Sweat Lodge Ceremony (with Elder)

Welcome to the Sweat Lodge Ceremony - Accompanied by Elderflower!

Join us for a unique and rejuvenating experience on Sun July 21st 2024 at 11:45 AM in the tranquil setting of Hickling. This ancient ritual will cleanse your mind, body, and spirit, leaving you feeling refreshed and renewed.

Come and connect with like-minded individuals in a safe and supportive environment. Leave your worries behind and embrace this opportunity for self-care and spiritual growth.

Reserve your spot now as numbers are limited.

Meet at 12 midday

Please be seated 10 minutes early for 12 midday start.

End time 7pm

This is an approximate time.

What is the Sweat Lodge?

At its most simple, a sweat lodge is a healing, prayer ceremony. It is a very ancient ceremony. It is symbolic of going back to the heart of all creation. And when we come back out again, some part of us may feel reborn and renewed.

Similar ceremonies can be found in the history of Native Americans, South African Sangoma, Siberian and Scandinavian Shamans, as well as many European traditions and cultures.

Rocks are heated in a fire. When they are hot enough, we will enter and sit in a igloo shaped structure, which is covered with a giant canvas and tarps to make it as dark as possible. We will sit in a circle. Then the rocks will enter and be placed in a pit in the centre. Sometimes they will glow orange with the heat.

There are normally 4 rounds, and between each round the door is opened and more rocks are brought in. At this time the cool air is allowed to come in and circulate. Then more rocks are brought in again and the door is closed.

Each time someone prays, water is poured onto the hot rocks to make steam. The steam cleanses us on many levels. It can get quite hot in the sweat lodge, in a similar way to a sauna. But this is not an endurance event. If you need to leave at any time, then please just say. Once you have left you would normally stay out for the remainder of the sweat lodge, near to the sweat lodge, enjoying the fire and the earth.

We say prayers for ourselves, for those we love and for absolutely anything else.

How we treat each other is as important as the ceremony itself.

Elder

Often, Brett Almond works with the "consciousness" of plants during the Sweat Lodge Ceremony. Each plant is like an ally, sharing its teachings with you.

Throughout the day and the ceremony we will be working with / be aware of the energy and conscioussness of Elder.

Address / Getting there

Heath Priory

Staithe Road

Hickling Broad

Norfolk

NR12 0YJ

Web: www.breathingspacenorfolk.com

Directions: www.breathingspacenorfolk.com/pages/whereweare.html

If it is your first time at Breathing Space be sure to check the directions and leave plenty of time for getting here.

Breathing Space is down a narrow track. There is no sign that says “Breathing Space”. The sign simply says “Heath Priory”. Follow the track until the open gate at the end.

What to bring

• Food to share. There will probably be somewhere where items can be heated if necessary. (There is a tendency towards food being gluten free / vegetarian / vegan. But this is not strict.)
• A sarong / skirt to wear during the ceremony. This is for both men and women.
• Light clothing for inside the lodge. Eg. Light t-shirt or top.
• An open heart.
• Clothing for different weather conditions. For before or after the lodge.
• A towel to sit on in the lodge if you wish.
• A water bottle if you need one.

About Brett Almond

Brett Almond first encountered shamanism when he was strongly pulled to attend a "Corn Dance" ceremony led by Joseph Rael (Beautiful Painted Arrow) in 1993. He didn't know what he was getting into at the time. But this event set him on a course of personal shamanic discovery that continues right through to this day.

His teachers include Joseph Rael (Beautiful Painted Arrow - Southern Ute / Picuris Pueblo), Jeanne White Eagle & John Pehrson (USA), Sammye-Jo Harvey (Chippewa), Pam Montgomery (USA), Chris Lüttichau (Denmark) and others. But it is also worth saying that much of what he has learnt is through doing ceremony he has taken part in for over 30 year. It teaches us.

He took part in his first sweat lodge ceremony in 1993, and ten years later started to lead them. Much of his experience also comes from dance ceremony. From 1993-2004, each year, he danced Drum Dances and Sun Moon Dances from the visions of Joseph Rael, 3-4 day powerful, fasting, shamanic dances with fire, drums, sage, strong intention and complete reverence.

In 2004 he met Jeanne White Eagle, who was a student of Josephs, and she had a vision of a 3 day singing dance that carried the remembrance that we are all one. For the entire dance dancers sing spontaneously, taking them deeper and deeper. He danced his first "For the One" Dance in 2004 in South Africa. And from 2006-2016 he led "For the One" Dances around the world in locations such as Israel, South Africa, Germany, USA, Ireland and Norway.

From 2016 until present he has been dancing, crewing and leading Fire Dances (from the vision of Robbie Warren). From 2018-2021 he was Chief of the Fire Dance in Iceland.

From 2017 until 2023 he pursued a further 6 years of training with "Northern Drum", a school run by Chris Lüttichau. The courses covered many different areas of shamanic pursuit including shamanic healing, psychopomp work, dream work, vision quests and more. One of the key teachings here was to always try to have a "beginner's mind" and approach everything as if you had never encountered it before. Brett has also trained to lead Vision Quests.

Also in 2017 his shamanic work took an unexpected turn when he attended a weekend plant consciousness event in London. Over the two days he watched world renowned shamanic leaders talking about the consciousness of plants and how they can change lives. From here he was hooked, and along with teachings from Northern Drum, began a series of 40 day shamanic journeys with the plants, that he still does. Following a further study with Pam Montgomery from 2020 onwards, he now often includes plants in the events he runs.

He uses spontaneous sound within his shamanic work, as “Life at its most simple sings”.

His passion is facilitating ceremony that allows people to connect with the Vast and the Magical - and with each other. In this way, we may come to feel less isolated and lonely. Because maybe there is only one of us here?

If you would like to be taught by Brett, the best way is to keep turning up and saying "yes". Turn up early and ask what you can do to help.

Ian Rowlands

Ian has kept the Fire - working to heat the rocks that come into the sweat lodge - since 2013. What began as a practical task for him has transformed into a spiritual learning; what began with getting burnt and smoked out a lot (it still does!), in time became an act of service, both to the sweat lodge participants but also to the land.

Always fascinated in what lies beneath the surface of things, he’s studied shamanism and animism for the past 20 years, in particular working with the Scandinavian Centre for Shamanic Studies.

He has a powerful connection to Nature and a deep knowledge of the natural world. Birds, animals, plants, insects, oceans, deserts and mountains; he’s explored from the Amazon to the Arctic, Montana to the Middle-East, always learning, always searching for wild soul. Amidst his encounters with wolves, bears, orcas and local peoples he says he’s come to remember that we and all things are connected; spiritual beings sharing time on Earth, physically separate but really inseparably all one.

Beforehand

In the first meeting at 12 midday the nature of the sweat lodge will be explained. No prior experience is needed. The atmosphere is focussed, friendly and relaxed.

Afterwards

After we have finished the sweat lodge, we meet and share food.

Please bring some food to share for afterwards.

After the food we sit down to have a sharing. Everyone needs to stay for the sharing.

What to wear

Both men and women need to wear a wrap around / sarong / skirt in the lodge. Something light in weight. I can explain more about this teaching but it is mainly to do with creating a circle around you. It does not matter what the material is.

Wear loose comfortable clothing for inside the sweat lodge. There is no nakedness in the lodge.

What to eat before hand

Sometimes people do not eat on the day of a sweat lodge. Or you may decide to have breakfast then not eat anything for lunch. This is up to you. The reason we sometimes don’t eat, is so that we become less grounded.

If you want to have a snack of some sort around lunch time, then that is up to you. Go with what feels right for you on the day. I have done it all three ways at various times. If not sure, I would recommend having some breakfast and skip lunch, then catch up with the feast afterwards!

Guidelines

• Please come on time and to stay until after the sharing.
• Confidentiality for what others share is required.
• Treat each other with utmost respect.
• Do not teach any key parts of this ceremony, unless permission is given.