InTheTemazcal

Oso Mario, from whom I learned much of the ways of the red road, was, when I met him, the guide of the Circle of the Osos. On the foothills of the Sierra Madre Occidental, just on the outskirts of the City of Durango, Mexico, upon drenched, gritty clay-sand floor of the temazcal of the Osos, Mario and Lety, I listened, in the darkness, as he would request a prayer from each of us. I recall, one day, discussing with him my lamentations of having become separated from my family. I told him of my suffering and pain in my new world. We talked of circles and cycles, and he told me to pray. I had told him that I practiced no religion and had no beliefs beyond what logic told me was real: things I could understand through my five senses or my rational based upon information from my senses. He said that it did not matter and again suggested that I pray. "When you kneel, in the morning, to put on your sandals, or when you kneel, to lay down, in the evening, kneel a bit more, and pr...

The "Temāzcalli," known commonly today as, "temazcal," refers to the Aztec steam bath, similar to the sweat lodges, kivas , and inipis of other North American natives. Source: University of California-Berkeley. 1903. It has been four years since I last crawled over the earth, through the doorway of the temazcal . In four years I have not planted my forehead on the earthen floor of the lodge entrance to speak the words "con todas mis relaciones" ("with all my relationships"). " Temazcal , also known as temazcalli , is a traditional native Mexican American purification ceremony. It's similar to the sweat lodge, or inipi , of the Lakotas, or kiva of the pueblo dwellers in the western United States." (Bacon 1996-2016)  Victoria de Durango, Durango, Mexico, where I first participated in a temazcal . Source: Wikihistoria. 2013. Four years seems appropriate as I prepare this post. Four years seems appropriate as I recon...