The Role Of Sacred Pipe Of The Onikare

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To fully understand the role that the sacred pipe plays one must also understand the rite of the onikare. The rite of the onikare utilizes all of the separate powers of the universe and through purification one becomes closer with Wakan-Tanka. Every aspect of the rite of the sweat lodge has meaning within the ceremony down to the willow saplings that create the lodge. The sweat lodge has four doors for the pipe to enter or exit once the lodge has become purified. The lodge is purified with sweet grass, other wild grasses and tobacco. The first direction to enter the lodge is from the west, which is where the sun rises. The pipe is handed in and out of the lodge to a helper, though the doors that line up with the cardinal directions. Each time

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