My Story
Hi! My name is Leena and I founded Australian Ceremonial Cacao!
Let me tell you the story of how this all came to be!
It all started when I was 7 years old and my father took me to Uluru during Easter holidays, and what did we do when we got there? We climbed it! I did not know that in doing so, this was very disrespectful and also beleived to be very BAD LUCK!.
Fast forward to me at 29 yo, I went back. I had originally bought the trip as a birthday present for someone else but little did I know, this trip was meant for me too.
As the plane flew over Uluru I heard a voice in my head saying, "You have come back to apologise, and only when you have done this you will be ready for the next phase of your life."
So as I sat on that seat I felt extremely excited! What phase of my life?! What's going to happen?! I had no idea!
So the first day there we were not going to visit the rock itself. See I had this idea in my head that I had to be standing right next to it to apologise to the ancestors for having climbed it when I was a young child! But they knew. The Spirits and Ancestors and Guardians of the land knew I was there! That night I had the craziest dreams! I was shown every single naughty thing I had ever done in my entire life!
When I woke up the next morning I thought RIGHT! It's happening today!
So I went on the rock tour that day and as I stood right next to it, I swear I could see it gently breathing. I could feel all eyes of all the ancestors there watching me. So many of them. Generations of Aboriginal spirits, so protective of the site and of the people visiting.
I stood there and apologized to them in my mind as I knew they were watching me. I said if you do forgive me, you know where to find me! Come visit me in my dreams!
So 10 days later, I dream.
That I am next to Uluru and I am with about 30 aboriginal women sitting around a fire. Two women stood out to me. One is a younger girl about 18yo and she explains to me that they are preparing Emu for me and point at how it is cut into 6 pieces. The women are all looking at me with love. I don't remember every detail as I am not meant to share it all, but when we have done all talking and gathering I am looking at the young girl in a blue t-shirt and an elder woman who is painted all over her breasts and body with only a skirt on. She holds a coolamon in front of one breast. They both smile at me with love and I float out of the scene.
Then a chain of events happened. I attended a Cacao Ceremony 2 months later and I start ceremonying with the Cacao at home. I started Reiki share where I was worked on by an Aboriginal and a Maori elder woman. That very first night the Aboriginal elder tells me she can see two women and described them EXACTLY how I saw them in my dream! She explains that they are my family from my past life. The young girl is my sister. I start balling my eyes out. CONFIRMATION! Others can see what I saw!
"And the older woman has a gift for you, it's a coolamon (a bowl made from the bark of a tree used to carry bush tucker and babies in.)
I thought oh great! I wonder what I can use a spiritual bowl for? Too bad I can't actually use it as a fruit bowl or put actual practical use to it!
Well...
One day I am Ceremonying at home and I think what am I doing with my life? (Which was a question I was asking a lot at that time). Where is it going? How can I serve? How can I give? and...why would I be given a bowl? What good is a bowl I can't use? And a voice says to me "Well why don't you look inside it then?"
So I meditate and I see my Elder handing me the bowl, I take it from her thanking her and as I hold it in front of me I look inside it. And what is it full of?
Brown Cacao Beans.
Then Mother Cacao's spirit comes into me. She says "You want to know what you can do? Take my hand and I will show you."
So.
For the next 3 days and 2 nights I don't sleep. I am given downloads of information in to my mind and my third eye and I am shown EVERYTHING that started Austraian Ceremonial Cacao. From the name to the logo artist, to the bags. To the Cacao itself coming from the right person from the right place in Peru. The website was shown to me all night. What, how, who, why, where and when. Everything.
3 days later Australian Ceremonial Cacao is born.
The message of this Cacao is LOVE and CONNECTION.
It's connects us back into loving ourselves. THIS is how we serve the world. THIS is how we will change it.
Mother Cacao's spirit aids and guides you back into opening up your heart, as we have all lived through certain traumas and all have different stories. She guides you up into the vibration of love. The vibration that you were born with before you started collecting life experiences and traumas. Back to your original loving form. She is an amazing manifestor! And works with you in any way that you wish to call upon. She works WITH you, not FOR you. You are the leader, the creator of your life! So make it exactly what you dreamt of, with no limits! Love and honour yourself. We must learn to do this! This is healing.
Forgive yourself and love on yourself. This is the original form of love, as we can only truly love another as deeply as we can love ourselves!
The Aboriginal Spirits strong message placed in this beautiful plant medicine is this...
YOU are part of this land. YOU are the living land protectors. The land warriors.
You have a land guide that was assigned to you when you were born here or the moment you stepped foot onto this land from another Country. They want you to know that they are with you, guiding you and protecting you.
Your acknowledgment of your belonging here is integral to healing the energies of this land. To heal the traumas left behind from past events.
They need you to step up and do your part, for the energetic blueprint and for the physical environment too.
Protect this land for it is your home! Your land looks after you when you look after your land! You are needed! You are strong! You are worthy! You matter here.
This Cacao is blessed by myself channeling through the messages and energies of both Mother Cacao and the Aboriginal Spirits. It is incredibly special. It connects you to this part of the Earth and to your heart.
We live in an amazing Country. We are so unique in so many ways.
It is a blessing to be here serving you in this way.
So I do hope that you find some magic in ceremonying with this Cacao.
It is my intention to be a small part of your journey to finding love and peace within yourself and connecting with yourself and to this beautiful land.
So Thank YOU!
Love and Blessings!
Leena.
A little bit about Cacao and why Ceremonial grade is different from the rest.
Australian Ceremonial Cacao
Ceremonial grade Cacao is a grade above the rest. Every other chocolate product that you will buy (and that includes raw organic powder) has had the cacao butter and fibres separated and many elements stripped from the product. Ceremonial Grade Cacao has had minimum tampering of the beans integrity. The bean is lightly roasted de-shelled and ground on a stone grinder then once it arrives to Australia from Peru, I have it melted at a low temperature and moulded into hearts. The moulding process does not in any way alter the integrity and magic of the Cacao.
It is the magic of the WHOLE bean!
Cacao is a gentle plant medicine.
INDULGE, PRAY, THANK, INSPIRE, UPLIFT
- Leena -
Australian ceremonial cacao beans
HIGHEST QUALITY PERUVIAN CRIOLLO CACAO BEANS FROM SOUTH AMERICA
This Cacao is an ancient Peruvian strain called Criollo. It is wildly grown in the hills of Peru. Our Cacao comes from 35 different small farms. We would rather this than one large majorly cultivated plantation. Peru has absolute optimum conditions for wild growing Cacao!
This Cacao is Certified Organic.
I asked how the Cacao purchase directly impacts the farmers and their community. This is the response I received:
The Organic, sustainable, and Fair Trade Program has been designed to give farmers numerous benefits, foster close ties with the communities we work with, and promote environmentally sustainable practices. It includes:
Capacity building and training in organic practices
Social Responsibility Statement regarding employees.
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Zero-interest loans
for day's wage payments
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Incentives:
Annual Bonus Prizes
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Investment in community projects:
e.g. school bathroom and kitchen facilities
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Philanthropic activities
Christmas gifts, hot chocolate and delivering donations (e.g. wheelchairs)
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The tool Bank:
Tool loans free of cost
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Prepayment schemes:
In cash, island guano, tools, school uniforms, school matriculation, etc.
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Funeral expenses:
In the event of death of the farmer or his immediate family, we help out with the funeral expenses
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Educational and health programs:
Nutrition 6 family planning counselling, classes for scholastic improvement, hair cutting & oral hygiene campaigns, etc
The products are also;
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Gluten-Free: Every product from our facility is certified gluten free.
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Free of the 8 major allergens (declared by FDA): Free from milk, wheat, egg, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, fish and shellfish.
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Vegan: Vegan is not only dietary, it also avoids exploiting animals for any purpose.
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NON-GMO: All the products are made with natural, pure, and high quality ingredients, producing without any genetically modified organisms.
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Kosher Parve: We have the first certified Kosher Parve Chocolate plant in South America. Parve means products that do not contain or are processed with dairy products.
The roots of the Goddess Cacao reach deep into the rich Amazonian earth, she wanted to spread her love far and wide.
Embraced on our soil she is welcomed by the Ancestors of this Sacred land with whome I work with very closely.
We pray and channel divine energy into every batch of Cacao with the help of some beautiful crystals!
Personal care is taken for every bag for your most beneficial enjoyment.
Fun Fact:
Cacao beans actually are "nuts", they are the most commonly eaten nut product in the world that nobody actually eats as a 'nut'!
The Cacao nut or bean has the highest level of Magnesium in any food product! It is filled with so many other goodies such as Theobromine which regulates blood pressure and improves blood flow, reducing the building of plaque on arterial walls and release the 'happy' chemicals in the brain. Flavonoids which are an antioxidant that fights free radicals within the body, reducing the effects of aging and environmental damage. Both these antioxidants improve mental and physical health as well as relax tense muscles AND reduce inflammation in the body!
(possibly why we women reach for chocolate during PMS!) It contains Iron, Phospherous (bone strength), Zinc (immune system and recovery), Calcium, Copper (works with iron to absorb into the body/ produce red blood cells), Manganese (bone strength), Potassium (reduce menstrual cramps, healthy skin), healthy fats, Vitamins E, B1, B2, B3, B5, B9, Dietary fibres and the list goes on.
No wonder this is called Plant Medicine to the Mayans right!
I would like to thank my amazing artist Emma Stewart from @jirribitti_healing for this original piece called Cacao Connection.
‘Cacao Connection’ illustrates and acknowledges the holistic healing power of Cacao. The heart in the centre has been awakened and opened by connecting with Cacao. The boomerangs in the heart represent the powerful energy we receive and give back to mother Earth by consuming Cacao.
The lines and dots represent the journey we take in reconnecting with ourselves, with our heart and with each other. Connecting with Cacao makes our spirit rise like the sun and reminds us we are all connected, we are all one. The power of the universe is within us all.
