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...

Satellite view of the Amazon Rainforest, the destiny of Jordan's jornada today. Source: Wikipedia Commons, created by NASA, with modifications by the World Wildlife Fund. Today, a young man, Jordan, the son of a friend, travels on his evangelical mission to Manaus, Brazil, and twice, since learning of his endeavor, we have sung after speaking his name in the temazcales of Durango, in the Valle Guadiana of Mexico. I accompanied my brothers and sisters, including el Oso Hector, Oso Margarita, Goyito, Antonio, Martin, and others in the steamy heat of two ceremonies, during the waxing moon of mid-June. In the temazcales of Durango we speak of “todas nuestras relaciones,” or, “all our relationships,” or, sensu lato , “all of my relatives.” The “guia,” or, “guide,” during each of four doorways may ask the “caminantes,” or, literally, “those who walk,” to speak, pray, or reflect. Caminantes generally focus prayers often focus on those with whom each caminante has relations...