Episode 7: The Sweat Lodge

If Al'tabin thought that asking me to build a sweat lodge would scare me off, then he was sadly mistaken. My people are nomadic by nature, and we build a new lodge every time we move. I had helped make one many times before. Besides, in this soft sand, it would not take long.

I rented a shovel from a local shopkeeper. It seems that I do this a lot. I thought that perhaps I should start packing one.

Johnny and I collected up a pile of rocks, and then a large load of firewood. We arranged the rocks in a circle and built a large bonfire over them.

The fire was burning as we lost our sunlight, so I took off my shirt, and got to digging. You should drink lots of water before using a sweat lodge, but typically you fast, so I skipped dinner.

I started my construction by digging a ramp down into the sandy soil that was long enough to put me waist-high underground at the bottom. From there, I dug outward. I dug a bench seat on either side of the ramp so that I could sit chest-deep in the lodge, and I dug out enough floor space so that I could comfortably rest my hooves without getting them too close to where I would eventually put the rocks. I used the dirt that I removed from the hole to build up the sides. That way I didn't have to dig down nearly as far.

I only had one shovel and my axe was too large for him, so I showed Johnny how to cut down bamboo with a knife and a stone. I showed him the proper size of bamboo I'd need, and put him to work.

Bamboo turned out to be perfect for the job. It was long, straight, thin, and it bent easily into a graceful arc when you planted both ends in the sand. By arranging arcs of bamboo like the spokes on a wagon wheel, and then tying the shoots together with reeds, I quickly constructed a dome over the hole.

I sent Johnny up some trees to collect banana leaves and coconut fronds, and then used these to cover the dome. Traditionally, we would use heavy hides, but I couldn't see any reason that the great, big leaves would not work.

It turned out that the leaves were less ideal than the bamboo had been. They were light enough to let the heat out and a breeze in. I had to dig out additional dirt and pile it over the leaves to get a decent "seal".

We finished construction before sun-up and had plenty of time to rest in the sand before Al'tabin returned to the temple.

I think he seemed a little surprised to see the construction completed when he arrived. "Are you ready to sweat?" Without waiting for a reply, I handed him my water skin, and began shovelling hot rocks from the edges of the bonfire into the storage area at the bottom of the ramp.

When half of the rocks were in place, I stripped off the rest of my clothes and took a seat inside the lodge. The cool sand felt nice against my backside, but soon the hot rocks were doing their job and the air inside the lodge burned hot.

Al'tabin the All-Seeing joined me on the other side of the ramp, and I arranged my blanket over the entrance so that the light could not enter and the heat could not escape. I started to sing, low and slow, and then louder as the sweat began to pour down my face.

The Tauren don't pray to the same gods as do the other races, but I sang in Taurahe to the spirits of nature; to the rocks, and trees, and rivers. I sang to the seasons, and the elements. I sang to the spirits of the people I had known; the people I had respected in their lives, or whose deaths I regretted. I sang to Urlug. I sang to my grandfather, Huln Thunderhoof.

When I finally finished my song, the exhaustion hit me like a slap across the nose. I laid back against the wall of the lodge, closed my eyes, and let it all pour out.

And then, for just a moment, I thought I smelled something familiar; something just beyond the wet soil, and the leaves, and the sweat.

Al'tabin spoke for the first time. "Ya mudda's da be 'ere."

Despite the heat, a very cold shudder ran down my spine.