Raven Lodge
A community sweat lodge on private land near the Sandy River.
Raven Lodge is offered by Deb Scrivens, Marty Nelson, and Amber Jane Arquette.
On private land in Rhododendron, Oregon, near the Sandy River, Deb and Rick have opened their home to us. This is a private community. Please reach out to Amber Jane or [email protected] before inviting anyone to this lodge.
You must register to attend, even if you have attended a lodge before, because room and parking are limited.
If you're looking for other sweat lodge communities in the area, please reach out and we can share that information.
What Happens in Sweat Lodge
Each sweat lodge is an opportunity to pray and to ask for healing.
When you arrive, you'll have time to prepare and change into your lodge clothing. There are dressing rooms on the land. Women are asked to wear long skirts, in honor of the tradition this ceremony comes from. We then gather by the lodge together. If the lodge has not yet been covered, there may be guidance to help cover it before we begin.
At the center of the lodge is a place where the stones are brought in from the fire outside. The pourer places water and herbs on the stones, and there is guided speaking and singing throughout. We pour four rounds, which can take up to four hours.
Lakota songs are often sung in lodge. We have permission from the Lakota Ghosthorse family to continue these traditions, and many song carriers within our community have learned from the Ghosthorse family and community, including Paul Ghosthorse.
There is limited room inside the lodge, and there is also a place outside for those who wish to hold prayers and support. Both roles are part of the ceremony, and both receive healing.
Before You Come
11am. Lodge usually ends around 5–6pm.
Water, a towel or two, a long skirt for women, and a dish to share at the potluck after.
$20 and up.
Full details, including the address, will be emailed to you after you RSVP.
How Raven Lodge Came to Be
From roughly 2000 to 2013, Deb and members of the older LightSong community held another lodge on this land. That chapter came to a close, and now we are starting anew.
At the end of summer 2026, a group of us went out to Deb and Rick's land to build a new lodge. Everything about it was ceremonial, intentional, and communal, and it was fun, mixed with the effort of building something together. The lodge is made from willow branches harvested on the land, right at the edge of the Sandy River. Tobacco, flowers, and cedar were given to the lodge and the land, and our song carriers led traditional songs as offerings while we built. Prayer bundles placed by Deb hang inside the lodge. It is her lodge, and she named it Raven Lodge.
The blankets that cover the lodge carry meaning too. Among them are a North Star blanket from the original lodge on this land, a raven blanket, and a blanket from a previous lodge that Marty brought as a gift of wisdom. The stones are designated for this lodge alone. Some come from the old lodge on this land, and others from lodges that Marty and Lori Shainsky have poured. We call them the grandmother stones. We believe the blankets and stones hold the wisdom and witnessing of the lodges that came before.
Who We Are
Raven Lodge is hosted on the land of Deb and Rick, near the Sandy River in Rhododendron.
Marty Nelson pours the lodges at the equinoxes and solstices, which coincide with the equinox and solstice ceremonies of Amber Jane Arquette and IRIS Institute for Sovereign Studies. Deb pours the lodges at the Celtic cross-quarter days, the midpoints between the solstices and equinoxes.
Raven Lodge was built in August 2026 by Marty Nelson, Amber Jane Arquette, Kate Chapman, Deb Scrivens, Rick, Lori Shainsky, Mary, Cindy, and Walter.
Join us in lodge
Registration is required for every lodge. Space inside is limited, and there is room outside for prayers and support.
