CACAO, EGGS AND EASTER

Yesterday evening I meditated with cacao absolute*. It was an experience that illustrated the paradoxes of life and its kapha* aspects: heavy, humid, slow, patient, motherly and loving nature. It also showed sluggishness, muddiness, pain and depression as well as the importance of acceptance, dreamtime,  sacrifice, infinity and the process of birth, death and rebirth. In the process, it provided a glimpse of
 the nature of Jesus' sacrifice as he descended through the deep, dark and violent aspects of human existence.

*an absolute is similar to an essential oil but its distillation process is different.

Enlargement of a cacao nut in its shell.

Sensuality and heaviness

When I first started, the lure of the sensuous fragrance of cacao was captivating. A picture of an Andes mountain shrouded in the mist of dark clouds appeared. Although the sensation was delicious it did not feel uplifting, quite the opposite. It felt heavy and made me drowsy. For close to an hour, I relaxed, feeling that I was being pulled down more and more deeply. When I was finished, I wanted to go back to my evening routine on the computer, but I couldn’t because cacao was calling into dreamtime. So I went to bed even though it was only 8 pm.

Mud is also made of life and love.

Deeper and deeper in the Earth

My dreams were about visiting a hotel with friends. The structure was very solid, made with stones and large, dark wood beam. I entered an elevator, but instead of bringing us higher, it brought us deeper and deeper in the Earth. There were actually three number 8 buttons on the elevator panel, so there was no choice but to get out on that floor.  There were several grids and a couple of broken planks on the deck, apparently there to show what was going on below and allow energy circulation. Beyond the deck all that could be seen was muddy ground soaked with rain.

Pachamama, the primordial giver of life and spirit of Earth.

Resist nothing

I woke up from this dream with a heavy sense of depression, but the voice of cacao told me not to resist that sensation. This allowed a flow of relaxation in an area where I often experience physical pain. The flow moved through that leg and then up to the other leg through the feet. A sense of motherly love started flowing. It was as though the Primordial Mother in the form of the Peruvian Pachamama embraced me. She told me to resist nothing because everything in life is made of love, even discomfort, pain, depression which are just points on the continuum of infinity.

MOTHER reminded me of the question I asked earlier when I wondered if cacao would connect meditators to the spiritual aspect of Easter (which I associated with Jesus on the cross). She actually did, showing me the feminine aspect of his patience and acceptance as he went through the dark side of human nature.

She also brought back to mind the picture of the cacao bean (above) in its egg-shaped shell cut in half that I posted on Facebook. This reminded me of the biology lesson on the division of reproductive cells, followed by a sense of “I KNOW” that the whole of life is contained in this earthy, sustaining, sweet chocolate bean AND that attaching to sweetness or resisting discomfort is what causes disbalance and pain.

The cycle of birth, death and rebirth is in the egg

I now have a sense that what Jesus did over 2000 years ago was a perfect demonstration to show us how to accept our darkness, personal and collective. He gave us a model to accept it and pass through it regardless of circumstances. In the end, it is his supreme act of surrendering that  showed

us that this is the only way to live and be in the light again… and to keep going.

No wonder then that something that seemed originally so mundane as a chocolate egg for Easter is such a resilient symbol.

NOTE: Remember that Kapha qualities are great to balance people with Vata and Pitta constitutions, but that they aggravate the Kapha dosha. If you are currently experiencing depression, AVOID cacao/chocolate, especially cacao absolute.

To experience the nature of cacao or other essential oils in Ottawa or online, contact Samyukta at info@facetograce.com.