Why the cocoa ceremony became more popular in Los Angeles

Borefish walking through the cold tiles floor, gemstones of the silver face sparkling in sunlight, a sound bathroom and the power processor Maya Andreva Distributed paper cups full of brown liquid to 20 young adults sitting on yoga and blankets on the ground.

On Saturday morning, they met on Saturday morning on Abbot Kinney Blvd in the courtyard behind the Japanese Albion Care Store to attend “Echoes of the Heart”, which is a two -hour cocoa, a workshop for breathing and sound shower that promised to direct the participants towards “deep self -identification, active recovery and deep relaxation.”

“Just allow yourself to feel the intention inside you,” he said Greta RomingvietFounder of the XPanSion brand who participated in the workshop with Andreva. “Talk to him in cocoa, your intention, your wisdom, what you choose to abandon it. Anything and everything: Talk to it in cocoa.”

Throughout the room, the participants stared at their pillars in their paper cups, and some are looking for words silently.

“Now bring it to the area of ​​your hearts, and communicate with your heart,” I continued, as the surrounding music was deprived in the background. “Get it up to the ground to ground, then return to your hearts … … another one inhales together … and drink your cocoa.”

With great appeal, they drank.

Over the following two hours, the group was first led by Ruljevaite through the breathing chain, then a healing session and energy that facilitates Andreeva. Perhaps the cocoa part of the workshop was small, but then, the present said that the warm and bitter drink deepened his experience in this event.

He said, “I was really in a state of bliss all the time.”

Cacao, the main component of chocolate, has appeared in a growing number of wellness events in the Los Angeles region in recent years. In March alone, Angelinus can attend a Women’s circle and cocoa ceremony In Hollywood, a The circle of the goddess on the day of the woman and the cocoa ceremony In Bustan, a Cacao new moon renewal ceremony At the Yoga Center and We are cocoa ceremonies In unknown location in Woodland Hills.

If you want to make the drink yourself, Holy cocoa Ecuadorian cocoa is selling in the farmers’ markets in Hollywood, Mar Vista, Malibu and Marina del Rery. Local farmers market seller Arcana Apothecari It sells a $ 60 cocoa -made cocoa -made in Guatemala, and Pure organic cocoa powder Also available in Erehon.

“People who host cocoa experiences continue,” said Nick Medor, who sells a festive cocoa. The soul raised cocoaThe company that he founded in 2018. “People want something that gives them a feeling of embodied spirituality and cocoa is very nice, you can not even say that there are side effects.”

Practitioners claim that drinking cocoa opens the heart, and helps drink wine to feel more sympathy, dread, vitality and love. Because it does not contain narcotic properties such as other substances called “vegetable drugs”, it is a safe and easy way to experience the variable natural compounds of consciousness. I consider it ayahusca-lite.

He said, “It is not like any medicine I took at all.” Cat isWho started leading cocoa celebrations in 2021 after learning about the drink during the epidemic by a influencer on YouTube. “It is very moderate. Your mind feels a little more and feels more clearly in the things you want to do.”

When the folklore, Taylor Bourbie, was looking for cocoa celebrations of its last thesis, I found that more than 89 % of the 118 participants I met said they wanted to consume cocoa because it is legal and more accessible plant medicine.

“If you are taking mushrooms, you don’t know what will happen,” Bourbie said. “With Cacao, you may feel that you are getting warmer, calm or peaceful, but you have more control over your experience.”

Cocoa’s physical effects were not studied as coffee, but research indicates that the chemical compounds in cocoa can It affects the mood Increasing both vigilance and perception, as well as improvement Cardiovascular health By lowering blood pressure. And because Cacao has much less caffeine than coffee, fans say it gives them an active boost without making them prove.

Andreva said: “I can feel that my shoulder is falling, and I open my chest.” “I felt the energy that passes through my body like a small tingling in the spaces where I do not usually feel it.”

Cocoa -making is a multi -step process that begins traditionally by fermenting cocoa fruit seeds in its core, drying it in the sun, roasting it on open heat and then grinding it until it forms a dough, which is poured into a hardening mold.

To prepare cocoa for the echoes of the heart workshop, Rujevaite used a cocoa ball that I bought on a modern trip to Guatemala. On the night that preceded it on the dark brown ball, filled it with intentions, then shaved it in small pieces and mixed it with warm water, oat milk, small manuka honey and vanilla and then mixing it. I brought it to the event in the pottery pot. Immediately before serving, she and Andreva scored over her for a few moments, which led to a “light language” to give her more effectiveness. Then they rid the liquid into small cups.

In South and central America, cocoa is often served with water, but without any sweeteners, they are very bitter.

Andreva said: “Our western tastes are not really ready for the traditional cocoa experience,” said Andreeva. “Wherever I went in Los Angeles to drink cocoa, it was never raw.”

Archaeological evidence indicates that cocoa has been planted in Central America For at least 5,000 years. Rosemary Joyce, a newly retired anthropology professor at the University of California at Berkeley and an expert in the history of Cocoa, said he was presented in other speeches and celebrations, and was a preferred drink for the Maya and Aztec nobles, especially in places that had to be imported. She said that the texts of the sixteenth century show that the factory was also used by the indigenous population from a medical point of view to treat a group of diseases, and cocoa has been consumed in rituals and celebrations, most of which are to fix relations between the human world and the soul.

The traditional Cocoa Cocoa was offered while doing the field work in Honduras.

She said: “It tastes like medicine, there is no way to overcome it.”

Despite its longitudinal history, its research indicates that the old uses of cocoa in Central America are not like a few rituals that many Westerners make today.

She said, “It is a difficult area.” “The celebrations that are required of cocoa, but the purpose of the ceremony was not to communicate with the spirit of cocoa or to come down and capture your body. This is a very Western idea.”

Most modern cocoa celebrations follow their origin Keith WilsonKeith’s Cacao, who has become known as “Shaman Chocolate”. Wilson, who died last year at his home in Guatemala, claims that he had contacted him as a cocoa -spirit in 2003 and gave the task of re -introducing the festive cocoa into a world of mostly forgot. Cocoa service for visitors began his balcony, and friends began to call them “cocoa celebrations”. Over time, the area surrounding Lake Attantan became known as cocoa celebrations. Visitors returned this practice to their countries of origin.

Meador prefers the name cocoa events “Cocoa experiments” or “modern cocoa celebrations” to explain that they are not derived from ancient indigenous rituals.

He said: “I do not want to be like a policeman, but I know people to be careful in the words we choose. There are many voices in the conversation and there are people in the United States who do not know that much about it.”

Today in Los Angeles, cocoa celebrations are often raised with other healing methods such as breathing, yoga, meditation and dance. Some facilitators will evoke the spirit of cocoa, which is supposed to be love, care and even a bit mixed. Berby, folklore, once I heard it described as “the grandmother who is still having sex, instead of the grandmother that has ended, did and retires.” The facilitators may mention that cocoa is a provision for the heart, after drinking it may feel warm, clear and more warning. But then, everything goes.

“There are many ways to practice practice,” said Borby.

Returning to the echoes of the heart, Andreva and Ruljevaite explains that they are far from cocoa experts. But both of them had positive experiences with the drink and wanted to share it with those who attended their workshop.

“I see it as a beautiful welcoming bridge again to yourself,” said Ruljevaite. “And with the presence of many prayers and intentions, it was implanted in it, the strength and sanctification of society, it increases and inflates its benefits.”