http://www.themenscenter.com/mmg/events.htmlTimothy "Bear" Hodges
Welcome to the "Sweat Lodge" part of the MMG Web site. We are please to present two different submissions by our very own Timothy "Bear" Hodges plus a slide show. Just click on the appropriate link. To add your reflections please email our Webmaster.
The ceremony begins in a grassy, level field, where the only sign of human disturbance is a small, overgrown fire ring. Facing East, two men begin the task of invoking the powers of the seven directions. The leader shakes a rattle four times as they begin the sacred work.
"Tunkashila (Grandfather), it is I, Bear Walks Dreaming, and Wise Raven, who come before you! We come with sincere intentions, and in a good way, that we may build the sacred purification lodge upon our Mother Earth for the health, and help, and healing of our brothers!" Each cardinal point is honored. East -- whose color is yellow, symbolizes a new dawn and enlightenment; South -- place of water and deep emotions, whose color is red; West -- place of healing and introspection, whose color is black; North -- home of the White Buffalo Nation, home of the cleansing, purifying winds, whose color is white. Father Sky and Mother Earth are beseeched , then finally the Great Mystery. An early autumn sun warms the men as they gather tools to begin building the lodge. Butterflies, drawn to the energy, dance on the soft wind, and the cry of a hawk is heard overhead. Nearby maples have begun coloring red, and a stand of white paper birch trees leaves kiss the sky with a golden hue. Soon, Cold Maker will come from the North and another winter will begin; but not before the ceremonies of prayer and purification have taken place.
Two circles, one inside the other, are marked with an offering of corn meal. The inside circle -- for holding hot stones -- is dug out and the sod placed to one side. The soil from the pit is placed halfway between the lodge and the fire ring to form an altar on which the sacred pipe and other ceremonial objects will be placed. The circle is marked at intervals for the placing of the sweat lodge poles. Both men wander through the nearby trees to harvest the 12 "standing people" who will give their lives for the ceremonies.
Prayers are said and tobacco offerings made as the saplings are cut. The foliage is stripped from their length, then the saplings are set into the circumference of the circle at proper points. Bending them over, both men tie them off with sisal to create a beehive-like dome about four feet high and ten feet in diameter.
Other men arrive to help. Some gather fire wood; others find stones for firing. A few work to cover the lodge with blankets and tarps. By late afternoon the work is done and the lodge will later be smudged with sage to purify it before the sweats begin. Flags of yellow, black, red, white, blue, and green, are placed inside the lodge to hang above the stone pit and 405 tobacco prayer ties are strung around the lodge in a spiral. Later, these offerings will be consumed by fire to carry the prayers to the Great Mystery.
That evening, after the MMG opening circle, men gather for a brief orientation, where they are given information and background about the ceremony, and where questions are answered.
The following morning dawns clear and calm. A team of men move firewood to the sweat lodge site. The group is swift, efficient, and soon a hot, efficient fire is heating 27 stones. As the stones heat, final preparations are made. Sacred objects are placed on the altar outside the lodge, the sacred pipe is filled. Soon men gather for the ceremony. After a final review the leader enters the lodge. "All My Relations!" he says, taking his place to the right of the door. After a few moments the other men enter, moving sunwise to sit. Following a brief invocation the first of the hot stones is called for. "Welcome Grandfather!" the men say in unison, as a hot stone is guided into the pit. One participant sprinkles sage on each stone, another cedar, and one man touches a braid of fragrant sweetgrass to each Grandfather brought inside. Before long the men are sweating freely, as each stone is positioned in the stone pit with an antler.
When the final stone is placed the door flap is closed. The men are enveloped in hot, moist darkness. The thrumming of a drum song fills the lodge. The words, in Lakota, are also sung in English: "Look to the West! Look to the West! Your Grandfather is sitting there listening for your prayers! Pray to him, pray to him. He is listening for your prayers!" The men sing together. Then the powers of all directions are honored. Silence settles in the lodge as the leader pours ladles of water on the hot stones, creating steam. Waves of heat cover everyone. Some sigh as they feel the heat, others moan. This first "round" continues until the leader cries out the command to "Open the door!" Quickly the fire keepers lift the flap letting in cool air. A bucket of water and ladle is passed for the men to drink. Some pour the cool water on their bodies or heads. Everyone checks in on how they're doing.
The flap closes for the second round, a round of prayers of thanksgiving. Another song is sung and more water is poured onto the stones. The lodge becomes hotter. At the next break, some men elect to leave the lodge to take cool air, others elect not to return, having felt taxed perhaps by the heat or close quarters.
Round three consists of prayers for others who need health, help, or healing, and round four -- perhaps the hottest round -- is the one during which men pray for their own needs. At this point some have already found their limit of endurance, others manage to stay to the end of the ceremony.
The final door opens and the men exit with calls of "All My Relations!" Steaming bodies sprawl on the grass in the sunshine, allowing time to recover. Eventually, the men take water, don clothing, and circle up to pass the sacred pipe. Smoking the pipe, or lifting it four times, closes the lodge ceremony.
While some men depart for lunch or a refreshing swim or shower, the leader continues his fast and makes preparations for the next sweat -- a lodge of healing. Above the field a hawk soars, its cry a sharp piercing the still air. Hawk is a spiritual messenger of transformation, who will continue to fly above the purification lodge during the rest of the day.
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