Sweat Lodge and Sauna

Sweat Lodge and Sauna: On Detox and Sacred Intent

Sweating is an age old method of forcing out the dregs and opening flow. The lodge is the womb of the mother. There is darkness, moisture, and heat. There is the darkness of transformation, of after death and before birth, the tomb and the womb. There is sitting cross-legged on the bare ground with little or no clothing. In group lodges there are other people to consider. In ceremonial and traditional lodges there is ritual and protocol. I tend to prefer a looser approach with limited ceremony. I actually enjoy doing sweat lodge alone and buck naked, even getting out and getting the rocks myself. Traditionally there is a fire-keeper who delivers the rocks. Often the rocks are red-hot enough to put out some light and they sizzle quite a bit when the water is added. One may add various incenses onto the dry hot rocks such as cedar, juniper, white sage, sweet grass, copal, tobacco, willow bark, and corn meal. I think that these are best in very small amounts as too much smoke can be a problem. Rattles and synthetic drums are good in the lodge to accompany chants and songs. After a few rounds most of the salty sweat is out and the rest is typically water. In ceremony there is often much hubbub about the four directions and their symbology. I keep a Medicine Wheel made of stones near the lodge which is aligned to the directions as ais the lodge. Nowadays there are about 20 or so stones, enough for five rounds – one for each of the directions and the center. The stones do break in the fire and eventually get smaller and smaller.

I was able to do a group lodge over the summer at Starwood. It was a bit crowded with 8 people and I did not like the format and the length (esp with that many people). It was ceremonial – a bit too ceremonial for me. Although it was stated to not be an endurance contest I think some people actually want it to be an endurance ordeal. I guess for me sweating is more of a relaxing thing than a ritual ordeal. Being in an intimate surround – a womb as it were – with strangers can also be an issue – perhaps that’s my own hang up though. The lodge there was OK but I am glad I have my own lodge to work. 
 

We made the latest lodge in a new place in the shaded woods fairly close to the house on the camp land. It is an easy walk and the path can be easily lighted with solar path lights. The topography is fairly flat as well. Ani Chitta helped me make the lodge and added some nice features. She stayed here with us for over three months. Alas she is off to Mongolia. We will miss her. She led a few of the lodges in a more ceremonial style than me – women’s lodges too. She is a veteran Sun Dancer as well as a Buddhist nun so has experience leading Sweat Lodge and Pipe Ceremony. Our lodge is covered with blankets and some canvas – actually a painting drop cloth canvas that I cut into triangles. It can get quite toasty hot inside. Ani Chitta made me up a very nice medicine bundle with offering substances. I am quite glad to have encountered her Sweat knowledge – which I think comes from Lakota Sioux tradition. She says she is going to make a sweat lodge in Mongolia and I sure hope she does. I am said to have some Native American blood as are many people but I am not entirely sure as it is not easily found in genealogy. In any case – ethnic-based spirituality where one’s degree of direct blood-link influences one’s ‘status’ has often troubled me. I like it better if everyone is considered equal regardless of ethnicity.

This lodge was made from maple branches ripped down in the super-derecho at the end of June. The curved branch tips proved good for making a Sweat Lodge. Willow is said to bend better but maple lasts longer – should last two years. An interesting observation is that trees (and maple is a very good example) grow in a spiraling out manner which follows the Golden Mean – or the Fibonacci sequence. The branches curve at the tips but they do not curve in the same plane. Instead they spiral a bit out of the plane in the proportion of the Golden Ratio. This makes building the lodge circular nearly impossible – so it turns out a bit oval and oblong. Sweat lodges and saunas are made in different ways around the world. Recently I saw some photos of Taino (Caribbean Native) sweat lodges – basically small round houses with vertical sides. They are quite nice – would probably take longer to heat but comfort level might be better – since in a curved dome lodge it is sometimes hard not to lean in a bit when in certain positions inside the lodge. 

We are lucky enough to also have an infrared sauna. There is much less sweating with it than with a sweat lodge but it can still be a nice experience. I like to sit in there and read or meditate and it is quite nice as a way to soothe one’s muscles after working out. Occasionally I also get to do a dry sauna at a hotel where I sometimes stay when out of town working. These are electric with rocks and can get quite hot.

Native American lodges can involve preliminary actions such as fasting and refraining from alcohol, sex, or even mundane activity. Often they were done as part of a vision quest or a magical quest, for searching out solutions to a problem, for preparation for an upcoming difficulty, or for healing of disease.

                                 Oroboros tile as a landing pad for stones

The Finns, Scandinavians, and Russians seem to take a slightly more casual approach where the sauna is a form of healing and cleansing, but also a center of socializing. The Russians are known to drink Vodka and even to pour a little Vodka on the rocks. In Finland it is common for the elderly to take sauna frequently, some even going to die in the sauna. Babies are also born in the sauna. The practice of dowsing with cold water or going out to roll in the snow between rounds is also common among the Finns and some Native American tribes.The Russians consider a fierce and sometimes hostile spirit of the “bania” or Russian bath, as their sauna is known. The Finns do the rite of whacking one another with Silver Birch branches to work the circulation stimulated by the sweating. Theoretically this should help work toxins out of the system. The Scythian tribes of the Eurasian steppes were known to have sweat lodges where they would burn cannabis on the rocks in a magical effort to contact and assist the souls of dead warriors. Romans, Turks, various Islamic peoples, and many others all have sweat bath traditions. A pre-Celtic or early Celtic sweat lodge or bath was recently found in the highlands of Scotland, See below:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-19976653

 

Detox is a popular pastime these days. Since we are exposed to many toxins in this day and age it is thought that detoxification is more needed than ever. Subsequently, herbs and fiber for digestive and liver cleanses, yoga, sweating, hydrating, fasting, and other practices are popular. Environmental toxins are ever-present these days – in the water, in the air, in food (especially processed food), in the chemicals we use and encounter, and in the materials in the buildings in which we live, work, and play. A wet sauna such as a sweat lodge can help move some of these substances out through the skin. Keeping well hydrated within – before and after a sweat can also help as it dilutes and lubricates our innards. Sweat lodges also put out negative ions which are thought to be therapeutic. Below is a book review I did of an introductory book on Sweat Lodge from an eclectic slightly New Age perspective – but still good. It is called – The Sweat Lodge is for Everyone – by Irene McGarvie.

http://chakra37.blogspot.com/2010/12/sweat-lodge-is-for-everyone-we-are-all.html

Sacred Intent

The whole idea of ceremony is an interesting contemplation. This is an attempt to transcend the mundane and enter the sacred. Yet this separation may well be contrived. Even so the quest to be sacred is a mindful act where attention and control are engaged. In the Tibetan Buddhist tradition one engenders this ‘sacred intent’ which is also known as “divine pride” as a concordant means to discover one’s inherent enlightened nature. It is acknowledged to be contrived yet since we are said to have the capacity to become awake – we can mindfully act in an awakened manner (according to traditional symbolism) and so aid the actual approach to such a state. In this sense I see ceremonialism as a means to an end but this may not be entirely accurate. The open view is endless so all means to an end are temporary and limited. One can become attached to ceremony and the need for it. One can get caught up in symbolism and forget the very reason for ceremony. One’s magickal persona (akin to sacred intent) is useful only to a point. Engendering sacred intent is often recommended for sweat lodge. On another level a person could practice mindfulness, akin to sacred intent, at all times. Being careful and calculated with all or a significant portion of one’s activities is possible. So is everything sacred or is nothing sacred? It’s all relative I suppose. Sacredness is an arbitrary attribution that we place on things and actions. I suppose that sometimes the division of sacred and profane is useful and at other times it can be a problem. It's another Balance that we hold as best we can.

 
                      Path down to the lodge now lit with solar path lights

Squirrel Medicine

Squirrel Medicine: October’s Busyness

 

   Preparing for the future is something we all have to do. Some are better than others at this. Nobody wants to get caught off guard and unawares and tossed into crisis mode. Yet all our lives we have to prepare for things – work, holidays, change of seasons, maintenance, life changes, and ultimately – death. The squirrel gathers stores of nuts and stashes them in various places. Survival is the goal. As habitual beings what we do now affects what we do later – whether we store nutritious karmic nuts or yucky ones – might affect our fate. One way to get into doing things we don’t want or like to do, but are useful and necessary, is simply to find ways to enjoy them, though I admit I am often not very good at this. I can be resistant and procrastinate. Canning and drying food seems a squirrelly activity. We ahave been crazy at it this year. Re is the expert - I am just learning. I am the grower and picker mainly.

     Living on a farm or owning land and house – one has significant preparation for each season. Things have to be put out and put in, shored up, cleaned up, planted, picked, turned under, ad nauseum. We have a greenhouse with potted plants. Our animal houses and shelters need to be readied for winter. Our ice-free waterers need to be set up. We need extra straw and hay.

 

     The first fire in the fireplace – Oct 7 this year – with flowering pear wood ripped down by the super-derecho at the end of June. It was warm. We won’t turn the gas heat on till November as usual.

     The smell of apples is still pervading the house as we make more awesome applesauce from wildish apples given to us by the neighbors. Ripe Keiffer pears and delectable dried Asian pear slices also abound. I have been collecting leaves – Italian basil, purple basil, perilla (shiso), and Japanese parsley (mitsuba) - to make pesto. Hopefully this will be a tasty experiment. I have pine nuts and hemp hearts to add. I think walnuts might be good too. Made them last night - pestos - 3 different kinds - mitsuba-walnut-lemon-vinegar-shallots, Italian Basil with hemp hearts, and shiso with pine nuts and garlic. All are quite different in color and taste but really fukn good! Next I need to do the purple basil. I bought a few plants about 10 years ago at a pagan gathering and they have re-seeded every year all over the yard. They make a nice mild tea too - similar to Tulsi basil.  

 

 

 

     The dehydrator has been quite busy as well - drying Asian pears, apples, bananas (great dried), eggplant, peppers, and hot peppers. Some of the veggies can be dried and powdered into soup stocks and the peppers made into super hot pepper powder.
 

     The autumn greens garden is in full swing with kale, turnips and greens, lettuce, endive, spinach, radishes, broccoli-raab, collards, Tyfon greens, a few cabbages, and a few mustard greens. One more week and our first batch of kombucha should be done! I want to try flavoring it with Asian pear, ginger, and Pawpaw. I froze some pawpaw pulp from the few that I found here among the thousands of trees in the woods - I guess the derecho knocked many off and they ripened early (like everything this yr) and fell off and the deer got them. However, we did get tons from a neighbor that came from West Virginia - maybe from the mountains - as they were really late. It will be time to break out the recipes this winter.  

     The late sunflowers are blooming – Jerusalem artichokes (good eating too – raw or cooked) and Maximilian sunflower. Leaves are falling making everything messy – but they will be the brown in the compost to mix with the green to make the black. I will probably mow through some of the leaves to make them smaller.

     The smell of apples pervades the house as we make the last of the applesauce. I must say, eating warmed cinnamony apple sauce by a roaring fire is rather relaxing. There is also the proliferation of ‘pumpkin spice’ products. We have pumpkin spiced ale, coffee, and even rooibos tea. In a few weeks there will be the big quinces left out to make the house smell good. They seem to be too hard to cook. I have another tree that will eventually make smaller ones to cook into jelly and sauces. The bitter trifoliate oranges will make a perfumy lemonade and I want to try marmalade with the peels which is supposed to be good. They are said to have anti-tumor and anti-inflammation properties. Picking them is rather unsettling as the tree is full of 3 inch long foreboding thorns but we managed to get a bucket full of them.

 

     We have about 30ft of fence covered with luffa gourds for making the sponges. Did this several years ago – not the funnest but they are big and we should have sponges. Gotta wait till they frost and dry up a bit though.
 

     Another thing maybe for this fall is harvesting, sweating (singing the oils out in a fire), and making some projects out of bamboo. We have several different varieties and more every year so we need to start harvesting it. I hope to harvest some shoots for food next spring as I just had some fantastic ones.

     Some winters I have made wreaths – mostly for relatives at Yule time but I have mucho Akebia vine which is said to make very good baskets. I may try something but I have never done before so I might just suck at it. The fruit pulp is sweet and edible but not much there except seeds. Before they split open they look a lot like pawpaws – thought about pulling a switcheroo at the PawPaw Festival! I just read that the rinds are often fried as a vegetable in Japan. Too late this year but will have to try it next. Strange berries can appear this time of year - beautyberries (cultivated), coral berries (wild), bittersweet vine berries, persimmon fruits, etc. Persimmons get edible after a frost but there is still a risk of getting a bit of the horribly astringent skin. We cooked with them one year - made bread that was good. October is a good time to transplant trees, shrubs, and perennials, and to plant bulbs. I wanna do some garlic and possibly some asparagus as the oldest bed has pretty much dried out. I have blueberries and wild peach trees to move among other things. Puckery persimmons are just about ready - better after a good frost - horribly astringent if you east any part of or near the skin.

 

     We got hay for the barn – food for the goats and bedding/insulation for the animals – straw coming tomorrow. Re brought home way too many pumpkins too – to can. May try some in a juice recipe too. The goat house needs to be shored up - They have banged a couple of the walls to smitherines with their butting - appatrently head-butting is fun. I dread having to cut hooves - mainly on just one goat but Re holds them while I carefully saw off the overgrown hooves with a hacksaw being careful not to go too deep as there are nerves and usually a bit of blood. All five girl goats have their horns. For the first few months when we got them - about 8 years ago - they would get their horns stuck in the fence and bleat(?) horribly - but they learned how to disengage them very well after that as it never happened again. The hens are making about 4 dozen eggs a week - we don't eat them but give them out to people.

     Still have a bit of work on the bird feeders. I need to repair and reload the niger feeders for finches. The deer have broken many of the bird feeders = frustrating. We have put out mineral and feed blocks for deer and turkey and a plot with turnip greens. We also put out salt blocks. The raccoons get the spent apple stuff and some of the rotting apples – we have been throwing them food over the hill for years now. Sometimes the fucks live in little holes adjacent to the roof and I have to climb out onto the roof to clean up their shit piles. They share the cat food much of the time – not much to do about that. I did put up another bird feeder, a bird house, and a hopefully deer-proof squirrel feeder. Re brought back ten bags of 'squirrel corn' from a nearby farm. Peanuts in the shell I need for the furry squirrels. Apparently they have been using the rocks of the medicine wheel for cracking hickory nuts. Indeed every flat service seems to have become a processiong station for hickory nuts.
 

     There are things I hate about autumn though, the busyness for one can be taxing and I tend to resist and complain. Whine and bitch are probably better terms. Those pesky ‘sticktights’ and ‘hitchhikers’ SUCK. When the snow comes it sucks trying to do shit with your fingers when they are numb. It was frost cold the other night and my poor bare feet were chilled under the tiny blanket but I was too lazy to get up and get socks and another blanket. Cutting wood is a good way to warm up on a cold day.
 

                                     Compost

                                    Witch Hazel in bloom

                                                  Eleuthero (Siberian Ginseng)

     I am sure there’s more but that’s quite enough braggy babbling for now. Guess I should get off my lazy coffee/computer ass and do some work.

As I Roll Along My Wheel (a song)

As I roll along my wheel
The sun sets behind me in a world that seems real

As I roll along this wheel
With beginnings and with endings will we all have to deal

We surf at the summit but are crushed at the base
Dead skin and bones
Recycled like the stones
Like the water, like the air
The fire is rare, it imbues our lively stare
Space invisibly pervades us

As we decay under this wheel
Time will yet betray us as our fates time will seal
As I roll along my wheel

And as we worry and we feel
We give away our moments though it seems that they steal
As I roll along my wheel

We live as if we will live forever but what else can we do?
But carry things from here to there?
And collect things to offer and share?

As I roll along my wheel
The days pass behind me for the past to conceal
As I go, in front of of me the future to reveal
Time swirls, time whirls
As I roll along my wheel.