A Decade with Ceremonial Cacao

There are moments in life that feel small at the time — a cup placed in your hands, a quiet prayer, a feeling you can’t quite explain.And then, over years…they reveal themselves as turning points.This episode is a reflection on a ten-year journey with cacao — not just as a plant, but as a relationship.A relationship that has been devotional, expansive…and at times, deeply confronting.From my very first cup of ceremonial cacao from Guatemala, where I made a simple, almost innocent prayer to meet my husband, to many years later… marrying a man from that very land.But the journey in between was anything but linear.In this episode, I share:• The beginningMy first encounter with cacao, and the moment I spoke a desire I didn’t yet understand the weight of.• The path it openedHolding ceremonies for hundreds, facilitating at festivals, and teaching hundreds• The relationship with cacaoNot just the beauty, but the rupture.The times I stepped away.The distance, the discomfort, the addictions• The deeper initiationHow cacao became more than a practice, it became a mirror.Calling me into integrity, into listening, into slowing down. Most importantly, an initiation to return to my own land and lineage - Ireland.• Living at the sourceMy time in West Africa, immersed in the cacao jungle, tending land, owning an acre of cacao, meeting the plant beyond ceremony, through soil, labour, and lineage.• Culture, identity, and rememberingHow cacao didn’t just connect me outward,it brought me back into relationship with my own culture, my own roots, my own way of belonging.• Teaching and transmissionTraining facilitators, and the responsibility of holding this work with depth and respect.• The full-circle momentHow a prayer spoken over a cup of cacao in Guatemala came to life years later - in love, in partnership, in marriage.This episode is about more than cacao.It’s about relationshipand how even the most sacred connections can move through distance, silence, and repair.It’s about the pain of stepping away from something you love…and the humility of returning.It’s about remembering who you are, not just spiritually, but culturally, ancestrally, and humanly.And it’s about trusting that nothing is ever truly lostonly waiting to be met again, differently.🎙️ Listen now on Substack and all podcast platformsWOMAN: Ritual & Realness This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sarahrichardsonauthor.substack.com/subscribe