I love Sweat Lodge. It is like going to church for me. Tu Bears has not asked me once if I wanted to sweat without my shaking my head yes before she finished her sentence. The first Sweat Lodge that I ever experienced was at my first Vision Quest. That whole weekend, I slept under a Juniper tree, waking up to Mt. Shasta in the South every morning. It was awesome. During that weekend, I saw my future and I saw my past. In my first Sweat Lodge, which happened after I came down off of the hill, one of the things was to tell Tu Bears was of the past life that she and I shared. It was an incredible vision. And I still remember that vision clearly today. Well.... this first Sweat Lodge was powerful for me, to be sure, and I instantly felt at home there.

There are Family Sweat Lodges, Healing S.L., Male S.L., Female S.L..... and so on. At this Vision Quest, I found my favorite Sweat Lodge.

Tu Bears and I had already talked about the need for her to be in Sweat Lodge for short periods of time and then it could only be warm, not hot. There was a real possibility that she might not be able to be in Sweat Lodge at all, so we made other arrangements in regards how we were going to hear the visioners tell of their visions. As it turned out, Tu Bears was feeling okay so she asked Ladd, our Lakota brother, and me to be in Sweat Lodge with her. We split the visioners up into two groups, which made it easier for Tu Bears to sweat with us.... and then the visioners got the benefit of 3 different people listening completely to their amazing stories.

If you were to ask me now what Sweat Lodge celebration I enjoy the most, it is this last Sweat Lodge where we listened in awe to the visions that came down off of that hill. They were amazing.... indeed.

Bottom line though.... Sweat Lodge is where I greet the Creator so I would sweat anywhere, any time to experience that.... just build the fire and let me know what to bring for the Wupala. Smile.

More to come....