(Review by Sarah List)
Before I even get started on the review, I would like to make it clear that this kind of experience will be different for everyone and so I’ll do my best to characterise the experience for myself but it’s by no means what you may experience yourself. Comfy clothes are a must as you’ll be lying down for most of the time, and the more experienced guests had blankets and pillows for extra comfort although the venue did supply yoga mats and bolsters.
Cacao as a ritual began about 1000 years ago and requires specific types of Cacao that grow in Guatemala, Mexico or Peru, which are lower in caffeine and not crossbreed as modern type of Cacao used to make modern chocolate. It’s not a psychedelic, but is seen more as a facilitator to help a person to meditate on an intention (problem? Idea? Challenge?) they set for the session.
The Sacred Cacao Sound Journey opens with a purification with sage smoke and setting your intention over flowers and grains of rice that are burned at the end of the session to symbolise your release from what you have meditated on.
In a darkened room, you drink your thick and slightly sweetened Cacao that has a thickness between melted chocolate and a hot chocolate drink, and then lay down to meditate. Jay Hoad and Nicole Tretiakov create a complex and at times jarring soundscape. At times it felt as though the internal contents were being shaken free from the burden of the focus of my meditation. It was quite cathartic. At the end of the musical journey, we heads outside to symbolically burn the grains of rice that contained the focus of our meditation. It was a very special experience and I would highly recommend it for anyone looking for deeper ways to self examine their inner workings.
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