Sunday in a Native American Sweat Lodge

While most people were at Super Bowl parties, I was sitting in a Native American Sweat Lodge in Sandy, Utah. It was a strange and wonderful experience I'd love to revisit and I don't regret missing the "big game" for one minute. It was all thanks to Brian Petersen, a massage therapist I met who recently moved here from San Diego. He told me about the active community of people here in Utah who enjoy participating in the spiritual ceremonies of the Native people who once roamed the countrysides of America.

I arrived at a private home where a local woman keeps an authentic Sweat Lodge built to the satisfaction of the Elders and there found a group of people sitting around a large fire which was being tended for the purpose of heating several melon-sized stones. The lodge was a dome-shaped framework of willow branches covered with blankets and tarp and its door was open and facing east. Inside, a pit had been dug and the dirt piled a few feet in front of the door as an alter with several spiritual symbols arranged on top. The leader of the Sweat was an older gentleman who had been trained in the Lakota ways and he spoke to us all as we sat around the fire about Wakan Tankan or Great Mystery and the purpose of the Sweat Lodge. I understood it to be a purification ceremony in which we hoped to achieve a closeness to Mother Earth and a connectedness to all things and the people around us, all of whom we could consider to be relatives.

As the sacred stones in the fire began to reach their intended temperature, the ceremony began. Prayers and songs were offered up in the seven directions as our leader put pinches tobacco into his peace pipe. Each participant was invited to take some of the sacred tobacco and offer their own prayer or intention to the fire and the stones. We then proceeded to walk around the lodge in a clockwise direction stopping at the doorway to be smudged with sage and lemongrass before crawling into the opening of the lodge. When all were seated within the walls of the lodge, the first seven stones were brought from the fire and carefully placed in the pit with antlers then positioned to represent the seven directions, north, east, south, west, sky, earth, and within. With the stones in place, the door was shut and the first round began.

Our leader instructed that a drum be played and Native songs sung while he poured sacred water representing the water of the womb, onto the glowing stones. Hot steam began to fill the small, dark, room as we all sang along in prayer. After four songs, the door was opened and some of the people took turns talking about whatever they felt like sharing. The lodge cooled, more stones were brought in from the fire, and we readied ourselves for the next round. The third round, named the "healing round" was the hottest. For a moment, I had to stop singing because I found it hard to breath in the super heated air. It was a short round, however, and it wasn't long before the door was opened again. It wasn't until the end of the fourth round that I began to feel the effects of the sweat. I felt tired and a little light-headed but I also felt a wonderful energy that offered a certain strength that I could take with me into the world.

When the final song ended, the door was again opened and it was at this time that the peace pipe was passed around. Each person took one or more puffs and then offered the pipe toward the sky to signify our connection between heaven and earth. When this was finished, the group crawled clockwise around the lodge and then out the door. I was completely soaked through and went to find my dry change of clothes. We all stood around the fire drinking water and eating snacks talking and reflecting on our experience. I did feel somewhat drained, but definitely renewed and ready to take on the world, after a good night's sleep, of course.

I can't help but feel like the Native people of this land really had a wonderful connection and harmony with the world and their spirituality is something all of us can learn from. I am so grateful to have had this experience and hope to take the energy I was able to harvest during the Sweat with me into my daily activities and even share it with all those I come in contact with from day to day. Life is a constant balancing act and being able to get away from daily routines to collect our strength is so vital to our ability to continue moving forward. I would encourage all people to find some way to recharge from time to time be it through meditation, exercise, getting out into nature, church, or whatever it is that keeps you sane. We all need some way to stay grounded.

Here is a web page with a lot of information on Sweat Lodges. The Sweat Lodge Now, go in peace, my friends.