World Sweat Lodges

THE LODGE • WORLD The claims of origin of the sweat lodge are as many as there are tribal cultures. One general version is that the Creator gave the lodge to the people as a way to directly pray or talk with the Creator. The lodge is often seen as a womb, that gives birth and life, and it provides important teachings to the people. Entering the lodge is a sacred happening that involves important rituals and memories. The lodge provides a cleansing of the body, spirit, heart, and mind. Utmost respect is given to the Creator, the lodge, the fire, the medicines, the animals, the four directions, the elders, the participants, and the ceremonies. Thanks is given for the fire's warmth, the importance of the grandfather rocks, the animals for their skins, and the plants for their medicines. Thanks is given for all the necessary elements of nature that provide us with life and survival. The lodge is a natural way to bring fire, earth, rocks, water, air, human life  together into one, or close association and contact.

SWEATLODGE • AMERICAS In one form or another, the sweat bath pervaded cultures from the Alaskan Eskimo south into the land of the Mayans. The purpose, in most cases, went beyond getting the body clean. The sweat bath provided a remedy for illness, revitalization for aching muscles, and a sense of racial identity. A Navajo who fought in World War II once said he came back for a sweat bath "to rid himself of evil accumulated during war." Use of the sweat lodge was chronicled by the earliest settlers in America. In 1665, David DeVries of New York observed Indians "entirely clean and more attractive than before" while sweat bathing. Roger Williams of Rhode Island wrote in 1643: "They use sweating for two ends: first to cleanse their skin; secondly to purge their bodies, which doubtless is a great means of preserving them, especially from the French disease (probably influenza) which by sweating and some potions, they perfectly and speedily cure." "When in the sweat lodge, behave as you would in the white man's church." -Hoskie, a Navajo

SAUNA • FINNISH Most researchers agree that Finns always had some form of sweat bath, as did most peoples around the world. It was the simplest and most efficient way to satisfy people's innate need to keep clean. When the Finns were nomadic, they probably used a portable sweat lodge similar to those carried by the American Indian and still seen among nomadic tribes in central Asia. Once the Finns settled, they may have erected underground sweat houses, forerunners of the savusauna as seen above. After centuries of temporal use, the Finnish sauna acquired spiritual significance. The sanctity of the sauna was supported by ritual and strict propriety. "These stubborn people," wrote an astonished Swedish economist in 1776, "even connect the sauna with their theology and think the sauna building is some kind of shrine." An old saying, still heard in Finland today, says, Jokaisen on kayttaydyttava saunaaa samalla tavalla kuin kirkossa." ("In the sauna one must conduct himself as one would with God.")

HAMMAM • ISLAMIC Muhammad believed that the heat of the hammam (which in Arabic means "spreader of warmth") enhanced fertility, and the followers of the faith should multiply. Until the hammam caught Muhammad's fancy, the Arabs used only cold water and never bathed in tubs, which was considered as bathing in one's own filth. But when the conquering Arabs encountered Roman and Greek baths in Syria, holy men immediately adopted the pleasure of hot air bathing (perhaps to compensate for the joys of alcohol forbidden by their faith). Like the Roman baths, the hammam became a place to socialize. "Your town is only a perfect town when there is a bath in it," said Abu Sir, an early Arab historian. To promote the local hammam, entrance fees were so low everyone could enjoy them. "I leave it to the bather," said a caliph in A Thousand and One Nights, "to pay according to his rank." In an effort to keep tellaks honest, they were given the privilege of being tax exempt.

HAN ZAO • CHINESE  A Tai Chi master tells of a gathering of the oldest men in his province. The youngest were in their seventies and some were well into their nineties.  They sought to determine the secret of  their longevity. One by one, they described their various diets, exercise programs, herbal remedies, ways of living; but they came to no general agreement about any one of these things. Finally, they realized that the one practice they all had in common and that was that each them, in one way or another, managed to make himself sweat every day. This was their secret. Bathing in fresh or salt water, steam baths (zheng qi zao) or sweat baths (han zao), whether for spiritual or physical cleansing, are and have been common practices among Chinese peoples. Ritual baths were originated by ancient Buddhists and the practice spread from India to Tibet to Turkestan to Japan and to China. The tradition of these ritual baths mingled with the native customs of each region to produce bathing practices that are specific to each locale.

BANIA • RUSSIAN One of the earliest descriptions of the bania comes from the Russian Primary Chronicle of 1113, in describing the missionary work of the apostle, Andreas: 'l saw the land of the Slavs, and while I was among them, I noticed their wooden bath-houses. They warm them to extreme heat, then undress, and after anointing themselves with tallow, take young reeds and lash their bodies. They actually lash themselves without mercy. Then they drench themselves with cold water, and thus are revived. They think nothing of doing this every day and actually inflict such voluntary torture upon themselves. They make of the act not a mere washing but a veritable torment in the interest of health and longevity.' No sweat bath in the world has been as well documented as the Russian bath. Finnish sauna information is meager in comparison. Early Russian chronicles commonly mention the bania, and when European journalists swarmed to Russia in the centuries following the Reformation, the Russian bath made exciting feature material to send home. The Russians became renown for their sauna practices.

DUNGAI FU • AFRICAN Heat and sweating is one of the basic remedies for all kinds of ailments in tribal Africa south of the Sahara. Writing of the Tanzanian Bantu in 1927, Henri Junod reported, "A kind of Turkish vapor bath is administered for certain complaints and ailments. A circular enclosure is made with a screen of matting in the middle of which the patient is placed. Close by him, on live embers, a pot containing leaves supposed to possess medicinal properties. A second mat is then spread over the top of the enclosure, thus shutting the patient in a small hut (dungai fu)." Junod refers to this bathing as the phungule, "administered in most cases where ritual defilement is feared or is believed to have caused the disease." In east Africa, a tribal doctor will instruct his assistants to dig a hole about the size of a grave. A fire is built in the hole and after it has almost burnt down, it is smothered with large green leaves. The patient is then laid on poles over until he is thoroughly smoked.

MUSHI-BURO • JAPANESE In Kyoto, 40th emperor of Japan, Temmu, received a stray arrow in his back during a riot 1300 years ago. He healed his wound in the mushi-buro. Although the Emperor's bath no longer exists, a new, hundred-year-old mushi-buro displays a plaque describing  the healing and the use of the bath itself: "To heat the mushi-buro, attendants place green pine wood in the center of the floor. The wood is ignited and allowed to burn as long as the bather desires. The fire is extinguished and rubble is raked out. Then, with the smoke purged, a straw mat is sprinkled with salt water and placed on the floor as a place to sit. After sitting for a while, the whole body becomes warm and jewel-like, as the sweat seeps out. It is a kind of steam bath. The mushi-buro has a beneficial effect on injury and skin diseases, stomach problems, arthritis and rheumatism." "The power of this kiln bath equals hundreds of medicines." -Yosai Atani, 19th century poet.

TEMESCAL • MEXICAN When the Spaniards arrived in the 16th century, they found spirited use of the sweat house among scattered Mayan tribes and their new rulers, the Aztecs. The most common name for the sweat house is temescal, an Aztec name from teme, to bathe, and calli, house. The largest Mayan dictionary, compiled shortly after the Conquest, gives the word for sweat bath as Zumpul-che, "a bath used to cast out disease in their bodies." In the first written history of Mexico, Brother Duran wrote in 1567: The temescal is a small hut heated with fire into which at most ten people will fit. The door is very low so only one person can go in at a time. In the far corner is an oven heated to such an extreme temperature that it is difficult to bear. After sweating thoroughly in the temescal, they emerge naked and wash themselves with ten to twelve jugs of ice cold water without fear of harmful effects. Although this seems terribly brutal, it is my opinion this is not so. When the body becomes used to this, it becomes quite natural. Yet if a Spaniard is to try this, he would surely lose his senses!

ALLUS BOTHAN • IRISH  In Ireland, a primitive kind of sweat bath (allus bothan) that resembled a casual mound of sod and stone, unlike bath houses on the continent, quietly cleansed the wearers of green. We can only speculate on how they began. Since the Romans had no contact with the Irish while they reigned in England, perhaps the Irish sweat bath was inspired by raiding Vikings in the eighth century. It is more likely that the Irish conceived their own, as did other cultures in cold climates. Patrick Shields, Esq. of Tyrone County wrote to historian Seaton F. Milligan in 1890: Sweat houses were common in Ireland until 50 years ago. It was heated by fires of turf; when sufficiently hot the coals and ashes were removed, and some cool thing such as sods, rushes or stones put in for the person to stand upon. As many as six or eight men stripped off and went in, then all openings were closed except what afforded a little ventilation. When they could suffer the heat no longer they came out and plunged into a pool of water within a yard or two of the sweat house.

HOT HUT • HAWAII The oldest know medical document, the Ayurveda, appeared in Sanskrit in 568 BC and considered sweating so important to health that it prescribed the sweat bath and thirteen other methods of inducing sweat. Throughout history physicians have extolled the medicinal value of the sweat bath in its various forms such as the Finnish Sauna, Russian Bania, Islamic Hammam, the Native American Sweatlodge or indigenous Hawaiian Hot Hut. Today, enthusiasts claim that beyond being relaxing the sauna gives relief from the common cold, arthritis, headaches, hangovers and "just about anything that ails you." Even if these claims are somewhat exaggerated, medical evidence shows that bathing in temperatures of 9O degrees C (192 degrees F) has a beneficial effect on a healthy body. Sitting in a sweat bath could be the most vigorous activity you've had all day. The heat produces an artificial "fever" and urges every organ of the body into action. While outwardly relaxed, your inner organs are as active as though you were jogging.

FIRE LODGE • HINDU A bather absorbing the heat of a sweat bath was seen as re-enacting Creation, merging body and fire. Hindu mythology has several stories regarding the human absorption of heat. Pajapati created the world by heating himself to an extreme temperature through asceticism. Consequently, Hindu ascetics meditate near fire to achieve inner heat. Those who reach a communion with the Spirit are said to "burn." Those who perform miracles are called sahib-jocks, which means to "boil" from inner heat. Because of its indirect association with fire, sweat was connected with the creation of humankind. A Bengali tale indicates a Hindu culture believed that sweat carries the seeds of life: "Siva (a Hindu god) sweat and he washed the sweat away with a piece of cloth. He threw the cloth away. Out of this a girl was born." Looked on in a spiritual light, sweat's importance to many primitive societies becomes clear.

VAPOR LODGE • OMAHA  Many cultures discovered that rocks could absorb the power of fire, and thereby acquired spiritual significance. The Omaha Indians referred to the rocks as Grandfather, symbol of earthly endurance, and moved them from the fire into the revered sweatlodge. When water was splashed over them, the vapor produced became another medium for the transfer of heat and another object of worship. The Finns named this vapor loyly, spirit of life. The Fox, another American Indian tribe, believed that Manitou, a friendly spirit, dwelled inside the rocks and was released through the vapor to penetrate the skins of the bathers and drive out sickness. Whether shining in heaven or burning in hell, fire has always commanded reverence. For stealing fire from the gods and delivering it to humans, Prometheus was credited by the Greeks with the founding of civilization. Early sauna bathers in Finland believed fire was heaven sent and if fueled with choice firewood and tended to with appropriate ritual, diseases and spiritual evils could be driven off.

HILLSIDE SAUNA USA Medicinal and spiritual values of the sweat bath are furthered by its communal character. The sweat bath is a social event like the coffee shop, neighborhood bar or picnic and is probably the healthiest ever offered a group of people.

Lakota Sweat Lodges

The Sweat Lodge Ceremony, now central to most Native American cultures and spiritual life, is an adaptation of the sweat bath common to many ethnic cultures found in North and South America, Asia, Eastern and Western Europe, and Africa. It was prompted by the influence of European culture with its corrupting effect on native culture. With the introduction of alcohol and the inhumane treatment of native people, the need to re-purify themselves and find their way back to traditional ways of living became evident, as they were becoming increasingly poisoned by European culture. The Sweat Lodge Ceremony was the answer.

With the help of Medicine Men and Women, they could repair the damage done to their spirits, their minds and their bodies. The Sweat Lodge is a place of spiritual refuge and mental and physical healing, a place to get answers and guidance by asking spiritual entities, totem helpers, the Creator and Mother Earth for the needed wisdom and power.

A traditional Sweat Lodge is a wickiup made up of slender withes of aspen or willow, or other supple saplings, lashed together with raw hide, or grass or root cordage, although in some areas the lodge was constructed of whatever materials were at hand, from a mud roofed pit house to a cedar bark and plank lodge. The ends of the withes are set into the ground in a circle, approximately 10 feet in diameter, although there is no set size for a Sweat Lodge. That is determined by the location, materials available and the builder. The withes are bent over and lashed to form a low domed framework approximately 4 - 5 feet high at the center. The pit in the center is about 2 feet in diameter and a foot deep. The floor of the lodge may be clean swept dirt, or natural grassy turf, or may be covered with a mat of sweetgrass, soft cedar boughs, or sage leaves for comfort and cleanliness, kept away from the central pit.

The lodge in former times was covered with the hides of buffalo, bear or moose. In this day, the animal skins have been replaced with blankets, plastic sheeting, old carpet, heavy gauge canvas sheets and tarps to retain the heat and the steam.

In many traditions the entrance to the sweat lodge faces to the East and the sacred fire pit. This has very significant spiritual value. Each new day for all begins in the East with the rising of Father Sun, the source of life and power, dawn of wisdom, while the fire heating the rocks is the undying light of the world, eternity, and it is a new spiritual beginning day that we seek in the sweat ceremony.

Between the entrance to the lodge and the sacred fire pit, where the stones are heated, is an altar barrier, beyond which none may pass except the lodge or fire keepers, to prevent participants from accidently falling into the fire as they emerge from sweat. Traditionally this barrier altar is a buffalo or other skull atop a post, placed about 3 paces from the entrance and 3 paces from the fire, to warn of the danger. At the base of the post is a small raised earthen altar upon which are placed items sacred to the group or clan, sage, sweetgrass, feathers, etc., bordered with the four colors, and a pipe rack for the chanunpa.

Common to all traditions, and the sweat, is the ideal of spiritual cleanliness. Many sweats start with the participants fasting for an entire day of contemplation in preparation for the sweat while avoiding caffeine, alcohol and other unhealthy substances. Prior to entering the sweat the participants usually smudge with sage, sweetgrass or cedar smoke as a means toward ritual cleanliness.

Bringing personal sacred items is allowed but some rules apply. Items such as Eagle feathers, whistles and medicine pouches are allowed and welcomed. You should not bring anything that is not natural into the Sweat Lodge, such as: watches, ear rings, gold, silver, eye glasses, false teeth, etc. In many cultures a female on her moon is not allowed into the sweat, but in some they are.

A Sweat Ceremony in many traditions usually starts with the loading and offering of the sacred chanunpa ~ "peace pipe" ~ in prayer, that the participants may know and speak the truth in their supplications of Grandfather, Earth Mother and the spirits. In other traditions, when you are called upon to go into the sweat lodge you will have some tobacco to offer to the sacred fire, saying a prayer or asking a question, the smoke from the tobacco carrying your request to the Great Spirit. As you prepare to enter the lodge the sweat leader smudges you with the smoke of burning sage, cedar, or sweetgrass, wafting the smoke over you with an eagle feather. You then crawl into the lodge in a sun-wise (clockwise) direction, bowing in humility to Great Spirit and in close contact with Earth Mother, and take your place in the circle, sitting crosslegged upright against the wall of the lodge.

When all are inside the sweat leader calls upon the doorkeeper to drop the flap covering the lodge opening. The lodge becomes dark, and at this point the lodge leader announces that all are free to leave the lodge at any time if they cannot endure. (If you must leave, speak out "Mitakuye Oyasin," "All my relatives." The other participants will move away from the wall so that you may pass behind them as you leave in a clockwise direction.) He then asks for a short, contemplative silence. After the brief silence the flap is raised, and the leader calls upon the fire tender to bring in the heated stones from the sacred fire.

The Stone People spirits are awakened in the stones by heating them in the sacred fire until red-hot. They are swept clean with a pine or cedar bough to remove smoking embers which would cause irritating discomfort in the lodge. One at a time they are placed in the shallow pit inside the sweat lodge, placing first the stone on the west, then north, east, south, and in the center to Grandfather. Additional stones are then placed to Grandmother and The People. After four to seven stones are in the pit, depending on tradition (and probably the size of the stones), the entrance is closed and sealed by the Sweat Lodge Keeper, who generally is also the fire tender.

Aglow with the luminance of the red hot stones, the ceremony begins in the lodge. The sweat leader sounds the Water Drum and calls forth the spirit guides in prayer from the Four Directions. The sweat leader then dips water and pours it onto the hot stones in the pit, producing large amounts of steam, usually one dipper for each of the four directions, or until he is told by the spirits to stop. Then he begins his prayers, songs and chants.

A typical prayer might be:

Grandfather, Mysterious One,
We search for you along this
Great Red Road you have set us on.

Sky Father, Tunkashila,
We thank you for this world.
We thank you for our own existence.
We ask only for your blessing and for your instruction.

Grandfather, Sacred One,
Put our feet on the holy path that leads to you,
and give us the strength and the will
to lead ourselves and our children 
past the darkness we have entered.
Teach us to heal ourselves,
to heal each other and to heal the world.

Let us begin this very day,
this very hour,
the Great Healing to come.
Let us walk the Red Road in Peace.

During the purification of one's spirit inside a sweat lodge, all sense of race, color and religion is set aside. As in the Mother's womb and the Father's eyes, we are all the same, we are One. Each of us has the ability to sit with the Creator himself. Healing begins here for dis-ease, physical, emotional, directional and spiritual.

As the steam and temperature rises so do our senses. Messages and vision from the Spirit World are received through the group consciousness of the participants. One at a time, as a talking stick is passed, all the people inside get an opportunity to speak, to pray and to ask for guidance and forgiveness from the Creator and the people they have hurt. As they go around the circle, they tell who they are, where they are from, and what is their clan, so the Creator, the Spirit People, and all there can acknowledge them.

A sweat is typically four sessions, called rounds or endurances, each lasting about 30 to 45 minutes. The round ends when the leader announces the opening of the door.

The first round is for recognition of the spirit world which resides in the black West where the sun goes down, and the Creator may be asked for a "spirit guide" by some of the participants.

The second round is for recognition of courage, endurance, strength, cleanliness, and honesty, calling upon the power of the white North.

The recognition of knowledge and individual prayer symbolize the third round, praying to the direction of the daybreak star and the rising sun that we may gain wisdom, that we may follow the Red Road of the East in all our endeavors.

The yellow South stands for growth and healing. Thus, the last round centers on spiritual growth and healing. From our spirit guides from the west, from the courage, honesty and endurance of the north, from the knowledge and wisdom obtained from the east, we continue the circle to the south from which comes growth. It is from growth and maturing that healing comes.

At the completion of each round, the participants may emerge, if desired, to plunge into an adjacent pool or stream if one is available, or roll in the snow if the sweat is held in winter. In arid areas the participants roll in the sand to cool off and remove the sweat. Many participants maintain their places in the lodge until completion of the fourth round, while the cooled stones in the pit are removed and replaced with hot stones.

There are many different forms of sweat ceremonies in Indian country. Each people has their own tradition and this is especially clear when it comes to the sweat lodge ceremony. Many differences, depending on the people participating, occur during each ritual. For instance, many times rounds are held in complete silence and meditation as the participants feel the need. At other less intense times, a round may be devoted to story telling and recounting of the clan's creation stories. This is all part of spiritual and emotional healing and growth. Respect, sincerity, humility, the ability to listen and slow down are all key in the way you approach ceremony.

Who Sweats and Why?

The sweat lodge ceremony usually occurs before and after other major rituals like the "Vision Quest" for example. The aim of the ceremony is to purify one's mind, body, spirit and heart. It is also a "stand alone" ritual that it occurs whenever it is needed. Sweat lodge essentially translates into returning to the womb and the innocence of childhood. The lodge is dark, moist, hot and safe. The darkness relates to human ignorance before the spiritual world and so much of the physical world.

Traditionally it was only the men who would sweat. As time has passed and the lodge has evolved, other levels have been shown. The sweat lodge has given many gifts and shown itself as a way to not only cleanse, but to release anger, guilt and shame in a safe way, and to bring people together as ONE. These days women sweat also, provided they are not on their moon time or cleansing time already. Men can sweat separately and women can sweat separately, or there can be mixed sweats where men and women both participate. The Elder or Lodge Keeper running the ceremony according to their teachings will determine this.

Observing very strict protocols while in ceremony are key. Men and women must both practice modesty in their dress when they come to ceremony. Sweat lodge is not a fashion show, nor is it a place for vanity or to get a date. This is a sacred place to pray, meditate, learn and heal, and that must be the focus.

Unlike "New Age" sweats we do not go in naked when men and women are present. It has nothing to do with being uncomfortable with our bodies, as some would have us believe. Rather it is about not confusing spirituality with sexuality, and creating a safe place where all people feel comfortable. Men, women, boys and girls can all benefit from the lodges. Modesty is to be practiced in our dress, meaning that men wear shorts and bring a couple of towels to cover themselves and the women wear modest dress or long skirt with a loose T-shirt and a couple of towels.

We must always walk the Red Road in a way that honors others' views and teachings without sacrificing our own. All of these ways are good, none is better or worse than the other.

We need to unite all of the races and both of the sexes if we are going to be strong and the Sacred Hoop is to be mended. Every form of spirituality goes through change. This evolution reflects the changing needs of the community and of our environment. Anything that will not change risks isolating itself from the people. Water is life and changes everything, even the hardest stone. The change that is needed is turning towards each other instead of away from one another. If we ceremony together, we heal together, we laugh together, live and love together.

If you are invited to a sweat, the 24 hours previous to the sweat should be spent in cleansing, fasting, prayer and meditation on the intended purpose of the sweat, and you should be free from drugs and alcohol. For the greatest spiritual benefit, these conditions should be met.

If you would like to know more of what happens in a sweat lodge ceremony the answer is quite simple:
Attend one. It will be different than the last one you attended.

And so it is . . .
Hokh! Mitakuye o'yasin. Hecetu welo !! . . . All my relatives, it is indeed so..!!

A ho!
Love and Peace,
Barefoot Windwalker

Tom

Sweat Lodges around the world

THE LODGE • WORLD
The claims of origin of the sweat lodge are as many as there are tribal cultures. One general version is that the Creator gave the lodge to the people as a way to directly pray or talk with the Creator. The lodge is often seen as a womb, that gives birth and life, and it provides important teachings to the people. Entering the lodge is a sacred happening that involves important rituals and memories. The lodge provides a cleansing of the body, spirit, heart, and mind. Utmost respect is given to the Creator, the lodge, the fire, the medicines, the animals, the four directions, the elders, the participants, and the ceremonies. Thanks is given for the fire's warmth, the importance of the grandfather rocks, the animals for their skins, and the plants for their medicines. Thanks is given for all the necessary elements of nature that provide us with life and survival.

The lodge is a natural way to bring fire, earth, rocks, water, air, human life together into one, or close association and contact.


SWEATLODGE • AMERICAS
In one form or another, the sweat bath pervaded cultures from the Alaskan Eskimo south into the land of the Mayans. The purpose, in most cases, went beyond getting the body clean. The sweat bath provided a remedy for illness, revitalization for aching muscles, and a sense of racial identity. A Navajo who fought in World War II once said he came back for a sweat bath "to rid himself of evil accumulated during war." Use of the sweat lodge was chronicled by the earliest settlers in America. In 1665, David DeVries of New York observed Indians "entirely clean and more attractive than before" while sweat bathing. Roger Williams of Rhode Island wrote in 1643: "They use sweating for two ends: first to cleanse their skin; secondly to purge their bodies, which doubtless is a great means of preserving them, especially from the French disease (probably influenza) which by sweating and some potions, they perfectly and speedily cure."

“When in the sweat lodge, behave as you would in the white man’s church.” -Hoskie, a Navajo


SAUNA • FINNISH
Most researchers agree that Finns always had some form of sweat bath, as did most peoples around the world. It was the simplest and most efficient way to satisfy people's innate need to keep clean. When the Finns were nomadic, they probably used a portable sweat lodge similar to those carried by the American Indian and still seen among nomadic tribes in central Asia. Once the Finns settled, they may have erected underground sweat houses, forerunners of the savusauna as seen above.

After centuries of temporal use, the Finnish sauna acquired spiritual significance. The sanctity of the sauna was supported by ritual and strict propriety. "These stubborn people," wrote an astonished Swedish economist in 1776, "even connect the sauna with their theology and think the sauna building is some kind of shrine." An old saying, still heard in Finland today, says, Jokaisen on kayttaydyttava saunaaa samalla tavalla kuin kirkossa." ("In the sauna one must conduct himself as one would with God.")


HAMMAM • ISLAMIC
Muhammad believed that the heat of the hammam (which in Arabic means "spreader of warmth") enhanced fertility, and the followers of the faith should multiply. Until the hammam caught Muhammad's fancy, the Arabs used only cold water and never bathed in tubs, which was considered as bathing in one's own filth. But when the conquering Arabs encountered Roman and Greek baths in Syria, holy men immediately adopted the pleasure of hot air bathing (perhaps to compensate for the joys of alcohol forbidden by their faith).

Like the Roman baths, the hammam became a place to socialize. "Your town is only a perfect town when there is a bath in it," said Abu Sir, an early Arab historian. To promote the local hammam, entrance fees were so low everyone could enjoy them. "I leave it to the bather," said a caliph in A Thousand and One Nights, "to pay according to his rank." In an effort to keep tellaks honest, they were given the privilege of being tax exempt.


HAN ZAO • CHINESE
A Tai Chi master tells of a gathering of the oldest men in his province. The youngest were in their seventies and some were well into their nineties. They sought to determine the secret of their longevity. One by one, they described their various diets, exercise programs, herbal remedies, ways of living; but they came to no general agreement about any one of these things. Finally, they realized that the one practice they all had in common and that was that each them, in one way or another, managed to make himself sweat every day. This was their secret.

Bathing in fresh or salt water, steam baths (zheng qi zao) or sweat baths (han zao), whether for spiritual or physical cleansing, are and have been common practices among Chinese peoples. Ritual baths were originated by ancient Buddhists and the practice spread from India to Tibet to Turkestan to Japan and to China. The tradition of these ritual baths mingled with the native customs of each region to produce bathing practices that are specific to each locale.


BANIA • RUSSIAN
One of the earliest descriptions of the bania comes from the Russian Primary Chronicle of 1113, in describing the missionary work of the apostle, Andreas: 'l saw the land of the Slavs, and while I was among them, I noticed their wooden bath-houses. They warm them to extreme heat, then undress, and after anointing themselves with tallow, take young reeds and lash their bodies. They actually lash themselves without mercy. Then they drench themselves with cold water, and thus are revived. They think nothing of doing this every day and actually inflict such voluntary torture upon themselves. They make of the act not a mere washing but a veritable torment in the interest of health and longevity.'

No sweat bath in the world has been as well documented as the Russian bath. Finnish sauna information is meager in comparison. Early Russian chronicles commonly mention the bania, and when European journalists swarmed to Russia in the centuries following the Reformation, the Russian bath made exciting feature material to send home. The Russians became renown for their sauna practices.


DUNGAI FU • AFRICAN
Heat and sweating is one of the basic remedies for all kinds of ailments in tribal Africa south of the Sahara. Writing of the Tanzanian Bantu in 1927, Henri Junod reported, “A kind of Turkish vapor bath is administered for certain complaints and ailments. A circular enclosure is made with a screen of matting in the middle of which the patient is placed. Close by him, on live embers, a pot containing leaves supposed to possess medicinal properties. A second mat is then spread over the top of the enclosure, thus shutting the patient in a small hut (dungai fu).” Junod refers to this bathing as the phungule, “administered in most cases where ritual defilement is feared or is believed to have caused the disease.”

In east Africa, a tribal doctor will instruct his assistants to dig a hole about the size of a grave. A fire is built in the hole and after it has almost burnt down, it is smothered with large green leaves. The patient is then laid on poles over until he is thoroughly smoked.


MUSHI-BURO • JAPANESE
In Kyoto, 40th emperor of Japan, Temmu, received a stray arrow in his back during a riot 1300 years ago. He healed his wound in the mushi-buro. Although the Emperor’s bath no longer exists, a new, hundred-year-old mushi-buro displays a plaque describing the healing and the use of the bath itself:

“To heat the mushi-buro, attendants place green pine wood in the center of the floor. The wood is ignited and allowed to burn as long as the bather desires. The fire is extinguished and rubble is raked out. Then, with the smoke purged, a straw mat is sprinkled with salt water and placed on the floor as a place to sit. After sitting for a while, the whole body becomes warm and jewel-like, as the sweat seeps out. It is a kind of steam bath. The mushi-buro has a beneficial effect on injury and skin diseases, stomach problems, arthritis and rheumatism.”

“The power of this kiln bath equals hundreds of medicines.” -Yosai Atani, 19th century poet.


TEMESCAL • MEXICAN
When the Spaniards arrived in the 16th century, they found spirited use of the sweat house among scattered Mayan tribes and their new rulers, the Aztecs. The most common name for the sweat house is temescal, an Aztec name from teme, to bathe, and calli, house. The largest Mayan dictionary, compiled shortly after the Conquest, gives the word for sweat bath as Zumpul-che, "a bath used to cast out disease in their bodies."

In the first written history of Mexico, Brother Duran wrote in 1567: The temescal is a small hut heated with fire into which at most ten people will fit. The door is very low so only one person can go in at a time. In the far corner is an oven heated to such an extreme temperature that it is difficult to bear. After sweating thoroughly in the temescal, they emerge naked and wash themselves with ten to twelve jugs of ice cold water without fear of harmful effects. Although this seems terribly brutal, it is my opinion this is not so. When the body becomes used to this, it becomes quite natural. Yet if a Spaniard is to try this, he would surely lose his senses!


ALLUS BOTHAN • IRISH
In Ireland, a primitive kind of sweat bath (allus bothan) that resembled a casual mound of sod and stone, unlike bath houses on the continent, quietly cleansed the wearers of green. We can only speculate on how they began. Since the Romans had no contact with the Irish while they reigned in England, perhaps the Irish sweat bath was inspired by raiding Vikings in the eighth century. It is more likely that the Irish conceived their own, as did other cultures in cold climates.

Patrick Shields, Esq. of Tyrone County wrote to historian Seaton F. Milligan in 1890: Sweat houses were common in Ireland until 50 years ago. It was heated by fires of turf; when sufficiently hot the coals and ashes were removed, and some cool thing such as sods, rushes or stones put in for the person to stand upon. As many as six or eight men stripped off and went in, then all openings were closed except what afforded a little ventilation. When they could suffer the heat no longer they came out and plunged into a pool of water within a yard or two of the sweat house.


HOT HUT • HAWAII
The oldest know medical document, the Ayurveda, appeared in Sanskrit in 568 BC and considered sweating so important to health that it prescribed the sweat bath and thirteen other methods of inducing sweat. Throughout history physicians have extolled the medicinal value of the sweat bath in its various forms such as the Finnish Sauna, Russian Bania, Islamic Hammam, the Native American Sweatlodge or indigenous Hawaiian Hot Hut. Today, enthusiasts claim that beyond being relaxing the sauna gives relief from the common cold, arthritis, headaches, hangovers and "just about anything that ails you." Even if these claims are somewhat exaggerated, medical evidence shows that bathing in temperatures of 9O degrees C (192 degrees F) has a beneficial effect on a healthy body.

Sitting in a sweat bath could be the most vigorous activity you've had all day. The heat produces an artificial "fever" and urges every organ of the body into action. While outwardly relaxed, your inner organs are as active as though you were jogging.


FIRE LODGE • HINDU
A bather absorbing the heat of a sweat bath was seen as re-enacting Creation, merging body and fire. Hindu mythology has several stories regarding the human absorption of heat. Pajapati created the world by heating himself to an extreme temperature through asceticism. Consequently, Hindu ascetics meditate near fire to achieve inner heat. Those who reach a communion with the Spirit are said to "burn." Those who perform miracles are called sahib-jocks, which means to "boil" from inner heat.

Because of its indirect association with fire, sweat was connected with the creation of humankind. A Bengali tale indicates a Hindu culture believed that sweat carries the seeds of life: "Siva (a Hindu god) sweat and he washed the sweat away with a piece of cloth. He threw the cloth away. Out of this a girl was born."

Looked on in a spiritual light, sweat's importance to many primitive societies becomes clear.


VAPOR LODGE • OMAHA
Many cultures discovered that rocks could absorb the power of fire, and thereby acquired spiritual significance. The Omaha Indians referred to the rocks as Grandfather, symbol of earthly endurance, and moved them from the fire into the revered sweatlodge. When water was splashed over them, the vapor produced became another medium for the transfer of heat and another object of worship. The Finns named this vapor loyly, spirit of life. The Fox, another American Indian tribe, believed that Manitou, a friendly spirit, dwelled inside the rocks and was released through the vapor to penetrate the skins of the bathers and drive out sickness.

Whether shining in heaven or burning in hell, fire has always commanded reverence. For stealing fire from the gods and delivering it to humans, Prometheus was credited by the Greeks with the founding of civilization. Early sauna bathers in Finland believed fire was heaven sent and if fueled with choice firewood and tended to with appropriate ritual, diseases and spiritual evils could be driven off.


HILLSIDE SAUNA USA
Medicinal and spiritual values of the sweat bath are furthered by its communal character. The sweat bath is a social event like the coffee shop, neighborhood bar or picnic and is probably the healthiest ever offered a group of people.

Early in its history, sweat bath ceremonies and rituals were strong expressions of the community. Elders of' the Cherokee tribe used the sweat bath as a hallowed schoolhouse where teachings of' their forefathers were passed on to their young. Groups of Finns, dodging elves, would gather inside the sauna to talk, to escape the Nordic cold and to soothe aching muscles. Turkish women would congregate for hours in their hammam, the only place their men allowed them to socialize. The gregarious Romans would throng by the thousands to their lavish thermaes.

The idea is not to have the best sauna on the block, but to get the entire block in the sauna.
-Professor Harold Tier, President, The Sauna Society.