Journey to Meet Mama Cacao: A Shamanic Gong Ceremony
Every ceremony I hold with Mama Cacao is different — different in tone, different in what rises, different in who arrives. But this one is particularly special to me, because it is a direct meeting. Not a journey to the lower realm or the upper realm, not a healing of something specific, but a simple and profound invitation: come to the forest where cacao grows wild, sit down, and let her introduce herself.
The first time I met Mama Cacao in this way — in ceremony, in that forest space — she appeared to me as a wisp of purple smoke, and within that smoke a goddess. I still hold that image as one of the most beautiful of my spiritual life. She is endlessly generous, endlessly patient, and she meets each of us in exactly the form we need. What she offers you in this ceremony will be uniquely yours.
Who Is Mama Cacao?
In shamanic and Mayan traditions, every plant has a spirit — a conscious intelligence that exists within and beyond its physical form. Cacao’s spirit is Mama Cacao: the wise, warm, heart-opening presence that has guided healers, teachers, and communities for thousands of years across the forests of Central and South America.
She is, above all, a practical teacher. She does not tend toward the abstract or the overwhelming. When she speaks, her guidance is often direct, loving, and immediately applicable to your life. She is particularly gifted at helping us see with our ‘heart’s eyes’ — that quality of perception that cuts through confusion and sees what truly matters. She can help us connect with our deepest intentions, receive healing where we need it most, and walk our path with more clarity, compassion, and joy.
On a physical level, drinking ceremonial cacao releases magnesium into the body — deeply relaxing, like a warm Epsom salt bath from the inside. She balances serotonin and dopamine (a natural antidepressant and anti-anxiety medicine), and floods the system with oxytocin, the hormone of love and connection. As she opens the heart chakra, other emotions may also rise to move through. If you feel tearful, trust it. Mama Cacao is simply making space for more love.
The Cacao Seed Blessing
In this ceremony, I also work with a Guatemalan practice I was taught by the grace of the Mayan grandmothers — the use of three whole cacao beans as seed intentions. Before we journey, I invite you to send me your deepest intentions — the seeds you are sowing in your reality right now, the things you want to grow and blossom.
I hold these intentions in the three organic cacao beans as I place them into my ceremony. After the ceremony, I bury them in my garden beside a tree. That tree carries the energy of your intentions deep down into the Earth through its roots — and Mother Earth receives your prayers and carries them up through the trunk, into the branches, out onto the four winds, so that all directions receive what you are asking for, and the universe can begin weaving your chosen reality into being.
The Ceremony: Flying to the Forest
Unlike many of my other ceremonies, this journey stays entirely in the middle realm — this layer of reality, the living world — rather than descending into the lower realm or ascending to the upper realm. We are simply travelling across the physical Earth to a place where cacao still grows in its original, wild, sacred form.
After cleansing our energy field and calling in the seven directions, I guide your consciousness out through your crown chakra — a tiny white light like Tinkerbell, carried by a golden mist — and we fly together across the landscape towards the Mayan forests of Central and South America. Peru, Guatemala, Ecuador, Mexico, Belize, Brazil, Colombia: these are the places where cacao still grows wild, where her spirit is most fully alive.
We descend through the forest canopy, landing among the leaf litter of a shaded grove. Cacao loves to grow in the company of other trees — mango, avocado, and the great sheltering canopy of the rainforest. In the centre of a circle of cacao trees sits a large, smooth stone, warm and welcoming. You rest there, and the stone begins to vibrate your intentions into the roots of the trees around you.
Then we call for her, three times: Mama Cacao, Mama Cacao, Mama Cacao — please come to us. Please show yourself today. And she comes. How she appears to you will be entirely your own — perhaps as a tree whose presence suddenly speaks to you, perhaps as a goddess, a colour, a warmth in the chest, a knowing. She dresses herself differently for each of us. Trust what arrives.
I then leave you to journey with her in the company of the gongs, holding space until the rain begins to fall in the forest — gently cleansing you and calling you home. Before you leave, you are invited to ask if there is anything you can offer Mama Cacao in return. The best relationships are always equal and reciprocal.
About Ceremonial Cacao
Ceremonial cacao is optional in this journey — the experience works beautifully on intention, and gong sound alone. But if you choose to drink her, please use quality ceremonial-grade cacao — not cocoa powder or commercial chocolate. After seven years of experience and trialling many cacaos, the brands I personally recommend are Tsatsayaku (gentle but visionary), Spirit of The Valley (the most delicious and healing), and Ruk’U’X Ulew (the most relaxing). These are available from the PSMW shop.
Set your intention before drinking. Think of it a little like going to the shops with a list — without one, you may forget what you truly came for. Your intention can be as simple as “I would like to meet Mama Cacao” or as specific as a question about your path. She is ready for whatever you bring.
How to Prepare for the Ceremony
A little preparation will help you arrive in the best possible state:
Prepare your ceremonial cacao before the ceremony begins so you are ready to drink as we call in the directions
Set a clear intention — a question, a request for healing, or simply an open heart ready for connection
Create a comfortable, supported space — lying down or seated with cushions. Have a blanket nearby, as body temperature can drop.
Use good headphones or speakers to receive the full range of the seven symphonic gongs’ frequencies.
Have a journal and pen to hand — write or draw immediately after the journey, while it is still fresh.
Allow some quiet time afterwards to integrate. If emotions arise during or after the ceremony, trust them — that is the medicine working
Experience Mama Cacao with Me
I am deeply passionate about sharing Mama Cacao’s medicine. Having worked with her for many years, I have witnessed the most extraordinary openings, healings, and transformations in people who come into ceremony with an open heart. She meets every single one of us exactly where we are.
→ Watch the free ceremony on YouTube
We can heal our world, one heart at a time. Let us begin with our own.
