When Ceremony Speaks, Science Listens: Indigenous Cacao Wisdom, Isn't Silent
- Ethan Swift
- Apr 27
- 9 min read
Updated: May 4
Ceremony speaks and is heard as science listens intimately, proving cacao indigenous wisdom.
When un-novel colonists discovered cacao, they saw (nothing at first) wealth — never wisdom. They stripped it of its sacred use and against the Maya, committed the worst Holocaust in human history. Cultural appropriation first occurred when Spanish added sugar, removed the bitterness, its medicinal qualities and ceremonial purpose and sold it to the those who gave the orders.
But now, things are shifting. People are waking up. And cacao is finding her way back into ceremony. Partly because there people arguing against the claims, ways and wisdom of indigenous people, always. So lets find out why we shouldn't argue with their ancient lineage cacao shamans.
But this time, you are not just invited to listen; but to be the host. You see there was a time when women and children were not allowed to drink cacao. Only the chiefs so no husbands or even sigma's were legally allowed to consume it. YOU may be the first person in your lineage, in human history to consume this. That alone, is ceremonious. Pour some out, as an offering to the freedom we all have to drink it for the first time ever in human history. Host your own historical first.
Western mindset tells us professionalism and expertise looks like a specification in the highest levels of the most elite institutions -- propping up hierarchies that define “value” through wealth and productivity, not wisdom, health and/or presence. It ignores intention and lots of other things often considered psuedoscience and blown off as, "uneducated". Turns out what ancient people have always known is now the same thing proven by actual science. Our mindset has to grow in order to receive the growth a ceremony with any plant can provide. Its not taught in school. Not in college. And not only in the jungle.
🌱 Science Doesn't Apologize, it Catches Up: Intention Does Change Cacao
Let’s be clear: the ceremonial use of cacao has never been about flavor alone. Indigenous peoples have always known that when prepared with love, reverence, and intention, cacao becomes a bridge — not just a beverage. But now, even Western science is beginning to validate what Indigenous wisdom has practiced for centuries. Cacao is known to everyone but people like me 6 years ago. Just like this author. I even thought that collegiate education was in someway superior to indigenous knowledge. Until I experienced it. You can read about my experience here, and even rate and review the article.
In a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study published in the journal Explore (PMID: 17905358), researchers Dean Radin, Gail Hayssen, and James Walsh tested whether chocolate that had been “intentionally enhanced” would affect mood more than untreated chocolate.
Over the course of a week, 62 participants were divided into four groups. On days three through five, each person consumed ½ ounce of dark chocolate twice a day, and their moods were measured using a standardized scale. What made the study unique? Three of the groups unknowingly received chocolate that had been infused with positive intention — meaning that practitioners deliberately imbued the chocolate with focused, heart-centered energy to support vigor, energy, and emotional well-being. The fourth group received untreated chocolate as a control.
The results were...fire:
Participants eating the intentionally-treated chocolate showed significantly greater improvements in mood than those in the control group.
This was especially true among participants who didn’t already consume chocolate regularly (P = .0001).
The most notable shifts? Decreased fatigue (P = .01) and increased vigor (P = .002) — exactly the outcomes intended.
“The mood-elevating properties of chocolate can be enhanced with intention.”— Radin, Hayssen & Walsh (2007), Effects of Intentionally Enhanced Chocolate on Mood
In other words: cacao responds to care, love, aloha. Energy matters. And when you choose slave-free and sugar-free chocolate that has been handled with love, prayer, and reverence — it’s not a marketing gimmick. It’s a measurable, specifically, an enhancement, to your quality of life. Yeah, it probably works with other things besides just plant medicines. So, aloha to you, Island Sharks caring, discerning and sincerely cacao & chocolate-loving audience. Thanks for reading this far!
All our Hawai'i Grown Ceremonial Cacao is made with the highest intention of good, aged under 1 full moon - cycle and imbued with the purity of the island.
What do you know about the value system of the peoples who gave us chocolate? What about cacao? They are two different peoples! The people who used cacao for thousands of years used cacao as a sacrament. Chocolate no. Please understand, the value system of the people who had cacao for thousands of years is something that also takes personal experience to understand. Just like ceremony itself. Don't get left out by overthinking your wellness. Not that, we can participate in an actual 5000 year old experience...or anything like that. The value of access to it, for the first time in history, is all because of our nano-sized Hawaii cacao industry. It's not part of indigenous Hawaiians cultural practices and has never been. What value can you find in your life from daily, intention-enhanced, and ceremonialized drinking the healthiest thing after water? This author would love to know.
Institutions founded by colonialism and the self-isolating mindset that career, or publicity alone, can shape and/or form a whole person, are abound in our civilization. Far right-wingers think its time to do a Roman salute because they believe America is the Roman Empire and that men think about it 5 times a day. We don't. What we think is, that being a whole person requires more than replaying of inculcated belief systems. Its not enough to just be brainwashed anymore IMHO. We have to start (re/de)programing our own brains and break the spell of electronic-beingness by offering humility to the Earth, it's plants and their wisdom desperately seeking us. Elite-ran institutions wage centuries of class-war to divide and conquer people, families and cultures all over the world. This includes inculcating societies to think that collegiate-level educations are the only pathways to a stable life (all though it just results in student loan debt), career, family, or even upward social progress. Some say there are only 3 jobs; people pleaser, monk or thief. Though this is just a saying, it leaves out the ruling class (which is a job), and is in fact, an artifact of class-war against those that would not self-identify as someone who essentially doesn't even need to work at all. We have all been trained to not complain about income inequality to the people perpetuating it. We as a class, are enabling, accommodating and facilitating a war against ourselves, rather than reckon with how we treated indigenous and people of color. Apparently doing that would ruin everything? Is the remedy really a hot 'cup of joe'? Indigenous people have had professionals and experts and community leaders that were not elevated to billionaire status ever. Will they be? Without a colonial mindset, community integration becomes so beneficial that greed is not rewarded. Reader, when not thinking as a person who can only ever hold one point of view, you can see that from the point of view of indigenous people, science is just proving what all indigenous peoples have always known. What us Westerns can know, Indigenous genius. They know transmuting shame gives us the best gifts life has to offer. Imagine if our country were experts at transmuting shame? Or guilt? Imagine if the billionaires were forced to pay their fair share, or if they didn't exist at all? As the writer behind this post—and the hands behind the cacao—I often seek guidance not from institutions or titles, but from the quiet teachings of the land, the plants, and the indigenous teachers who have long held sacred relationships with them.
In a world where expertise is often defined by credentials, wealth, and electronic-tech mastery, I turn toward indigenous wisdom and ceremonial practice for balance. These traditions carry medicine that can be measured by modern metrics.
We recognize that this cacao, like knowledge, has been colonized—controlled by systems tied to the Crown, built on extraction and exploitation. Our work is to return it to right relationship, to reverence, and to you. The possibility that healing happens not through force, is what our amazing customers have been so kindly supporting for the past 6 years.
📦 Ready to Feel the Difference?
If scientific studies show (they do) that intention can elevate basic chocolate, imagine the transformative potential when Hawaii Grown 100% cacao arrives...at your door! Imagine the taste of it; grown in a place where people belong to the land, honor its sacred soil, local Indigenous wisdom and have humility towards blending plant medicines all before drinking it in a sacred setting...Ask, and it is DONE!
Looking at cacao from a perspective that is not your own may seem scary, but if cacao teaches us anything, it teaches us self-empathy. Inner resistance may be felt, while comprehending this and that is a sign of a potential release from coping, emotional blocking and self-erosion. If you are not drinking cacao in an emotionally safe place, it will be impossible to comprehend this. Show some empathy for yourself and it will be natural and safe towards others.
Having a personal understanding of indigenous plant medicine is not something a blog can give you, no. Drinking it can! But we hope this blog, your intention and our products can help you access your all of your de-colonized authentic self. Given that a new mindset isn't specifically based on any one culture, we invite you to adopt our Hawaii cacao into your unique path in life. Respect and honor indigenous people, their medicine and their wisdom as equal (or greater) and a sincerely desire to live with your heart open-wide. Fall in love with your journey with what we call, ceremonial cacao.
Lead YOUR Way With Heart
🌺 Shopping Our 100% Ceremonial Blends Takes YOU Even Further
At Island Sharks Chocolate, we don’t just source award-winning, 100% Hawai‘i-grown ceremonial cacao — we intentionally enhance every blend with powerful, plant-based allies known to support emotional, energetic, and spiritual wellness. This isn’t just our humility to ancestral wisdom — it’s also backed by modern research.
What happens when you combine that ceremonial mindset with functional, heart-centered plant medicine. Tell us! Leave a comment and 5 star review?
🌺 Announcing Our 4 New Ceremonial Cacao Blends — Also Available for Subscription
We’ve released a collection of 4 new ceremonial cacao blends—crafted in small batches, with intention. Each 4 oz bag is filled with the rich, island vibe of Hawaiian-grown cacao.
🌀 Rest & Relax Blend – Created for parasympathetic support and deep inner stillness. Nappy nap time!? Just for evenings or to reset your nervous system. Having trouble sleeping? Take an; adaptogen, magnesium supplement, sedative, iron supplement trace minerals from Hawai'i and satiating Organic Lemon Balm for some amazing nights sleep, relaxing evenings and homeostasis, all-in-one. That Hawaii Grown Kava will put you to bed while relieving anxiety and the 'alaea', or salt, eliminates stress.
🔥 Elate & Elevate Blend– Click to open the heart and lift the spirit. For creativity, clarity, and celebration. From personal experience, "yes", this author can speak to the adaptogenic qualities of Hawaii grown Tusli Basil. Its also called Holy Basil and it regulated my hormones to an angelic level. With cinnamon and vanilla, a capacity for calmness and stamina ignite.
After being replenished and soothed and you can finally, be the joy, exuberance and elation that is authentically you.
💎 Wealthy & Woke – Ground and activate here. For those calling in abundance and vision, awareness and wellness. Health really is wealthy and this includes the anti-stimulant L-Dopa in the form of Mucuna Bean Powder. The lemongrass and coconut will bring clarity from higher-source. If you have been drinking this already, you'd know the lion's mane literally grows new brain cells. So why not grow some new neural connections, while chilling and sipping on a exotic, yet comforting 100% ceremonial cacao? Our personal favorite at Island Sharks Chocolate.
🌿 Pure Hawai‘i Grown Cacao with Organic Rose – Drink in the beauty of Big Island. Flavor, integrity and the soil make for an unmatched aroma and taste. It is subtly infused with organic rose petals for an added touch of softness and higher awareness. Unthorned, rose is known in naturopathic tradition for supporting emotional balance, heart healing, and nervous system regulation — and it carries the highest vibrational frequency of any flower on Earth. This blend offers more than flavor — it offers a moment of pure connection to beauty, truth, and the heart of Hawai‘i.
🍫 100% Award-Winning Kona Grown Ceremonial Cacao is also available in 4 oz bags, 1 and 2 lb bags as well as Brewable Bars and subscription here.
Choose your blend, or mix and match. Let each morning become a moment of ceremony. Master the your intention.
We treat cacao like the sacred blessing it is. We love cacao like we love ourselves, the way we want to be treated.
If you’re ready to slow down, to reconnect, to explore what ceremony might open up in your life — we’re staying right here. Never ever just to sell you a widget, but to support local farmers, take care of and belong to the land while sharing aloha with our WORLD-WIDE community. Our mission is YOUR WELLNESS!
This isn’t a trend. This is a renewal. To the land. To the heart, nervous system and yourself.
Want to learn more about ceremonial cacao and its many benefits?👉 Check here
New to the Ceremonial Cacao Experience and want to go deeper?👉 Read here
Ready to subscribe to Pure Hawai‘i cacao and start crafting your own blend each day?👉 Click here
Don't forget to try our delicious 92% or 69% Drinking Chocolate too, pictured here.
Great Blog! Great to read with the Wealthy and Woke blend.