Letter on Finnish Sauna Traditions

[educatedindian]

Something I got in the mail, nice words of support and some interesting history.

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Dear Mr Al Carroll,

My name Is Anna-Ulrika an I´m living in a small village in the middle areas of Sweden.

For a couple of years ago I bought The Book : They call us Indians, where you have been spoken as well.

Me myself are not from Sweden in the first place. My parents & relatives are from Finland, long time ago .We talking since : 1150 a.ch. From an area called Österbotten. It’s an area on 250 km by the seaside in (again) The middle part of Finland. Our culture are a minority in Finland because our first language is Swedish with an accent non abroad understand…

I agree with everything you say about Europeans misuses of other natives traditions and ceremonies.

But then again I can also understand the topic WHY its, so easier to : Bring your culture to ones heart then there own prehistoric culture.

I myself is an handcrafter in design. Mostly Jewelleries , gems and stone carving – flintnapping.. I´ve been working with this all my life. I am 40 to day but started up earlier.

I had an fascination for The whole worlds prehistoric life & living & survival.

I don´t say it´s right…But I can understand WHY it´s happening. You see , the only people who is been fighting for their existing are The Lappish tribes…But there are actually more minorities as well. And we “others??? has an long gone history as well .

It is strange again…The politicians in Sweden are not really concern about their own pre religion and culture, the whole history it self. If they have the interest , they could lift it up a bit more in the school for example ,then letting The racists( skinheads among ) misuse our FUTARK The RUNE alphabet ) for example

But this is an other story.

I´m writing to you about The tradition of using The sauna & The Shaman in our culture.

Because this was the part in your written text that I myself get confused and wondered :

Don´t Your tribes ( with collegians ) get correctly informed about OUR traditions .

Because there are similar . In many way. I myself don´t think it is strange because we all are humans. And been living for thousands of years along and as a team with Mother Nature & Father Earth .

In our culture we don’t call our Shamans for Shamans.

We call them : The Wise Folks .

Or : The One who can cure you = Botare

Or :

Handpåläggare

( A healer )

Or :

Kopperska

Mostly a woman who cleans your blood and inner system with heat and bloodleech ( I don’t know if you heard of them..But its an animal. )

My Grandmother was a Healer and a Kopperska .

These where the ones who lived a bit “outside??? the group / village. In the old days they used to live a bit away from the others

but under the 1800 century`s they also lived nearby . An with .

That you contacted in a difficult matter /topic/illness/relations issues and so on. These people who where in contact with The Spirits .

And everybody wasn´t Lappish tribes . They where Pre Swedish & Pre Finnish .

My father who is 74 years old have been building saunas all his life.

Everytime I´m gonna have some guests or lectures in the way of using the sauna, he is telling me :

Don´t forget to tell them that from the beginning The sauna was build for The woman .
That The Sauna is : The Matrix !

For me and the rest of the Fins, The sauna is Holy. There are rules , that have to be following.

It´s Respect . It´s a

Holy place where :

You do not swear ,

You are not insolent ,

Do not fart or burp ,

You treat The Spirit with Healing with respect and Light.

It is a place you go to alone or with your Elder for some consultation

You pray in there

You can do your meditation in there

The sauna has medical treatments

For people with asthma

Muscles pain

Headache

Pregnancy

Even for some love/ relation healing

( I do not mean that you should have sex in it…)

Sometime we are using Birch and herbs .

It depends on the issue.

The Sauna is Healthcare

For your mind, Spirit & physics

I got friends that building there own sweat lodges. Last year I saw one and I was telling the woman ( who of course is not a Native ) IF she had considered her choice of the rocks.

She was just staring at me with ? In her eyes.

And saying :

But, this is an ceremonial action ! Everybody should pick their rocks and put it in for the fire!!
Yeah, yeah !

And I told her :

But You where just lucky this time . Cause these rocks arn´t not made to be in the fire. If there cracks ,they could become projectiles . And there is no Holy with killing your guests in a sweatlodge .
I can also tell you that I myself is not always so very popular in my friends groups who is in those new age groups…???s???

I agree with everything you say about the respect and the use of your Sweatlodge, because it´s all the same for us , using The Sauna.

One have to be very careful in a place like this.

The more authentic knowledge you get about an issue, less you will do your mistakes.

Unfortunately, I think that the information you got earlier about The Nordic Traditions Saunas where not all correct .

With Best Regards

And

May The Spirit Be With You

Ulrika Fagernäs

Homepage : www.eyedrop.net/ulrika

[Ric_Richardson]

Tansi;

As we have a friend from St. Petersburg, Russia, who was somewhat homesick, we offered him the opportunity to build a Russian styled sauna, on our property.

The Traditions of the Russian sauna sound a lot like those described by Anna-Ulrika.

Any time our Russian friend comes to visit, he makes good use of the sauna, and with Birch fronds.  It is good when peoples of the circumpolar regions share their Cultures and Traditions!  We have much in common!

Ric

[Marina]

Oh, that was intresting reading about the sauna. I'm also from Sweden and have roots in the north of Sweden and Finland but I didn't know that... but of course it has a meaning, why haven't I thought of that!   

You learn something new everyday 

[Kantuta]

Marina: Perhaps you haven't thought about it because most people don't respect those rules anymore, at all. Excuse me for saying this but I think Anna-Ulrika is exaggerating the role of the sauna a bit. People DO drink alcohol in the sauna, people DO have sex in the sauna, fart and burp and swear and party there, every scandinavian knows that

[Galtsdotter]

The coin have allways more then two sides.
And everyone talks from their experience and nolauge.

I myself ,don´t agree with you...cause my experience is the opposite.
And my firends & colleagues who is in Alternative healthcare ,using the sauna in & for  the old traditional health care.
No one of them brings the beer in The sauna.They are there for something else.

But of course I´m myself are aware that some people do all those things in the sauna.
But for me ( and many with me) that is like swearing in the Holy church.

For a couple of months I heard on the radio, that the Finn archaelogists had find an sauna dated 2000 yeras back...A hole in the ground (I dont heard what the size was)
And I´m sure it wasn´t for having a party...

There is not a "new" wisdom, that people all over the world been using : Heath,water,coldness for healthcareing...For  the  prevent cause till healing when your mind or body is lack of the holy Spirit. In diffrent ways...But the exportaion are simillar and in the end it´s for the same cause.


If you´re deeply intressted in how the medical treath process for a human under sickness or illness development or old rituals (without the booze, sex, farting), you are free to contact me.
There is accually  doctors and scientists who is researching in this topic.

Lots of Love
Anna-Ulrika

[Ric_Richardson]

Tansi;

I can only speak about the way in which our Russian friend explained his use of the sauna, but all of that which was described, initially by Anna-Ulrika, is consistant with our friend's description.

I do understand that many uses of many things, from Traditions, have been corrupted over time, but there are still some of us, who choose to use Respect in experiencing Traditional practices, even when sharing these experiences with people of other Cultures.

Respectfully
Ric

[Defend the Sacred]

One of the people in my household is Latvian, and her father grew up in in an area of Latvia where the community still maintained some of their older traditions, such as solstice bonfire ceremonies. They have sauna ceremonies that are sacred, that involve prayers and rituals for particular life passages and other purposes. I have only seen a little bit of these types of things written down.

It is my understanding that in some Scandinavian areas the Sauna is a communal place to get warm during harsh weather, and as such, is used for a variety of both sacred and secular purposes. In America, most people only know of the secular ones at health clubs and such, but in some rural areas of Scandinavia they still have ceremonies, or did when my friend's father lived there.

[Galtsdotter]

Thank you...
I get warm inside when I take part of your words...

Now I will be going to my father who is in the hosiptal....And misses his sauna.

Tonite I will do a sacrificed cermony for his Spirit & health...In the sauna.

Take care all you two...
Lots of love
Ulrika

[Defend the Sacred]

Best wishes and prayers for your father's health, Ulrika

Sl? inte Mhath (good health),

-Kathryn

[saunavasta]

Terve! (Hi!)

You speak Finnish sauna on this topic. I hope you add my story telling about Finnish sauna and sauna’s mention for me and my family the way what sauna means for us. Sauna is older than me so I tell what I have heard from my grandparents since 1900, parents and relatives and my own experiences. Have to remember also that all Finnish families on their own areas (tribe-areas) have their own ways and deep meanings for sauna but this is mine (us). I leave Sami people and Romans out of this because I don’t know what is their relationship with sauna.

Sauna
Shortly sauna is life. Sauna is centre of life.Sauna is place of bath, spend spiritual moment, spend time with friends and family, keep party, make magic, laundring and dry clothes and take care of health and also place of death. My mother is born sauna but after public healthcare my sister and me are born hospital. There is lot of old health care ways like “kuppaus” what old medical people have done on sauna. Some people practise these old medical ways these days too and there is lot of courses and some public schools where people can learn old skills.

Spirits
My grandmother teaches me how to feed our spirits. One of the spirits is saunaspirit who lives in sauna and takes care of sauna when people are somewhere else. My gm called sauna and other spirits name “tonttuja”. Translate call them “elvs” but it is not like santa’s elv. It’s like riihitonttu (“barnelv”) etc. Every Finnish house building has own spirite who take care of it night time and time when people are not home. There is also house trees for house and family protection and trees what put the ground when new child born. When we leave sauna we always let sauna warm giving last water for saunatonttu.

Social event
Sauna is social traditional way. Sauna is still on these days reason why people gathering together. People call each other “let’s keep sauna night” and people go visited for sauna. Make sauna ready is already something what we do together. That all take hours and older people teach how to make vasta and youngest kids are proud when they can carried first half bucket of water for sauna.

We also laundering and dry our launderings at sauna. Some dry herbs and stuff.

Sad and sad part of history
It is true that some people drink but usually out of sauna (because of cold bottle on hot sauna is not necessarily nice) and Finnish  joke of these days is “what is Finnish man? It is sauna, beer and sausage”. There is no same kind of joke about finnish woman.. Yet.. At wartime they even kill and buried people back of sauna. They resently found "old" bones back of one sauna.

Ways

Yes we go to sauna together, families or friends or families with friends. Who wants to go sauna alone goes, who wants to go sauna men only with men friends or women only with women friends goes like they want. But some are used to go sauna with all and there is no sexual feelings. Sauna is not sexual place because of nakedy. It is not allowed stair another’s bodies like that. When we look people who we talk we look on eyes and faces, not breasts or intim body parts. Only if you are married or long relationship you can make love at sauna. There is Finnish believings at women’s body parts and it’s power and holiness.

Like I said before all families and areas have their own ways. Some of ours:

- Carrying water for sauna
- Carrying wood for sauna
- Make fires on sauna
- Make vasta (from birch) for sauna bath
- Looking for clothes and lights and stuff
- Make sure there is heat and water for them who come behind you
- No speaking at first 5 minutes. First minutes are for feeling saunaspirite, mineself thoughts and feel togetherness with them who are sauna at the moment.
- No barbs, farts (btw that hurts because of heat) etc. noises
- No curse words
- No bad thoughts or badmouthing

Speaking is allowed after 5 minute (there is no clocks, just some time when people are ready to talk)
Sauna is often have been only place where women are talk with another women for any issues like coming woman, babies, birth and stuff. Because of sauna you are totally naked and when your body is naked feels people see your soul inside your body and it is easier to talk about difficult stuff. Been emotional, remember old stuff and all. Be human for another human. Be family, be together, feel togetherness.

We

- Wash another’s hairs
- Wash another’s and especially old people’s back’s (spank softly at birch-vasta also)
- If there is river or lake near we go swim and then we go back to sauna
- If there is snow outside we go jumping at snow and then we go back to sauna
- Some broke ice at lake and go get ice shower and go back to sauna

Sauna bath is kind of new born because old dirty leaved behind doors and then we clean up and put new clothes and go together drink some coffee or cacao or eat ice cream.


Juhannussauna spells and magic

Finnish are people who have much of singing poems, spirite or dream callings, questions, ways and sayings, spells and ”magic”. So Juhannus we looking for fiance (be cool guys it’s not Juhannus right now). Girls have to get married so we chasing them and make spells and collecting flowers and count windows and whatever to get our men. We try get dreams of our men. What he looks like and stuff. One juhannustaika (magic) is running around sauna building naked. I guess that bring all horny boys from neighbour area make a posing...

Then there is also sauna for bride before wedding day when should do magic and "kidssauna" etc.

Sayings:
“ If sauna, terva and booze does not help, you will die”, “sauna is a pharmacy of poor man”, “best ideas are born in a good sauna bath”.


Time changes

Sauna is still very big part of our every day life. It is not and never had belong only “shamans” or healers, sauna belongs every home, and it was and still is focus of life with or without spirituality. Sauna’s spirituality for now basic good feelings, that is why we have addiction for sauna. Even just sitting there and be quiet and listen and feel sauna warm is something so great. Old (and these days) people called helpers and healers bring their spirituality and skills for sauna. People who are "kupanneet" (take out bad blood) and helped babies out and another stuff. When some try born baby out I don’t seen any bad focus at powerful spells, poems or songs. Now people can just take painkillers but before powers and help has coming from somewhere else. From songs and poems etc. There is lot of poems what should make feel better and my mom has skills do these, her healing poems always help mind.

Sauna and it’s look and ways change with time like all do. Some have sauna outside of house, some have it inside of house, some have wood heat sauna, some have electric heat sauna, what is funny now you can buy vasta next to ice-creams on shops because all does not own trees anymore. Some don’t have sauna at all. Some does not like it all. Almost every rent apartment building has one sauna too and one or two sauna night/week. For now they can bring electric saunas for almost every apartment. Personally I don’t like electric sauna’s heat, it is burning and dry. Air have to be little wet and warmness soft before it is “real” sauna.

Older sauna type is “savusauna” (“smog”sauna) where was no smogpipe at all. All smog came inside of sauna and takes longer time warm it and many saunas go on fires. But some still have savusauna and my sister’s family make food there for Christmas. Some kind of slowly cooked meat what takes aroma of smoke.


Thank you for let me tell what sauna meaning for my family. Not mention staying your forum any longer. I just wanted to make a point what is Finnish sauna for regular Finnish person and regular family. And i know, my english is just