For everyone who is interested in knowing more
about Native American ceremonies:

Sweats:

There are many sweatlodges in the Los Angeles area. I sweat with Wolf & Lisa Wahpepah in Malibu & Oxnard. Their non-profit organization is Descendants of the Earth, which was founded to help them secure a land-base. They finally did secure a land-base near Ojai this past year, and finally have a place to put their 'church' (fire) -- a place which is open to all, but they are now in the process of collecting pledges to be able to make all the payments so that they can keep the land. With enough tax-deductible donations, these devoted people -- who travel to bring spiritual ceremonies to others, will finally have a permanent spiritual home for themselves and for all who choose to pray with them. For more information and/or to make a contribution: www.descendantsoftheearth.org (or www.sevencircles.org -- where I did my vision quest.)

If you, at some point, find out about a specific sweatlodge ceremony & decide to go -- make sure that you have a sponsor. A sponsor is someone who has sweat before at that lodge -- who is taking you as their guest. They will tell you important information about that particular ceremony, as well as for your physical well being (i.e. bring towel, drink lots of water before & after, etc.) You can get more out of the ceremony if you understand & are prepared for what's involved, and if you show respect for the ways you are being invited to experience.


Vision Quest:

Many people come up to me after seeing my show & tell me that they want to do a vision quest.

If you just want to go camp in nature for 4 days to experience a taste of the connection I refer to in A White Woman on the Red Road, I highly encourage you to do so.

But if you are intending to follow the stricter ceremonial standards of the Native American vision quest (i.e. no water or shelter), I highly recommend starting with sweatlodge ceremonies first. You have to go to church for a while, before you can live 4 days as a high priest, so to speak. Then a vision quest will be a natural extension of your spiritual journey, and you'll have the invaluable support of the sweat community & the ceremony.

Whichever Road you follow -- Hozho Naninaado (Dineh/Navajo = "Walk in Beauty")

Aho,

Stephanie