Photo by Rob Varela

Edmund Griswold, of Oak View ties willow branches together with twine as he helps construct the basic structure of the sweat lodge.

"Aho! Mitakuye oyasin."

As they enter and exit the sweat lodge, participants are required by tradition to say these Lakota tribe words, which mean "all my relations."

Thus begins the sacred American Indian ritual of purification and healing that happens in the inipi, or sweat lodge.

Moses Mora of Ventura has been involved with "sweats" for 30 years. He has led the sweat lodge at Spirit Dancer Ranch in Moorpark for six of those years. Doctors, actors, teachers, artists, counselors — people of all professions — come. What they have in common is that they are "spiritual people," Mora says.

It is a way to purify one's mind, body and spirit, said Mora, who is both Mexican-American and Mejica, an American Indian tribe from the New Mexico area. He is a "sundancer," or spiritual leader.

Almost every American Indian tribe has its own version of a sweat lodge. Mora uses traditions from the Lakota and Plains tribes in his sweats.

The lodge is in a small, isolated valley with a creek bed. As participants arrive on a Saturday evening, a fire is already raging and will heat the rocks used in the ceremony.

Nearby stand the skeletons of two domed structures made of small willow branches. One sits to the east of the fire and the other to the west. An altar holds tobacco and other items to be offered, and has a place to lay the sacred pipe.

There are two branches on the ground leading from the altar to the entrance of the structures; they border the pathway the spirits are said to take as they enter the lodge.

Participants complete the lodge by covering the frames with layers of canvas and blankets. The purification process begins as they are "smudged" with smoke from burning sage before entering the structure.

Inside, the leader calls for the first red-hot rocks to be brought in by the "fire tender." The 28 rocks represent the collective ancestors.

Each rock is rubbed with sweet grass, sage and other herbs, and the aromas fill the lodge. The leader pours water on the rocks and steam immediately fills the space. A Chumash tribe welcoming song is performed by the leader.

Everyone is encouraged to join in, sing, bang a drum, and express their "intentions," or what they are praying for. At the end of the round, the door is opened and a cool breeze invades the lodge.

The idea is that the group, in offering up thoughts and prayers and enduring the heat together, helps to bring the ancestors' spirits into their midst. The spirits come, Mora says, to give them messages to help guide them in their lives.

— Photojournalist Rob Varela participated in a sweat lodge at Spirit Dancer Ranch in August.