Skip to main content

Guatemala: Cacao Ceremony

9:22 pm

Tonight we had our cacao/new moon ceremony and I left early. Ive been really tired lately and so I took my chance to leave when I could to come write and sleep early.

It started out with a ton of us sitting around a fire. Id say close to 30 or more. The people leading the cacao ceremony prepared our cacao and then sent around mugs which we sweetened with honey. They were wearing these tall pointy brimmed hats, not like a witches hat like suuuuuper pointed. Apparently it takes a lot to make cacao.

We started out with the new moon ceremony where we chanted songs and banged on drums. The woman who led this had a beautiful voice and so I didn't do much chant/singing but listened to her. Im also not much of a chanter... We then invited the four directions (NSEW) to join us by shaking our gourds in each direction after their invite. As we were doing this, I noticed that the stars were so bright and beautiful in the sky.

At this point our fire started to die and I wanted so hard to help it out but another woman came up to try and fix it. After smothering it with wood, I suggested giving it air so it can, yaknow, breathe. Then it sprung back to life and created some good heat for us!

I tried the cacao which was extremely bitter and apparently very caffeinated. I only had a sip so I could go to sleep!

Then we started passing around this feather in which we were supposed to tell what we are grateful for in the new moon and what we look forward to in the next cycle. Many people were getting really deep into this and it was taking awhile. I kept it short and sweet so it wouldn't take forever: "I met some awesome friends, met some awesome people in an awesome place." Some people giggled, which I was going for. I can't be super deep all the time especially in situations like that.

At this point I had decided to skip out but was looking for an opportune time. So while one person is giving their speech, a scorpion starts walking into our fire circle! Everyone gets up to let this thing do what it wants and I consider this the perfect time to head out.

My walk back to the cabin was lovely. It was dark and the stars were so sparkly! I couldn't wait to get in bed and have some alone time. Its a rarity here!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Cake Fairy

Today was a pretty standard weekend here in PA. I dont do much but hope that its nice out so I can go for a walk and explore on my own, but the sun didnt come shining through my window this morning to wake me up. I slept in. After a few hours of lounging around watching youtube videos about history, I asked Cassie if she wanted to explore the town. We decided to take a visit to a local winery/brewery, Stone & Key Cellars, to do some tastings. They had quite the spread of things to taste and we were overwhelmed! Fruit wines and your typical whites and reds, cider and mede! I started out with some of the red fruit wines and Cassie with the white fruits. They were all a bit sweet for me so I moved right into the bold reds. We got four tastings each and shared our tastes but also, the bartender was super cool and gave us more tastings of whatever he wanted! He was talking to us about the local area and what breweries to check out next in our exploration of Pennsylvania. Going to ...

Eating Like Crap is Crap

Im trying really hard not to spend money on food as there is so much food here at camp. Its not horrible food but its definitely not the best. So, with me trying not to spend money on food, I haven't been eating the greatest. I don't know if its because of other reasons, but Ive been feeling like shit lately and Im attributing it to lack of nutrients. I dont know how people eat crap all the time and survive. It must be a skill. I was eating alright about two weeks ago but this last week it hasn't been very pretty. Ive been a scavenger and theres been a lot of bread and fake meat and here is how I feel: Im tired ALL the time. No matter how many naps I take or hours I sleep a night, Im always exhausted by mid-day and just want to lay around, sleep and do nothing. Ive also been starting to get weak headaches throughout the day. Or having sore muscles from doing minimal exercise. That also makes me just want to do nothing. My stomach is also crazy. It hurts if I eat som...

Hopefully, Im Back in the Game

Ive been horrible with posting to my blog and Id like to take a minute to apologize to myself for not keeping up with it and then the say a little sorry to people who actually follow my blog, and if you keep up with it then... go you! Just a little update on whats going on here and then Im hoping tomorrow Ill be able to write a blog about how awesome my cousins wedding was this past weekend! So, Im currently in Philly working where I was this Spring at College Settlements. I love my coworkers and I love where Im at. I feel comfortable and happy at work, now only if I was closer to the city for my social life... I have to brag about my dude who just started a new job in DC as the captain of an education vessel. He's adulting so hard and Im so proud. Makes me want to step up my game and start semi-adulting. I want to get a job there after this job is over for the fall. So, If you've got any leads... This summer/Fall have been a bit insane, in a good way.  I sp...