It's day 5 here on DIVINICUS, which is our Sweat Lodge day, a deeply alchemical sacred ceremony inherited from the first nations people. The Sweat Lodge ceremony was handed to Openhand by spirit, in the form of the Red Kite, who presided over our very first lodge back in 2006. Ever since we've been using it as a 'rebirthing' ceremony, letting go of the old and birthing the divine being. Here's a taster from the book DIVINICUS...

It was now the middle of 2013, and we were back up in the mountains of Snowdonia in North Wales - the celtic retreat centre called “Cae Mabon”. The Sweat Lodge fire had been burning away for several hours; the jembe and didgeridoo were serenading us, building the sense of primal connection to ancient Gaia. e deva of the re danced upon naked esh, warming it, and at times burning the hairs on it; lest we become complacent, thinking this is going to be just another walk in the park - just another spiritual ceremony. We entered the lodge on hands and knees, a humbling and intimate connection with the earth, which now merged with the smoke of the fire on sweating skin. Suddenly it’s pitch black. Crammed shoulder to shoulder with your nervous compatriots, you can see absolutely nothing. The invitation is to feel as deeply as you can, there’s no other choice, nowhere else to go, nowhere to hide. You’re now in the bosom of the Earth, and as the glowing red rocks are hoisted into the fire pit at the heart of the lodge, the inner volume and intensity are suddenly magnified ten-fold. You’re right in the crucible of alchemical change, and there’s no avoiding it.

Here are a few snaps from previous years to get the sense of it:

Building the sacred fire together... Anatoly adding his prayer... Looks like a funeral pyre, burning the "Totems" we made of the false self... Marielle with Lisabel, getting back to her primate roots!... The group lining up to enter - yes, lots of people for a small lodge! But it was a bit like a tardis and we all managed... Yours truly, smudging (cleansing) people before entering the lodge...

It's going to be a magical day for sure, and we'll be carrying you all in our hearts. Wish us well!

Open