Sweat Lodges
honoring our wholeness
scroll below for Lodge and contact info
Calendar of Lodges for 2008
please note Lodges are on Saturdays or Sundays
January 6 Sunday Community (all welcome)
February 9 Saturday Women's Lodge
March 8 Saturday Community
April 5 Saturday Women's Lodge
May 3 Saturday Community
June 1 Sunday Women's Lodge
July 6 Sunday Community
August 3 Sunday Women's Lodge
August 31 Sunday Community
Sept. 27 Saturday Women's Lodge
October 25 Saturday Community
Nov. 29 Saturday Community
December NO Lodge Happy Holidays!
Our Weaving Unity Lodge Ceremony is fashioned after the indigenous peoples Sweat Lodge Ceremony. This ceremony is found around the world and the modern day sauna had its origins within the sweat lodge. Our intention is to create a safe, sacred space where all people may embody their wholeness, heal, be honored in their personal process, and purify mind, body, and spirit. Everyone is welcome to our lodge. One month we offer community lodge and the alternating month is a women's lodge. Our belief is that if you found your way to our lodge, it was Spirit that directed you. We plan the dates of our lodges on a weekend date closest to the new moon, for planting the seeds of our intentions. Each lodge is followed with a community potluck of healthy, nutritious foods (please bring enough to serve 10+). We ask for a sliding scale donation between $40-100 per person, which covers costs of materials and the land. We look forward to having you joining us, and if you are new to a lodge experience please read on for more information. Please note, the following information is unique to our lodge and you may find different formalities at other lodges. It is always a good idea to ask what is appropriate to the ceremony you are attending.
Our Lodge Protocol;
Our rules of protocol are simple:
Be respectful of all life.
Coverings for the body are required,
It is okay to sit nude in the darkness of the Lodge. Please be
sensitive to others when the door is opened. Cotton clothing is best,
no bathing suits.
Your Lodge leader is holding the space, please ask if you need to leave the Lodge or speak out of turn.
Please honor the donation. It
is our desire to have the Lodge available for everyone. If finances are
a challenge work trades are available. Please speak with Char Lynn
before the lodge and make arrangements.
What is a Lodge;
The
Lodge is a sacred purification rite; for cleansing body, mind, and
spirit, through the use of hot stones, water (to create steam) and
sacred space. The ceremony can be quite different from area to area, or
tribe to tribe. The Lodge itself is a metaphor of the womb of the Earth
Mother, unconditionally receiving and loving.
The Lodge consists of three distinct areas; the firepit, the altar, and the lodge. These areas are in alignment with one another with an energetic line connecting the three known as the Path of Spirit. The firepit represents male energy. It is here that the stones are heated. A fire is begun with an intention for the ceremony and prayers that honor and call forth Great Spirit and the spirits of the directions. The altar represents the Earth, the coming together of male and female in form. The Lodge represents the womb of the Earth Mother; living Gaia. She can be a place of rebirthing and deep healing. As in any modality, "according to your faith you are healed."
Before entering the Lodge we gather outside, centering ourselves. This is the time to create 'prayer ties' (materials provided) and introduce yourself to others. Honor the sacredness of this spce with reverence for each other and our relations. We enter the Lodge after the medicine person. Sage for smudging is always available, although we usually smudge in the lodge with the 'medicines' of the first round.
We enter the Lodge to connect with Source through prayer, song, or silence that we may heal our bodies (physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual). We enter the door in a humble way, kneeling and honoring the Earth (this shows we are no better or less than any of our relations). We say O Mitakuye Oyasin ( Lakota for All My Relations) or All My Realtions to connect ourselves to all life and spirit helpers that will join us in the Lodge. We move around the Lodge in a sunwise (clockwise) direction. In community lodges men and women may sit interspersed. Each direction holds a different energy, sit where you feel drawn. You can change places between rounds, being respectful of others.
The Lodge Experience consists of four 'rounds' (usually), where hot stones are brought in, the door closed, an intention set, songs and prayers shared, or silence observed, water is poured over the stones, and the door is opened. When the 'Stonepeople' are brought into the Lodge they are honored as our healers with silence or greetings and aromatic cedar is placed upon them.
Each round is begun with an intention through prayer. Plant 'medicines' are placed on the stones for their healing properties. There are prayer rounds where each person is given the opportunity to offer their prayers. We ask that you stay focused on your needs, do not preach or take this time for personal stories. When you are complete, say ho, which lets others know you are complete. During this time, each person is in process, sometimes quite personal. If a brother or sister is in need, ask if your may be of assistance. being respectful of their boundaries. All that happens within the Lodge stays there.
Each round holds a different intention and aspect to healing, we ask that you try to complete all four rounds. If the heat gets too hot, lie down and get near the earth. If you need to leave during a round, respectfully get the attention of the medicine person and ask for the door. Your process is honored; suffering is optional and not recommended.
Water, for drinking, is brought in between rounds. You may exit between rounds, staying in prayerful silence and re-enter as quickly as possible. You may stay outside during a round and re-enter for the next.
Leaving the Lodge after your final round is your time of conscious rebirth. You have spent sacred time in the womb of Gaia and can create an intention of letting go of that which no longer serves you, that you may rebirth yourself anew into the world. Take your time to enter the doorway, giving thanks for the experience, and enter the world outside consciously, with intention for your heart's desires.
After the Lodge take good care of yourself, keeping warm and being respectful of other's needs. Remove your prayer ties and honor them up to the fire. There is a cold water shower available. If the Lodge is to be undressed, please help if you can. Take all your belongings with you, leaving the Lodge site clean. We reitre to Char Lynn's home to enjoy the community potluck, one another's company, networking, and integrating our Lodge experience. We ask you to respect space by cleaning up afterwards and taking home all your personal items.
A Note to those with claustrophobia or fear of the dark that may fear this experience. Many of these fears can be caused by our birth experience; long labors, birth canal issues, and the modern impersonal birthing techniques. The Lodge experience can be very healing if you are ready to honor the fears and move through them. There are always people on hand that have gone through many Lodge experiences that can 'midwife' a new experience for you. I have had several people who have needed to honor their fears with their own processing, who have stayed through the four rounds and later shared that the experience changed their lives forever. Remember that the metaphor of this is the womb of the mother, unconditionally loving and accepting. Leaving the doorway of the Lodge is your opportunity to reframe your birth experience in a whole new way.
