Interview: Sweat Lodges After the
Angel Valley Tragedy

What are the ideal conditions for a sweat lodge, in terms of wood and rock materials, temperature, and number of participants?

There are typically about 8 to 12 people in a common North American lodge. Stones are usually lava or some other type that is unlikely to break, pop, or fracture when heated or quickly cooled. Stones are usually about the size of a softball up to the size of a large cantaloupe. Temperatures are very hard to gauge since measuring temperatures in a lodge would be against most traditions. Because I work in a spa, I know that steam rooms average around 120 to 140 degrees F and saunas average around 170F to 180F.  A common lodge could be anywhere from 120F to 200F, but not necessarily for long periods of time. Each "round" of a lodge can be different temperatures and continue for lengths of time. It takes great care to understand how to work with that heat and people's thresholds over time.

Lodges really do vary in construction around the world. In Africa, the Venda Lodge I was trained in was made of clay bricks and was a built like a stout cylinder. In Zimbabwe, the lodge I was in was square and covered with a tarp that light came through. In Mexico, the Aztec temascal I was in and most others in the region are made of clay or stones. Most lodges of Native and non-Native people in the USA and Canada are ideally made of all natural materials: natural wood frame from supple trees, such as willow, untreated natural wool blankets, and an untreated 100% cotton canvas covering. They tend to be about 12 to 14 feet in diameter.

What do you think went wrong in the Angel Valley instance?

It is very hard to say without all the details. I have been sweating and fasting all of my adult life. I have never heard of anything like this. I have fasted from food and water for 72 hours or more on more than 14 occasions and have been in lodges during many of those times. I never ever experienced feeling dangerously ill or even in fear of my health. I was usually with other people, and no one was ever hospitalized. Even if these people were fasting 36 hours and then in a hot lodge meant for two people, a physically fit person like those who died and were injured at the James Ray Spiritual Warrior event shouldn't have been that badly hurt or killed. It is an extreme situation, and I cannot imagine what other factors we are yet to learn of. I do think there are some missing pieces to this story, whether accidental or intentional, there were likely some very unusual elements involved in this ceremony.

I can only say that I expect there are missing factors we have not yet learned of. For example, hazardous material choices, unusual physical exercises, strenuous breathing techniques, the use of hallucinogens, or unusually high temperatures for prolonged times could be fatal additional elements. I cannot say if these were a part of that event or not.

The borrowing, selling, or misrepresenting of Native American traditions is never okay. At the same time, it is really important to me that people understand the history of sweat lodges. Ceremonial steam baths have been in cultures around the world and throughout time. They were in places like Greece, Rome, Japan, Turkey, parts of Africa, Latin America, and more. I do think there is a place in the world for ceremonial steam baths for all people. What if only Japanese and Chinese people were allowed to meditate? What if only East Indian people were allowed to do yoga? What if only white people could go to AA or church? There is a place for this ancient tradition, but it must be one of respect, integrity, and an honoring of cultural boundaries and cultural traditions.

If non-Native people want to participate in a Native lodge, they should go humbly and respectfully to Native people. Having been properly mentored over a period of 14 years, I was eventually "recognized" by a Native American community as both a community member and someone who's able to run lodges. Despite that honor, I never run Native lodges for non-Native people. I send them to Native healers and Elders I know. It's that simple.

If they want a safe interfaith experience, I can provide that. I am an Interfaith minster and have studied lodges all over the world. I can share something of my own culture that unites others, but only with the deepest of caution, reverence, love, and adherence to the highest standards learned amongst all traditions. There is a Higher Power at work in a lodge, and it's not the lodge leader. It's that One Spirit that those who mess with a lodge will have to be accountable to. And let's just say, I'm not interested in bad karma...