SweatLodge?

“Anyway, I figured -- since I'm 1/4 Comanche, that I should build a sweatlodge as a cleansing ceremony the night before my wedding -- we'll not really that much cleansing, just a bunch on dirty climbers drinking beer and passing around the peace pipe eating grilled sheep.

I've been building it all by my lonesome -- it's tuff work out here in the Texas hill country -- all gnarly cedar and mesquite that just rips you to shreds -- on your hands and knees most times trying to follow some small animal game trail -- hard to get your bearings (not as bad as the jungles of Borneo, but pretty damned tuff).

I am scratched, scabbed, scarred, and bloddied, but the damn sweat lodge is nearly finished -- maybe only 6 more hours to finish the superstructure. Then I have to build am outside firepit that heats the stones, and an internal pit in the lodge where the hot stones are rolled and water poured over them? Anybody ever build one of these things? Any advice?”

“No, sounds like a great idea.

Lots of stuff on the web, though.

Yahoo Search Results”

“Been in a few of `em, but I didn`t help build any. They didn`t worry with an inside pit though. They just stacked the hot-rocks on top of each-other in the middle of it. Carry the hot rocks in with two sturdy, but green sticks that bend around the rock you`re carryin`.

The ones I was in were all out of (canvus), however you spell it, but one was done with a tarp and it did fine, there isn`t any open flame in there, just wet heat and lots of it. Well, not that much water actually, but you`ll feel like you`re swiming in it!(Sweat)LOL

Oh, the ones I was in were out of poles, or bamboo and not tall and there wasn`t room in there for more than three at a time, but they were made by Indians that knew what they were doing, they even had the sweetgrass and they burned that too....”

“LOL,.. he ought to find what he needs there Pathman,... That was great link!”

“I knew a dude who fancied himself an aboriginal american. He had a big ole farm his grandad left him. We went over to help him with some work. He showed us his sweat lodge. It was a group of trees tied together "teepee" style, covered with big chinks of nasty old carpet. He offered to have us over for a sweat,we declined. That thing was nasty!”

“other then picking the right rocks, I have no other advice except maybe safety glasses and thick leather gloves.”

“If you pick and use rocks from underwater(ie. from a stream), and heat them up, you guys should have a blast. Literally!”

“The "Inipi" is a "Sacred Space" not a place for a bachelor party.

Research your heritage and find out what a "Sweat Lodge" is, and how it NEEDS to be done.

Not trying to knock your cleansing idea, just that taking part in a ceremony that is not done "In A Good Way" can have a opposite effect on what you are trying to do.

Just my take, follow your own heart.

AHO Mitakuye-Oyasin”

“I took this dood hiking with me today, and he mentioned his neighbors have a sweatlodge. I guess there's lots of tradition in the act itself, and that they are going to *sweat* tommorrow night because of the full moon. Freeeeeaaaaky!”

“I've heard there's one open to the public somewhere in south central (south of I-80)Nebraska. Sounded interesting. Sorry, don't know the name.”