The chapter elaborates on the particular North American Native contexts focused in this book including the beliefs to do with the sacred as it relates to sweat healing, saunas and ceremonial life. I show also how the spiritual thought among feminists echoes or reflects similar, if not identical values of Indigenous peoples in general. A general description of Native values and worldview is followed by a discussion of its relevance to the healing aspects of the sauna and sweat house. As the chapter points out, the hierophanies of sky, earth, water, stones, mountains, trees, springs and many other features of Nature and landscape are most typical among Indigenous peoples’ and ecofeminists’ notions of the sacred. Native scholar Vine Deloria Jr. represents a critical yet constructive voice regarding Christian attitudes towards ecology, something we are encouraged to heed in the name of a more ecosocially sustainable future. The point is also to recover the sanctity of one’s own roots and home base instead of locating the sacred far away from one’s culture. I consider how the Finnish sauna itself has been defined in the dominant Western terms of science, and what Finns have lost of its holistic essence. The chapter also refers to the healing dimension of singing and other forms of collective “gifting” in a ritual context which has been part of the Finnish healing saunas. The chapter on Indigenous knowledge systems and the spiritual beliefs covers interspecies kinship relations which differ greatly from the patriarchal mastery over nature, women and non-human animals in patriarchy. The chapter introduces key notions of the Native belief systems that stress the sacredness of the Earth with the bear religion as a unique historical case. This is relevant for the sauna history as the sauna imaginary has included metaphors of the bear’s den as a matrix for rebirth and the return of light after winter darkness. This is something that Finns have in common with many North American Native tribes, among others. The section on kinship and bonding is related to the spirituality of gifting as an alter-native to exchange economy; it features as a major value system among Indigenous folks and is referred to as the Gift economy. The section on gifting and the sweats shows how both the Finnish sauna and the Native sweat lodge are examples of rituals rooted in gifting. Singing being a particular aspect of gifting relationships, it deserves its own section. The section on Native knowledge systems overlaps with the above-mentioned ones, but focuses on the unique epistemic elements that make up key aspects of Indigenous science. World Renewal Ceremonies represent the book’s focus on multidimensional healing that has a much wider concept of health and well-being than what the term evokes within a Western scientific context. The section on the Ceremonial House of the Delaware brings together the particular ritual features of what I see as a kind of proto-sweat ritual expressing the proxemics of symbolic semiotic space. Reference is made also to Bear Spirituality which unites many Northern peoples in the past. What is the spiritual message of bear ceremonials and how do they matter to modern people? I will also present reasons for the widely-spread worship of the divine Bear in connection with the Great Mother. How does the sauna-sweat lodge relate to the bear cults of ancient times? I further explore beliefs to do with herbal knowledge and the appropriate attitude towards plant gathering. Finally, the chapter outlines how the shift took place from matriarchal, matristic or matricultural religions to patriarchy and its myths and what this entailed.

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Indigenous Views on the Spiritual

  • Kaarina Kailo

摘要

The chapter elaborates on the particular North American Native contexts focused in this book including the beliefs to do with the sacred as it relates to sweat healing, saunas and ceremonial life. I show also how the spiritual thought among feminists echoes or reflects similar, if not identical values of Indigenous peoples in general. A general description of Native values and worldview is followed by a discussion of its relevance to the healing aspects of the sauna and sweat house. As the chapter points out, the hierophanies of sky, earth, water, stones, mountains, trees, springs and many other features of Nature and landscape are most typical among Indigenous peoples’ and ecofeminists’ notions of the sacred. Native scholar Vine Deloria Jr. represents a critical yet constructive voice regarding Christian attitudes towards ecology, something we are encouraged to heed in the name of a more ecosocially sustainable future. The point is also to recover the sanctity of one’s own roots and home base instead of locating the sacred far away from one’s culture. I consider how the Finnish sauna itself has been defined in the dominant Western terms of science, and what Finns have lost of its holistic essence. The chapter also refers to the healing dimension of singing and other forms of collective “gifting” in a ritual context which has been part of the Finnish healing saunas. The chapter on Indigenous knowledge systems and the spiritual beliefs covers interspecies kinship relations which differ greatly from the patriarchal mastery over nature, women and non-human animals in patriarchy. The chapter introduces key notions of the Native belief systems that stress the sacredness of the Earth with the bear religion as a unique historical case. This is relevant for the sauna history as the sauna imaginary has included metaphors of the bear’s den as a matrix for rebirth and the return of light after winter darkness. This is something that Finns have in common with many North American Native tribes, among others. The section on kinship and bonding is related to the spirituality of gifting as an alter-native to exchange economy; it features as a major value system among Indigenous folks and is referred to as the Gift economy. The section on gifting and the sweats shows how both the Finnish sauna and the Native sweat lodge are examples of rituals rooted in gifting. Singing being a particular aspect of gifting relationships, it deserves its own section. The section on Native knowledge systems overlaps with the above-mentioned ones, but focuses on the unique epistemic elements that make up key aspects of Indigenous science. World Renewal Ceremonies represent the book’s focus on multidimensional healing that has a much wider concept of health and well-being than what the term evokes within a Western scientific context. The section on the Ceremonial House of the Delaware brings together the particular ritual features of what I see as a kind of proto-sweat ritual expressing the proxemics of symbolic semiotic space. Reference is made also to Bear Spirituality which unites many Northern peoples in the past. What is the spiritual message of bear ceremonials and how do they matter to modern people? I will also present reasons for the widely-spread worship of the divine Bear in connection with the Great Mother. How does the sauna-sweat lodge relate to the bear cults of ancient times? I further explore beliefs to do with herbal knowledge and the appropriate attitude towards plant gathering. Finally, the chapter outlines how the shift took place from matriarchal, matristic or matricultural religions to patriarchy and its myths and what this entailed.