There are so many steps for cacao to be true ceremonial cacao!  There are ancient prayers and rituals that are done.  You can have confidence to know that this is the real deal.  It comes straight from the source in Guatemala grown and transformed by Mayans! 
 
It was made with love in Paxil and Kayala (Guatemala), and it is filled with incredible properties that will activate and heal your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual bodies. Made by hand and blessed by indigenous spiritual leaders to ensure that all of its incredible traits are contained within it and you can experience the heart opening and spiritual connection powers of cacao.  In ancient times people used to travel from Perú and Mexico to the area where this cacao comes from because it was known as being the best in the world.
 
This cacao is made by a cacao collective called Chinimital del Ka'kaw, which is formed by people of four Mayan nations: Q'iche', Kaqchikel, Q'eqchi', and Tz'utujil. Their mission is clear: To make the authentic practices and wisdom of cacao available to their community and to the world.
 
The collective is formed by Ajq'ijab'(Spiritual Leaders), Elders, cacao farmers, historians, cacao transformation experts, Texel (grandmother chosen by the community who takes care of overseeing the entire process of cacao) and more members of the community.
 
The cacao travels from an ancient farm in Alta Verapaz near Lake Lachua, close to the border of Guatemala and Mexico which belongs to members of the Q'eqchi' nation.
 
What is an ancient farm? During the times of the Conquista (invasion of the Americas), the Spaniards forbade the Mayans from using cacao. Cacao farms were taken down and switched to coffee farms and the Mayans were enslaved and put to work in these new farms. But there was resistance and a few cacao farms survived. The farm where this cacao comes from is one of these ancient farms, and the trees are the descendants of trees that were in this farm hundreds of years ago.  During the process of plantation there are specific rituals and ceremonies made for the trees in order to follow the proper steps of traditional farming.
 
Then the cacao is taken just north of the famed Lake Atitlán to the border between the Kaqchikel and Q'iche' nations, where the collective moves on to the process of transformation. Everything is hand-made in the traditional Mayan way. Sun-dried, hand roasted in wood fire, peeled, grinded in the sacred millstone by indigenous women and grandmothers. But before it is packaged, the Ajq'ijab' and Aj Kakaw give it a ceremony with incense and fire, and invoke the sacred Mayan energies to cleanse, bless, and protect this cacao. It is then packaged, sent to us for our packaging, and then sent to your door!
 
CACAO WITH PURPOSE!
 
With the purchase of this cacao not only are you supporting indigenous peoples
through fair trade and ethical consumption, you are doing much more!
 
The money that goes to the collective is being used to pay the workers a salary that preserves their dignity and sustains their families.  It is also put into beautiful projects which aim to bring cacao back to the indigenous communities of Guatemala, who sadly almost lost this part of their tradition. It was forbidden to use ceremonial cacao for hundreds of years for being seen as witchcraft. When you buy this cacao, they can give indigenous people cacao for free, alongside an education on how to use it to tackle malnutrition, reclaim their indigenous tradition, and recover their ancient wisdom.
 
Additionally, it supports projects within the indigenous communities which include: Support for addicts in public rehab centers, cleaning and excavating a corridor of ancient Mayan altars which were abandoned, and individual causes to support specific people in the community who are in need of emergency aid.
 
Made in Sololá, Guatemala I Blessed by Mayan Spiritual Leaders I Not One Machine Used I Produced by an Indigenous Owned Business.

Product originary of the Union of the Mayab' Native Peoples of Paxil and Kayala (Guatemala) with the intention to reclaim the use of their sacred ka'kaw!