A poem I wrote about a recent sweat lodge experience-
Solstice Sweat Lodge
Gone, gone, completely gone!
Onto the path of enlightened joy
Dancing in this loving intoxication,
like the bright butterfly spirits that dally around our ceremony
Empty with fasting and birdsong
I have surrendered my body unto the earth,
and now smell darkly sweet with its fragrance
Our sweat lodge ritual under the lush forest trees is blessed by the plants, animals, rocks and streams
Sublime cedar and sage smoke smudge us all
I to, am blazing as the fire, glowing like the red rocks
"Extinguish me", and "Let the burning, and steam purify every unclean thing within",
have become my lodge prayers
Into the dark circle we enter together
In the heavy wet heat we crawl as low as the humble salamander who greeted us
The stinging sound of sacred water being poured onto the ancient singing rocks
Brings forth songs, tears and realizations to bloom in the darkness
The spinning universe appears in every word, every leaf, every stone
We become cooked, opened, and thankful!
Cooked, opened and thankful
For this love of life
I am cooked,
opened,
and oh so very, very thankful!
