SWEAT LODGE TEACHING
It begins with a firepit where your intentions for the sweat are given with tobacco. The firepit represents the Creator. The fire has power of transformation. So, it holds the stones, heating them and getting them ready for the healing work.
The path to the lodge is the lifetime of unresolved issues you carry with you. As you enter the Eastern Doorway you announce yourself by Spirit Name and Clan. If you do not have them just use your english name. You sit where the conductor assigns you. In most cases the women come in first and then the men.
The stones are brought in by a firekeeper who brings in the stones with the conductor’s guidance.
The people in the lodge are being reconnected to their first mother, the Earth.
The sweat lodge and the firepit in the lodge are dome shaped and represent the womb and have the power of rebirth.
The stones once brought in become grandmothers and grandfathers who heard the intentions and have come in to help.
The doorway is closed, and the directions are honored and asked to assist.
It can be hot when the water is added to the grandmothers and grandfathers.
The steam is the conductor of transformation. The steam pulls out the trapped issues or problems that the person is hanging onto and releases them so that healing can happen.
The songs, prayers and chanting done in the lodge help people let go of their resistance.
The directions in the sweat lodge represent the directions which need help. Each direction has a power in which the spirits gather to give help to that direction.
1. The East Direction, the color yellow is for inner child work.
2. The South Direction, the color red is for work on your youth stage of life.
3. The West Direction, the color black is for work on your adulthood.
4. The North Direction, the color white is for work on the elders and your Ancestors that need your help.
The time in the sweat lodge varies as well as the number of stones used. It can be short as an hour or up to 2 hours long. It can have 7 up to 42 stones. It can be done in any part of the day.
The sweat lodge is a healing tool that has been passed down for generations and is changing with the times.
SWEAT LODGE TOBACCO TIE TEACHING
