Winter Solace

Winter Solace Ceremony
Sweat Lodge
Rising Sun, MD
December 20, 2013

I always wanted to go to a Winter Solace Ceremony.  I didn't quiet know what was involved. But I imagines some drumming, chant, celebration, good food, good beer, good spirits and goodwill.  But I could never find a ceremony near me.

In causal conversation, an acquaintance told me about a local ceremony and I inquired about how I could participate.

"You have to be invited.  It's by invitation only," she let me know. "You can't just show up."  Now she spoke to me as if I was rude for even suggesting that I might participate.

So when my friend told me that her step-father offered a celebration on his property and I was invited, I was elated.

"What do I bring?", I eagerly asked.

"First, I'm just telling you, it's way out there;  lots of kooks come to this thing.  So don't get all dressed up.  Wear something like a towel in the sweat lodge and something comfortable to change in to later.  And bring something for dinner.  Everyone brings something to share".

"Are you coming, why don't you come?" I begged just a little bit because I wanted the company.

"I went once and that was enough for me. Those people are fanatics." She was adamant. "Once was enough".

So I went.  I had the option of going at 8 AM which was when they were going to begin to heat the rocks.  The pit was dug up the night before and the rocks would heat up for 5 hours.  The participants could arrive any time after that to get ready.  The ceremony started around 1 PM and would last for roughly four hours.

I showed up around noon and made my way to the field.  People were already busily making their prayer offerings. I stumbled over to the crowd and introduced myself.

"Have you ever been to one of these?",  Sitting Goat asked me.

"No, no. No I haven't, I responded nervously.  I was a excited but nervous when I got up this morning.  But now that I was here with Sitting Goat and Hard Bull and Grey Coyote, I was just nervous.  As I scanned my immediate environment, I thought that maybe, just maybe, this was yet another moment in my life where I was grossly out of my element.

We had to take twigs, swatches of cloth and a pinch of tobacco which we bundled all together.  The cloth swatches were blue, red, white and yellow. Each color symbolized the earth, water, air or smoke. The tobacco symbolized something and other pertinent information was thrown at me and immediately, I felt inferior because too much information was coming at me and I was expected to understand all of this and make specific offerings to compensate where I was lacking in water, earth, air or smoke issues.  I was also told that I was to offer prayers which corresponded with these elements. Suddenly I was overwhelmed so I began to assess how I could be more of a spectator rather than a participant in this event.

But then Running Buffalo sauntered over and asked us to crawl in to the lodge.  This was it.  We entered a structure that was tightly covered in blankets and tarps. There was only one entrance and the opening was low tot he ground.  I had to kneel to get in and then crawl to a spot. We were crowded in there. Most of us were dressed in nothing more than a sarong or bed  sheet. We sat cross-legged and there was very little space. Blankets were placed on the bare ground but the snow and cold offered very little comfort or protection from the elements. Running Buffalo wanted to know who was here for the first time. Of the dozen people, three of us were new.  We were instructed to sit by the opening and told to pay attention to the heat.  If the heat got to be too much for us, we were told to leave but not until an appropriate break in the ceremony.  In other words, we were not to leave when Father Rock was being added to the smoke pit. And we were to crawl out backwards as we left.

Running Buffalo cleared his throat and then prayed to the stars and the sky and the sun.  He summoned the guardian of the rocks. With that Hard Bull entered the lodge, carrying a molten hot rock which he transported with deer antlers. He laid it on the smoke pit. We all thanked Father Rock.  Hard Bull crawled out of the lodge, Running Buffalo poured water on the pit and stream filled the lodge.

We threw our earth offerings in the pit and the smell of tobacco filled the smokey structure.Then, one by one, we went around the room and people offered individual prayers and concerns about their earth issues. i panicked a little bit because I wasn't sure what an earth issue was.

"When I pick up a handful of dirt, I want to praise Mother Earth.  I love her and I love that we can grow food and nourish our bodies.  But how do we nourish our souls?  How do we do this?  I pray to find ways to nourish my soul", said the first woman.

Others followed her lead of thanking Mother Earth. But then very quickly, people started becoming more personal and divulging very serious hardships. Many of them cried as they tried to get their story out.  I made up my mind to keep all of my prayers upbeat and thankful. This moment was not going to be a therapy session with these kooks.

As we finished our prayers to the earth, Hard Bull was summoned in again and another rock was added to the pit.  More water was pour and more steam filled our space.  The air got hotter.  We threw in our water offerings. The people's issues got more intense.  I struggled with quitting or staying. The heat wasn't bothering me. But the public praying made me uncomfortable. I stayed and just kept my prayers as shallow as possible.

After we prayed to all of the elements, we crawled out of the lodge.  I was so stiff from sitting in this cramped position that it was a struggle. I ripped my sarong as I attempted to maintain my modesty but I think Hard Bull may have gotten a compromising glimpse of me.

The crisp winter air slapped me in the face.  Immediately I was very cold but my clothing was way up at the house.  And the ceremony wasn't over.  We gathered in a circle and Hard Bull offered us a peace pipe. I didn't participate as I was a nonsmoker. We stood barefooted as the pipe went around the circle. Running Buffalo asked us to reflect on our blessings and peace. And the ceremony was over.

We rushed back to the house and got in to our warmer clothing. A few minutes later, dinner was served and I become aware of how hungry I was.  As I woofed down food, I heard people talking about their next pagan event. They rattled off one event after another and they committed to  attending all of them.  I had one thought on my mind: finish up, get out of here and take this event off my bucket list.