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 Health & Beauty | June 2005 
Ancient Steam Baths Soothe the Soul
 Vicky Cowal - The Herald Mexico
| | For thousands of years prior to the arrival of the Spanish in 1519 the indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica developed a highly advanced civilization. Herbal medicine and natural health practices were prevalent throughout the area. Temazcal, the herbal steam bath, was a vital part of traditional life and was used for wellbeing, treatment of many ills and as a religious ritual. |
A temazcal (also written temascal) is an ancient Mexican form of steam bath. Its purpose is therapeutic: to purify and re-energize both the body and soul by means of ceremonial rites and traditional medicine. Under the proper ritualistic guidance it is generally thought of as a fantastic experience, one which some people even consider life-changing.
My first time in a temazcal took place in 1972 shortly after I arrived in Mexico and was not at all pleasurable. I'll leave the story for you to read below and say now that it wasn't until recently when I met Rosa Martha Gil in the small town of Malinalco in the State of Mexico that I garnered enough information, and then enthusiasm, to try again.
The first thing she did was to introduce me to Alejandro Butron, an amateur but avid historian with a special interest in and a profound knowledge of the temazcal. He told me that its history can be traced back a few thousand years to the Olmecs, the first important civilization in Mexico. After that they were also very much a part of the lives and culture of the Mayans, the Mixtecas, the Tlaxcaltecas and the Aztecs. According to him, in archaeological excavations in areas where these people lived there is almost often evidence of a temazcal placed near baths and a ball court.
He also said that the original intention of them was dual. First the warrior class (los guerreros) would spend up to three days in a temazcal, fasting and cleansing themselves inside and out before making important battle decisions and often seeking answers to serious conflicts. The second but no less important use of the temazcal was for the purification of women after they gave birth.
By the time of the Aztecs the temazcal had formed an integral and important part in the healing of many illnesses and was also a vital element for women during pregnancy and childbirth. Many of the Spanish conquerors wanted temazcales banned as they saw them as dens of iniquity due to what they believed were pagan rituals practiced within and because the participants were of both sexes and entered naked. Fortunately for history there were some more liberal thinkers among the chroniclers and we have a good written record of how the rites were performed.
Although the original objectives were lost somewhere along the line in history, the tradition of the temazcal has persisted and there are many still in use to this day. About a dozen years ago there was a resurgence of interest in them. Today you can find many being employed in the states of Mexico, Hidalgo, Tlaxcala and Morelos. It should be pointed out that they are not a part of big city life but rather exist in provincial and rural Mexico where the setting is appropriate.
ANCIENT RITUAL
The word itself comes from the Nahuatl: temas meaning bath and calli meaning house. The traditional structure is similar to that of an igloo, or some say beehive, and is made generally out of clay (barro), although there are also now ones in Mexico called inipi, the design and materials of which have been copied from the Lakota Indians of Arizona and New Mexico who partake in a similar ceremony. These inipi are made of thin branches that are bent and tied together to form an igloo-like shape. When in use, the whole inipi structure is covered with animal skins, or any other material, with only a small opening flap.
Outside the temazcal (or inipi) a helper one hopes well trained builds a wood fire close by. When the fire is ready, he or she places stones on top until they get red hot. Then, throughout the whole ceremony, the helper opens the flap and shovels a number of stones into a round pit dug in the dirt floor of the temazcal. Water, made fragrant with the addition of herbs and spices, is sprinkled over the hot stones and steam is formed.
As the ceremony progresses and more stones are added, the temperature within the temazcal gets hotter and hotter and the humidity increases. How this is controlled is up to the person, usually a woman called a temazcalera, who guides the ceremony.
(Although rarer, there is also a kind of temazcal with a fireplace inside. When the participants are going to enter, the fire is extinguished but the flap is closed, keeping the heat inside.)
MODERN DAY TEMAZCALES
Today, there several different kinds of temazcales. In each type, one wears very little clothing, just a bathing suit or nothing at all if you feel comfortable being nude. There are some "home" temazcales, or ones that are used by families as a place to clean their bodies and, as one owner told me, a chance for the family to convivir (or bond).
There are also currently temazcales in spas, and sometimes in hotel spas.
As there is usually no-one to guide anyone through a ritual, these two types are more like just a plain steam bath, although some people do have a spiritual or physical reaction within.
Then there are large communal ones (temazcal colectivo) where 20 people or so crowd in and are lead through the ceremony by a shaman or two. From what I have heard the shaman is all too often a charlatan. Finally there are less commercial ones where smaller groups, most often people who know each other, are guided through the experience by generally dedicated believers of the ritual.
I have been to the "family" and less commercial types and a friend told me about her experience in the kind with the shaman. I hope reading about personal stories will make you want to try a temazcal, especially the less commercial type, as it is the only one that is both honest and complete.
FIRST-HAND EXPERIENCES
My first time was an unguided hour in a small family-owned temazcal in the state of Hidalgo. I went with a Mexican woman friend and two large Brazilian men whom I barely knew.
One of the men had been suffering for a long time from an emotional problem and this began to surface in the dark and heat of the temazcal. At first I thought he was joking as he got on all fours and started to moan in what were animal-like sounds. As the groans got loader, I thought he was vomiting. Then the sound turned into an interminable wailing.
I wanted to tell him to stop but the other man indicated by hand signals and the few Spanish words he knew that his friend was going through a sort of exorcism. Very good for him, but in the horrendously claustrophobic atmosphere, I would have preferred not to have been there.
My friend's experience in a communal temazcal in Valle del Conejo in the state of Mexico: wasn't that much better, although she said that afterwards she felt healthier both in body and mind.
She had gone by herself out of curiosity, joining a group of 22 people, few of whom knew each other. They were led by a shaman through a long ritual which she didn't quite understand. Neither did she feel comfortable with the shaman's reference to the sexual energy in the temazcal (she worried, was she suddenly going to be pounced on?) or being covered in mud as is the practice in many places.
After talking to Butron, I felt more willing to make another attempt and I felt comfortable with Rosa Martha. She has spent years studying yoga and meditation and the proper rites of a temazcal. She takes it all very seriously and professionally. In her inipi-style temazcal she leads small groups through the traditional four steps, called puertas, with great calm and good humor. There's nothing to get scared about with her method. If anyone feels too hot or gets claustrophobic, he or she is free to leave, although she does encourage people to stick it out to get the full benefit.
The four puertas, elements of ancient cosmology, are connected to the four cardinal points (North, South, East, West) and each step has a program i.e. one for the mind, one for the emotions, one for the body and one for personal questions to do with energia. For each step the hot stones are placed in the hole, herbal water to cleanse and cure is splashed on and steam arises while Rosa Martha leads the rites. There is singing, chanting, poetry and talking by those of the participants who wish to say something.
This is probably not for everyone (my 40-year-old daughter thought of it as hot hocus-pocus), but for many it is a unique and possibly curative experience. The least you can get out of it is eliminating some toxins through a good healthful sweating.
One article worth reading is "The Traditional Mexican Sweat Bath" by Dr. Horacio Rojas Alba of the Instituto Mexicano de Medicinas Tradicionales Tlahuilli A.C.
To contact Rosa Martha Gil in Malinalco, call (714) 147-1888. The cost is 1,800 pesos for up to six people. There is an additional 300 peso per person charge for more than six people. The whole ritual takes about 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Take a bathing suit and a towel.
Vicky Cowal is a weekly contributor to The Herald. VickyCowal@prodigy.net.mx |
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