Spiritual Purification Ceremony: Sweatlodge Experience 2016
Next sweatlodges will take place: to be announced shortly
Glengarriff, West Cork, Ireland
Leader: Uwe Backhaus, Paris
Where the mountains meet the sea.
Open for everybody. Would you like to attend?
E-Mail: markus@wanderlust.ie
Post: Wanderlust
Markus Baeuchle · Ardaturrish Beg
Glengarriff, Co Cork
Tel 027 63609
The Sweatlodge | Coming home
For thousands of years all people and cultures have known initiation and purification ceremonies. Sweat Lodges – in the Lakota language named Inipis – are an ancient way of healing, purification and spiritual practice. Innipi means “we are going to pray”. The ritual of the sweat lodge has been transmitted over generations. Sweat lodges are ceremonies based on work with the elements which represent energy, aspects of life. The creator elements fire, earth, air and water are representations of energies that influence our lives. We will cross these energetic fields – archetypes of life itself – during our whole life, year after year, day after day.?Away from the exterior world, in complete darkness in the proximity of the glooming stones we are projected into our inner fortresses, we inspire the heat and the steam and we may then expire our prayers, at least we may touch them, we may be aware of them. Sitting on the ground of mother earth, facing our ancestors, the stones, the limited space of the lodge in the obscure – this may open doors to our interior space. In some traditions the sweat lodge symbolises the matrix of the female: we go there to purify and to be reborn; we are coming home.
My sweatlodge | An intercultural prayer
Free from any religion, political or racial interest, I do stand for a multicultural way of living, though I deeply respect the Lakota tradition. My sweatlodges are inspirated by their rites, songs and stories. I do know my responsibility as a pipe carrier and I truly honor their tradition as far as I can. Thus I am white born European and not red Indian and I mostly sweat with Europeans. I do not want to enter into polemics about stealing Red Indian Culture, neither about weakening the healing power of this ceremony in adapting it to a European mind, soul and body. As already mentionned I act under deap respect for what was given to me. In my opignon the personal, intimate prayer stood, stands and will be standing in the focus of that ceremony and this is what I want to crystallize. So, in my point of view, some rules do make little or no sense at all for Europeans since this is a missing part in their everyday life; there is no such thing like cultural and personal roots that could bring deaper understanding and lead to brighter respect towards the Red Indian Way.
But there truly are cultural and personal roots that can lead to a deaper understanding of his own personal drama and lead to brighter respect towards creation itself; he only needs the bridge and the entrance ticket to cross over the boundary of his life. This is where I see the wealth of a cross-cultural exchange.
And this is my approach to the sweatlodges I lead: to create a bridge where it is possible for modern westeners to find himself and his prayer, even if this is by using strange, strictly sheltered rites.
The Location | Wood_Mountains_Sea
Situated on the banks of a small river in a holly and birch woodland close to the sea – allowing vistas of the Caha mountains and of Bantry Bay – the sweat lodge location is a well sheltered place on private lands. Access on foot only.
The durable frame of the sweat lodge – built of hazel rods from the Borlin Valley – will be covered with a few dozen woolen blankets. The pebble stones from the beaches of Bantry Bay are heated in a fire from local wood. The sweat lodge can accommodate 15 people.
The stream has a nice natural pool to sit in and cool the body. Participants have as well access to the beach on small footpaths – at their own risk.
Leading the Sweat Lodge | Uwe
Uwe Backhaus from Paris will be leading most of our sweat lodges. Uwe (*1959), father of two children, German. Woodworker, Teacher for Secondary Schools in Music and Sports, Light Designer, are some corner stones of his professional career. For 25 years Uwe has been following several masters and healers. In 2001 he joined the Red Indian Way and started training as a fireman. In 2003 Uwe did his vision quest, in 2005 he danced the sun dance. Uwe is guiding sweat lodges in France, Belgium, Germany and Ireland. He is involved in the Prayer Dance Group and member of the „Foundation Free Spirituality“.
Contact Uwe: 0033 6 60 21 56 84
