A Cacao Ceremony offers a container to explore our counscious and sub-conscious patterns, move through emotional and energetic blockages, and discover more of our behavioural patterns.
We create a space to explore these parts of ourselves and to move through them in a safe, guided and held way.
Cacao is not psycho-active and doesn’t take you out of your body.
Each individual experiences Cacao in their own unique way, as this medicine works with each person differently.

Iselin offers private Cacao ceremonies, either one-on-one or for smaller groups. Your cacao ceremony will be specifically tailored to your needs, and will include a Guided Cacao Meditation and opening/closing prayer m. It may also include pranayama (breathing exercises), yoga nidra, and conversational therapy.

For more information, send an email to ISELINAMANDASTOYLEN@GMAIL.COM.

“Chocolate is a divine, celestial drink, the sweat of the stars, the vital seed, divine nectar, the drink of the gods, panacea, and universal medicine.”
- Geronimo Piperni

Cacao as Medicine

Cacao beans, or cacao seeds, are part of the Cacao Fruit, growing on the cacao tree. Its scientific name is Theobroma Cacao. Cacao grows in tropical environments around the world, and is native to the upper Amazon basin region. Cacao is the primary ingredient in chocolate. Through fermentation and roasting, cacao develops its signature taste. 

Ceremonial cacao is different to most of the commercially available cacao on the market. Because Ceremonial Grade Cacao is intended for ceremony, it is handled in a respectful and honourable way: from planting, harvesting, preparation all the way to your cup. Most of the recipes in this book call for ceremonial grade cacao paste: it is by far the best way to make really high-quality, delicious chocolate.

Ceremonial Cacao is made from ground Cacao seeds from the Cacao fruit, and uses heirloom strains of Cacao. Ceremonial Cacao is minimally processed, and all the components of the Cacao seed is kept intact to maintain its unique taste, medicinal properties and health benefits.To be considered Ceremonial, the Cacao is grown and harvested in a way that is sustainable and regenerative, and the land and people involved in the process is honoured and treated with respect. 

To make real ceremonial cacao the beans goes through a process of fermentation, which supports the bioavailability of certain nutrients in the cacao. Roasting of the cacao is a practice that was traditionally done over the fire by women in the community, and is what brings out the beautiful flavour in cacao. 

Ceremonial cacao contains two stimulants, theobromine and caffeine. Theobromine is the primary stimulant, and cacao is the richest source of theobromine found in nature. Caffeine is present in lower concentrations in cacao. A ceremonial dose of Cacao (approx 30g) contains roughly the same amount as a cup of green tea.  Theobromine is primarily a smooth-muscle relaxant; it works primary through stimulation of the cardiovascular system. Caffeine, on the other hand, has a greater effect on the nervous system. When cacao is ingested and theobromine enters the bloodstream, the arterial network and the heart muscle dilates, as well as the bronchial passages of the lungs. 

The result of this vasodilation is an increase in heartbeat and an increase in blood oxygen levels, but a decrease in blood pressure: blood pumping through wider channels actually yields lower blood pressure.

Cacao works physically as a heart opener by increasing circulation in the body, which is often recognised as a “warm feeling” or “feeling of bliss” in the body after ingesting cacao. 

The half-life (the time in which it takes to break down half of the ingested substance in the body) is significantly longer for theobromine than it is for for caffeine: 2-5 hours for caffeine, and 7-12 hours for theobromine. This is why people tend to find cacao to be a more gentle, sustained  energy boost compared to coffee.