The sweatlodge is one of the oldest purification ceremonies used throughout the world. The indigenous peoples of North America have continued to use this ceremony for thousands of years. It combines the 4 elements and 4 cardinal directions in a powerful way. The Lakota Oglala people call it “Inipi”, or “life within”. It can have a very deep impact and show you what is important and what is not. What you need and what you no longer need in your life. It helps improve our relations with ourselves, those around us and the earth.

Before I began participating in sweatlodges in the early 1990s I first learned to work with fire. The first American Indian who introduced me to ceremonial fires was a stoic Cheyenne man. He didn’t say much. He sat me in front of “Grandfather Fire”. I wasn’t allowed to do anything else before I found the eye of the fire. Finding Grandfather’s eye was the first step in building a relationship with the fire. Then you learn how to build it in a sacred way. You learn to get the glowing rocks out without getting burnt. You learn how this old ceremony is done in a sacred manner.

Since then I have participated in over 300 hundred sweatlodges. I have learned many songs, deepened my relationship to nature and have learned how to guide such a ceremony and help others through this beautiful but sometimes very challenging experience.