SWEAT LODGE

excerpt from CHEROKEE DIARY(see Aug 31, 2010)

There are many rumors in the non-indian world concerning the sweat lodge in the Indian life experience.  I hope this sharing of my experience will give it the respect and inspiration it is due.

Curtis and Mary Kekahbah hosted a sweat lodge in their back yard.  It was a frequent occurance for them and one I felt honored to be invited to participate in.  The fire was started about an hour and a half before time for it to begin.  While we were waiting for the rocks (in a pile about six or seven feet wide and several feet high) to heat until they became red hot we helped cover the lodge frame with blankets and a tarp.  The lodge was about ten feet in diameter and about five feet high and was framed by oak branches woven in a circle, with a door about four feet high.   A blanket door flap was attached.  Mary went into the lodge while the blankets were being placed to see if any light was entering.  It needed to be totally dark. Rug pieces were placed on the ground around the inside of the lodge.

Outside the lodge was a small raised mound with a saucer of herbs and a smudge bowl.  Curtis set the sage in the smudge bowl on fire and then withdrew a pipe, tobacco and sage from an embroidered red case.  He waved the pipe and the herbs over the smudge smoke.  Then he said prayers to all four directions and to the sky and the earth. 

We crawled into the lodge in the order prescribed by Curtis.  An experienced person was followed by a novice, until all ten of us were inside.  As we entered each of us said the phrase "all our relatives". (Reverence for all of nature is an integral part of the spirit of the Indian)  In the middle of the lodge was a hole in the ground about 24 inches in diameter.  Curtis explained the sacredness of the earth, the sky, the animals, and plant life which was made by the Creator.  We were to remember our loved ones as he sang a prayer.  Those who knew it sang along.  I hummed it so I could feel the same vibrations that the singers were experiencing.

The red hot rocks were placed in the center and sage was sprinkled on each rock, then drops of water, to cause steam.  There were four rounds of new rocks added and requests of prayers such as healing prayers, prayers for nature and gratitude for life.  Each person was encouraged to say their own prayer in one of the rounds.

My reaction to this experience was one of peace and fulfillment, a filling of the spirit.  It was a profoundly calming and spiritual reaction.  I was completely saturated with sweat but didn't feel it.  I breathed deeply many times and felt cleansed.  I was aware of the transfer and sharing of our atoms as we all inhaled and exhaled.  There was a oneness that was powerful.  The profound reverence for nature and the Creator's omnipresence and omnipower permeated my senses.

We gathered in the dark outside of the lodge and smoked a peace pipe and prayed, then went inside their home for a delicious potluck and fellowship.