Chiapas – San Cristobal de las Casas

Throughout my trip, Mexicans had told me about this famous ceremony. They told me that I should not look for it, it would come to me. I then followed their advice. With Kali, a young English girl who stays at my hostel, we broach the subject of temazcal. Neither one nor two, she comes the next day knocking on my door, telling me that she had met an Englishman who was going there the following day. I tell myself that this is it: my turn has arrived. Mattia therefore takes me out of town with him to live this experience. 

My first look at Carlos, the shaman, makes me think that I am in good hands. My instinct gives me the green light. We are 6, small group, this is great !

1st step/ The ceremony begins in the garden around a circle, the interior of which contains offerings. Each of us, standing, we undergo the ritual of the shaman with alcohol, eggs and smoke of all kinds. It starts off strong for me, when I was doing really well, I suddenly found myself crying like an 8 year old girl and wanting to put my stomach on the lawn. Another participant will have the same reaction as me. Phew! I feel less alone. At the same time, I don't feel any judgment from the other 5. Here we are a whole.

2nd step/ We enter inside the temazcal to begin the ritual of the 4 doors. I feel vibrations in my forearms and legs, to such an degree that I have to go out to relieve the pain. I cannot stand up. It is therefore crawling (having no allure) that I regain the exterior completely soaked in sweat (a wet rat), snot on the nose. Hmmm! Gorgeous. At this moment, an earthworm would have more mouth than me. So here I am on all fours in the garden, scrubbing the lawn as Carlos tells me. The idea is to return the vibrations in my limbs to the earth. Lull. We return to the temazcal to finish the ceremony. 

3rd step/ Out of the temazcal, we put our clothes back on and end with a last prayer to the gods. The entire ceremony will have lasted 3 hours.

The following: 24 hours later, I will have vomiting and diarrhea all night long. I literally emptied myself. Then I had fever and severe pain in my back. Carlos will come back and give me a Reiki and a massage. Overall, I'll be bedridden for 5 days. 

Assessment: j’ai vécu une des expériences les plus fortes de ma vie. J’en suis ressortie guérie. J’ai posé là bas un traumatisme de l’enfance enfermé dans une boite à l’intérieur de moi même depuis tout ce temps (porte ouverte par l’autre chaman à Palenque, lire l’article). Aujourd’hui, je me sens différente, plus légère, plus forte, plus entière. Le temazcal s’associe à l’image de la renaissance. Pour ma part, c’est le cas.