CEREMONY · IN-PERSON · BY APPLICATION
Sananga, Rapé, & Cacao
Ceremony
A trauma-informed ceremonial container working with three sacred plant medicines — held to support the opening of the heart, the clearing of the body and the third eye, and the integration of what is ready to move.
"The medicines have been carried for thousands of years. They have been waiting longer than any of us. When the timing is right, you will know."
A WORD FROM NADINE
The medicines, and how I hold them
I facilitate ceremonies with three sacred plant medicines — sananga, rapé, and cacao — held together in a single ceremonial container. They work in sequence: cacao opens the heart, sananga clears the eyes, the energetic field, and the third eye, and rapé grounds and aligns. Together they offer a complete arc of opening, clearing, and integration.
I hold these medicines as a trained facilitator, with twenty years of clinical and ceremonial work, certifications as a Board-Certified Holistic Health Practitioner, Trauma Recovery Specialist, and Herbalist, and the trauma-informed presence that makes ceremonial space safe for the body to do what it came to do.
LINEAGE & TRAINING
How I came to this work
Real ceremonial training is relational, gradual, and ongoing. Here is how I hold mine.
SANANGA & RAPÉ
My training in sananga and rapé facilitation comes directly from teachers within the Indigenous Amazonian lineage that carries these medicines. This is not weekend-workshop training. It is the kind of deep, relational, gradual learning that the medicines themselves require.
CACAO
My ceremonial cacao training comes from teachers within the Mayan and Mesoamerican lineages who hold the relationship with the cacao spirit. The work is rooted in the same principle: ceremony as relationship, not transaction.
CONTINUING RELATIONSHIP
I return annually to sit in ceremony — not as a facilitator, but as a participant — and to continue learning from the lineage holders who carry these medicines. This ongoing study is non-negotiable. The day I stop being a student of these medicines is the day I stop being qualified to hold them for others.
THE THREE MEDICINES
What we work with
Three sacred plant medicines, held together in a single ceremonial arc.
SANANGA
A drop of sacred eye medicine from the Tabernaemontana shrub. Traditionally used by Indigenous Amazonian tribes to clear the spiritual vision, open the third eye and pineal gland, dispel stagnant energy, and bring the body into a heightened state of presence.
RAPÉ
A finely ground sacred tobacco snuff blown gently into each nostril. Traditionally used to ground, align, and bring the mind into focus. The medicine of clearing what does not belong and returning to center.
CACAO
Ceremonial-grade pure cacao prepared with intention. Traditionally used by Mesoamerican lineages to open the heart, soften emotional armor, and create the conditions for honest presence with self and others.
WHAT THE CEREMONY OFFERS
On every level
The ceremony works on four levels at once — physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional.
PHYSICAL
In the body
- ▸Release of held tension, particularly in the head, jaw, neck, and shoulders
- ▸A deep return to embodied presence after long periods of dissociation or overwhelm
- ▸Activation of the vagus nerve and parasympathetic nervous system through the breath, the cacao, and the ceremonial container
- ▸Sensations of warmth, opening, and softening in the chest and belly
- ▸A felt sense of the body being met, witnessed, and supported
MENTAL
In the mind
- ▸Quieting of the constant mental loop and the inner critic
- ▸Clarity around questions, decisions, or patterns that have been clouded
- ▸A shift from analytical processing to intuitive knowing
- ▸Insights that arrive whole, rather than reasoned out
- ▸A return of focus, presence, and discernment in the days following
SPIRITUAL
In the spirit
- ▸Opening of the third eye and the pineal gland — a return to inner sight and spiritual perception
- ▸Reconnection to a felt sense of the sacred — your own and the world's
- ▸A clearing of stagnant energy that has been carried for years, sometimes generations
- ▸Encounter with ancestors, guides, or aspects of self that have been waiting to be heard
- ▸The remembrance that you are part of a long lineage of women who have done sacred work
EMOTIONAL
In the heart
- ▸Permission for emotion that has been held back to finally move
- ▸A softening of the emotional armor that has kept you safe but small
- ▸Tears, laughter, grief, joy — whatever is real in you that day
- ▸A return of self-compassion and self-trust
- ▸The kind of emotional release that is held safely, not pushed for, in trauma-informed ceremonial space
None of this is medical advice. The descriptions above are spiritual and experiential, not clinical.
THE CEREMONY ITSELF
What to expect
A walkthrough of the arc, from arrival to closing.
ARRIVAL & GROUNDING
Ceremony begins with arrival — settling into the space, meeting the other participants if it is a group, and grounding into the body. We open with intention-setting and a brief teaching on the medicines and how to receive them.
CACAO FIRST
We drink ceremonial cacao together. The medicine is allowed to settle. The heart begins to open. We sit, we breathe, we listen.
SANANGA IN THE EYES
One drop is administered into each eye. The sensation is intense for several minutes — burning, watering, sometimes tears. The intensity passes. What follows is a profound clearing of the visual field, the energetic body, and the third eye.
RAPÉ TO GROUND
Sacred snuff is gently blown into each nostril through a traditional applicator. The medicine grounds, aligns, and brings you fully back into your body.
SITTING & INTEGRATION
We sit in held space for the medicines to do their work. Depending on the container and what is asked for, this can unfold in silence — or with drumming and medicine songs. Both are sacred. Both serve. There is room for sound, breath, tears, or stillness. Whatever arrives is welcomed. This is the longest part of the ceremony.
CLOSING
We close together, share what wishes to be shared, and ground before re-entering the world. Tea, water, and grounding food are offered.
2.5–3 HOURS GROUP CEREMONIES · 1.5–2 HOURS PRIVATE 1-ON-1
THE OFFERINGS
Two ways to sit
A held group circle, or a fully private container designed around your intention.
Sananga, Rapé & Cacao Circle
A held ceremonial circle with a small group of women. Cohort capped intentionally for intimacy and safety.
- ▸2.5–3 hours, in person
- ▸Small group (maximum [GROUP-CAP] participants)
- ▸All three medicines in sequence
- ▸Pre-ceremony intake form & brief consultation
- ▸Post-ceremony grounding food & integration time
- ▸Optional integration call within 7 days
Private Ceremonial Container
A fully private ceremony designed around your specific intention. Includes pre-ceremony consultation and post-ceremony integration support.
- ▸1.5–2 hours, in person
- ▸Fully private — designed for your intention
- ▸All three medicines in sequence
- ▸Pre-ceremony 30-minute intake call (included)
- ▸Post-ceremony 60-minute integration call within 7 days (included)
- ▸Available by application only
DISCLAIMER
Before you book
Please read carefully and share what is true for you.
DISCLAIMER
These medicines are sacred and powerful. If any of these conditions apply, please inform me so we can choose to work together in an informed and safe space.
- —Pregnancy or actively trying to conceive
- —Currently breastfeeding
- —Heart conditions or recent cardiac events
- —High or unmanaged blood pressure
- —History of seizures or epilepsy
- —Active eye infection, recent eye surgery, or glaucoma (sananga)
- —Currently on MAOIs, SSRIs, or psychiatric medications without prescriber consultation
- —Active psychosis, severe dissociative disorder, or untreated bipolar disorder
- —Currently in an acute mental health crisis
- —Acute substance use disorder without active recovery support
- —Recent surgery or significant illness within the past 30 days
- —Allergies to tobacco (rapé) or to cacao
All participants must complete a pre-ceremony intake form and sign a participation agreement before sitting. The intake form is sent upon booking and must be returned 72 hours before ceremony.
FREQUENTLY ASKED