Traditionally, these rituals are performed in secret
so you have to know someone to be invited.

This beautiful woman with the pipe invited me

She knows my travel companions, Ezequiel and Ovat.

A Temazcal or "House of Heat" ritual is an ancient ritual

purpose of healing the body and mind, to conquer deep fears.

This was such an amazing experience!

Not knowing anything about what I was getting myself into,

It was great to be reunited with my travel buddies,
Ovat and Ezequiel
after 2 weeks of separation.

They brought with them a new friend, Irene,
who was brought into our day through the
Facebook group, Mochileros en Mexico.

I was so proud of myself for taking the subway all by myself and finding these guys in the big, all Spanish, subway station.

Together we boarded another subway then took a bus.

Once we reached the village, south of Mexico City, we boarded a buggy that's powered by a human bicycle driver.

That's definitely a first for me.

Little did I know this is about to be a day of many firsts.

Like many Latin homes, this home was hidden behind some fuck-ugly steel doors.

Once behind the doors we stepped in a sanctuary of art and gardens.

Just to the other side of the perimeter walls lies the bones of our sacred structure.

Quickly, the arrivals get to work clearing the space
of weeds and unwanted energies.

Next, the tarps, rugs, blankets and whatever else they can find
is used to cover the frame.

The intention is to trap in the air and block out the light.

When complete it becomes the womb of the Great Mother Earth

The process of entering the womb,
facing your fears,
and then surrendering to the intense process
creates a rebirthing of the spirit.

The rocks and the wood are cleansed and blessed
by the entire group.

The scent of Copal immediately reminds
my brain to quiet and feel peace.

After some explanation of the process and a ceremony
of honoring the five directions we all

silently catching the cleansed and anointed wood to set fire.

We wait for the rocks to heat up while the fire burns down.

The basket of freshly harvested herbs and flowers were passed around.

The cuttings were infused with our intentions for the ritual
then placed on the wood pile to burn with our sacred rocks.

The fire is lit.

Now we wait.

Time for the Cacao or Drink of the Gods ritual.

Our Medicine Woman explains

that when prepared correctly the Cacao transforms

into medicinal and ceremonial Cacao.

than Chocolate commonly seen in candies.

She explains that while we prepare Cacao we need to be at peace

Also we sing beautiful, ancient songs
that will optimize their properties.

Mayan Elders and Archeologists explain that
Spirit of Cacao
is one of the most powerful Deities of Mayan Cosmology.

Using the Spirit of Cacao we can travel into our "inner-self",
to the place where our wisdom and love reside.

This ritual reconnects us with the beauty, sweetness and love in ourselves.

The Cacao Goddess is our magical companion
that invites us to open the
Heart Door.

It is your level of consciousness that decides

if you are ready to cross through the portal of the

Heart Door.

Again we are smudged with sage, one at a time.

As we enter the portal door we put our foreheads to the earth
and again visualize our intention.

The chanting, drumming and singing commences once the earthen hole in the center is half filled with hot rocks from the burn pile.

The door is closed. The sizzles of hot steamy herbal air feels good to me.

I am told this was the end of the first session.
Some of the women escaped, unable to continue.

The second session begins with more hot rocks placed on the center pile.

Now it really heats up!

Now we find out who we are.

This was my first time to do this and I was twice as old as the next younger woman.


After crawling out of the womb after the second session
many of the others told me they were very impressed with my strength.

We scooped fresh bowls of cool water over ourselves

then laid on the ground until our heart beats returned to normal.

By now no one cared how dirty they were.

In her essay,

Breath and Smoke: Tobacco Among the Maya

explains that native cigars are hallucinogenic and intoxicating.

Tobacco is chosen for rituals due to

its need to be consumed by fire,
its' intense aromatic smoke and the thick serpentine plumes
of smoke that form during consumption.

We are only halfway there.

With two more steamy sessions to go we all
crawled back into the womb.

Now that I was toughened up the final half
was super easy and felt like it went by very quickly.

Nothing is not sacred.

The corn tortillas, we are reminded are made from
the ancient sacred plant of the mixtec ancestors.

Corn or maize was integral to all of life
from their religion to their mythologies.

For the Maya, maize is a gift from the gods

and because of this they believe that growing it is a sacred duty.

NOW we can eat. Many of us were eating minimal
all day so the food was extra pleasing to the body.

Completing such a ritual was like completing a marathon.

It was a test of strength, endurance and a willingness to travel within.

Want more great stories like this?
Follow me as I continue through Mexico and Latin America.

UpVote, Repost and Comment to
support my travels while I keep the...