The Purification

It was my first time in the sweat lodge
I remember the night so well
I was looking for an experience
So to others I could tell

What happens when you're in there
Is it spiritual like they say?
Or is it just the heat and humidity
That make your cares go away?

The lodge was built rather quickly
With everyone in the group pitching in
With long birch sapling in a circle
Selected sinewy and thin

It was covered completely with blankets
Including the east facing door
With a deep stone pit in the center
And cedar sprigs padding the floor

We all gathered around the fire
With the stones heating up cherry red
The peace pipe passed around the circle
The stars in position overhead

The drums broke the nightly silence
And the ancestors were invited inside
The sceptic that was in me
Just going along for the ride

Inside we sat in a circle
The hot stones were then brought in
And water splashed upon them
The cleansing did begin

With words of gratitude to my God
For the life He's given me
And, a "thank you" to my grandparents
For the man I am to be

Cedar, sage and sweetgrass
Make sparkles on the stones
The darkness, steam and fragrance
Created the mood that I was alone

In the womb of my Mother Earth
Comfortable and anxiety free
Then, in my mind I detected a voice
Of someone speaking to me

Was it the sound of silence
A muted whisper so surreal
Or was it the voice of my ancestors
Whose presence I could feel?

I called out to my grandmothers
Asking them for a sign
To prove their spirits were visiting
From a world collateral with mine

The orange glow of the stones
Was all that I could see
Suddenly, it came like an earthquake
The ground shaking under me

So violently that the dew
From the leaves above us fell
And hissed upon the stones
That were glowing in the well

A light came out of the forest
And descended upon the roof
The old fire tender named Ruby
Sagely augured up as proof

That my grandmothers did indeed
Visit with me that night
Bringing to me a message
From their world of peace and light

That was the night the sceptic
That lived in me passed away
Changing my life forever
I remember to this day

The feeling of tranquility
This occurrence brought to me
To know my destination
When this world sets me free

Night Sky