Swaet Lodge

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The sweat lodge itself is a ceremony that goes beyond this definition, as it has ingredients of Healing, Renewal, Transformation and Sacrifice. The sauna is built in a circular shape. This tortoiseshell shape helps to generate positive thoughts and is conducive to directing good prayers to the Great Spirit, Mother Earth, ourselves and our fellow human beings. We must always remember that, it says that success in transformation is always preceded by chaos, and the Sacred Sauna creates this chaos, aiming to bring benefit to us. The Sacred Sauna ceremony utilizes all the Elements of the universe: earth, water, fire, and air. All elements used in the sauna are sacred to us and must be deeply understood if we really want to purify ourselves; the power of a thing or an act is in the meaning and its understanding.

 

The lodge is built in a circular shape. This turtle shell shape (also considered as Mother Earth's womb) helps to generate positive thoughts and is conducive to directing good prayers to the Great Spirit, Mother Earth, ourselves and our fellow human beings.

 

Stones are also living beings that have special powers and should be treated with respect. They are the bearers of the Earth Records and, as they release the steam, they transmit their lessons to us. To count on your help on this journey, we talked to them asking for their help, and apologizing for having to take them out of their natural habitat. Once again we offer tobacco or cornmeal, for those who feel the vibration that they are willing to help us, sacrificing themselves for us in this purification process.

 

We form a single line to enter the sauna. We kneel at the door, humbling ourselves before the spirits, as we enter the womb of our Mother Earth. Kneeling still at the entrance, we said: - “Mitakue Oyassin” - We are all brothers, thus dedicating our purification and sacrifice to all our relationships. All participants repeat these words, or simply say: - To all our relationships.

 

When we enter the sauna, we follow the left side, crossing behind the hole in a clockwise direction, and take our our seats. Under no circumstances can we cross this flow of energy, which goes from the Sacred Fire to the hole inside the Sacred Sauna. At the exit of the sauna, we must do the opposite avoiding cutting the flow. The darkness brings the feeling back to the womb of Mother Earth and gives us a safe place to be reborn. The first four stones that are brought represent the four sacred directions: east (mental), south (emotional), west (physical) and north (spiritual). Gradually the other stones enter and take their place in the womb of Mother Earth.

 

We invoke the Great Spirit, Mother Earth, the four directions and their guardians, and all our affinities. We pray and thank the Great Spirit, asking for our families and brothers who are in suffering. We confess our sins and violations against the laws of the Creator and Mother Earth, even if unintentionally. We ask forgiveness for the offenses, damages and injuries caused to any brother of Nature. As we perspire, and our sweat returns to Mother Earth in the form of steam, the Earth is nourished again. And when the sauna door is opened, the steam travels towards the Great Spirit.

 

We stay inside the sauna for an indefinite period, it can be twenty minutes, two hours or even more. Request that all members stay until the Sauna Pilot, also called the Master of Ceremonies, says it's time to leave. However, some people find the temperature too high and cannot reach the end, so they are allowed to leave after asking the Master of Ceremony for “permission to leave”, and wait outside the sauna until the end of the day. ceremony.

 

We left the sauna reborn and recreated.

 

After the sauna, we share a group snack that is also part of the ceremony.