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Steam Bath in an Igloo!

22nd Jan 2009

Aztec ‘temazcal’ (steam bath), from Codex Magliabecchiano

‘Almost every dwelling had its bath-house, a little hemispherical building shaped rather like an igloo with a low doorway. (Written/compiled by Ian Mursell/Mexicolore)

‘Against it was constructed a fire-place, and the blaze warmed the adjacent wall of the bath-house until it glowed red-hot. At this stage, the bather crept into the house and threw water onto the hot wall until the interior was filled with steam. To increase the flow of perspiration and to gain full benefit from the treatment, the bather switched himself with twigs or bundles of grass... Both men and women used the steam baths, not only for ritual purifications and the treatment of certain diseases but as a normal part of everyday hygiene’. (Warwick Bray, ‘Everyday Life of the Aztecs’)

According to Timothy Knab (‘A Scattering of Jades’) the temazcalli was ‘an architectural personification of the warm, moist womb of the mother goddess’. Experts believe that the union of fire and water (two sacred elements) produced steam - apoctli in Náhuatl - which symbolised the life-giving (and renewing) powers of a mother’s womb...
Traditional Mesoamerican sweat baths, however, ‘are more than structures: they are relatives, ancestors, and supernatural beings... Sweat baths are known as mother or grandmother figures who are both beneficent and pernicious: as such they command attention and are seen as active members of Mesoamerican communities.’ (Clarke et al). The dual nature of this grandmother figure/goddess - such a common feature of Mesoamerican deities - stems from mythology and the connections between her and the earth, which has the power to nourish and feed but also to eat and devour.

Looking rather steamy in the entrance to the temazcalli is the face of the Aztec goddess Tlazoltéotl, ‘Eater of dirty things’, deity of passion, lust and, for want of a better expression, ‘naughtiness...’ All brides-to-be and mothers who had just given birth were expected to go for a thorough cleansing of the body and spirit inside the temazcalli. They were also expected to make offerings - particularly of ritual work - to the goddess; she is the model midwife (the sweat bath itself) who ‘delivers children on condition of being properly fed and appeased, but who may also retain them at will’ (Chinchilla Mazariegos, quoted by Clarke et al).

‘Can you tell us anything about the Aztec God of Good Health?’Learn more of the history of the temazcal and the Native American ‘sweat lodge’‘The soundscape in the replica of the Cerén temazcal’ - fascinating new research...

Comments (3)

Cliodna

6th Sep 2020

The convergence to the finnish sauna is amazing, especially the bit about people switching themselves with plants (in european case traditionally bundles of wet, leafy birch twigs are used).
I love this site, it really puts a human face on a civilization that otherwise feels distant. Greetings from Europe.

Mexicolore

Thanks so much for writing and for your kind comments. They really keep us going. Warmest greetings from London!

Chico@wildplaces.net

23rd Dec 2016

Greetings, we built a Temazcalli in Central Ca USA where summer is intense heat.
Due that USA does not allow clay bricks from México we ended up using bricks and cement and covered our igloo style Temazcalli with adobe wall made with clay , horse manure and water.
Our temazcal has resisted heavy rain and keeps temperatures nice and cozy inside. Our roof is covered with petates from Mexico.
Look us up in FB Xico Xavier Garza

Mexicolore

Congratulations! Thanks for sharing...

otirudam

22nd May 2011

does anybody know what type of wall could stand the heat of a fire-place, and not crack? I want to build a Temazcal at home, and i heard a cement wall will crack with the heat.

Aztec ‘temazcal’ (steam bath), from Codex Magliabecchiano