Doing Sweat Lodges in Wisconsin - IN WINTER
Doing a sweat lodge in Wisconsin in winter.
Although doing a sweat lodge can be challenging in any climate, there are some peculiar challenges for the the hearty Wisconsin lodgers. Although I've never put a thermometer in a sweat lodge, it is HOT! The heat sucks the fluids right out of your body. In contrast, Wisconsin winters can and usually ARE brutally cold. It's leaving lodge that's the challenge. Your body is hot and full of sweat and the air outside is sub-zero. Lodges are small and low to the ground so we crawl out on our hands and knees. When we pop out, we become instant pop-cycles. We are standing in snow, steam rolling off our bodies like line-backers in a December Green Bay Packers game. Hair freezes immediately. For the women (in a traditional lodge) their dresses freeze like bells around their bodies.
In our tradition, we all stood in a line till everyone was out and then we were "wiped down" with a feather fan before we could dash to the house in the snow, fingers and toes turning numb as we awaited our turn. I'm not sure why, but in all of the lodges that I attended were at least a half mile from the house.
I'm sure there is great symbolism in the contrast heat and cold. But having described it, I'm too cold to talk it.
Although doing a sweat lodge can be challenging in any climate, there are some peculiar challenges for the the hearty Wisconsin lodgers. Although I've never put a thermometer in a sweat lodge, it is HOT! The heat sucks the fluids right out of your body. In contrast, Wisconsin winters can and usually ARE brutally cold. It's leaving lodge that's the challenge. Your body is hot and full of sweat and the air outside is sub-zero. Lodges are small and low to the ground so we crawl out on our hands and knees. When we pop out, we become instant pop-cycles. We are standing in snow, steam rolling off our bodies like line-backers in a December Green Bay Packers game. Hair freezes immediately. For the women (in a traditional lodge) their dresses freeze like bells around their bodies.
In our tradition, we all stood in a line till everyone was out and then we were "wiped down" with a feather fan before we could dash to the house in the snow, fingers and toes turning numb as we awaited our turn. I'm not sure why, but in all of the lodges that I attended were at least a half mile from the house.
I'm sure there is great symbolism in the contrast heat and cold. But having described it, I'm too cold to talk it.
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