These steam baths were used by the indigenous cultures of Mesoamerica and North America; Although this is an activity whose pillars make us travel very different spaces and times.
Today, we could say that the most representative of southern Mexico is the TEMAZCAL, Nahuatl, Temazcalli (House of Steam); While northern Mexico is the INIPI, in Lakota, Iniunkajaktelo (Let’s pray to the sweat house).
The Temazcal or Inipi represents the womb of our Mother Earth and the universe, within, is carried out a ritual of purification considered as a sacred ceremony for Native American Indians and Mexica. This ceremony is a powerful multi-sensory experience that gives us a special connection with Earth, fire, water and air; These elements form an alchemy capable of initiating processes of liberation and restructuring, that our being recognizes intimately in the depth of our genetics. They allow us to go to the origin by helping in our mission of waking up giving ourselves the possibility of a conscious revival and recovering our ancestral memory.
Through the earth, the heat, the Darkness and the Sacred songs, we travel to a reunion with our inner being and explore our limits in order to scare away sickness, imbalance and heartbreak; We are confronted so that the spirit can be reborn more free from how it entered. But in addition to spiritual work, this circle of medicine allows us to heal and purify ourselves physically, emotionally and mentally; Manifesting a renewed equilibrium, recognizing the connection with the whole nature and convinced that we are one with the universe.
The place
Before beginning the sacred construction, a special prayer and offerings are made to the ancestors and guardians of this ceremony, to thank for their presence and guidance.
Made with branches of willow or stone and mud; Straw and mud; Even at present cement or adobe; Covered with blankets, furs, tarps or leaves. In its construction and dynamics everything is symbolic, the 4 directions are represented (north, south, east, west), the 4 worlds (mineral, vegetable, animal, human), the 4 bodies (physical, emotional, mental, spiritual), the 4 seasons (Spring, summer, autumn, winter), 4 times the Temazcal door opens and closes (4 doors) reminding the transition stages of the human being (childhood, youth, maturity, old age). Thus the Temazcal or Inipi represents all the creation.
The dynamics
To carry out the ceremony they participate: The fire man who initiates with the preparation of the purifying flame and the burning stones to then introduce them; Who receives the stones and accommodates (usually received with deer antlers); Who sahúma the participants; Who deposits medicine (aromatic plants and vegetable resins) on each stone; And the Guide (woman or Medicine man) who runs the ritual and who is consecrated to unite water and fire.
Then we start with the fire, which symbolizes the sun, the most powerful energetic center that exists, and both the firewood and the stones are ordered in a circular way, since everything is a cycle, like the night and the day, the sun and the moon. “El hombre de fuego” places four trunks from east to west, which represent the physical plane and on them four trunks from north to south representing the spiritual plane, then it places the Stones “abuelitas”.
Once the hot Stones, the Guide (woman or man medicine) decides according to the conditions, the ritual of entry. Either with a dance or prayer of gratitude to the 4 cardinal points and elements, with an offering of snuff and sage deposited in the grandfather fire as request and gratitude; Or even an inhalation of * snuff (sacred tobacco); What is a constant is to bless the practice, ask permission “al Gran dador de vida” and do the energetic cleaning one by one with smoke of sage before entering.
The offerings (tobacco, flowers, fruit, copal) are a symbol of gratitude for the spirits to relocate in harmony, connecting the heart more than the reason.
In the entrance we ask with love and respect “for all my relationships, permission to enter the Holy Temazcal.” Women and children enter first, kneeling, in the clockwise direction sitting around the center which is a well that represents the navel of Mother Earth, in which the volcanic stones (grandmothers) introduced to red Vivo are deposited; We call them grandmothers because they represent the memory of the Earth, the wisdom of all the ancestors and the universe, the stones symbolize the “semillas de la vida, el conocimiento”.
The last to enter is the Guide (person Medicine) who with his wisdom, words and energy, seeks to orient the participants to make prayers, songs and for the encounter with his healing. Begins the purification ceremony welcoming the first stone (grandmother) with love and respect. The guide or the person named to deposit the medicines, spreads on it plants and resins sacred, and continues thus with the other stones which are entering; Then enter also the water, the drum and the snails or instruments relevant to the ceremony. The door is closed and the guide will bathe with water or some infusion to the grandmothers to begin the steam that cleans our etheric, mental and emotional bodies of all the erroneous energies of the past; and the songs.
They are 4 doors (order can vary from region to region, guide guide) Representing:
-The Earth, like the bra, our body (physical)
-Water, like life, our blood (emotions)
-The air, like the spirit, our breath (mind)
-Fire, like transformation, our rebirth (spirit)
Duration of each door: between 20, 30 and up to 45 minutes, depending on the case.
Welcome Grannys, welcome grannies.. In each “door” other burning stones enter to intensify more the heat, the total can vary between 28 and 52 according to the case. Rounds of chants are made according to the element or theme of the “door” and through them expresses gratitude, the universe receives it and perceives it through this plane where the melodies heal and in this way the Earth heals.
Within the ceremony, wisdoms, myths, songs and prayers are conjugated, seeking the purification of the body, the balance of the mind and the peace of the spirit. If the body is clean, so is the thought.
The lot of benefits
Attending the Temazcal stimulates the lymphatic system, who contributes in a major way to form and activate the immune system and is responsible for cleaning and purifying the body; It stimulates the Glandular system, especially the pineal and pituitary glands known as the master glands or “third eye”, as it connects with our most magical and intuitive side; These tiny glands pattern at a perfect pace our growth, sexual maturity, temperature and even our emotions.
High temperatures facilitate cell revitalization and repair; They propitiate that the body sweat, humedeciéndolo by evaporation, so the body system is self-regulating (homeostasis, nervous system). Apart from eliminating toxins to the maximum and toning the skin, it also accelerates circulation and perspiration; The skin turns red when the excess heat and cold in the body are being eliminated, achieving the balance that the body needs. In this way, our metabolism achieves a similar rhythm to exercising.
Hippocrates, known as the father of medicine, said: “Give me the power to create a fever and cure any disease,” the hyperthermia induced through the Temazcal is comparable to a state of temporal fever, which greatly benefits, as it stimulates the Defensive ability against different types of infections.
During an intense session, 2 to 3 kg of body weight are lost, of which a high proportion is water, approximately 1.400 ml through which increases the excretion of toxins such as uric acid, creatinine, lactic acid, sodium chloride; It also balances PH, acid-alkaline blood and contributes to the elimination of heavy metals that absorbs our body in modern societies; Like zinc, mercury, copper, lead and others.
It is an ideal medium that allows us to quiet the mind and transports us to a state of connection and tranquility inside; By experiencing the different healing properties that nature gives us through the medicinal plants that are used inside.
The vapor that occurs inside the Temazcal when water is sprayed on the “grandmothers”, creates a significant amount of negative ions, which in high concentrations, cleanse the air or spores of mold, bacteria, virus; And in the human body they make the Aura (electromagnetic biostructure) Expand and manifest radiation in all the functions of the body, including those of the brain. The Aura directs the construction of the body in which we live and keeps it working. Temazcal therapy allows and stimulates this auric intelligence regeneration of the body.
Tips
- Stay silent and focus on your own work.
- Accompany the others singing.
- Women, it is recommended to wear a dress or skirt to the ankle (more direct connection with Mother Earth).
- Men, it is recommended to wear bathing suit and without T-shirt.
- He’s wearing a jacket to wrap you up in the end.
- When you finish you eat fresh fruits and vegetables and drink water.
- After the temazcal rest, not tele, not air conditioning, no alcohol and not go to saturated sites.
- A day before the temazcal, sleep early, do not drink alcohol, preferably do not eat meat or drink dairy.
- Have breakfast or eat at least 2-3 hours before.
- Don’t forget to wear a towel and a change of clothes.
More Benefits
- Release premenstrual discomfort.
- It helps to lose weight and body fat.
- Helps eliminate blocked emotions.
- It purifies the digestive system.
- It reduces bone problems.
- Incites introspection and reflection.
- It reduces the size of the cysts in the ovaries,
- Relaxes the nervous system by reducing stress, insomnia and anguish.
- It solves problems of menstrual irregularity.
- Increases energy vibration.
- Accelerates the heartbeat frequency by increasing its strength.
- Significantly improves the function of the skin and kidneys.
- Help with cancer treatments and other immunologic disorders.
- Detoxifiess The airways and keeps the respiratory system healthy.
- Increases blood flow, expansion of the lungs and bronchi.
- It helps to correct the problems of varicose veins, varicose ulcers, embolism, numbness, high or low blood pressure and other circulatory problems.
- Helps alleviate muscle contractions, posterior stiffness, back pain, muscular atrophy, among others.
- It strengthens our ability to pray and harmonize with the universe and our beliefs in unity, love and peace.
Wiri Wiri…
Although there are currently 3 types of Temazcal: ceremonial, medicinal and recreational; They are all based on the same method and use similar elements.
On occasion I had a Temazcal with theme “Ho’oponopono” (Ancient Hawaiian Technique): At the door of the Earth prayers and chants that expressed “I’m sorry” I’m sorry because you’re calling and do not listen…
At the door of the water “sorry”, sorry for having put in your hands what I was entitled, Sorry to give you the space of what I am not assuming…
In the air door “Thank you” thank you for doing your part, thanks for moving my floor, thanks because you were my mirror, thanks for being my teacher…
And at the door of the fire “I love You” I love you because we are one, and we live in the same house. I love you because I forgive you I’m forgiving myself…
Million thanks Darwin, it was an incredible dynamic!. I recommend you listen to the musical shaman Darwin Grajales with attention, his music is very interesting!.
In short; Let us not lose ourselves in a square, expand our vision and take this medicine as an opportunity to reconcile ourselves with all our relationships, with the universe, with health, strength, with our ancestral memory, with our way Spiritual. To die and to be born again; Conscious rebirth laden with vital energy in order to continue our journey along the path of life, in a more harmonious, loving and light way.
Luna Auto-existente Roja, Kin 69, Patricia Guzmán. Just2read