How to Attend a Sweatlodge
By Crystal Jack
Attending a sweatlodge is SERIOUS business. Your prayers get heard so they need to be clear. If you pray for the rain to end, you might get snow. If you pray for a ride to work, you might get a horse. The Creator has a sense of humor; believe me, I’ve learned. You must not have alcohol or drugs in your system for four days before the ceremony. You come in clean. You should drink plenty of water for a few days before the lodge, as you will need the nourishment. You need to bring towels, a donation for the firetender and the person doing ceremony, a tobacco offering for yourself and to present to the person pouring water. Jewelry and nail polish is not allowed in the lodge. A woman on her moon must not attend a lodge that includes men. A skirt is required in most Native American traditions. Check with you particular lodge leader for local protocols. Nothing is taken into the lodge accept a towel, and with, with permission, feathers or other medicine. Do not make any commitments with a time requirement the day of the lodge as a lodge may last from on hour to several hours.
A sweatlodge is a Sacred Ceremony done by many Native Americans in this country. It is built of willows for a frame and then covered with hides or (in this era) tarps to create an environment, which is not penetrated by light. This is to eliminate any type of distraction.
There is a sacred fire prepared hours ahead of the time. In the fire are placed a predetermined number of special rocks. These rocks are chosen with care and prayer. The spirit selects the number of rocks. They are then heated until red-hot. After several hours, these rocks are ready to be taken to the sweatlodge. As a participant, your first action must be to give an offering of tobacco or cedar to the fire and rocks thanking them for giving their spirit to the lodge and asking them for a blessing for the ceremony. It is a good idea at this time to honor the spirits of the four directions and ask them to come in and give you strength. We often also give prayers of thanks to Mother Earth for all of her gifts with this prayer. Then we call upon the Creator, Father Sky, to bless this day and ceremony and to hear our prayers. We offer a physical gift to the mound in front of the lodge for the leader who has given his life to share these sacred ways with others.
After the offering to the fire, we are each purified with the smoke and essence of burning sage. Originally and in a physical sense, the sage is a cleansing herb that is used to clear up small insects from an area or the body. Now, it is used spiritually, to clean us up of any impure or less than sacred elements or thoughts. We are cleansed in a clockwise motion starting with the left and going around the body, under the feet, front and rear, until we feel that we are ready to participate in the lodge.
At this point, the sweat leader will enter the lodge and say a few prayers. Then the attendees are called to enter. The women enter first, traditionally. Dressed in simple dresses and in bare feet, we humbly stoop to one knee and ask permission to bring our spirit into the lodge. The sweat leader gives his permission and we crawl around the lodge, again clockwise, to a designated spot. We sit and contemplate our intention, our reason for being in the lodge. We must be clear as to a purpose or the lodge may become too uncomfortable and we may have to leave prematurely.
After all the participants are seated (not always comfortably), the leader will say a few words of prayer and ask that the rocks be brought in. Each rock is brought in with a prayer, one rock for each direction, for Mother Earth and the Creator. They are blessed with herbs and thanked. Then other rocks follow as called upon by spirit. When the leader discerns enough rocks are in the lodge, he calls to have the door closed.
At this point, the lodge become pitch black with only the red glow on the rocks is seen. Water is poured on the rocks and it starts to get hot and humid. Prayers are said, and a song is called for. Often, you will hear an aged elder begin to sing a traditional sacred song. As you become accustomed to the lyrics, you begin to sing along as well. At times, you stop and say a few prayers. All around you, you hear the prayers to others. Sometimes there is tears and begging, two songs are sung and then the door is opened. This is called a round
In the Paiute way, we do four rounds. In the first round, we call in our ancestors and spirits. We call upon all those that have prayed for us all the way back to the beginning of our human creation to come in and help us and hear our prayers. In the second round, we pray for our families and friends. In the third round, we ask for any healing we might need for ourselves or any others needing healing. In the fourth round, we celebrate and give thanks. Between rounds, the door is usually opened, but not always.
The lodge can get very hot but we are encouraged to stay in. It is only through passing through our bodily concerns that our prayers are heard. If it gets to uncomfortable, you may ask for permission to leave between the rounds. The rocks and the spirit determine how warm it needs to be. We honor their blessings. Spirits may come in and visit. Lights may be seen, sounds heard.
After the fourth round, and the door is opened, we may share our experience in the lodge. When the ceremony is complete, the lodge leader will exit and we each follow him one at a time, in progression, in the sacred clockwise fashion. We ask for permission to leave at the door, and take with us the medicine we have been given.
We leave feeling purified and strong in spirit. I, personally, feel this is the closest one can get to spirit in this physical body and am grateful for the opportunity to share it with you.