Faux “Sweat Lodge” Proves Fatal to Two

October 9, 2009 · Filed under Don't That Beat All

From AZCentral.com:

According to a Sheriff’s Office spokesman, 64 people were in a crudely constructed sweat dome at the resort Thursday evening when they were overcome.

“We got a report that people weren’t breathing,” said Verde Valley Fire District Chief Jerry Doerksen.

When fire crews arrived on scene, people were doing CPR on those who had been in the sweat lodge, Doerksen said. Some were not breathing. Some had no pulse, and many were walking around dizzy and weak.

“Some were getting sicker, some were getting better,” he said.

Authorities haven’t determined the cause of the deaths and illnesses. Tests for carbon monoxide and other contaminants were negative, but blood samples were being tested for poisons. Autopsies are being conducted today.

The sweat lodge, a massive mound covered in tarps, was set up at the Angel Valley Spiritual Retreat, a 70-acre property along Oak Creek near Sedona. Sweat-lodge ceremonies are thought to be a physical and spiritually purifying experience.

The victims were attending a five-day program called “Spiritual Warrior,” hosted by self-help guru and inspirational speaker James Arthur Ray.

Ray, a frequent guest on TV talk shows, calls himself “a personal success strategist,” and his Web site details a sampler of international spiritual philosophies that he has fused into his program.

A receptionist at Ray’s Carlsbad, Calif.-based company, James Ray International, said that no one would comment on the tragedy.

Authorities confirmed that Ray was at the event and was not among those who took ill; Sheriff’s deputies interviewed him Thursday night.

The resort founders, Michael and Amayra Hamilton, also would not comment.

The Angel Valley Spiritual Resort Web site says that Ray has held the workshop there since 2003. And Ray’s Web site lists the cost for next year’s program at “only $9,695 per person.”

The program brochure promises that the participants will push themselves past their “self-imposed and conditioned borders” and “learn (and apply) the awesome power of ‘integrity of action.'” It describes the sweat lodge as “a ceremonial sauna involving tight, enclosed spaces and intense temperatures.”

Participants in the Ray program also could practice Holotropic Breathwork, a trancelike state brought on by breath control, and Vision Quest, a multi-day stay in the outdoors without food or water, according to the James Ray International literature.

I don’t think the deaths are any great mystery. In an arid environment (which Sedona definitely is), breathing and moving about normally can result in dehydration without adequate fluid intake. When 64 people are packed like sardines into a crudely constructed “sweat lodge” to have some sort of quasi-religious epiphany and are subjected to elevated temperatures for over 2 hours, well, death by heat stroke, dehydration, and/or electrolyte imbalance would not be surprising.

What IS surprising to me is that so many people would pay so much money to experience heat stroke. Obviously I missed a golden opportunity for earning additional income back when we owned a construction company when we didn’t offer to let people experience heat stroke conditions while pouring concrete in July and August for the bargain price of $5,000 each. Instead, we paid employees. What were we thinking?