SWEAT LODGE CEREMONY To all potential participants: I know there are many who have never taken part in a Sweat Lodge ceremony before, so I would like you to take a little time to read the following before I go into details about what you need to make to bring with you for the ceremony. --------------------------------------------- A Sweat Lodge ceremony is a cleansing ritual, used many times as a ceremony before another ceremony. I.E., To cleanse and purify oneself before a Sun Dance. It is also used for prayer, especially when someone needs a healing, and asks that a tribal member invoke the helping spirits to do this. A Sweat is used to cleanse before a Vision Quest, and sometimes even used to aid the Vision at the chosen Sacred place. In all, there are several rituals that can be followed, depending on the purpose for the Sweat Lodge Ceremony. First, allow me to describe the lodge itself. The lodge I normally use is made up of a framework of willow shoots, placed into the ground in a circle, and tied at the top "Tipi" style with a natural hemp twine. Around the outside of the frame, two more lines of willow shoots are used on the horizontal to support the covering of the lodge. The number of uprights you will use depends on the size of the lodge. I try to always build one so that about 8 people can sit around the pit at one time. (16 upright shoots) The circular shape is a must, as it symbolizes the eternal hoop. For a lodge covering on a temporary lodge, have everyone involved bring a couple of dense blankets and simply drape them over the framework, leaving a 4-8 inch hole at the top for ventilation. Leave a flap for the door, facing East, that is easy to get in and out of, as it will be opened during the ceremony to bring in new stones. You may also use a black plastic or canvas tarp for a covering. (For certain ceremonies, you want it absolutely dark in the lodge, omit the hole, but be sure to open the door of the lodge once in a while.) A permanent lodge can be covered with branches and mud, much like an adobe igloo. I prefer the portable type, as it is fresh and new each time. The pit inside is simple also, dig it big enough to hold 16-20 large fire stones. The best stones are those gathered from a river, and about 6 inches in diameter. Any larger than 8 inches, and they could explode when you heat them, much less adding the fact that the larger stones are difficult to move about. (Be sure to ask the permission of the Stone People to use them for this, and of the Willow, as you will be taking from her part of her robe.) Inside the lodge, close to the stone pit along the West wall, build a small altar of dirt. This is to place the offerings on. Cover the floor of the lodge with sage boughs, sweetgrass or pine needles, and place enough woven grass mats around the edge for everyone to sit on. Outside the lodge, you need to build a secure firepit to heat the stones in. Keep it close enough to the lodge as is convenient, but far enough away that a stray spark will not set it on fire. This can be as simple as a hole dug that you can cover later, or, a stone fireplace for a permanent lodge. Traditionally, the stones are handled only with deer antler forks, and handled only by the forks from the time the prayer is offered before the fire is started until the stones are cooled after the ceremony. I have been to Sweats where the stone handler has used a small pitchfork also. On to gathering the things necessary for the Ceremony. Traditionally, a gift is offered to the leader of the ceremony when the ceremony is asked for by someone. This generally is a small pouch of tobacco, and the smoking of this tobacco is agreement by Scakan or Adawe'hi that he/she will lead the ceremony. The details are then worked out as to the reason the ceremony is being asked for, and what the petitioner is needing to prepare for it. Generally, if a healing is asked for, all preparations will be done and paid for by the petitioner, if a cleansing or group prayer is asked for, it is not uncommon for the entire group to chip together to make the necessary things for the ceremony. First off, there is always a tobacco offering to the spirits, generally in the form of little cloth bags we call Sacred Tobacco Bundles. My Spirit Guide will tell me how many of these bundles are to be made, and from what color cloth to use for them. The cloth is virgin (new) cotton, and cut into about 1 inch squares. A pinch of tobacco is wrapped inside and tied off with cotton thread. Anywhere between 50 and 450 of these bundles may be needed. (For a personal cleansing for myself, generally 50 red, 150 white, and 50 black are asked for.) The bundles are tied in one long string, and kept tangle free. They are given to Scakan when they are finished before the ceremony so that they may be prayed over and sanctified. There is also offerings of food to be placed inside the lodge on the alter. Corn, Water, and Meat (preferably fresh, but I have used canned when nothing else was available.) These are placed in wooden bowls, (Important that the bowls are wooden, as it is a natural material), and put on the alter. Also needed are a wooden bucket to hold water, and a wooden ladle. About 5 gallons or so of water is good, as some of it is passed around during the ceremony to be drank. (Again, wood is preferable, but something else may be substituted here.) Lastly, the Robes are made. These are banners of cotton cloth, in the four sacred colors: Red, White, Black and Yellow, cut to a size of about three feet by 6 inches. They are draped about the alter, and make a place for the bowls of food to be set. Now that the items are gathered, on to the Ceremony itself: About 6-8 hours before the ceremony, the lodge should be erected, altar inside built, firepit outside dug and the stones should have been gathered. The bucket, filled with water, and the ladle are placed inside the lodge, near the door to the south side of it. About 2 hours before the Ceremony, the Ceremony Leader (Hereafter I will say Scakan, as if I were leading it.) will fill the sacred pipe and ceremoniously purify the area around the lodge, and the fire will be started to heat the stones. (A sacred pipe ceremony usually precedes most other ceremonies in my culture, but I will go into this at another time.) Scakan will then enter the lodge alone, and offer prayers with the pipe, and purify the lodge by burning sage or sweetgrass. Scakan will then place all the offered items on the altar, stringing the tobacco bundles to drape over the whole thing. I usually add an item or two to this arrangement, depending on the nature of the ceremony. After I am finished, I will offer the smoke of the pipe a third time, to those waiting outside the lodge, and ask that the spirits gather around to listen and help. Traditionally, this is the time where all who are planning to enter the lodge drop off their outer robes, to enter the purified lodge. (You may call this being "Skyclad"?) Some Ceremony leaders I know have done the ceremony fully dressed, others, like myself prefer tradition. The heat from the stones will be great, and your sweat needs to be able to flow back to the Mother Earth, not trapped in clothing. I will lead the way into the lodge, turning left as I enter, to circle the lodge before sitting next to the door (by the bucket and ladle). The next person will follow to sit by my right, and so on until all are inside. The last to enter will be a Drummer / Chanter if one is available to assist with the Ceremony. (Drummer will also open the door to the lodge at the correct times, leaving me free to concentrate on the prayers.) (This, you may have figured out by now is a description of a group prayer and cleansing ceremony, not of a healing one, as those are not to be fronted to the public eye.) Once inside, Drummer will open the door, and call out the greeting to the Stone people the handler will bring inside. the handler remains outside throughout the ceremony, tending to the stones and fire. He will bring four or five stones to the pit each time Drummer calls the greeting and opens the door. Once the first stones are in the pit, I will sprinkle some water on them, and I will begin the prayer to the East. The East Wind is the spirit from which we pray for knowledge and understanding. After I am through with praise and prayer, the person to my right makes his prayer, then around the circle to the Drummer, who will chant a song to East. These prayers, I may add, are personal to the person. I council first timers to say what comes to them, to pray for what they wish to come from the Ceremony, and perhaps speak a word or two of praise to the Spirit we are working on. Each time Drummer finishes his chant song, he will open the door to the lodge slightly, and call the greeting to the Stone People, and the handler will bring more inside to be sprinkled with water. The prayers to the East are followed by ones to North, Keeper of Truths and Honesty, Compassion. To West, from which the Spirit World comes, and the life giving rainstorms. To South, from which Healing and Warm summers come. To Father Sky, who watches over us and sends the spirits to guide and protect us. Finally, to Mother Earth, to whom we owe our very lives and living, and to whom we are giving of ourselves, the waters from our body, to be used by her for what is needed. During the breaks when more stones are being brought into the lodge, the ladle filled with water may be passed about for those that thirst. After the prayers to the Mother, the closing prayers are done, then most of the time, I allow the peoples within to recount what they have felt while within the arms of Spirit. It has not been in common for even first timers to a Sweat Ceremony to see the Spirits manifest to them in many ways. (I will not go into what I have seen during Sweat Ceremonies, for again, invoking the spirits can be manifested very differently from one person to the next.) When all have had sufficient time to meditate or speak in retrospect if they wish, the bucket and ladle are passed for all to take a bit and wash over their body with a ladleful, to give more to the Mother of their sweat. The exit from the lodge is done the same as the entrance, I will lead out, then the rest will follow. The food, robes, and tobacco bundles are buried in the stone pit for the Spirits after the stones have cooled and been removed with the forks. In Conclusion: Since each Ceremony is generally customized to the petitioner, variations will occur. The length depends on how many people are gathered inside, and how verbose they are. :) I have led one Ceremony that lasted 8 hours! The average is about four. After the Ceremony is over, most groups will gather about the fire to talk and refresh themselves with something to drink after the clothing goes back on. If the lodge is erected near a running river or lake, it is not unheard of to swim for a while. Of course, if you erect your lodge where there are others to see it, you may wish to put up a screen around the opening to the lodge to hide your exposure from others while disrobing. --------------------------------------------- INSTRUCTIONS FOR MAKING THE TOBACCO BUNDLES ------------------------------------------- Now that you have a basic understanding of what is going to happen at this ceremony, let's go into more details for your personal participation: Each person will need to make tobacco bundles. The number of bundles you will need to make will depend on what you feel is the correct number. To make these bundles, cut approximately 1" squares from cotton cloth in one of four colors: RED, if you are seeking knowledge or answers to questions. YELLOW, if your need is one of healing. BLACK, for spiritual knowledge. WHITE, for wisdom to guide your decisions. You may use more than one color if you feel the need to, for different personal needs. The cloth needs to be new, virgin cotton. Only a small amount of fabric is needed, as you can make many 1 inch squares from a little. Other than the cloth, you also need tobacco. A small amount of loose tobacco, pipe tobacco, or chewing tobacco is needed. If you have nothing else, the tobacco from cigarettes will also do, but it is drier than other tobaccos, and harder to handle. Once you have the cloth cut into squares, place a small pinch of tobacco in the middle of a square and sew the square into a little pouch, keeping the tobacco inside. You can use a non-sewing method by wrapping thread tightly around the top of your little pouch and tying also. Either way is acceptable as long as there is tobacco and cloth around the tobacco. When you have finished your bundles, they then need to be tied into one long string, much like garland for decorating trees. Try to keep your strings of bundles tangle-free. Your bundle strings need to be brought to me as soon as you arrive at the site. I will need to do some preparation with them well before the lodge ceremony, and need to have everyone's bundles in one place at the same time. ------------------- THE OTHER OFFERINGS ------------------- If you wish, you may bring a small amount (A couple of tablespoons worth of each) of corn, meat, and water to offer as a personal offering given from yourself. They will be placed in with the other offerings inside the lodge. If you happen to have any wooden bowls (three are needed for the ceremony for the offerings) you may bring them if you wish. This is not mandatory as we will be providing these. --------------------- HEALTH CONSIDERATIONS --------------------- There are some considerations to be thought about healthwise. The lodge will become very hot and humid inside, and can be hazardous to some people, especially if this is your first time participating. I do NOT recommend participating for those who have any trouble with the following: Asthma, Bronchial Troubles, Heart Conditions, Poor Circulation, or Back Problems. Anyone who has been told by their doctor to not take saunas should not participate in a sweat lodge ceremony. Keep in mind you will be sitting cross- legged for approximately three hours more or less, and if this position aggravates any condition you may have, I would strongly suggest not participating in the ceremony. -------------------- OTHER CONSIDERATIONS -------------------- I conduct my ceremonies in a traditional manner, according to Cherokee culture. This tradition includes being naked to perform the ceremony. Clothing for the participants is optional, although I strongly recommend going nude, it is not necessary. You may wear a halter top and shorts, underwear and bra, or whatever you wish. I advise against wearing too heavy clothing as it may cause fainting from the heat by holding in your sweat. Due to the nature of this ceremony, children under the age of maturity will not be permitted to attend. Those ranging in age from 15 to 18 may be permitted to attend only after I have interviewed them and have a signed parental permission. In Conclusion: Above all, be true to your inner self for your reasons to wish to participate in this sacred ceremony of my people. Be open to the Mother Earth and Father Sky, and they will hear your call.