The Sweat

note: This refers to a Sweat Lodge. And in this case it was a Sweat Lodge set up in the Karok or Karuk tradition by the family of Charlie Thom a Karuk Medicine man.

In 1983 I often sweat with Charlie Thom or one of his children who would often lead sweats with permission of the Forest Service west of Lake Siskiyou off off one of the feeder Rivers into Lake Siskiyou which becomes the Sacramento River after Siskiyou Dam. Though I had Sweat with many Medicine men and women since 1980 I liked sweating with Charlie Thom and his family because he was "Crazy Wisdom" like I was. Crazy Wisdom means functioning in "Wisdom beyond Logic". Or another way to say it would be "Manifesting healing beyond human understanding". So learning to be a crazy wisdom person even though it is also a natural state is to some degree something you get better at as you understand it better much like a musician gets better through practice even after becoming a well known professional.

On this particular day I will combine elements from many different sweats so you can get the "Feel" of what sweating with real medicine men and women is like.

First, the rocks are stacked and then the wood is piled on (usually by leaning 3 foot long pieces into each other from the outside circle. The rocks (usually round river rocks that average about 6 to 8 to 10 inches in diameter but tending round or oval in shape(the rock people) are chosen carefully because you don't want a rock that is cracked and so has water in it and explode in the fire and injure someone. So, river rocks are good so you can see if there are any cracks and you usually don't want rocks recently from under the water just as a precaution against rock explosion in the fire (or worse in the sweat).

Then next to the fire between the Sweat Lodge and the fire is a medicine mound usually made from the dirt from the hole dug for the Sweat Lodge to  be built. The lodge can be built any size from a one person to 50 or 100 but most lodges I have personally been in are built for about 15 to 30 people. This is a nice grouping (not to big or small) and such a lodge is built from interwoven willow branches. First you use in iron bar (I have a bar made from a 1930s truck drive shaft) or a pick could be used to make a hole) so you want a hole in the ground slightly larger than the biggest part of the branch(which is usually finger size or larger depending upon your preference between 6 inches to 1 foot deep. So you put the large end of the branch in the ground. Also, if you are looking for willow branches they are found along many rivers and streams. If you are careful the looks of the area don't change at all. So you need about 15 to 30 branches that you interweave. You start with about 15 in a circle(more if you are building something for 20 or more people). It is best to build this so people sit on the straw very close together. This way it is a more of a family kind of experience. About every foot or two around a circle with the fire or rock hole in the center (usually 2 to 3 feet in diameter and about 1 to 2 feet deep to put rocks in after they turn red from heat from the fire outside the sweat). The fire hole is deep  so when you put water on the red rocks and the steam comes up people don't get hot water burns from the water running off the rocks and onto them. Also, usually the inside of the sweat lodge is kept under 3 to 4 feet high depending upon personal preference. If you make your lodge too high or tall all the heat goes to the top and you lose the sauna effect.

It makes a great deal of difference where your lodge is located. Having a river, stream, pond or even swimming pool or hose to cool down with after temperatures that might reach 140 degrees Fahrenheit or above in the Sweat Lodge for short periods of time is necessary for most people to fairly quickly reduce their temperature at some point. Though I have known some people to take flashlights into night time sweats, most sweats I have been to are in the day time in the afternoon or evening because it takes the earlier part of the day from the morning for several men and/or women to prepare the Sweat Lodge and fire and rocks and medicine mound and all. Also, if your group wants to get permission from the Forest Service to have your Sweat Ceremony in the wilds it will be at least a two day  weekend or something by the time you get all the preparation done, build the fire and return everything to the way it was before your Sweat Ceremony.

Anyway, after everything was prepared on this Spring day in 1983 I got into the sweat lodge after using a shovel to carry the rocks into the sweat lodge. At this point everyone is already in the Sweat lodge but me. So, one by one I carry the hot red rocks into the lodge. All people are kept away from the entrance to the sweat and you notify everyone from the moment you carry the rock on the tip of a shovel or pitchfork into the sweat lodge so no one gets burned by the rock or shovel. This is a part of the ceremony of inviting the "Rock People" into the Sweat Lodge Circle. To all native Americans the Circle and Sphere is sacred and no circle or sphere is supposed to be used for any mundane or non-sacred thing. So many exceptions have had to be made to live in a western technological mechanical society.

After all the rocks are in the circle then it is time for me to put the shovel  in a safe place and get in and close the flap. (Blankets and tarps on the outside are used to keep the heat inside the sweat. Also, all sweats are dark completely except for the red rocks in the center. In this way you are symbolically inside the womb of mother earth like you were in your mother's womb as a baby. So, literally the sweat lodge is a place of spiritual rebirth and it is seen as such by all who practice Sweating in a Sweat Lodge who actually believe in this whole process.

This particular sweat was very special and I felt it from the beginning. So I knew something of great portent was happening for me. After the third round ( a round is a time in the sweat). After each round new hot rocks from the fire are brought in usually on top of the old ones as long as there is room until all the rounds are done.

Though I have been to sweats where some people went in naked most sweats (95 to 98%) I have been to require at least bathing suits out of modesty for the whole group. This is especially true if children under age 18 are there sweating with the group.

Because it is completely dark inside after the water goes on the rocks often songs are sung of various kinds either by the medicine man or woman or by everyone (usually a little of both). So in many ways it is like being in church except it is dark and steamy and hot like a Sauna. One can experience the amazing transformations of such an experience if properly prepared. Though I have seen people panic who were not properly in their bodies and prepared for such an extreme experience jump out of the sweat lodge because of not being able to deal with the darkness, heat, and the closeness of the bodies of half naked potential strangers and friends. So it does take some getting used to and some trust is necessary to enter into this kind of experience.

However, most people are prepared (over 90% or more) for this experience and therefore can greatly benefit in spiritual, physical, emotional etc. health from the experience. A Round is usually about 10 to 15 minutes. If the water that has turned to steam has made the lodge unbearable then some leave early. Every sweat round is different in a variety of ways. Sometimes different people are in each round and the conditions inside the sweat change with each round even if it is the same group and the same medicine man or woman leading. And often people change where they are sitting cross legged on the (usually straw covered floor 'straw scattered over the ground'). Care must be taken not to knock straw into the red hot rocks so they don't smoke inside the lodge.

I suppose one could also build something like this to stay in for longer periods of time camping and just bring in one rock at a time for heat as well. I have seen medicine men stay in the lodge for 24 to 48 hours or more after a sweat ceremony to work on special prayers for those who need it. So the medicine man might stay in the lodge alone and sleep there during the night.

The day I'm speaking of in spring 1983 was the day I was shown to do a vision quest. I got some signs in between rounds that it was time for me to do the 4 day 4 nights without food or water. I was shown where to go and where to do it and so I did. It changed my life and my vision on the second night of no water and no food on the Trinity river in Northern California brought me a vision of becoming a 50 foot tall golden Dragon that breathed out Golden Fire to all mankind. But the fire didn't burn people it just made them smile and become enlightened. So, it is my belief that what I write and put online is a part of this golden fire of enlightenment that God has me breathe upon all who are interested who want to listen to me or read what I write now and into the future.