Proto-Saunas from the Past: The Case of the Delaware Big House and Sweat Lodge
摘要
I approach the Delaware Big House and the processes and rituals with which it is associated as a heuristic prototype of early human spirituality; the aim is to then contrast these main elements with the sauna-shrines of other cultures. The chapter elaborates on menstrual spirituality which is linked with the prototype of the sweat lodge, the menstruation hut or moon lodge. After all, it has also been argued that these early ritual sites are the real originals of which the sweat lodge is a kind of masculated copy. Or part of the Twinned Cosmos? The chapter reveals how women’s ancient blood rituals have given the impetus for other types of ceremonies involving blood. Subsequent blood sacrifices of animals, and even of humans, reflect a more patriarchal and violence or death-oriented interpretation and expression of “thanksgiving”. I show how the proto-saunas from the past reflect the belief systems and proxemics that I presented earlier. The section on the Delaware Big House and sweat lodge provides most detailed descriptions of the multidimensional rituals that make up the world renewal and related ceremonies. This chapter reflects also on the affinities between the Lenape Delaware and the migrant Finns who brought with them many beliefs and practices typical of nature-oriented “bush people.” Whether or not they impacted on the Native groups in some ways regarding the sauna structure is an open question that I explore. The star constellations as part and parcel of the ritual landscape and spiritual belief system link many indigenous and non-indigenous peoples of the distant past and again are part of the proxemics where the way people and objects are placed in ceremonial spaces have a deep meaning.