Journey with Cacao

An expansive medicine oriented to the whispers of the heart.

"I have had the privilege of receiving the blessings of Kate’s ceremonies on numerous occasions. As a ceremonial leader and healer, she weaves her work with the precision of a virtuoso musician and the effortless grace of someone deeply devoted to her path. What stands out most is the profound respect she carries for the songs, prayers, and wisdom of her medicine lineage. Nothing feels performed or contrived; her presence itself becomes part of the medicine. I offer my wholehearted recommendation to anyone who feels called to work with her."

—Alan Sternik, Hakomi Practitioner, Musician & Ceremonial Elder
"I have had the pleasure of sharing space with Kate & Cacao a few times. I highly recommend her for this medicine—she knows how to speak through it and she is extremely respectful toward this traditional medicine. I appreciate the open arms I received from her on my first visit, and I couldn’t imagine doing this with anyone else. With her I was able to easily open up to the medicine and to the people around me.”

—Christian Martinez
"Our couple’s cacao ceremony with Kate was such a beautiful and meaningful experience. She created a warm, safe space that helped us connect more deeply, share openly, and strengthen our spiritual and emotional bond. Kate’s presence is calming, intuitive, and truly special. You can feel the intention and care in every detail. Highly recommend for anyone looking for a unique and heart-centered experience."

—DeAnn, Wellness Director
"Kate is a skilled and competent space holder and guide. She facilitates ritual and ceremony with care, presence, and groundedness. Being trained and rooted in a couple of authentic spiritual traditions, she has the ability to live into any moment or event fully, making each experience with her feel easeful and supportive. Her plant medicines are balanced and her powerful connection with the land is felt in using them. All in all, Kate is in heartfelt alignment with her gifts and offers them potently."

—Zoey Moyle, Womb Practitioner & Meditation Teacher

What is Cacao?

Cacao, Kakaw, or Cacahuatl, is a fruit bearing tree believed to be native both to prehispanic Mesoamerica and the forests of Peru. Nahuatl legend says that cacao was a gift from Quetzalcoatl, the great feathered serpent and benevolent god of the Middle World. The Mayans believe it was given to the people for its heart-opening powers, with which they built strong, long-lasting relationships and an open and connected community. Many indigenous groups recognized the power and beauty of this sacred plant and have spent countless generations developing and tending their relationship with her, incorporating her medicine into ceremonies and rituals, as well as weaving her into the tapestry of their daily lives. Many communities discovered that cacao could connect them to their hearts, to the heart of the earth, and to others, and valued it beyond gold.

The term Ceremonial cacao refers to cacao that was grown and processed in the old ways, following traditions that respect the intelligence of the whole plant and using regenerative farming practices. The beans are minimally processed by medicine men and medicine women in traditional methods, and they are imbued with love and prayers each step of the way. Traditionally, the medicine is prepared by hand-grinding the fermented and dried beans using a black obsidian metate and creating an elixir with other powerful herbs and spices. Preparing cacao in this way preserves all of its healing constituents, which are lost in further processing. “Cacao ceremonies” as we currently know them are not traditional, as the original stewards did not share cacao in this way. This term “ceremonial cacao” is being used now to distinguish between the cacao superfood powders and cacao made with prayers following ancestral practices.

Since being brought into Western awareness, Cacao as a spiritual medicine is being offered in different spaces, alongside other healing modalities. I encourage you to use your best judgment and check in with your heart to see if an offering feels in integrity, or if it feels appropriative.

Where did you learn to carry cacao medicine?

My journey with cacao began in Spain when I attended a ceremony held by an indigenous Mexica family of medicine carriers from Mexico, who had opened a healing center in Málaga. From the moment I committed to going to the ceremony, cacao began working with me and in me. The ceremony connected me to her spirit and cracked me wide open, showing me how my heart was aching for connection and how my essence longed to love my inner being, my surroundings, and life itself. Along with this purging of tears, I heard cacao tell me she wanted us to work together, she wanted me to learn to carry her medicine and share it with others.

I apprenticed with a Mexica elder and medicine woman, and was initiated as cacao medicine carrier and sahumadora. My teacher passed on to me the container for this cacao medicine ceremony, which has evolved greatly in my hands over the years. My relationship with cacao and appreciation for her original stewards continued to deepen as I studied in the Mayan Wisdom Academy. Currently, I am a student primarily of Cacao herself, and I continue to learn and humbly serve her medicine, with reverence for my teachers and their ancestors. I give thanks to all those who have passed down the wisdom of their lineage so that we may all return to the old ways of healing, and find our way back to ourselves.

How can I explore cacao with you?

I offer shamanic guidance and cacao connection in different containers. If you’d like to join in a cacao medicine ceremony, sign up for my newsletter and keep an eye on my Offerings page. If you’d like to host a cacao medicine ceremony or include a ceremony in your event, festival or retreat, please reach out so we can begin dreaming and weaving together. If you are interested in sharing cacao with your partner to engage in intentional, conscious connection and heart-opening, I can create a container for you, activate the cacao for conflict-resolution and relationship deepening, and allow Spirit to guide our work together. Please note I am not a therapist, I simply open the container, activate the cacao medicine, and hold space for the medicine to do the work through you. If you are feeling stuck, lost, lonely or disconnected and want to open your heart to invite in growth, higher evolution and spiritual awakening, or simply want to connect more deeply with the spirit of cacao, please contact me and tell me your story. I am here to guide you in your exploration deep into your heart, and hold you as you open to the healing magic of cacao.

Is a cacao ceremony right for your Community?

Sharing cacao is a sacred, ancestral practice that can both support community building and allow for deep individual spiritual and emotional healing. It is a versatile medicine which, as long as it’s carried with love, experience, reverence, and integrity, can be integrated into many healing spaces.

We can join in ceremony with cacao to open the container and set intentions for a healing retreat or festival. We can join in circle to seal in healing and begin to integrate the experiences and growth at the end of a gathering or workshop. We can create a safe and intimate trauma-informed space which allows us to do deep emotional work together in a guided cacao medicine ceremony, or we can integrate movement or creative activities, and focus our intentions on connection and sacred play. The possibilities are limitless.

If you can see cacao being a supportive presence in your gathering, and if its medicine aligns with your vision, please reach out and we can explore possibilities and begin to co-create together.

How to prepare for a cacao medicine ceremony:

Please communicate ahead of time if you are pregnant or nursing—your ingestion of cacao should be limited to a small amount. People who suffer from heart conditions or are taking or have recently stopped taking certain antidepressants should not take ceremonial cacao.

Please wear comfortable clothes, light colors or white if possible. Bring a mug to drink out of, a white candle, preferably in a glass, flowers or a piece of fruit as an offering, a yoga mat or cushion to sit comfortably on the floor, water, and a journal. You may also bring something small to place on the altar to charge. Before the ceremony, I invite you to connect to your intentions, what you’d like the medicine to help bring forth.

Your last meal should be light, leaving a minimum of three hours before the ceremony. Avoid alcohol, caffeine, processed food, animal products and sugar on the day of, and preferably the day before, the ceremony. Consider the area of life you'd like to experience more opening and connection.