The medicine lodge or sweat bath has a long history. Evidence of the sweat bath, or temascal, as it is called in Mexico, is found in Pre-Hispanic and native colonial codices, pictorial records, Spanish colonial writers and at different archaeological sites. The word temascal derives from temazcalli, a Nahuatl word compounded from tletl (fire), mozcoa, (to bathe), and calli (house). Among the ancient Aztecs the temascal reached its most highly developed form.
Representations of the temascal are found in many manuscript sources. In the pre-Conquest, hieroglyphic record of the famous Mixtec ruler, Eight Deer Tiger Claw, the temascal appears as a dome-shaped structure with a firebox on the outside and a small entrance beside it leading into the sweat bath itself. Pictorial records dating from colonial times also illustrate the traditional sweat bath. The Franciscan ethnographer, Sahagun, described two types of temazcalli, one a square-shaped adobe brick structure with the firebox on the outside, the other dome-shaped with the firebox inside. These are the precursors of the modern temascal.
Archaeological evidence abounds. The ancient Maya site of Piedras Negras in northwestern Guatemala boasted no less than eight houses, complete with dressing rooms and lounging quarters. At the Classic Maya site of Tikal in the Peten sweat houses consisted of a single room with an inner passageway leading to the fire pit at the rear. They were of ritual significance, probably associated with the Mesoamerican ball game.
The temascal is described in numerous post-Conquest Spanish and Nahuatl documents. Bishop Landa (1524-1579) refers to the hot vapor bath as a habit of the ancient Maya, more for health purposes than cleanliness.
The wood must be a special kind that burns very hot but gives off little smoke. Pregnant women enter the sweat bath, where they are massaged by midwives. Those suffering from illness or nervous problems, take a hot steam bath followed by massage.
The Mexican temascal is a direct descendant of the ancient type, although variations have crept in over the centuries. There are two basic types: the temascal espiritual, or spiritual sweat lodge, and the temascal curative, or curative sweat lodge.
The spiritual temascal is often made of bent willows in the shape of a wigwam, covered with blankets and sealed around the bottom to keep in the heat. Inside, participants, male and female, sit in a circle around a sunken fire pit. A spiritual leader offers prayers and conducts ritual chants. Assistants shovel glowing hot rocks through a small flap into the central fire pit. Cold water is then poured on the hot rocks to produce dense clouds of steam. Each time the flap is opened everyone shouts Ometeo. In ancient Aztec religion, Ometeotl was the Lord of Duality, an important Mesoamerican religious and philosophical concept. This explains the pairing off of male and female in the temascal. The leader tells the participants that they are Warriors of the Sun, a reference to the Aztec story of creation in which the gods sacrificed themselves in the fire at Teotihuacán to ensure the continued existence of the universe. The purpose is to free the participants from the fetters of the material world and return them to Omeyocan, the Place of Duality, the underlying reality behind the present world. Participants are not allowed to leave the temascal until the end of the ceremony.
The curative temascal, usually a dome-shaped brick and clay structure, is much less formal. The full treatment includes coating the entire body with a special clay. After the clay has baked in the sun, it is washed off and the patient enters the temascal. Certain rituals are also followed, but the bathers are allowed to regulate the amount of heat and steam. A session in the temascal is followed by a rest period on reed mats.
Does it really work? Orthodox physicians combine physical therapy with psychotherapy, counseling and other forms of psychological treatment to restore the strength and function of the body and mind. In hydrotherapy, water or steam is used in the medical treatment of disease and injury. The heat and steam of the temascal help to relieve pain, improve circulation, induce relaxation of muscles and joints, and promote rest in general. Hydrotherapy is also recognized as a means of treating certain mental illnesses, where it is necessary to calm an agitated or hyperactive individual. The traditional sweat bath is, therefore, a legitimate form of medical treatment.
The spiritual or psychological benefits of the temascal are well documented. If the mind can produce severe symptoms of illness or sickness itself, then presumably, the mind can also greatly alleviate or even cure illness. Practitioners of the temascal seek to treat the whole person, body, mind, and spirit, rather than only specific illnesses or diseased body parts.
The temascal is growing in popularity because of its religious or spiritual meaning, its psychological benefits, and its implications for physical health. Many people today are searching for new spiritual meaning in old traditions. The temascal offers definite physical and psychological benefits in its recognition of the mind-body relationship for total health.
