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