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The magic of FIRE and water.
In the last decade there has been a great interest in the ancient
curative steam bath, which is still used in Mexico and still carries
the name given to it by the Aztecs, temazcal. It now forms a part
of a return to natural medicine that has spread across the whole
country. The temazcal serves to purify and clean the mind, body
and spirit and over 500 years after its creation it is still a rite
of renovation. It is best described as a steam bath which uses hot
rocks, water and curative plants such as pepper tree leaves, rosemary,
basil and eucalyptus. It also holds spiritual connotations, it is
an encounter between mother earth and humans.
The name temazcal, or temazcali has its roots in two words in the
Nahuatl language of the Aztecs, temas, which means bath, and calli,
meaning house. In the Mexica or Aztec culture, the goddess of steam
baths was Temazcalteci. Sahagun says of her that ". this goddess
was the goddess of medicine, she was venerated by doctors and surgeons.
She was also worshipped by those who had these temazcals or baths
in their houses. The temazcal was not only a part of the cult of
a goddess, it is also a part of all the elements of the ancient
cosmology in the construction and form it is used. The temazcal
is one of the microcosms in which the characteristics of the universe
are reproduced.
The temazcal is a small adobe or stone structure where rituals combine
the energies of water and fire, as a symbol of the sun, (a divinity
and the home of the ancestors), which creates a recognition of the
past and that which is beyond death.
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The steam which is released by the water and herbs
signifies the destruction of sin, the hot stones of the temazcal
represent the maternal womb, the origin of life. Upon bathing, the
subject enters the temazcal naked and closes the door and douses
the hot stones which creates a dense cloud of steam which rises
to the top of the bath. While this is happening the subject places
a handful of herbs on the stones.
Once the ritual of fire and water has finished and the subject leaves
the temazcal there is a feeling of rebirth. It is also recommendable
to follow this ritual with a massage complemented by celestial music
and aroma therapy.
Temazcal
Monday to Friday, 11 am-1 pm, 1-3 pm, 3-5 pm
Saturday 11 am-1 pm, 1-3 pm
$US60 per person, 1 hour of temazcal and 1 hour of massage
Send us an email for reservations: info@go-oaxaca.com
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