|
News & Info
|
 |
 |
Seller Signup...
Quality Service, Seller or Tradesperson? Sign Up Now!
|
|
Home & Garden Articles
All About Finnish Saunas - History and Rituals
Wed 06 Feb 2008 - 15:17
All About Finnish Saunas - History and Rituals
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Kevin_Urban]Kevin Urban
A relatively new institution in the United States, Finnish saunas have been an integral part of the Finns' culture for at least the past thousand years. In today's Finland population, there is currently one sauna per five people, a staggering statistic that demonstrates their intrinsic nature in the day-to-day lives of citizens. Amazingly, there are more saunas in Finland than there are automobiles.
The First Finnish Saunas
Legend has it that the first saunas were built as early as the 5th century. Before evolving into its current incarnation as a dedicated room or enclosure for achieving the relaxation and therapeutic benefits from steam and heat, a Finnish sauna was used for bathing, healing, and even as a sanctified environment for birthing and preparing the dead for burial. The Finns strongly believed that saunas were a therapeutic cure-all for any ailments or maladies.
The original sauna bathers sat around piles of heated rocks with tarp-like covers over their heads to keep the steam concentrated. These early Finnish versions gradually evolved to rudimentary one-room structures with log ceilings and walls.
Finnish Sauna Rituals
In their most primitive form, saunas were used to host many of the Finn's fundamental life-cycle rituals, especially birthing. Historically, Finnish women gave birth to their babies in saunas, and then remained contained in the sauna with their newborn for several days after the delivery. Saunas were considered hygienic, sacred environments, ideal for conducting some of life's most vital rites and ceremonies.
Unlike today's modern versions, traditional saunas in Finland were not heated constantly, but only once or twice per week. This is because the process to heat a sauna was extremely laborious and time-consuming. Only highly trained, deliberate fire tenders were permitted to perform this highly important task, which could take days to complete.
Although some modern-day saunas incorporate a mixture of family members, historical saunas in Finland hosted the men in one group and the women in a separate group. This was a legacy from the farming days, when the men bathed in the sauna after working in the fields all day, and the women bathed afterward.
When taking a sauna, Finns are expected to remain courteous, quiet, and subdued. There are strict rules against shouting or impolite behavior.
Perhaps one of their most widely renowned sauna practices is the Finns' propensity to jump into icy-cold water or roll in the snow-often wearing little or no clothing-immediately after a session in a hot sauna, often repeating the entire process several times in a single day. After this cycle, the final part of the ritual is to relax and enjoy a cool drink or refreshment.
Modern Finnish home saunas are used not only to achieve meditative relaxation, but as a forum for business meetings. Just as Americans might conduct business on the golf course or in the boardroom, Finns hold many of their political and commerce discussions while in the sauna. They believe that the tranquil, stress-free environment of a sauna makes it ideal for the exchange of ideas and the bartering of deals.
Types of Finnish SaunasIn the course of their long history, there have been many different types of saunas in Finland, ranging from heated holes in the ground to specially designed rooms inside the home to completely separate buildings. The most common style was the Finnish smoke sauna, which used a pile of heated stones to produce smoke that was emitted through a small opening in the roof.
Over time, evolving materials and techniques produced the modern-day Finnish saunas, which are equipped with either electric sauna heaters or wood-burning stoves. Many of today's Finnish homes include a sauna as part of their main bathroom. What hasn't changed, however, is the traditional practice of generating steam through the use of hot stones and water and the use of natural wood to build the walls and ceiling of the sauna.
About the Author:
Kevin Urban is the editor for [http://www.sauna-talk.com/ ]http://www.sauna-talk.com, a comprehensive guide to infrared and [http://www.sauna-talk.com/finnish-saunas.html ]Finnish saunas. His articles cover all aspects of building your own from planning to [http://www.sauna-talk.com/sauna-installation.html ]sauna installation.
Copyright 2008 Sauna-Talk.com
Permission is granted to publish this article on your site providing all links are included and clickable.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kevin_Urban http://EzineArticles.com/?All-About-Finnish-Saunas---History-and-Rituals&id=968602
Looking for information on General Home Improvement, Find a supplier at HomeWise.ie
back to General Home Improvement articles
back to all home & garden articles
|
|