SOURCE: http://skepdic.com/refuge/funk26.html

MASS MEDIA FUNK

June 26, 2002. Two more people have died while trying to purify themselves so they could have visions and lead more meaningful lives. In an area of Northern California where I go to taste Latcham Zinfandels and Granite Springs Petite Sirahs, and commune with smoked salmon from the deck of Fitzpatrick's winery, others go to create sweat lodges and commune with Nature as part of a spiritual quest. Unfortunately, some of these people don't know what they're doing.

According to Rick Adams, a Nisenon Indian who is a member of the Shingle Springs Rancheria tribe in El Dorado County and a cultural advisor to the Maidu Interpretive Center in Roseville, "All Native Americans have a sweat lodge ceremony that varies in tradition, but 90 percent of the ceremony is the same. In its sweat lodge ceremonies, the Shingle Springs tribe uses fragrant herbs, including red clover, white sage and wormwood, as part of a tradition of American Indians "cleansing themselves before they go out hunting." According to Adams, Native Americans do not use the sweat lodge for "life-altering self-fulfillment "or "coming of age or anything like that." However, many New Age questers believe otherwise and think the sweat lodge is for healing and transcending ordinary consciousness toward rebirth..

It is not known exactly what caused the deaths of the two people. What we do know is that four people built a sweat lodge so airtight (using plastic sheeting and blankets on a wooden frame) that after 1.5 hours of breathing vapors of herbs and water poured over hot stones, two crawled out "nauseous and overcome," while the other two--Kirsten Dana Babcock, 34, of Redding and David Thomas Hawker, 36, of Union City--"stopped chanting and fell silent."

The Sacramento Bee also reported that "in 1993, Kelly Rice, a 35-year-old Austin, Texas, housekeeper and masseuse, died of accidental heatstroke inside a sweat lodge she entered to pray and purify herself as part of a vision quest ritual."

There are many New Age organizations that make a living helping people find Truth, Beauty and Self-Fulfillment through Nature, but most of them play it safe and don't endanger the lives of their questers. According to the Bee, many of these groups were inspired by the writings of Steven Foster and his wife, Meredith Little, founders of Rites of Passage, which "offers Vision Quest programs that bring people into the wilderness for healing of Self and World."

I'd like to see them try this program in Australia, where even a little stroll in an urban area or swim at the local beach could mean death by crocodile or poisonous jellies, sharks, spiders, snakes, etc. A trip into the Outback on one's own has meant permanent healing for many people. If anyone were to ask me what I would do if I got an urge to heal myself by getting back to Nature, I would either take a trip to Yosemite or re-read Voss.

June 3, 2002. "Alternative" medicine (AM) is put to the test tonight on Scientific American Presents with Alan Alda. The show features anecdotes vs. science, chiropractic, herbal remedies, and the selling of hope. Check your local PBS station program guide for the time. Good Luck! Many of you have found, as I have, that the local PBS station caters to advocates of "alternative" health practices. You are more likely to see Andrew Weil, Deepak Chopra, or Wayne Dyer than a critic of AM on KVIE in Sacramento. In fact, both my local PBS stations have scheduled something else tonight when others might be watching Scientific American Presents. KVIE is showing a program on yoga ("Yoga master Baron Baptiste tries to transform the lives of forty strangers") and KQED (San Francisco) is showing a program on Doo Wop. KVIE plans to show "A Different Way to Heal?" on June 20th at 8 pm. KQED will show it at 9 pm on June 13th.

further reading

PBS Broadcast Angers Chiropractors Stephen Barrett, M.D.