Discovering How Native American Sweat Lodge Practice Change Modern Perspective
Some people say the Vikings were the first migrants of North America. However, before them the Native Americans built nations strewn all over the continent. They were the first settlers in the land, as they journeyed from Asia through land bridges during the Ice Age.
In the past, those nations ruled the American continent. But the civilization of the white man was a very difficult environment for them to coexist and their existence in history was a story of despair caused by the growth of European settlers. The few Native Americans today are testament to their resilience in surviving in a world completely alien from their own.
The focal point of the mutual antagonism between the Native Americans and their neighboring European settlers is the former’s culture. The customs of the natives revolved around their prudence and reverence towards natural things. Since the world has become commercial since the Western psyche dominated the global perspective, much of the Native Americans and their way of life have become alien in our world today.
Native Americans grew more of a stranger to its own land and though there is peace between natives and other people nowadays, their obscure identity have been compounded by the recent incident regarding their “sweat lodge” custom. In 2009, a group of New Age practitioners, believing that sweat lodges are simple traditional saunas, went through the practice without proper traditional guidance. As a result of their reckless meddling, seven people died.
During the initial investigations, it was easy to put the blame to the Native Americans and their primitive customs knowing how popular New Age movement is nowadays. But the Lakota nation defended the sanctity of their way of life from this outrageous culture invasion. Fortunately, the US Supreme court favored the Native American defendants and showed these New Age practitioners the error of trifling with sacred rituals that takes years of training and naturalization.
The sweat lodge is one of the most powerful mediums for people to connect with the ethereal realm in order to acquire the wisdom of the spirits. The first phase involves a person to surrender material burdens in this journey by removing metal jewelries and synthetic accessories that would cause serious harm in a very sultry interior. When the practitioners dwell inside the rudimentary hermetic lodge, a lodge leader guides them throughout the many hours in their spiritual journey through simple repetitive chants, if not to instruct them to be completely silent.
In the sweat lodge ceremony, it is very vital for practitioners to perform sacraments that entail using plant medicine as medium to deliver their prayers to the spirits. Before the practitioner actually enters the sweat lodge, he or she is being aided by apprentices of the shaman elder presiding in the ceremony as they also stand by for hours protecting the ceremony. Inside the dwelling, a practitioner might often encounter a very traditional elder who would require him or her to synchronize with the mood of the proceedings in great detail.
The globalized world can find little or no sense in the intricacies of ancient Native American traditions. But even though modern stereotypes are harsh against them, in one way or another Native Americans can teach the globalized world the great value of the virtue of carefulness. Being caught up with the convenience and luxury this world can offer, there are people with astounding recklessness who suffer fatalities in modern steam baths that are far less dangerous than sweat lodges. However, spa hot tubs are a step up in lifestyle and even promote better health. To learn more, search hot tubs online at HotTubsHomeSpa.com for modern spas.
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