Cacao Medicine Circle
The Art of Cacao, ceremonial practice & earth-based rituals
May 24 - 31, 2024 | 7 nights
Mountain Temple Guesthouse, Piedmont, Italy
With Serap Kara | In English
Join us on a delightful Cacao Mama Medicine Circle in a wild Mountain Valley in Piedmont, Italy. We will share seven unique days of regeneration, connection, and deepening of "The Art of Cacao", ceremonial practice, and earth-based rituals in one of the most pristine and magical places, the Antrona Valley.
Deepening Studies
As you invite sacred cacao to your circle, you may want to know how to connect respectfully with the cacao collective, invite the spiritkeeper into your practice, and create a well-grounded, harmonious, and expansive circle. How can you best compose or refine your cacao offering? What elements from history to traditional use to serving the medicine would be supportive for your journey? Deepen your understanding of "The Art of Sacred Cacao”, root into trust, and expand into a wider perspective.
Ceremonial Practice
In the Cacao School, we experience connection when asking Cacao Spirit for permission to craft a ceremonial offering. Then, we set the theme, open the space and master specific phases within the ritual which can be highly individual, yet we find connecting threads, a rhythm and heartbeat. In Circle, you will meet fellow students, the Grandmother Cacao tree, the midwife and other archetypes from within the Cacao Collective, share experiences, be witnessed and deepen your ceremonial practice.
Earth-based Rituals
We will spend time in the medicinal flower and herbal garden. Prepare to work with your hands, plant seeds, harvest herbs, and create nature-altars on the land to align with the soul of nature. Connect with the spirits of the plants, the earth, the nights sky, and the magic of the sacred mountain. Expects a sensual earth-sauna ritual, a visit to the Antrona Mountain Lake and the rivers nearby, and medicine songs around the sacred fire, to inform the nervous system with aliveness and regeneration.
The Cacao Spirit is calling me to remember my sacred connection and relationship with Mother Nature. I intend to renew my bond with Spirit through ceremony and ritual, open to the ancient medicine of the circle and follow the lead into a deeper understanding of plant spirit, nature spirit and the spirit of my own being. I commit to be in sacred service to Pachamama and receive Cacao's ancestral wisdom, stellar light codes and unifying consciousness to weave a rooted, regenerative earth culture. –Serap Kara
Valle Antrona, Piedmont
Ambas Dham is a family home, a living temple and family guesthouse located in a formerly abandoned 500 year old mountain village on the South side of the Alps. The residents transformed the ruins with idealism, visionary pioneering spirit and hard work, into cozy homes, and brought these back to life. For over 30 years, prayers and rituals have been held regularly to honour the guardians of the place.
Our guesthouse, is a simple yet magical place between the worlds, a hidden gem and place of power, surrounded by mountains peaks, rivers and crystal clear lakes; a place of refuge for timeless moments, offering a balm for the senses and the troubled mind. Here, one can search for new perspectives and find visions while nestling into the quietude of the mountain village. The guesthouse is located in the most isolated valley of the region Ossola of Piemont. Countless trails lead to the three passes to Switzerland via millennia-old passageways, formerly part of the Amber Road.
The Valley is called a "gateway to heaven”. Behind the outwardly attractive appearance lies something greater, even more beautiful: a hidden energy that must first be discovered. The person whose soul is ready to go inside can find a pulsating life force. In this sense, idealistic and spiritual values unite, and feed the soul of the wanderer whose heart is open. Energies of moon and earth unite and form a magnetic force field. This creates a feeling of security and protection for man - but to find the hidden treasure, the seeker must first meet the guardian of the threshold.
The height of the granite rock mountains reflect the cosmic wisdom of a great teacher who reigns here. His name is Shani. Behind the veils of matter he offers a bridge to the Otherworld, an understanding of shadow and light, the gate to the “eternal", and to a consciousness in harmony with the self, so that the sun in the heart can warm man on his journey across the earth.
Amba is a mythical figure in ancient India who wandered restlessly through the worlds, and only found brief peace in a forgotten place (Dham) in the mountains of the Himalayas.
One-week Cacao Mama Medicine Circle
The Art of Cacao, ceremonial practice & earth-based rituals
What's included?
The tuition fee for the seven-day Cacao medicine circle is 720 EUR and includes:
⊹ The Art of Cacao deepening studies
⊹ Along the lines of History
⊹ Traditional and modern uses of the Cacao medicine
⊹ Compose and refine a ceremonial offering
⊹ Cacao Tasting
⊹ Guided Meditations to connect with the Grandmother Cacao tree
⊹ Plant Consciousness Connection
⊹ Cacao Mama Cacao Ceremony
⊹ Earth-Sauna
⊹ Sharing Circle
⊹ Working in and connecting with the medicinal herbal garden
⊹ Fire & Song Circle
⊹ Visiting the Antrona Mountain Lake
⊹ Time for rest, relaxation, integration with view on the mountains
Meet your host
Serap Kara, the Founder of Cacao Mama & Earth School
I'm Serap, your host on this journey. I am a teacher, cacao mama, entrepreneur, moon dancer, and a midwife for a new consciousness to be anchored in this timeline. I have been in service to the Cacao Collective for 13 years, and am delighted to share the Art of Sacred Cacao, and weave the Cacao medicine on the sacred mountain site of Ambas Dham, one of my favourite places in Europe.
My medicine heart beats in rhythm with Pachamama, and the heart of the forest. I love to create finely tuned spaces to root into trust and receive permission from the spiritual realms and Earth herself, so that we may remember our natural state of Spirit connection and the way of ceremony to be in service to a greater harmony.
Food & Accommodation
Accommodation is in a simple, mountain temple like family guesthouse. There are four single rooms and two dormitories with three beds each available. Three delicious vegetarian meals are served per day including tea, coffee and fresh mountain water.
7 nights including full-board vegetarian food and accommodation in dormitory, tent, or in a private room, per person*:
bring your own tent (2 spaces) = 370 EUR
2 dormitories with 3 beds each (4 spaces) = 475 EUR
double room (double bed shared with someone you know) = no longer available
private room (4 spaces) = 580 EUR = no longer available
Please choose your preferred accommodation in the registration form.
We will check the availabilities and confirm your choice.
*The cost of accommodation is paid at arrival to the hosts.
The price does not include flights or transport, nor individual purchases.
Registration & Details
Check-in is on Friday, May 24th, 2024 anytime after 12 pm (noon) and before 6 pm.
Check-out is on Friday, May 31, 2024 at 11 am.
The exact location will be sent after the registration process is complete.
If you come by plane, you must choose Milano/Malpensa Airport. If you come by train, the closest station is Domodossola.
In both cases, we would like to help you organise your travel, and coordinate taxi/shuttle services to be shared with other participants.
TERMS & CONDITIONS
The medicine circle takes place from eight participants, and is limited to 12 participants. A 400 EUR deposit secures your space. The remaining tuition fee of 320 EUR has to be paid before May 15, 2024. Please note that your deposit is non-refundable. If the medicine circle is cancelled by the organiser, the deposit will be refunded fully. The cost of accommodation must be paid at arrival in cash only directly to the hosts. *The price does not include flights or transport, nor individual purchases.
This is an educational event. The nature of the work is such as to include deep personal reflections of an introspective and meditative kind. Participants are responsible for taking care of their own processes and their own wellbeing at all times, as this circle is not intended as a therapeutic space of any kind. The participation is at participant's sole risk. The instructor is not liable for damages of a spiritual, physical, psychological or material kind. We recommend a foreign health insurance.
Please note: Ceremonial doses of Cacao are not recommended for people who are taking antidepressants (Cacao contains MAO inhibitors), or who have a serious heart condition, or have very high blood pressure or suffer from epilepsy. Pregnant women may take smaller amounts. Please get in touch if you have questions.
Pictures by Serap Kara, Bhavani Devi, Tristan Photography · Artwork by Alexis Aronson ♥︎