On Friday night, October 30, I went with a few friends to an indigenous spiritual cleansing ritual in the Huasteca, which are the mountains right outside of Monterrey. We had no idea what to expect from this Noche de Temazcalli (“Night of Temazcalli”), except that we would sweat a lot, so we should bring a change of clothes and some towels.
We took a bus to a cabin in the mountains – there were about 20-30 people who came. When we arrived, we all gathered around a fire as a woman – our guide - briefly explained what we would be doing. A girl came around and performed a blessing on each of us with some kind of incense. After we were blessed, we took some twigs from a bag, threw them in the fire, and got down on hands and knees to enter a tent that was there.
The tent was made of branches and covered in blankets, and looked like an igloo. As we entered on hands and knees, we bowed our heads to the ground and then crawled in and sat down. We waited as each person individually crawled into the tent, and then the guide began to explain more about what we would be doing. She told us that the door to the tent would be closed four times, and during each time we would experience the temazcalli, which is a bath of vapor made from herb-scented water being poured onto hot, volcanic rocks. It originates from the pre-Hispanic cultures of Mexico and Central America, and the purpose is to cleanse the body and soul in conjunction with the essential elements (earth, water, fire, and air).
So they closed the door four times, and each time they poured the scented water on the hot rocks in the center of the tent. The room filled up with the HOT smell of herbs – it felt like a sauna. Everyone was dripping in sweat, and occasionally I had to lean down to the floor to get some cooler air. Each time, after about 15-20 minutes, they opened the tent door up so that we would have some fresh air. During this time, they would bring in new hot rocks, and then close the door again. Four times they did that, and we were in the tent a total of about two hours.
After sweating like crazy for two hours straight, it was intense to walk outside to the crispy mountain air, because we were soaked (it was then that we understood why we were supposed to bring a change of clothes and towels!). For the next hour, we gathered around the fire, getting to know each other. Several people had brought snacks of fruit and nuts and chocolate, and while some ate theirs, others threw theirs into the fire as an offering.
Other than the Noche de Temazcalli that weekend, several student organizations at Monterrey Tech set up altars on campus in honor of El Día de los Muertos. This is a popular tradition, which honors those who have passed away. For example, there was an altar set up by the Society of Hispanic Language and Literature Students in memory of two deceased Hispanic authors. :
There was also an altar in memory of Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett:
And that evening in class, my teacher brought in Day of the Dead Cake, a delicious pastry/cake that is eaten on El Día de los Muertos.
Wow, sounds a bit like a Native American sweatlodge. Intense! But cleansing, I imagine. In France, too, November 1st is a day for remembering the dead. People often go to the cemetery to clean the family tomb and leave chrysanthemums.
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