Guide Cesar Salazar: Dying to Be Reborn

For temazcal guide, Cesar Salazar, of the Centro Holistico Casa Mágica (Magic House Holistic Center), in Acapulco, Mexico, the temazcal, or steam bath, comprises one of several components of the center's holistic methods. He commented that the temazcal is part of the Mexican heritage and noted that it has been practiced throughout the Americas.

In a previous post, entitled, "Temazcal at Casa Mágica, Acapulco, Mexico," InTheTemzacal, we talked about the center's mission and philosophy. Aside from serving as a source of income, Salazar described it as ...

...  the beginning of a spirituality ... to bring ourselves closer to our creator. That is our goal, more than anything ... showing people the way.

He went on to describe his philosophy of the temazcal:

In the temazcal we have the philosophy that we die to be reborn. This they do in all of [the temazcales] ... die to rise again. What does this consist of?  We mean dying not physically, but consciously ... in terms of our thoughts ... the thoughts that we have ... because all sicknesses begin with thoughts ..., and this is a way to educate or teach people to begin thinking in another way.

Here, in this post, we look at his view of the variation in temazcal ceremonies, the elements from which temazcaleros (participants in the temazcal ceremony) build them, and how he and the folks from Casa Magica celebrate their two-round temazcal.

Elements of the Temazcal Ceremony

Salazar pointed out that temazcales may take different forms.

Here, in Mexico, where we have a cultural mosaic ... there are different languages. We, here, in the temazcal, use principally the Nahuatl language ... words in Nahuatl ..., so that it is more similar to the ancestral teachings. We try to do what we can because in modern life it is difficult to follow all of the traditions. 

Temazcales, says Salazar, can vary in many ways, according to local traditions. For example, he pointed out that the shape of the lodge itself may vary. Some are square and others are round. Ours, he says, is "like the dome of a church."

Otates of PVC. Source: Casa Magica

Otates

Originally temazcales were made of otate (bamboo) or some other pole that is strong and straight. Otate is flexible when it is still green, but when it hardens, it is, according to Salazar, "... like a rock. It gets very hard."

There is a philosophy within this temazcal because there are 12 poles, and around them are four rings. In the end, it forms a cross ... a central cross that in all of the temazcales forms something like a microcosmos. It is a microcosmos compared with the macrocosmos, and, also, it is the womb of the Mother Earth.

Grandmother Stones

"Normally," said Salazar, ...

Abuelas piedras

temazcales consist of four rounds, or steps, of 13 rocks each. ... The rocks should be volcanic because they are the rocks that withstand the highest temperatures ... above I don't know how many degrees! ... We call them the grandmother stones, (abuelas piedras) ... because they come from the depths of the Earth.

He continued ...

Here, there are no volcanic rocks. No. Here there are no volcanos. There is a place here called, "Cuernavaca." Cuernavaca is a beautiful touristic center. There is much vegetation there, and they do temazcales there also. We, from there, bring the rocks. ... There, in the hills [we go] to bring the rocks, and it costs us a great deal of work to bring them [here].

Salazar holds temazcales of two rounds because, he explained, Acapulco's hot weather just does not allow for the traditional four rounds held elsewhere. The four rounds of 13 rocks amounts to a total of 52 abuelas piedras. That's a lot of heat for Acapulco's balmy climate.

Fifty-two Stones; Fifty-two Years

The number, 52, commented the temazcal guide, was a number that the Maya and Aztecs referred to frequently.

Source: Wikimedia Commons.

In many places, here, in Mexico, there is something called the 'Encendido de Fuego' ('Lighting the Fire') that is every 52 years. It's a magic number ... 52.

They make a fire. Now, in Acapulco we do it too. It's like a New Year, more or less, because it's the beginning of the new year. The people of the pueblo pray for the harvest. ... Before that's what it was ... the people lived more cleanly ... instead of asking for a new car, they asked for a good harvest [or] to get good seed.

Temazcal Apparel

 Cesar Salazar, Miriam Lucero, and
Gilberto Chavez in traditional garb.
Photo courtesy of Casa Magica.

How do they enter? Well, supposedly everyone should enter without clothing, and in some places they do it when the temazcales are completely dark. One cannot even see who is next to them or anything at all. But here, we do not do that. Here the women enter with a long skirt ... with a long skirt and a blouse. ... The men enter with no shirt, but with shorts.

They also wear the itzcalmecal, or "headband" or a red bandana. The word, "itzcalmecatl," explained Salazar, comes from the Nahuatl words, "mecate," meaning "band" and, "izcuat," which refers to the face. The reference to the face, he clarified, refers to "'... facing up to' one's words, or speaking the truth, without putting forward another face."

"When we talk," he said, "we should first cleanse ourselves with the smoke of the sahumador and wear the itzcalmecal."

Around the waist, one uses a sort of wide belt for the protection of the chakra, said Salazar. In addition, one should wear a maxtla (from Nahuatl), known as a "taparabos," in Spanish, and a "loin cloth," in English.

The maxtla signifies fertility, he noted. This significance came from the tradition of using the loin cloth to carry seeds, and, taking a seed from the cloth that covers the groin and planting that seed. In effect, the act of transferring the gemmule from the groin to the Mother Earth, where it was sowed implied fertility associated with the maxtla. Salazar commented that he does not ask his temazcal participants to use the loin cloth.

A Two-Round Temazcal

Most temazcales use four rounds. Casa Magica's temazcal consists of two rounds because Acapulco's hot climate makes the ceremony especially sizzling. The two round ceremony, Cesar Salazar and his associates explained, makes the temazcal especially attractive to newcomers and seems to encourage people to stick with it. Salazar went on to discuss a bit about how he guides his two-round ceremony.

Lighting the sacred fire.
Photo courtesy of Casa Magica.

Lighting the Sacred Fire

He explained that the sacred fire and ignited materials used in the temazcal must be only from natural materials: wood, ocote (pine pitch), and copal. Ocote and copal, resins from trees of Mesoamerica, play important roles in the ceremony.

"We have copal, here, from Guerrero. ... This temazcal is from Guerrero. It smells very good." Salazar advises that one avoid chemical copal or other unnatural substances inside the temazcal.

"The fire one lights with ceremony," he said, looking at Miriam Lucero, to his right.

[She] lights her sahumerio, or sahumador (incense in an burner), ... and one cleanses [with the smoke] the first pieces of firewood that will be placed on the bed of the fire. It's a small fire that we make. With the smoke, we cleanse each of the logs that we put on the fire.

Addressing the four cardinal directions to start the
sacred fire. Photo courtesy of Casa Magica.

The smoke, in the temazcal, ... it is thought, ... elevates the thoughts to the cosmos. One prays for harmony and balance, and one begins to position the firewood.

There are different ways to position the logs, but the way we do it is to lie down four logs, symbolizing the four cardinal points, and, on top of this bed of logs, we place four more. ... As it is above, it is below!

He commented that they add the piedras abuelas and more firewood, from there, in a vertical position, so that it burns faster and hotter.

Then we light the [first] four, ... and we pray in Nahuatl. We enter 'de izquierda a derecha' (in a clockwise fashion). Then, inside the temazcal, the temazcaleros greet the piedras abuelas, praying, again, in Nahuatl. 

As they greet the stones, the preparers of the fire ask for whatever it is that each seeks, which, Salazar added, "generally, is health."

Round One InTheTemazcal

Round one begins with the participants inside, the red hot piedras abuelas in the ombligo (the hole in the center of the temazcal), and the water ready to pour over the rocks. "Sometimes, entering here, someone who's stronger we place in one of the cardinal points to provide strength," commented Salazar. Once inside, normally, during the first round the participants present themselves:

'I am,...' but we say it in Nahuatl. We request the piedras abuelas in Nahuatl also: 'Give me four rocks. ... Give me five rocks. ... ' ('Nesh maca tetl totonqui'). 'Give me five hot rocks.'

They also sing songs in Nahuatl. He commented, "There are several songs in Nahuatl ... beautiful ... and a few we do in Lakota."

Nehua notocaitl Zolli ... My Name is Quail ...

Mr. Salazar described the first round of the temazcal, during which each participant presents him or herself to the group:

My name is ...

'Nehua notocaitl Gilberto.'

'Nehua notocaitl Miriam.'

... and I am here for this ... and for that ... and for this. I ask that ... I present a petition. 

That's the first round. He explained, 'Nehua,' means 'I.' 'Notocaitl' means 'am called.' 'I am called ... Cesar;' 'I am called Miriam;' and so on. Each [temazcalero] must manifest his or her name.

He explained that some people use traditional names: "Here, it is called a 'tonalama.'" By ancient tradition, according to Salazar.

When a child was born, one would call the tonal-kin, or the person who read the carta astral, or astrological chart. The tonal-kin would name the newborn: "you are going to be called, 'Pedro,' and you are going to be called, 'Juan,' but there were not these types of names. There were names from nature.

He gave an example, joking:

... Today, in the modern world, Gilberto's born and Cesar's born, and they give them their tonalamas, and Gilberto, you get 'Stinky Skunk.'

'You get Lion.'

'You get Eagle.'

Which would you choose?

Well, 'Skunk,' no! Call me 'Eagle!'

So those who have their tonalama name have 'Eagle' or 'Crocodile.'

Salazar has his own tonalama, he explained. "In my case, they call me by my tonalama, ... like the elders."

Moctezuma Quail. Source: Wikimedia.

I called myself ..." he paused, looking inward for a moment. I did not want to call myself something like 'Eagle' or 'Tiger' or something like that... There is a bird called, 'codorniz' (quail) ..., and I called myself, 'Codorniz,' a tiny bird that mimics, or blends in with, its surroundings. So, I am, in Nahuatl, 'Zolli' (Quail). I call myself, "Codorniz" (Quail). ...and that is how is how each presents him or herself. He who has such a name presents himself or herself as such, and he or she who does not, simply [uses his or her given name]. And then we open the door.

The Open Door Between Rounds

Having finished the first round of the temazcal and opened the door,

Here, [in our temazcal] one does not go outside. Elsewhere they go outside. Sometimes they drink water or they drink tea. Here no because in places ... for example, [where it is] cold ... I do not see it very advisable [for the temazcaleros] to be hot and then go outside [and expose] the chest to the [cold] air and [risk] ... a cold when they are not used to [the changes]. Here, when they leave the temazcal they cover themselves. They must cover themselves because it is a hot bath. It is important to protect oneself from the gusts of cold wind.

Cooling off between rounds. Photo courtesy of Casa Magica.

Likewise, once we've finished the round, everyone stays inside and we serve a fruit tea to rehydrate and replenish the [natural] salts that have been lost. So, with the tea, one rehydrates.

Cucumber drink at Casa Magica

Round Two InTheTemazcal

"Once in the second round of the temazcal," says Salazar." Normally, we talk about the philosophy of some subject, and the people forget about the extreme heat."

"In the temazcal, says the guide, the temazcaleros supplicate, or petition, for their pueblo." He elaborated: "With ten or more people in the temazcal we can elevate these pleas or prayers."

They sing songs in Lakota, the language of the Lakota, or Sioux, Indians of the Great Plains of the United States and Canada, and they use songs, words, and phrases from Nahuatl. "Resounding," as he says, "the words of the ancestors."

"We only do two rounds ... no more," said Salazar. "That takes us about 45 minutes or more."

I did not have the good fortune to attend the temazcal of the Codorniz, at Casa Magica, due to my travel schedule. However, my wife and I left, after hearing Salazar and his companions discuss their temazcal ceremony, excited and full of energy. We hope to return and enjoy the experience inside their lodge when we do.

If you have the opportunity to visit their lodge, likewise, we would like to hear your comments, here InTheTemazcal. Please comment below. We would like to hear from you.


... con todas mis relaciones! Aho!