Sweat Lodge Lessons

Beyond the physical

It’s the Winter Solstice, the shortest and darkest day of the year; I am sitting in my house in deepest Dorset with the wood burner ablaze and a mug of tea.

In my last two posts, I have written about my first two experiences at the Windspirit Sweat Lodge in Oxfordshire; one was a normal mixed lodge, and the second was a men’s only Warrior Lodge.

The lodge experience connected deeply with something I needed at this time; since I was 42 my life had completely changed and the lodge was part of my journey. Shortly after starting the lodges, I was recruited to be the new Headmaster of St James Senior Boys School, a unique school with a philosophical ethos based on Platonism and from the east Advita. As preparation for this role, I decided to attend the sweat lodge every month for a year. This decision meant attending this ritual in all weathers and all seasons.

Learning at the lodge comes by doing and slowly one moves along the good red road. As one attends those running the lodge give you tasks and jobs to perform and within these tasks, there is a deeper learning.

Before every lodge, I would prevaricate at home and not want to attend and resistance would arise in my mind; after a week at work, it was easy to self-justify and not attend, ‘I deserve a rest, I’ve worked hard.’ Years of meditation have taught me that this is how the mind works and one’s will must push beyond this. The alarm goes off, you push yourself from bed, shower, eat collect your things, and get in the car to drive to the lodge. The mind likes the known and the mechanical, these patterns are best broken if you wish to live a conscious life. The new always puts you in the moment. This is a sacrifice, to make sacred. How often do we stay in our comfort zones until life itself sends us a jolt or reminder that life is short and possibilities are not endless? How we hate to lose to control of what we desire.

The lodge ritual stays the same but no two lodges are the same; the people change and they bring all their emotional baggage with them. Sometimes the lodge is full and at other times there are only a few souls present. At the end of every lodge I felt clearer, cleaner, and better; my mind clear and my heart open. I had to surrender and give up control. During that year I sat in the lodge with the whole spectrum of society; in the lodge we were all equal. At one lodge attended by a young rock band I noticed one young man scrutinsing my face. Sam eventually appraoched and amused me by reminding me that I taught him English at Crosfields School some years ago. These little moments are magical.

After attending four or five lodges I was given the fearsome role of Fire-Keeper.

Years earlier I had watched my father die of a rare form of liver cancer, indeed cancer caused by blood pressure pills he had been prescribed in the 70’s. Since that time my stomach and digestion had caused me problems. I realised I was always holding my breath.

The firekeeper role was an intense one, wood had to be chopped and the fire fed; two of us worked in tandem. The heat was intense and I lost my eyebrows at one point. So I worked with the fire all day. You have to remain aware and conscious in this situation or else you could be bunt. Health and safety is minimal.

Inside the lodge, in the love round, I was suddenly aware of my father’s presence in the lodge with me, this was a powerfully emotional moment and I have no explanation for it. I have witnessed many spirits in my life - even though I have never sought such experiences or been that interested - and I do not doubt that these entities exist and that physical death is not the end. I had also been aware of my father looking through my eyes at my son, Peter since he died.

After the lodge, Mike, the lodge Eldar, asked me to move the remains of the fire in the wheelbarrow to another site so we could sit around the fire and eat the feast. I followed Mike’s orders and wheeled the barrow to the top of the hill where I paused for a moment.

Suddenly, something erupted inside me, and out of nowhere, I found myself throwing up a better black bile from the pit of my stomach. It was a complete purge. This lasted a few minutes and I knew it was connected to my Father and his presence earlier. Immeditaely afterwards I felt better. It was done, for now.

I took the fire back down and dumped the remaining logs and fire on the campfire site as I had been instructed. Seeking Mike out I told him about my whole experience; Dad in the lodge and what happened on the brow of the hill. His reply surprised me; he said that working as a Firekeeper as I had done faithfully is working with the fire which in this tradition is a God! The fire, Mike said, had given me a healing gift today. Afterwards my stomach and digestion improved incredibly. But the family line was not yet full healed, what in the Vedic Tradition is called Sanscara and the root of our word scar comes from this sanskrit root. That healing will feature in another post.

Native American tribes before battle would partake of sweat lodges and would eat meat. Upon returning to the tribe they would have to live apart for a time from the women and children and undergo sweat lodges to cleanse and purge them before they returned to the social life of the tribe. Sweat Lodges are also preparation for the Sundance Ritual; where those dancing are attached with hooks through their chests and dance for several days without food and water. It is said they pass beyond the physical. Several of my other lodge attendees have travelled to the Blood Reservation in Alberta, Canda, to take part in this. Braver men than me.

Last week, with my friend Simon, I presented 3 workshops in Cardiff, Wales, to Prison Workers on well being and mindfulness. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive. I met many good folk who cared deeply for the people in their care. In my sweat lodge years I saw many people saved by the sweat lodge experience, it seemed particularly effective with drug addicts, a ritual that combined support, conversation and a detox that moved individuals beyond the limits of thought. With a greater use of these spiritual technologies much could be done if we want to change the prison experience or deal with drug addiction. We cerytainly need more eldars.

My substack remains around 100 subscribers and the discipline of writing is helpful for me. However more readers would be great. What I write comes from my own being and experience - its not just ideas bandied around. Any wisdom and insight has been hard won. So please consider becoming a paid subscriber and also publicising this substack with others by restacking and commenting.

As we say in the lodge -To all my relations.

Substack david.brazier@substack.com

Thebrazieroftruth