The magic of sweat lodges
The sweat lodge in Elliðaárdalur. The practive begins by rituals connecting you with the four directions and mother nature. Stones are heated on a fire and brought into the tent where water is poured on them systematically. Photo/ Jim Smart
A new documentary, Svitahof, explores the sweat lodge tradition in Iceland. Sweat lodges came to Iceland from Native American traditions and have been very popular for decades as a spiritual, cleansing practice.
Film makers Gunný Ísis Magnúsdóttir and Jón Már Gunnarsson made the documentary as a part of Magnúsdóttir's final project in ethnology at the University of Iceland.
"I've always been interested in underground culture and the idea for the documentary came from an idea that I had that perhaps the sweat tradition in Iceland belonged to some sort of underground culture. I've practiced sweats for about twenty years and I wanted to shed some light on the phenomenon," explains Magnúsdóttir.
There are several individuals who organise sweats in sweat lodges in Iceland and the best known is probably the sweat lodge in a tent in Elliðaárdalur on the outskirts of Reykjavík. "Heiðar and his partner Jón learned the practice from a Native American, Somp Noh Noh, who came to Iceland years ago," says Magnúsdóttir.
"Spiritual people, creative people and people with addictions are the most common attendees of sweat lodges," she explains. "Anyone can go into a sweat lodge no matter what god they worship, if any at all." She says that most people who regularly practice the sweats see the experience as cleansing, inspiring and meditative.
What is a sweat lodge?
The oldest sweat lodges known to man are from the 5th century B.C and clues to them have been found in most cultures. Sweat lodges served for cleansing, spiritual practices, and sacrifices or thanksgiving.
In the Native American sweat lodge practice which is practiced in Iceland, a sweat takes several hours in which a small group of people spend inside the steaming hot, dark tent, with breaks between each session. Native American chants and rituals are performed.
