Respectful Engagement with Traditions & Medicine
In 2022 I drank my first cup of Ceremonial Cacao lovingly prepared for me by 2 Women in Melbourne.
That experience was the catalyst for a thread that would weave me to win a scholarship to study/sit with Love Bean who was strongly embedded into the work of Cacao across Victoria.
All the way to now, living in Karratha and continuing to not just share this medicine but be a receiver of it’s continued weaving of joy, healing, connection and integration in my own life.
Over that 3 year period, I sat deeply with Cacao - guided by it’s Spirit, guided by Audrey and her deep knowledge of the lands, traditions and cultural rituals with Cacao, guided by Cecilia the founder of Ruk'u'x Ulew, guided by my Spirit and my Aumakua (Guardians & Ancestors).
I made friendships through Cacao like a treasured friendship with Gayle Newbolt, who now lives in Tasmania sharing her incredible work as a Somatic Healing Practitioner.
The first time I prepared & shared Cacao to a group of women was hosting my first Women’s Space with my friend Marissa - again in Melbourne, where we wove traditional practices that had helped us on our journey together, to invite other women to experience.
Since that time which was in May 2022, I find myself here placed in May 2025 on the opposite end of the country - having lived a thousand lives within that time it would seem, including becoming a Mother.
When I began to sit with Cacao, there were very minimal brands on offer however those that had brands seem to have a very strong story of connecting to the land, the cultures, the stewards of those lands and the Spiritual Guardians associated with the Cacao.
It was a potent time to be drinking Cacao for this reason.
It was a story of pure traceable connection, authentic weaving, deep connection to Tradition and cultural respect.
Since that time - 2025, Cacao has become commodified, brand saturated and easy to locate.
Along with that, the explosion of Women’s Circles, Sound Healings, Cacao Ceremonies.
It’s been fascinating to see the two paths intermingle - the path of conscious awareness, psychic opening and a communal integration with harmony calling forth these offerings. Simultaneously it engages with the energies of the reality we have transcended. The matrix which at it’s extreme is capitalist, ego centric, exploitative and at it’s softening is diluted, extractive and performative.
This shift occurred largely while I was pregnant and I was hesitant to share Cacao in group settings again, and I had also had a long break from sitting with Cacao as I suffered terribly from Hyperemesis Gravadium (HG) intense vomiting and nauseous for 4 months without reprieve.
My hesitation was met by an innate unfolding/return to reconnecting with Cacao which has involved my sitting with this medicine and once again, preparing it for others to share with love.
As a kaleidoscope of ethnicities, I have been gifted with the capacity to see things from multiple points of view and when it comes to working with Ancestors & Ancestral Medicine it shapes how I approach this relationship/connection with Cacao.
To see people approach Cacao as something to be used for their benefit, to sell tickets, to sell ideas, to sell something to people - genuinely hurts me. It touches something inside of me, as it (at it extreme) feels like a violation and (at it’s softening) feels like diluted reverence which centers the self gain.
True healing connection within and across the planet, requires a spiritual uprising rooted in empowerment and Cacao, I was taught - and I have experienced it to be - is an Ancestor, a Medicine a Way-finder supporting us toward that inner empowerment.
It is much deeper, much more important, much more centered and intentioned than slapping Cacao Ceremony on a flyer without any roots, any knowledge, understanding, reverence, respect for it’s wisdoms which are embedded in the Land, the People, the Stewards, the Ancestors, the Guardians.
When Cecilia, Mayan Woman & Founder of Ruk'u'x Ulew, was asked by a humble member of the group - as a Mayan woman, what is your opinion of non-Mayan’s and people from other cultures sharing Cacao with the world.
That humble question was met with an equally humble response which was to the effect of - if Cacao has called to you (and we discussed how this showed up with our group through serendipitous weaving, undeniably pure and genuine) then it is your work to do with Cacao, the Ancestor Spirit of this medicine has a mission.
So I reflect today with Cacao in my system, soothing, supporting and bringing harmony to my nervous system so that I can think & speak in coherence with the heart I sit with this question- What Is My Intention in sitting with this Medicine?