Wednesday, April 18, 2018

Sweating It Out: Sweat Lodges and Temazcal


I was trying to think of what to write this month when an episode of Longmire I’d been watching provided the answer—the sweat lodge!  In this episode, an all-women sweat lodge was having a ritual to purify and help women who had gone through ‘bad times.’  I have no idea of the verity or fiction of this individual ceremony, but sweat lodges are certainly an important part of the culture of several nations, mainly Plains Indians.
    
sweat lodge frame, public domain
     Sweating is not some ‘New Age’ procedure to be taken lightly, as if it were on a list with massage and facials.  These ‘hot stones’ serve another purpose:  purification and atonement.  The ritual must be led by an elder well trained in the healing process, who knows the songs and ceremony of this custom. The lodge must be constructed in a very specific way.  In some areas, this would be a lodge of numerous hides over branches, while in others it will be wood and stone, and still others it will be adobe.  The clothing one wears is minimal but modest.
      In the United States, Native Americans consider the ceremony of the sweat lodge a religious ritual, not to be duplicated by white men any more than non-Catholics should attempt to make money from giving Holy Communion.  I have to ‘own up’, however, that while traveling on the Yucatan Peninsula some 13 years ago, my daughter and I took part in a Temazcal, the Mayan equivalent of a sweat lodge.
     In this instance, it was limited to ten participants and was held in an adobe lodge.  I thought it was very tastefully done—not New Agey at all—but obviously I’m prejudiced.  We wore bathing suits (about as minimal as one can get, after all) and sat around a fire with stones onto which water was caste periodically.  Herbs were initially passed around to begin a purification process, and small plates of fruit were also passed to keep us hydrated.  Quite honestly, my prevalent memory is trying to stop myself from screaming ‘let me out of here!’  Luckily, I kept in the back of my mind ‘this too shall pass’ and managed to get myself lower toward the ground, which was cooler. Anyone who says they’ve been through this process and didn’t feel the least bit of claustrophobia or panic is lying. At about fifteen minutes, the door opened and I almost jumped for joy thinking this was the end of it, but no!  An assistant was coming in with more hot rocks! I think my memory sort of blacks out at this stage, until the door was finally opened and we were led down to the sea for the most wonderful swim of my life.  You truly cannot imagine what that felt like, under brilliant stars in the cool water after thirty minutes of this ceremony.   .  And I felt I had truly paid my penance and been washed of my sins. The finale to this was a cup of herbal tea.
Hupa Sweat Lodge, Edward S. Curtis via Wiki

      I would not be able to do this ritual now since I suffer with AFib, which no doubt would be affected by the intense heat.  In fact, in 2009, three people died in Sedona, AZ, during a sweat lodge ‘retreat’ that had been improperly organized with nearly sixty people in the lodge.  The organizer was charged with these deaths, but in addition, the Lakota Nation brought a suit against him as well as the U.S. and the state of AZ, stating that the Sioux Treaty of 1868 had been violated.  The lawsuit claimed that the purification ceremony had been desecrated by causing the deaths of those three people.


8 comments:

Paty Jager said...

Great post, Andrea! I have a feeling I would be the same way about being closed in but at the same time what a wonderful experience? The woman who bought our last place planned to make a sweat lodge there. I should see if she'd allow me the experience. I do know from my research on the Nez Perce they opening points east in their culture. Loved this post!

Patti Sherry-Crews said...

When I first saw the title of this post I thought, "Oh, I want to sit in a sweat lodge!" (said from a grey, cold day in Chicago) But after reading about your experience I'm a little more like "No way!" (looks out the window at wind knocking branches off trees) "but maybe..." I'd probably get a migraine. I had heard about the people dying in the sweat lodge, but I didn't know the part about the Lakota Nation suing over it. So interesting! Thanks for another great post.

Andrea Downing said...

Paty, All I can say is please make sure you are in top condition to experience this. it really does take its toll, which is why I mentioned my AFib--if you have any kind of cardiac or pulmonary problem this is not for you. But I have to say, you do feel a kind of release and cleansing. Good luck! I hope the person building it, and organizing it, know exactly what they are doing.

Andrea Downing said...

Patti, it definitely is the experience of a lifetime--once in a lifetime! And I'd be very careful where and when I tried it. But you're still a spring chicken! go ahead--just keep in mind this is NOT a sauna or a steam bath; it's a ritual. . . and it's VERY hot. (I often wonder how people do that HOT YOGA--they must be nuts)

Carmen Peone said...

Nice post, Andi! There are a few who still sweat here on the Colville Rez, but not many as it has a huge Catholic presence. My husband, who is a tribal member, has sweat once. The heat bothered him and that kind of heat really bothers me. I struggle with heat from saunas. Every tribe is different and really, today, every family is different in how they practice their cultural beliefs.

Andrea Downing said...

Carmen, thanks so much for the input. I'm sure there are people who can go through this without much fear of the heat, but I'm now not one of them. I have to say that later the evening of the Temazcal, there was certainly a feeling of 'brotherhood,' or sisterhood as the case may be, of the people who had done it--maybe a mixture of being survivors and having a shared, meaningful experience

Kristy McCaffrey said...

I remember the Sedona deaths. Really an unnecessary tragedy. I love heat but I'll stick to the sauna at the health club. Just living in Phoenix in the summer is a sauna in itself haha. That's interesting about the lawsuits, and no doubt deserved.

Andrea Downing said...

Kristy, it sounded, from what I read, that the guy in charge was just trying to make as much money as possible--aside from the deaths many of the participants were taken seriously ill. This ritual has to be carefully monitored--health checked and so on, but you do feel 'cleansed' at the end of it. I used to love the sauna; sadly, that's another enjoyment AFib has denied me now.