Exploring A Master Plant Dieta with Cacao
The Aztecs referred to Cacao as Theobroma meaning “Food of the Gods” which is also her latin name. This illustrates how she has been treasured as a sacred medicine for physical and emotional healing, spiritual growth, and even often used as the highest currency by the various indigenous peoples who have placed her at the center of their communities and cosmovision. Cacao has been used in ceremony for her soft yet potent medicine, for connection to nature and spirit, our bodies, our hearts, and each other. This is a part of why she is a tremendously powerful master plant to join in relationship with in a plant dieta and a medicine that we as a collective could really benefit from right now.
The Process and Purpose of a Master Plant Dieta
Before diving into what Cacao can bring to a Master Plant Dieta, I will first give a quick overview of what this process involves, how to prepare for one, what happens during it, and touch on the integration of it.
We refer to a master plant dieta as a marriage of the person and a plant, which refers to the union of mind, body, and spirit that happens during this spiritual process. Because we are completely joined with the plant’s spirit, they are able to communicate with us on a much deeper way than typical and can guide us to emotional healing, spiritual growth, and transformation that have a massive impact. When you build a relationship with a plant in this way, the bond gives you an ally for life, and often to me it has felt like one that has actually spanned lifetimes.
To prepare for the dieta, we abstain from many foods most prominently salt, sugar, alcohol, any altering substances of any kind, red meat and pork, gluten, and dairy. You will continue this food protocol during the dieta itself as well as avoiding dark media and energies and giving yourself as much quiet time in meditation and journaling as possible.
The process itself is different every time, for each individual, and with each plant guide. However, you may experience emotional releases, resurfacing memories, healing of trauma, vivid dreams, sensations or releases from the body, moments of clarity and insight, and vivid dreams. Again, as the plant is completely connected with you, they are able to work with all aspects of you and support you in transformation on all levels.
Once the master plant dieta portal has been closed by your guide, you enter a period of integration which typically comes in waves. Continuing to journal, spend time in meditation, and to consciously spend time focusing on grounding in the lessons received from the plant are highly recommended. After closing, we generally recommend not working with the plant that was dieted for about a week to ground in and create space, but then you are able to work with that plant again any time you like. This reconnection can also be helpful in continuing to understand the lessons they brought in for you.
The Significance of Cacao as a Master Plant
Now that we understand a bit more about the process of a master plant dieta, why cacao? Well, there are many reasons, and as she is one of my central allies, I believe that she has benefits for everyone and is a part of the spiritual support team for the collective right now.
One of the main aspects Cacao is known for is her power as a heart opener. As a gentle but profound teacher, she can crack our hearts open and provide us with a safe space to allow the things we are holding there that are hurting us, need to be healed, or must be released for us to open fully into love. She nurtures us into compassion for both self and others, the appreciation of our bodies, and a remembrance of the love for nature and the earth.
While cacao can be incredibly grounding, which is one way she helps us to be more embodied, she also has a very cosmic element. Many cultures including the Maya, Incas, and Bribri have used her in ceremonies not only to connect to the earth and each other but also to spirit and the divine. I have had some intensely expansive experiences with her myself and have witnessed many on dietas with her journey in ways that feel more real than real life and discover things about themselves as souls that may have otherwise never been revealed in this lifetime. Her ability to connect us with the spiritual and divine realms provides us the capacity to usher in incredible spiritual transformation and to support understanding that allows for healing we may not even know that we needed. I have also witnessed her become a supportive ally for psychopomp as she is both protective and unafraid of the spaces in and between life and death.
How Cacao Supports the Mind, Body, and Soul
Physically, she provides the body with loads of vitamins and minerals, is wonderful for the hormonal system, supports mental clarity, and as a stimulant she offers an energetic boost but does not disrupt sleep the way that many stimulants can. In fact, she can at times actually help people to have deeper sleep and can assist in dreaming.
Additionally, I often refer to her as activating. While this is somewhat connected to her stimulating properties, it is broader than just that. She has the power to open intuition and empower our creativity. I have found that for people who feel “stuck” or like they either cannot discover or are having difficulty acting on their purpose, cacao can be a perfect master teacher ally to break through those blockages.
She has an amazing ability to hold us in softness while also pushing us to be able to release deep grief, unprocessed trauma, and to confront aspects of ourselves that we have not been willing to look at. In this way, she is at times most certainly challenging, but her beautifully loving nature holds us so that we are able to face these things and guide us with grace to levels of healing we may have been reaching for or avoiding.
These are just the beginning of the multitude of ways Cacao can support our healing and growth during a master plant dieta. She continually blows my mind the more that I work with her, and she has such a deep love for humanity that alone can melt the heart. Her love and compassion for us is an example and reflection of the love she knows lives in each of our hearts.
The Importance of Properly Sourcing Cacao
Unfortunately, as is becoming the case with many sacred plants, properly sourcing Cacao is incredibly important. As mentioned, many of the tribes who revere Cacao have historically used it as currency, at times comparing it to gold.
For example, traditionally the Bribri of Costa Rica at one time would easily exchange a kilo of Cacao for something like a cow. She is so sacred and valuable to them that selling her in the commercial marketplace does not return to them the value and esteem that they hold her in. However, as capitalist systems of monetary exchange move closer to their remote community, some have been forced to find ways to make money to get things they need rather than hunting, gathering, growing, or exchanging for them. This is having devastating impacts on their culture and on the cacao they honor so much. Because the monetary exchange they many times receive for a kilo of Cacao is so low, some have been forced to move from traditional growing methods into things like hybridizing her and other methods that focus on larger production.
Further, the massive chocolate business utilizes a different species of cacao for its production, which is pushing out the ancient ceremonial varieties in many places. Between environmental impacts like destruction of her traditional growing environments, the impacts of capitalism, and the shifts in the cultures who revere her but are not getting a proper exchange for what they grow and its true value, there are many threats to this incredible plant. Hence, consciously sourcing from organic sources that give fair and compassionate treatment and compensation to the tribes is essential when purchasing this amazing and sacred plant medicine.
A Master Plant Dieta for Connection and Opening of that Heart
Cacao showcases a complete armoire of gifts and abilities that can support humanity in a plethora of ways. A master plant dieta with her offers a connection not only with a sacred plant but also an ally in opening our hearts, opening our path, rediscovering our connection to ourselves, each other, nature, and to the spiritual world, and returning to alignment with our purpose, the earth, and all of the other beings who share this world with us. She can guide us to releasing trauma, deep emotional healing, and spiritual transformation. And this my friends, is just the tip of the iceberg of what this phenomenal being has to share with us.
Do any or many of these healing powers feel like something you really need? Is Cacao calling you to open your heart and discover the healing and growth you desire?
If so, I would be honored to guide you in a master plant dieta with Cacao. Feel free to message me through my coaching page here at PMP, or scroll to the bottom to select the length of the dieta you prefer. If you have been working with Cacao and would like to discuss deepening that relationship, you are welcome to book a call with me to explore options there.
About the Author
Lindsay Calliandra Rose is a Medicine Carrier, an accomplished herbalist, Plant Medicine integration specialist, and a woman with a profoundly sacred relationship with nature. She began her Plant Medicine journey many years ago with Ayahuasca and Huachuma, and she has completed multiple Master Plant Diets with beings like Rose, Bobinsana, Juniper, Jurema, Cacao, Oak, and Blue Water Lily. Lindsay is an initiated server and carrier of Hapéh. She now works as a preparation and integration guide for those answering the call to work with sacred medicines, and she is apprenticing in the art of guiding Master Plant Diets as well. She is a passionate advocate of safe and transformative experiences with the plants, and she loves helping people navigate these mysterious spaces with grace, love, and support.
