Presented by Neal Rzepkowski

Friday, June 6: 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Saturday, June 7: 9:30 am - ???
Sunday, June 8: 7:00 am - 11:00 am
Leolyn Garden Room and Lily Dale Beach

Fee: $100.00

This workshop is for both beginners and more experienced people who want to build a new sweat lodge for summer ceremonies in Lily Dale. Please bring a sturdy knife to help strip bark from the saplings we will use. The spirits can play with the weather, so bring warm clothes and rain gear, as well as lodge clothes for the evening.

Friday evening will start out with smudging and prayer after dinner. There will be a discussion of various styles of lodge ceremonies, and a sharing of experiences the group may have had. Some of the spiritual symbolism of the lodge will be explored. We will also teach you how to make prayer tie which can be used in the lodge.

Saturday will begin with a thanksgiving prayer and some meditation. We will then begin to collect and prepare saplings and stones in a sacred manner for the lodge.

After lunch, we’ll meet back at the lodge site to begin construction. We will light the fire and begin to heat the stone people by mid afternoon. The actual lodge ceremony will follow this by late afternoon. The ceremony itself is always free and therefore does not really constitute part of the workshop.

Following the lodge ceremony that evening, you are welcome to bring a pot luck dish to share with the group. We can eat at the picnic shelter at the beach, near the lodge.

On Sunday morning, before breakfast, there will be another optional lodge ceremony if anyone wishes to have one. After the lodge and a pot luck breakfast, we’ll share our experiences and dreams and review some of the sweat lodge songs we have learned.

Those attending the lodge are welcome to bring drums, rattles and any other sacred objects that they may like to have blessed or energized during the ceremonies.

Please note: Inside the lodge it can get very hot and crowded. If you have any health concerns about such conditions, or concerns about the health of other participants (e.g. HIV, hepatitis B, etc.) please discuss them beforehand with your doctor. Participation is open, voluntary, and at your own risk.

NEAL RZEPKOWSKI, M.D. is both a physician as well as an ordained Spiritualist minister. He is also one of Lily Dale’s registered mediums. He is a well known HIV/AIDS specialist and has himself been HIV+ for over 25 years. He credits his continuing health, in part, to the healing vibrations of Lily Dale as well as to the healing benefits of the sweat lodge. Spirit first guided him to ask that Lily Dale allow sweat lodges as part of their program in 1992. He has been facilitating lodges here ever since.

Class limited to 24 participants.

REGISTER HERE