is a different world for me to walk into.
After this two night Ayahuasca retreat, I went home and began to search where I could possibly learn to work with sound therapy. I began Google searching local sound healing courses, however nothing significant stood out to me. The moment I decided to broaden my search, The Yoga Forest jumped out on Google, showing me that they offer a course called ‘Sound Ceremony’. All of a sudden, everything made sense! I knew I was being nudged to go to this very place, so I acted on the impulse and signed up for this course!
My relationship to sacred cacao medicine began to grow before I ever made it to Guatemala. My friend that lives in San Marcos, Lake Atitlan had shipped me some ceremonial grade cacao. I began to explore this medicine more and I ended up attending a few other cacao ceremonies. I simply remained open and curious when it came to this medicine. I love it because it creates a sense of euphoria in the body and does not have the psychedelic effects of some of the other sacred medicines.
All I knew is that I needed to explore my musical side by going to Guatemala. What I experienced was more than I had ever expected. I discovered that my musical abilities are fully operated by spirit. I have been using my voice during Energy Healing sessions for years and this course showed me that I had the gift of Light Language. I sing songs that spirit sings through me to heal and shift energy. I simply needed to own this part of me that I kept held back for such a long time. This course blessed me with many other tools and skills, such as tuning fork therapy, running sound baths and sacred ceremonies, among other phenomenal nuggets of wisdom.
Cacao ceremonies were a part of this experience. I began to connect much deeper with the spirit of cacao medicine. Considering that this profound medicine comes from these sacred lands that I arrived upon, to witness, learn from, honour and respect. I came home for this life-changing experience, wondering what I was going to do next and what I was going to do with all of this new found knowledge and experience I was blessed with. So I decided to create a more intimate connection to Mother Cacao and sit with her in my own personal ceremony, allowing her to show me the way forward.
When I drank my first ceremonial cup of cacao after coming home, I connected with the feeling of being in Guatemala, which really expanded my heart space. The spirit of this medicine began to speak to me and she reminded me of Mother Earth and the Indigenous Mayans that have protected the fruit of cacao. She is a grounded, loving and gentle medicine that helps us access our truth and invokes inspiration and creativity. She produces a natural feel-good energy that enlivens our spirits. When I use this medicine, it feels like she gives me the warmest hug, deep inside my body. She is wise and gentle medicine as she assists in deep heart healing. Through this personal ceremony, I felt her ask me to share her medicine in the North because it is needed here.
Being that I am not native to this medicine, it is not something I thought to share. However, when I moved out of my mind about it and tuned into my heart, then I knew spirit was speaking to me. I trusted that, and began to share the knowledge I had acquired about this plant medicine. I asked my friend to supply me cacao medicine from Atitlan, so I can help share this incredible heart opening medicine here in the North.
According to legend, it is said that when the spirit of cacao shows up, it is when people have lost connection to their hearts. Having seen and witnessed what the past year has shown to us, it is not a coincidence that I am being asked to bring more attention to this sacred medicine. We need to reconnect to the compassionate, loving and empathic parts of us, as we witness and hold space for the shadows of the world to rise up to be healed. We are being asked to remember to stay in our hearts and follow our truth.
It has been truly transformational for me to work with this medicine regularly. I notice how quickly it activates my heart when I feel it closing in or hardening again. It has helped me heal hearts of many of my friends and it has been so profound to witness this beautiful process. I work with amazing artisanal cacao that is produced in San Marcos, Lake Atitlan called, Ruk’u’x’Ulew. It is a 100% Indigenous Mayan Women’s Collective that produces this ancestral medicine. Each bean is fermented, sun-dried, lightly roasted and peeled by hand. It is milled in small batches and packaged fresh.
Through this journey working with different sacred plant medicines, cacao has become one of my regular rituals. I have been supporting those ready to work with cacao medicine, by offering to ship this medicine to them and give them guidelines on how to run a personal cacao ceremony. I offer one-on-one online cacao ceremonies for those interested in being supported to go deeper with the medicine. These ceremonies are very individual as I hold sacred space, utilizing different healing modalities such as breath-work, sound and meditation throughout their personal ceremony. I also offer online appointments for intuitive distance healing that includes Light Language, as well as online Pranayama Yogic breath-work sessions. Feel free to take a look at my service page at preetiunique.com if you are interested in working with me through these different spiritual medicines.
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