Cosmos Lakota

Lakota Sioux ReligionSweatlodge : Cosmos :: Microcosm : Macrocosm

Diagram of Lakota sweatlodgeThis diagram of a Lakota sweatlodge shows that the sweatlodge is a microcosm of the world. The sweatlodge's eight intersecting willow loops form a star with eight points. In the diagram, the points of the star bear the names of the planets (notice Pluto is included!).
The opening of the sweatlodge faces West. Each direction has the traditional color associated with it in Lakota cosmology.
The Sixteen Great Mysteries represented in this microcosm are the different aspects of Wakan Tanka, the Creator.
Notice that this shelter presents a model of the world that has order, beauty, and even symmetry. The world modeled in the sweatlodge is truly a cosmos, an ordered reality.

Source: Lame Deer & Erdoes, Gift of Power, p. 252.