Sweat Lodge

Sweat Lodge

I smelled the musty scent of recent rain
and inhaled the smoke as I walked toward the lodge.
Leaves and branches crackled beneath my bare feet.
I remembered the peace and rightness of this place.
Tobacco-filled prayer ties, like tiny ghosts,
hung from branches reflecting the light 
from the fire; flickering, growing, heating stones
to form the steam inside the lodge.

“We all come from the mother" and "Fly like an Eagle”,
were songs that came back to me like Simon and Garfunkel tunes
my mother played when I was little, each syllable flowing effortlessly
like there was never a time I did not know the words;
"I Circle Around", another song I learned at my first sweat lodge,
only a month before.  This time though, I could take it all in
without shyness or anticipation of the unknown.  I found a home,
with a family brought together by spirit and history.

It was chilly to the skin, yet I felt the warmth
of shared tradition, songs from another place,
another time, drum beats felt beneath my ribs,
a memory of another world, another generation.
The burning sage cleansed me before I entered
the womb of  wood, leather, fabric, a dome within which
I would take a journey, and learn for the first time,
how to pray aloud without being self-conscious.

As the prayers circled around for each of the four directions,
I found myself listening to the others and trusting that,
when they got to me, my soul would know just what to say.
For once, I listened without planning my words.
When I exited the lodge, I felt as if I’d stood up too quickly
from a steaming hot bath, somehow lightheaded but heavy,
sweating but cleansed, empty but fulfilled.  It was cold to the skin,
but steam, like smoke, was rising from each of us as if a fire was lit within.

Even now, years later, the memories are seared onto my soul. 
Disconnection is no longer possible as long as I can experience
the dance of flames in a campfire, the warmth of river stones in the sun,
the hiss and steam of water on a hot skillet, and the crunch of leaves
beneath my feet.  Sometimes at work, I find myself humming the lyrics,
like "Mother carry me, a child I will always be," and I know,
even in the starkness of brick and mortar, or in the absence of ceremony,
I will forever remain connected to the spirits of our ancestors.

We are all connected.




SWPoet


I finally found a site that has the lyrics to the songs we sang at the sweat lodges I attended.  They are a mix of different Native American traditions in addition to a few I also found on a Celtic goddess ceremony (pretty curious at the connection, don't you think)? 

https://youtu.be/dcKRx7_z4mk

WE ALL COME FROM THE MOTHER
©Z. Budapest/Ian Corrigan. This song sings of the continuity of energy through the many forms of life. Can be used as a balancing song.

We all come from the mother
And to her we shall return
Like a drop of water, flowing to the ocean
Grain and corn, grain and corn
All that lives shall be reborn

We all come from the mother
And to her we shall return
Like a drop of water
Flowing to the ocean
Rose and thorn, rose and thorn
All that lives shall be reborn

We all come from the mother
And to her we shall return
Like a drop of water
Flowing to the ocean
Hoof and horn, hoof and horn
All that lives shall be reborn

We all come from the mother
And to her we shall return
Like a drop of water
Flowing to the ocean
Human form, Human form
All that lives shall be reborn

We all come from the mother
And to her we shall return
Like a drop of water
Flowing to the ocean


FLY LIKE AN EAGLE
A chant from the Native American Church.

Fly like an eagle
flying so high
circling the universe
on wings of pure light

Ho witchi tai tai
Witchi tai-o
Ho witchi tai tai
Witchi tai ho
  (Repeat twice)

We all fly like eagles
Way up in the sky
circling the universe
on wings of pure love

Ho witchi tai tai
Witchi tai-o
Ho witchi tai tai
Witchi tai ho

I CIRCLE AROUND
Arapaho Ghost Dance Song. I Circle Around can be used as a song for the Eagle of the East

I circle around, I circle around
The boundaries of the earth
I circle around, I circle around
The boundaries of the earth

Wearing my long-wing feathers as I fly
Wearing my long-wing feathers as I fly
  (Repeat 3 times, end 4th time with next two lines)

I circle around, I circle around
The boundaries of the earth

THE RIVER IS FLOWING
©Diana Hildebrand-Hull.  The River may be used for the South, to honor the universal child within us.

The river it is flowing
Flowing and growing
The river it is flowing
Down to the sea
Mother carry me, a child I will always be
Mother carry me, a child I will always be
  (Repeat 3 times)