Sweat Lodge Ceremony

Was it ever hot! Yesterday Richard and I participated in a powerful sweat lodge ceremony. What's that, you may ask. Physically, it's kind of a cross between a sauna and a steam bath. However it's a very spiritual ceremony, held in nature. We humbly entered into a low, dome-shaped structure, representative of returning to the womb, and sat in darkness while steam and heat rose from hot rocks placed in the middle of the space. There were 11 of us, and for those of you into numbers and/or metaphsyics, it was held on an 11:11 day, said to be a time of connection with unseen spirits. (April 25, 2009 - 4+2+5=11 and 2+0+0+9=11.)

The sweat lodge is a purification, a prayer, an intense experience of opening up in an ancient way to Great Spirit. There are four rounds of rocks brought in, one for each of the directions, East, South, West and North. In each of the rounds, our attention was directed to specific qualities and metaphors associated with that direction.

The East represents "new beginnings," while the South is filled the passionate ripeness and sounds of life in all of its fullness. West is the more quiet "looks-within time," where we bravely embrace our fears and the North represents a time and place before birth.

Both North and South American Indian tribes held sweat lodges. In Mexico, at our winter Intimacy Retreats, our groups participate in a similar Mayan experience, called Temascal.

Although we may know nothing of each other's personal lives, those of us who sit together in a sweat lodge share an intimate time of honoring ancient ways.

When I emerged, I felt completely at peace. Sometimes I have had great insights during a sweat lodge. This time, it was enough to simply be there, to have made connection with the stones, the earth, the ancestors, and All That Is.

Thanks to Zan of http://www.woman-spirit.com/, for her focused and inspired leading of this sweat lodge.