Traditional Cacao Ceremony
After the most incredible few days in the depths of the Talamanca Jungle, on our final morning, as each morning before, I awoke in pitch darkness, to the rustlings of the matted roof of our house on stilts, and the pre-dawn screeches and howls of the Costa Rican jungle.
Our time with the indigenous Bribri community had flown by, and now here we were, on our last day, before taking the long journey back to the capital San José, to board my flight home to Spain.
But before that, we had somewhere very important to be: We’d been invited to attend a traditional cacao ceremony, and I just knew that it was going to be the perfect way to end our time in the jungle.
The Bribri have a long-standing connection to cacao; not only is it a source of income; it holds spiritual significance. According to their beliefs, cacao was a gift from the god Sibö (pronounced SHEE-boo), the creator of the universe and mankind. Not viewed merely as a plant, cacao is recognised as a sacred, feminine entity, known as Tsuru – a young woman who showed unique kindness to Sibö, and who is recognised within Bribri teachings as a guide for wisdom, healing, and emotional connection.
As the legend goes, one cold night, Sibö (in the shape of an elderly man) was passing through Tsuru’s community. Tsuru was the only person to offer him food and a place to sleep, and to show his gratitude, Sibö transformed Tsuru into a cacao tree, that would provide for all future generations.
For this reason, the Bribri people consider the cacao tree to be female, and never use its branches for firewood or construction. Also, in accordance with tradition, only women are permitted to prepare and serve cacao. So within each generation, a woman is chosen by the community to have this honour bestowed upon her. The sole tribe member permitted to prepare and serve the sacred drink for her community, she must also pass on the traditions, skills and teachings to a novice, who will one day take over the mantle of this noble position.
The ritual of drinking cacao is considered to be an opportunity for introspection, reflection and personal renewal, and is believed to purify the spirit, balance energies and facilitate the connection with the spiritual world. And now here I was, after five intense, amazing days with the Bribri tribe, perched on rickety wooden benches balanced around the edges of a traditional circular hut, with my new Hands with Heart family, to experience my first ever cacao ceremony.
Sweat dripping from our faces in the intense heat of the roaring fire, the acrid smoke catching in our throats and stinging our eyes, we watched as the cacao nibs roasted in a pot balanced on a glowing stack of Inga wood.
As the fire crackled and spat, the sounds of the jungle trilled around us, and the ceremony began.
After blessings and thanks were given to the god Sibö, each woman in our group was invited to step forward. One by one we each stood behind the fire pit and took our turn to stir the cacao nibs five times in a clockwise direction, as ceremonial Bribri words were softly chanted in the background.
This part of the ritual completed, the pot of roasted nibs was carried across the dirt mud floor by the novice, and carefully tipped out onto an enormous rock with a surface flattened and smoothed by generations of use. The female elder then positioned herself, took a smaller sacred rock in both hands, which the tribe’s shaman had discovered decades before, guided by Sibö, and expertly ground down the nibs. The now fine powder was then scooped up into a precisely folded banana leaf, and taken away to be dissolved in a pan of boiling water.
Each of us now nursing a half filled coconut shell, polished to a perfect glossy finish, the delicious smell of cacao rose up to fill our nostrils.
As the bitter, chocolatey liquid soothed our smoke scorched throats, the only sound, the occasional tumble of a dying ember of Inga wood, it was a moment to reflect on my time in Costa Rica. To feel grateful for the amazing people around me, to feel at peace, to feel happiness, to feel blessed to have been able to be there in that moment, and also to feel sadness that our incredible journey was coming to an end.
The Hands with Heart Humanitarian mission in Talamanca was certainly challenging, both physically and emotionally, but it was also absolutely unforgettable. It was a truly life- changing experience, and for me it was a sincere privilege to be able to put my training and experience to use in such a fantastic way.
Working as part of a team of highly skilled Osteopaths, Osteopathic doctors, and medical students, delivering free treatment to children with disabilities and their families, in locations where there’s little to no access to healthcare, was both rewarding and incredibly humbling.
The Bribri live their daily lives in a manner that honours the gifts of Sibö and embraces their responsibility to Mother Earth; their connection to nature is one of profound respect and care. They view the Earth as a being, often referred to as the girl Iriria (Sibö’s creation), with whom they coexist through a social-spiritual contract of mutual respect.
Having spent 5 days observing the Bribri living in harmony with the environment, I had been left with an inescapable truth, that modern progress, whilst having the potential for positive change, can erode simplicity, and also threaten our connection with nature.
The indigenous tribe who had welcomed us into their community, who had honoured us, placed their trust in us, who had given us fresh guanábana juice to restore us when I thought I couldn’t take one more step in 95 percent humidity, who had filled our bellies with delicious home cooked delicacies, who had transported us across rivers and in the back of trucks, who had guided us safely through the dense jungle, and who had opened their homes and hearts to us, had also imparted a great wisdom: Our time here is gone in a flash. Our actions and choices impact our environment, and all living beings – Each one of us is responsible for what we leave behind.
