Pros and Cons for the Lack of Doctrine in the Sweat Lodge Rituals
Pros
Lack of doctrines in the Sweat Lodge rituals has made the practice flexible to all people who wish to participate in the cleansing of their mind, body, and soul. The flexibility has enabled the existence of sweat lodges in different communities for different types of people but operated for the same reason (Bear, 2014) . The lack of strict doctrines has also enabled many people to visit the sweat lodges as any person willing to participate in the ritual to attend. Customary rituals are most times attended by special individuals for divinity; however, the sweat lodge allows for inclusivity, and anyone who wishes to participate attends the ceremony.
Cons
Without doctrines in the ritual practice of Sweat Lodge, the original cultural practice can change into a new generic prototype ritual. Customary rituals with clear doctrines exist over a long time because they are not easily changed or distorted (Bear, 2014) . For the case of the sweat lodge practice, it has been greatly changed over time since the original practice had both cultural and spiritual relevance. Today people practice the ritual for revitalization and cleansing of the mind, body, and soul. It was a special practice for a few in the community and was presided by traditional medicine men or healers while today it is operated by individuals who are trained but not necessarily healers or medicine men.
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Due to lack of doctrines, the people practicing the ritual may not do the required practices the ritual requires hence may lead to detrimental effects like death. The water throwing ritual is performed by elders who are expected to make rational decisions in the ritual practice and are trained on safety ( Hewson, Rowold, Sichler & Walter, 2014) . Lack of doctrines leads to stereotype practices done by individuals who are not well trained on how to perform the practices leading to death. In 2009, three Sweat Lodge participants attending the Spiritual Warrior retreat in Sedona Arizona died due to over sweating in the Sweat Lodge.
Are the Two Necessary to Achieve the Objective of the Ceremony?
With or without doctrines, the Sweat Lodge rituals can achieve their intended goal. The objective of the ritual is sweating out body toxins to attain cleansing of their mind, body, and soul. The same phenomenon leads to the removal of negative energy and foster meditation that leads to the attainment of a body balance. These objectives can be achieved either by use of the ritual or even by seclusion in an enclosed dark place with hot vapor ( Hewson, 2014) . The spiritual context of the ritual is more psychological that can be attained in any mediation process. Thus, the ritual can attain its goal as long as the place is dark and enclosed with the hot vapor from the stones with or without ant prescribed doctrines.
Do you feel it should be necessary to have a doctrine?
At a personal level, I feel that doctrines are necessary for the existence of any ritual. A practice qualifies to be termed as a ritual only it has prescribed practices and doctrines ( Hewson et al., 2014) . The doctrines are unchanged over time making it uniform to all those who practice it. Without doctrines, a ritual can be distorted or even become extinct since those practicing it will have no guidelines to follow. Rituals are traditionally done customarily or religiously. Both culture and religion has prescribed doctrines and is done by specialized trained people. Thus, I take the position that rituals should have clear prescribed doctrines of practice to guide how the sweat lodge ceremony is done.
References
Bear, T. (2014). Walking With Our Sisters: An Art Installation Centered in Ceremony. aboriginal policy studies , 3 (1-2).
Hewson, P., Rowold, J., Sichler, C., & Walter, W. (2014). Are healing ceremonies useful for enhancing quality of life?. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine , 20 (9), 713-717.
