The Call of the Sacred Sweat Lodge

Sweat bathing, in one form or another, has been practised in many cultures since ancient times. Mayan ruins in Piedras Negras, Chichen Itza and El Paraiso contain sweat houses, some more than 1200 years old. Early Russian chronicles mention the bania, which is believed to have been in existence since before the Finnish sauna. The Roman laconicum, a hot dry room used to induce sweating, dates back to the 1st Century BC, and the Turkish bath, with its harara (steam room) has been in continuos use for over two thousand years.

These methods of sweat bathing have elements of religious practice and ritual. But as a form of spiritual healing and purification, none is as powerful as the sacred sweat lodge ceremony practiced by the First Nation and Native American people of North American.

From the arrival of the ‘white man’ until the last century, attempts were made to eradicate the use of the sweat lodge among these people, as well as many other forms of native spirituality that were unacceptable to invading cultures. Despite this, these traditions persevered. Today, the sweat lodge is becoming more commonly used within modern native communities as they re-establish their religious practices and gather to pray for the health and welfare of their communities.

It does not end there. Use of the sweat lodge as a spiritual practice is spreading to non-native people, most likely because of the movement towards ancient spiritual traditions as a means of surviving in a world driven by corporate greed. It is believed that shamanic medicine, such as the sweat lodge, will purge both body and spirit of sickness, thus allowing individuals and communities to develop compassionate relationships with the earth and with its inhabitants. This movement, which is gaining critical mass, is supported by several prophecies and visions that foretell the coming of a tribe of ‘many colours’, where people of all cultures will join to mend the wounds inflected on this earth. (See Native American Prophecies.)

With this in mind, and in dire need of both physical and spiritual replenishment, I searched the Internet for a sweat lodge and found one at Sacred Earth Camp, only a few hours journey from home.

Sacred Earth Camp is in Devon at the edge of Exmoor. The entrance is on a hill overlooking a large clearing surrounded by trees and high moorland: a timeless place tucked into the quiet countryside. Looking down the path, I saw a tepee, a handful of small tents, a natural well, a fire pit, and a bent wood structure which was to be our sweat lodge.

At the tepee, I was met by Bethlehem, our host, who was to perform the ceremony. His warm welcome helped ease the tenseness of the world that I had brought with me. I sensed a gentle heart within this slim, grey-haired gentleman and was immediatly glad I had come. However, before the day was over, I would come face to face with his spirit animal, the Black Bear, a fierce and formidable warrior. Bethlehem's teachings, focused on shamanic healing, are profound. He is a Rainbow Elder and a Pipe Carrier, with a deep respect for the messages of the universe. His medicine name is Sun Eagle Heart.

I entered the tepee and was greeted by a circle of people gathered around a central fire. Fragrant wood smoke swirled around the interior, mixing with soft murmuring and laughter before finding its way out, as if offering the carefree spirit within to the cloudy sky above. It was a large tepee, shadowy after my walk through the clearing. The sun suddenly came out, and someone said, ‘Ho!’

I was given a cup of tea as I took my place. We talked, introducing ourselves as the talking stick was passed, and listening to Sun Eagle Heart's wisdom as he told us of his path in this life and explained to us what to expect during the sweat lodge ceremony. When it was time, we left the tepee to prepare our sweat lodge.

We were to use the hot stone method. Another method is the open fire chamber, which was used among the Inuit, some Pacific Coast tribes and the Pueblo Indians in the American Southwest. (See History of Sweat Lodges.) Many pueblos adopted the hot stone method with the southern migration of the Navaho. Today, the open fire method is used far less than the hot stone, which does not fill the lodge with caustic smoke.

The bent wood structure was slightly oval in shape, roughly two metres across and just over a metre in height. The floor was the natural grass that filled the clearing, and there was a small deep pit in the centre. We draped several layers of blankets over the structure, making sure that no light could reach the interior. We then placed a huge canvas over the structure.

The canvas had large sacred symbols painted on it. It was important that we place the canvas in perfect alignement because the symbols represent the Four Directions: the great powers of the medicine wheel. The entrance faced east, which is the place of illumination and clear vision. From the north comes wisdom and understanding. From the west, we find our inner place, our true essence and our introspective nature. The south allows us to be innocent and to trust each other.

When the canvas was perfectly aligned with the four directions, young Hawk, our fire keeper, began the fire making ritual. He circled the large fire pit, stopping to pray at each of the four directions and placing small piles of tobacco inside the pit to form the corners of the medicine wheel. Whisper, a wise woman, completed the medicine wheel with her prayers and sprinklings of tobacco that formed the circles connecting the four directions. We laid blocks of wood within the framework of the medicine wheel, surrounded it with kindling, and piled the stones onto the wood, which were then covered with more wood. When all was ready, we lit the fire and drummed, danced and sang it to life. It was a powerful fire.

It took several hours for the stones to heat, during which time I rediscovered the soothing effects of fire gazing. When the stones were ready, Hawk cleansed us with sage smoke as we followed Sun Eagle Heart into the sweat lodge one at a time, touching our forehead to Grandmother Earth at the entrance. We made our way clockwise, on hands and knees, around the central pit and settled in. When we were all seated in the sacred circle, Hawk brought us the hot stones. We welcomed each stone into the circle (‘Welcome Stone, Ho!!’) then Sun Eagle Heart closed the entrance.

The stones glow at first in the darkness but quickly fade. Sun Eagle Heart threw sage from his medicine bag onto the stones and it filled the lodge with its pungent scent and sparkled like a miniature universe of tiny red stars. This faded and the lodge was returned to total darkness. It became unbearably hot and I desperatly wanted to escape and return to the coolness of the outside world. We drummed and chanted and prayed and sweated. Eventually, Sun Eagle Heart called to Hawk to open the entrance and a cool breeze rushed in. I had survived the first round.

Something happened in the second round that I was not prepared for. I had expected a test of physical endurance, and wondered if I would last all four rounds. I had not, however, expected a test of my inner being, my psyche, my soul. Illusions are stripped away when your body succumbs to the heat and the dark takes on a substance of its own. All the trappings and pretensions of the outside world become meaningless. With my eyes wide open, I was forced look deep inside for the essense of my truth. I didn't want to do that. I didn't want to reveal my secrets. I began to cry, and could not think of what to say, could not direct my words, so the words I did speak came straight from the heart without censure. I prayed for understanding and for love, which is my deepest desire.

Sun Eagle Heart let us out after the second round for a break. I huddled with my towel and kept thinking, ‘I do not want to go back in there, please do not make me go back in there, I do not want to do this’. I really was dreading the next round because I knew I would have to pray again and wrestle with my demons. I had just met these people! I didn't want to talk about my secret pain to them. I felt so profoundly vulnerable and afraid. But the Black Bear was there, and he made me go back in. Not that anyone said anything to me; I just knew I had to do it. Sun Eagle Heart's animal spirit is a powerful one. Later that evening, he told us stories of dragging people out of their tents who were afraid to go into the lodge. I very much understand that fear.

Round three was the same, except much hotter. Words were ripped out of me and again I cried. I prayed to find spiritual fulfilment within the context of my personal relationships. My heart pain drained from me with my tears in the same way that the toxins drained from my body with my sweat.

It got hotter and hotter. The heat of the last round was so intense that I was pushing my hands into the cool grass underneath me. At one point, I tried to reach under the coverings to the outside, thinking that even the smallest touch of a cool breeze on my hand would give my entire body relief. But I could not find the way out.

Something strange happened in the fourth round. Sun Eagle Heart told us all to pray simultaneously instead of in turn. I opened my mouth, tried to make some sound, but nothing would come out. I think I had become lost in the circle and had misplaced my spirit. I could hear the murmuring around me as the others prayed. Sound takes on colour in the complete darkness of the sweat lodge. The black was filled with the greens and blues of the gentle, quieter spirits and the reds and oranges of those who were praying out their angers. All I could manage was, ‘……. I pray ..... I pray’ in tiny puffs of lilac tinged with blue. I think the Bear was trying to tell me something; that I need to figure out who I am so that I do not lose my spirit in the circle.

When the last round was complete, I was free to go. I emerged with a mind that was peacefully absent of mental noise. There was nothing to think about. I had dropped all my thoughts into the earth, one at at time, like beads of sweat, an offering to the Grandmother. I was firmly grounded in the Sacred Now, and what happened next and what happened in the past was of no consequence.

After changing into dry clothes, I went into the tepee for an evening meal of olives, cheese and crackers followed by rice and curry cooked over the fire by Simon, another gentle soul with a brave and compassionate heart. It was a sanctuary around the fire, a sacred circle of love and companionship. There was spontaneous music; someone had brought a guitar and Hawk really sang the blues. I lay back sleepily and simply enjoyed.

Later, I went to my tent, crawled into my sleeping bag, and slept. Some moles slept under me. I think they came to me for the warmth. I could feel them under the tent bumping around and pushing against my back and legs. Hawk was talking in his sleep a few tents away to the spirits who were visiting him. It sounded like fluent Martian. I wondered if the spirits spoke Martian. The wind blew softly and near dawn there was a spring rain that tapped gently on the tent above me.

In the morning, I went into the tepee and sat in the slightly smoky warmth of easy companionship. Bethlehem made me the best cheese omelette I had ever had in my life; a perfect texture, a golden colour, and magically cooked over the wood fire. Most had left to go back to the world, so it was just me, Bethlehem, Simon and Hawk. And I didn't even have to clean up afterwards! I was in heaven.

So, now I am back in the world, but I can still smell the wood smoke in my hair even though I have showered. I will go back. My spirit guide is calling me; for the teachings, for the sweat lodge, for the nourishing company of other's who are also on a spirit quest, and hopefully, for another cheese omelette.