The Moon Lodge

    I have become fascinated with the ceremonial sweat lodges and I wish to organize women's lodges on every full moon.
    If you read the blog titled "Transformation at it's Finest" from February, you know how my first lodge experience was. Well, yesterday I attended another lodge on my own for Ostara, the spring Equinox and had another great experience, without the crazy purging episodes afterwards... if you dont know what I'm talking about, go read that other blog first before you continue this one ;)
    Yesterday was FULL of synchronicities meaning, Spirit was really working through me yesterday!
    I had just dropped my hubby off at work and was about to head drop my son off so I could head to the lodge, I would have arrived about an hour early had it not been for a message I received from Annie, an adorable woman I met at my first lodge in February.
    She messaged me right after I left my husband's work and asked if I could give her friend a ride. She practically begged me to pick her up and that I would not regret it, for, this woman was a light being who really needed to come to the lodge and didn't have a ride.
    I pulled in to a gas station right at the highway I was about to get on and thought... i dont know who this lady is... what if im too boring? Then I thought, this would be a great chance to meet another kindred soul, if she wants to attend the lodge, she must be a great person. Plus, she is a light worker, like me! this could be a great experience!
    So, with that momentum and feeling my excitement, I called her. Annie sent me her number and I didn't even know her name so I introduced myself as Holly, Annie's friend and let her know I was about 30 minutes away and to get ready for the lodge. She was THRILLED and said, "you totally raised my vibration just now, I'll get my shit together!".
    I made a new friend!
    Her name is Donalee and she has work shops every Monday, coaching people to achieve their dreams through spiritual and self enlightenment. She is a vibrant soul and Annie was right, I absolutely do not regret picking her up last night.
    We arrived right as the door was closing on the lodge and we were told that we would have to come in on the 2nd round. So we got changed and grabbed our waters and waited by the fire for the lodge door to open once again.
    See, once the door closes, it stays closed (unless you need to go to the bathroom or escape the wet, heavy heat) until the water is gone and the water pourer (the one who leads the ceremony) is ready to start the next round.
    There are four rounds so there are four chances to join the lodge: when that door opens before each round. The four rounds, or, doors, symbolize the four cardinal direction which were sacred to native traditions. Each direction has a specified color, animal and meaning or message behind it. If you want to learn more, please read the "Transformation" blog entry from February or do a Google search, "traditional native american sweat lodge", there is plenty of info out there.
    We joined the 2nd round and the "south door" was with us. The lodge was PACKED like a sardine can. But not uncomfortable. With so many people and new comers, this lodge was a "cool" one, which means that the water pourer kept it gentle so as not to overwhelm. It gets incredibly hot in there. So much so that it is recommended to take metal jewelry off before entering or you may get burned.
    The whole idea is to sweat toxins out of the body. With the heat and sacred ceremony, you enter an altered state of consciousness. It is also pitch black in the lodge besides the light given off by the red hot rocks that the water is poured over.
    This is a "natural high" that strains the body to the point that it must work very hard, burning lots of calories, but if you start getting overwhelmed all you must do is tell the water pourer and you may leave the lodge. You will know if it is too much when you have a hard time breathing or start to feel like you are going to pass out.
    The day of the lodge, I would recommend eating light meals and drinking plenty of water.
    So as the ceremony for the South Door commenced, I thought to myself, how awesome would it be to have lodges for women only? I felt excitement in my whole body and a desire was born...
    Something happened in the North Door, the last round, that made the desire grow even stronger. The water pourer mentioned that the lodge was growing. That there would be lodges for women, Moon Lodges, and lodges for men, Warrior Lodges. And lodges for addiction recovery.
    So I am excited to say that I am now beginning to collaborate with the lodge elders to help me organize Moon Lodges on every full moon throughout the summer. I feel led to be a leader and water pourer for the Moon lodges. I feel a strong passion for this and I am excited to see where this leads.
    There are some amazing healing benefits to women gathering together. There are also amazing healing benefits when men gather together. The intention behind gatherings like this are strong and very powerful.
    Traditionally, women in native tribes would menstruate with the cycle of the moon and all their cycles come right around the same time of the month. This time was very sacred for native women and they would go to the lodge for support and comfort and guidance from Spirit.
    My thoughts is that the women who attend these lodges consecutively will all synchronize with our menses with the moon cycle again. This is a fun fact: women who live together often have their periods at the same time or very close together.
     I will keep the progress of the moon lodges here.