Shamanic Sweat Ceremonies are used for purification and healing by many indignious people all over the world, not just in the Americas.
Sweat lodge ceremonies are common to many Native American tribes. These ceremonies include rites of preparation, prayer, and purification.
These ceremonies are done to raise the healing energies on our planet Earth as well as for healing and purification of participants of the Lodge.
The Sweat Lodge or Temascal – in Mexico is a ceremonial way of prayer to connect with higher realms, to purify the body and mind, and to uplift the spirit.
The Sweatlodge ceremonies are becoming more and more popular between secular people, who are looking for healing, clarity and spiritual connection to people around.
This is one of the difficult practices, which is bringing one to a higher consciousness and healthy state of being.
If you are looking to participate in the Ceremony in Illinois or Wisconsin, contact us for more information.
The lodge leader starts the Sweatlodge ceremony with words of intention, stories, drum beats and songs, pouring water over the hot rocks.
Each participant offers prayers for self, others, in gratitude or for releasing all sorts of pains.
A Sweatlodge typically lasts 4 rounds – 4 “doors”, dedicated to four directions, represented with colors, spirit guides and different elements.
The Structure
The domed circular lodge, about four or five feet high, consists of bent willows, covered with blankets, hides, or tarps to hold in the heat.
The shape of the lodge is intended to represent the womb of Mother Earth, which renews and purifies those within it.
A sacred fire is constructed directly outside the lodge, it is led and kept by a trained firekeeper who heats the stones that will be used in the lodge during the ceremony. The offerings are done to the Spirit, the Fire and the Elements during the fire lighting.
The construction of a sweat lodge is a community process with participation of many people.
The Lodge structure often is built according to the shaman’s vision and always with careful preparation, prayers, and with attention to many symbolic details.
The Sweat Lodge structure symbolized the womb of Grandmother Earth and the heated stones represented her body, which supports all life. The fire used to heat the rocks represented the light of the world, and the source of all life and power.
The Ceremony
The way the Ceremony runs differs depending on the traditions of the ceremony’s leader, it will also run differently every time depending on the energies and the citations in the people coming to the Lodge.
Sweat ceremonies involve heating stones until they are red hot, bringing them into the darkened chamber, and pouring water or aromatic herbal teas over.
The Shaman (Leader) places the stones in a hole in the center of the lodge, often adding tobacco, cedar, or sweetgrass as an offering, offering prayers while pouring water over the rocks to create thick healingsteam.
Sweat lodge ceremonies last several hours with the temperature at over 100 degrees (F) throughout the ceremony.
Chanting, drumming, and meditation empowers participants to endure the heat for much longer than they usually could, teaching them to overcome physical discomfort and frustration.
Beyond Detoxing the body, the participants are getting Spiritual Experiences.
At the end of the ceremony, everyone wishes everyone else a good life.
After the ceremony is over, a traditional feast is often held from the food brought by the participants.
Healing Benefits of Sweat Lodge Ceremonies
The Sweat Lodge participants experience purification of body, mind, spirit, they feel the real sense of community and connection as they offer their prayers and their songs. Participants use these ceremonies to give thanks, to heal, to seek wisdom, and to purify the mind, body, and soul.
When you participate in the Shamanic Healing Sweat Lodge your will be experiencing:
- Physical body purification and elimination of toxins, as well as antibacterial and wound-healing benefits. By temporarily raising the body temperature to the state of “fever” it may lessen chronic inflammation, it is also a great remedy for arthritis, muscle pain, and skin disorders, which can be improved by the increased blood flow at the surface of the skin.
- On the Mental level it frees the mind of distractions, offering clarity.
- As Spiritual Healing you will experience connection to Mother Earth, the Creator and the spirit world.
- The Sweat Lodge also is a Ceremony for the Ancestral healing, the process that most of us need, since everyone on the Earth in our current times has issues, tragedies and problems in the family or at the families of their ancestors. Shamanic traditions are probably the only traditions in our world, who kept their understanding the importance of healing and honoring the ancestors.
How to Stay Safe at the Sweat Lodge Ceremonies
As any Spiritual or Shamanic healing modalities the Lodge is not for everyone, especially since they take place in such extreme heat.
Anyone with underlying health issues, especially illnesses affecting blood pressure or the respiratory system, should take this into consideration before going on a sweat.
Even if you’re in perfect health, dehydration and heat exhaustion can be a real danger if not promptly recognized and treated. Hydrate yourself at least a couple of days before the ceremony.
If you start to feel dizzy, weak, or faint, it’s 100% acceptable to ask for help and leave the lodge for a break. The leaders, trained for years before they can conduct a ceremony on their own, are there to help you in case this happens.
The experience Shaman – Leader usually feels if someone starts having any issues, even before the participant decides to say it.
The Prayer to All My Relations – Ancient Sweat Lodge prayer
AHO mitakuye o’syasin – all my relations AHO
Grandfather, Mysterious One,
We search for you along this
Great Red Road you have set us on.
Sky Father, Tunkashila,
We thank you for this world.
We thank you for our own existence.
We ask only for your blessing and for your instruction.
Grandfather, Sacred One,
Put our feet on the holy path that leads to you,
and give us the strength and the will
to lead ourselves and our children
past the darkness we have entered.
Teach us to heal ourselves,
to heal each other and to heal the world.
Let us begin this very day,
this very hour,
the Great Healing to come.
Let us walk the Red Road in Peace.
AHO