The sweat lodge...

The sweat lodge itself represents our mother's womb and the process of being "reborn." Inside, the lodge is heated by the Grandfathers, which are large river rock stones, some about the size of footballs, that are heated in the Sacred Fire. The stones are occasionally dowsed with the medicine water consisting of sage, cedar, bear root, and sweet grass and those participating in the sweat are encouraged to drink the medicine water to help cool off. Grandmother also told us that the medicine water is good for migraines.

Before.....

After...

We participated in the Sweat twice during the weekend. The experience was completely different each time and the second was about a half hour longer than the first. Healing sweats can be considerably longer.


Several people have asked me, "What does it feel like when you come out of the lodge?" When we came out the second time it was dark and about 64 degrees. It was a little bit of a shock after being so warm, much like a newborn infant I suppose and we were cold and incredibly hungry. But it was a refreshing feeling... something that you immediately say, "I want to do that again!"