About Creating and Holding Space
The Art of Connection and Witnessing - for Yourself and Others!
Being able to create and hold sacred space for yourself will deepen and enrich your own personal practice and your relationship with the Cacao Spirit.
It is also about consciously designating uninterrupted time for your practice; designing a meaningful ritual just for yourself; and setting an intention for what you would like to receive.
Holding space is a conscious act where you are fully present and open to supporting what you need in that moment. It is holding mental and emotional space with intention, attention and energy that provides comfort and compassion.
Holding space in a sacred way allows you to drop in more deeply to your practice, opening to the spaciousness and preciousness of that moment, and receiving and accepting whatever comes without judgment.
Following or designing a daily practice and ritual of your own will is an act of magic in itself as you are creating a time out of (mundane) time. Signalling your body and mind that you are ready to open to whatever messages you are to receive. Hence why opening and closing your ritual or ceremony is crucial to your practice and further aids focus, concentration and dedication. Our bodies love to respond to signals and the mind often quiets and empties itself as we turn our attention and intention to ritual. Especially one we curate in a way that resonates with every fibre of our being.
In essence you don’t need anything for this, simply your presence. However that is easier said than done as we all are accustomed to a way of living that has us busy, distracted and constantly hunting after the next dopamine hit. Phone addiction, monkey mind, disconnection from body, urgency to do instead of be.
In order for us to practice presence and allow for ritual to unfold we might needs some helping tools.
Anything that stimulate the senses are wonderful to bring us from our head into our body, and things that carry a memory or activation of love, excitement, magic to bring us from head into our heart.
Think about music to set the atmosphere.
Your favourite piece of devotional song (mine is here), a mantra you sing-a-long to or simple yet beautiful background instrumentals like chimes or frequency music.
Fresh air and scents for your mental and physical alignment.
Open the windows, clear lingering smells and stagnant air, smudge if you like to visualise old burdens and worries leave the rooms on smokey wings. Once you feel refreshed and ready to start bring in smells you like to keep. Either through incense such as resins, dried herbs and flowers, essential oils or your favourite body lotion.
Candles, dimmed lights and colours for ambience.
I personally am all for rituals outside under a beaming sun as nothing brings me more into my presence than the sound of a river stream and shadow play of tree leaves and water waves. But when I can’t go outside for ritual lighting a candle inside brings me another form of satisfaction and elemental connection. You might also enjoy a salt lamp or dimmed lights.
Anything that makes you feel magical.
Crystals are prominent decoration objects which come in many different shapes, colours, sizes and properties. Anything that sparks your desire to observe, hold, create, look into works. A painting, picture or photograph or tarot/oracle cards to represent your intention for the ritual. Fresh flowers, nature finds, stones, symbols and ornaments.
Once set, you might want to greet or invite in the elements or your personal guides and allies such as Cacao’s benevolent Spirit to join you for this time, however brief or expansive is up to you.
Here’s a simple, sweet ritual to connect you to the Cacao Spirit and your practice:
Retreat into your sacred space, light a candle and sit in a comfortable position. As you hold your cup of cacao, close your eyes. Sense the energy of the cacao and notice where you feel a response in your body. Take in the aroma of the cacao allowing it to engage your senses. Feel your body begin to relax. Welcome in the Cacao Spirit and proclaim your receptivity to its messages. Welcome in yourself with acceptance to receive whatever wishes to be received. Take your first sip and savour the cacao. Pause and check in to how your body is responding. Sip by sip. Listen. Continue to drink your cacao as your body desires. Even when feeling numb allow yourself to stay in the moment and connect.
Remember, it is all about connection.
To yourself, life, nature, spirit, others. We are interdependent and relating beings, part of the web of life, interwoven with all there is. Your movement ripples out and is felt by others. Your words are heard. Your songs are sung.
Why then should you practice holding space?
Because once you are capable to hold space for yourself you will become more skilled in holding others. Not exclusively in ceremony but in life. Once you can allow yourself to be present with both comfortable and uncomfortable emotions, thoughts and sensations, you will be able to witness them in others without immediately trying to change them.
We often haven’t learned this, instead we are told to suppress or wish away feelings, especially big and ugly ones. Even the well intended pat on the shoulder can lead to someone feeling too much or not welcomed in their emotion. Yes, you read correctly. Often the underlying current of a gesture such as even a hug can be the urge to make “It” go away. Comforting might be a way to get rid of tears (and is for sure often very necessary) but when it is done from a sense of inability to deal with conflict it suggests the other person that they are not allowed to fully express themselves and they further suppress.
Cacao is such a wonderful ally because it helps us to hold ourselves gently and with acceptance. It opens our heart to see the beauty that lies within, get ecstatic about the capacity of joy we can feel and shows what needs attention for us to clear the path to such new levels of fulfilment.
When you work with cacao in a consistent and prolonged way, you feel more focused, grounded and connected. If you open to deeper inner work with cacao, you will sustain your connection with the Cacao Spirit between ceremonies. Creating space and time for a daily practice also becomes a foundation for self-care, self-inquiry and self-discovery. While it may be challenging to find time and space in your busy schedule, even 10 minutes of practice after drinking or eating cacao will support and guide you. For an even deeper immersion, you may wish to join my 14-day Cacao Dieta EQUILIBRIUM:
Let me hold you in your shadow integration & creative expansion
This Sunday I am opening an online journey in the lands adventurous of your psyche. Beginning with the dark moon I guide you into shadow work with ceremonial cacao to unearth what has been blocking you from stepping into your true potential. On the way to the solar eclipse on October 17th you will not only face your fears but also meet your deepest desires.
For a life of EQUILIBRIUM, in acknowledgment of light and dark. You can still join and watch the recording of the opening ceremony if you can’t attend live.
As a Magic Member you will receive one 454g block of Keith’s Cacao to get a taste of my absolute favourite daily plant medicine as well as access to the 14-days online Cacao Dieta EQUILIBRIUM which starts this Sunday!
The descent into the otherworld of our subconscious starts on the Black Moon and moves over the New Moon to shed the pale light on shadows we kept hidden. But don’t despair, we move slowly and allow cacao to gently soften the defences we put up over the years. The magic of cacao will guide you only as far as you are ready to hold yourself and are willing to reveal - to yourself and our intimate group container should you choose.
What situation seems to repeat itself?
What pattern shows up in different forms?
Where do you feel stuck, stagnant, triggered?
You get to choose the major part of your life that you struggle with - most likely for years. It might also be a new topic as you expanded your sense of self and the capacity of your nervous system to hold more and new experiences.
The important thing is, that you don’t need to know what or why it is presenting itself, that is for us to explore and unearth during the Dieta. You simply bring the topic or even just the desire for change with you as your intention.
As a Magic Member you have access to the course and my archive for a whole year and can use your payment as a first instalment towards my in-depth facilitator and ceremonialist training THE MAGIC OF CACAO.