#traditional Finnish cottage and sauna

[maijakoivula]

The Monster Slayer Girl - A Fairy Tale (1800s, by Unknown)

Snow White by Tekla Brauer, 1900

A Finnish Snow White with a sword

Reading about the history of Fairy Tales in Finland by Kaarina Kolu, the first article in this book describes a Finnish version of Snow White, who is quite the girl boss (and dated to somewhere in the 1800s.)

The girl is the titular Monster Slayer, and she is not a princess to begin with. Her stepmother wants to get rid of her, so off the girl is sent to die alone in the woods. She survives by making friends with seven brothers (the first Finnish language novel is coincidentally titled Seven Brothers [1870].) The Monster Slayer tidies up the brothers' cottage and is regarded by the boys as their very hard-working sister.

The brothers have been bothered by monsters, all of which have multiple heads, and the Monster Slayers Girl slays them all by beheading all of them with a sword.

Then the wicked stepmother finds out that the girl is still alive. Wanting her dead, the stepmother knits an evil cursed jumper and sends it to the girl as a gift. The Monster Slayer Girl (now girlbossing her way through the woods in the 1800s) graciously accepts the gift and after going to sauna (Saturday night, obviously) she puts the fresh new jumper, and lo and behold, she falls into a cursed coma.

The seven brothers commit suicide so their wraiths in afterlife can guard over their dead sister.

The czar's son comes by, hunting, and his hunting dogs alert the dude to the carnage. Because the Monster Slayer luckily enough happens to be a real hottie, the czar's son takes her corpse home and starts to worship her, losing sleep and appetite.

The czar intervenes and wants the Monster Slayer buried. The 19th century Russian equivalent of funeral home workers take the corpse to be dressed for a coffin, but once they remove the cursed pullover, the Monster Slayer comes back to live (and so do her seven brothers.) The prince marries her, and she lives happily ever after. Unlike in the famously written version of the tale where the wicked stepmother is given metal shoes filled with coals to dance herself to death with, and have crows pick out her eyes, she is just bummed :|

The fantastically interesting thing about this story is of course how atypically gender coded The Monster Slayer is. She has both feminine and masculine fairy tale attributes. Some have speculated that this is due to the fact that 19th century Finnish ladies didn't have the time to play at being frail, meek and weak, because life was very hard and you just didn't have time for that shit, which kind of is in another way confirmed in an early 20th century magazine article I read 10 years ago about another, much more famous mythic woman-of-her-own-terms being an icon to the average woman in popular culture (Louhi, from Finnish mythology, who has about all the same attributes as the male "hero" of the stories, except she is the villain because she's a woman hurr durr.)

Women and queerness in 19th century Finland

Reading The Monster Slayer Girl I did think that if you tried to sell this to the contemporary audience right now as a new thing, it's probably come off as very modern feminism, with its 200+ years of age.

On a tangent: historically a lot of very contemporary looking/feeling things happened in Finland before nationalistic romantic cultivation and "fixing" of culture to match central European ideals, in terms of folk dance, Finnish dance jams often in many places included something akin to drag shows [something my folk dancing teacher, historian and friend loves to talk about] where a man would portray himself as an elderly single lady. Happily enough some folk tradition historians were able to make dance notations on the steps of these shows before they were lost to nationalist romanticism and cultural gatekeeping (and indeed, Louhi was replaced by a mom as The Proper icon for a proper Finnish woman, on the other hand that mom was pretty cool too, don't see a lot of middle aged ladies traipsing down into the Underworld with a garden rake these days. Since then we've stopped having national conversations on which mythic girlboss should a person inhabit in their daily lives, and maybe that's okay.)

My navel gazing part

I sometimes get told I write too many active women. I wondered about that last year. I think it's something in my genetic and personal heritage. When you come from a long line and culture of very active and charge-taking women it's not very easy or natural to create something completely out of that experience.

And it's not like it's my subjective experience either, it's a well-known trope that men have a hard time dating Finnish women because it's impossible to be chivalrous x)

(On another note I've dabbled creating sensitive ladies in an 18th century fantasy setting for my own amusement because why not.)

[dumbfinntales]

Merry Christmas and happy Holidays proper! Like per tradition we celebrated the holidays on the 24th and it was a pleasure like always. I just adore Christmas and the jolly season. We visited some relatives and ate good Christmas food, then shared some presents.

We got this wooden sign for our parents that you can attach to a wall with a metal leg. You know those wooden signs that usually hang next to shops or taverns outside? Exactly like that. Our parents have this big cottage on their yard that was used for boat repairing back in the day, but it was converted into a hangout place where you can listen to music, sing karaoke and have a few drinks between family and friends.

Me and my little brother gave our Christmas gift to my older brother much earlier this year, it was a used Nintendo Switch with the new Zelda game, and that was in the summer when it released. A very early gift indeed. For my little brother we got a zombie head ashtray. He's a smoker and really enjoys zombies.

I in turn got a South Park themed t-shirt from my brothers, and from my parents we all got a mutual gift that was this weird bucket that has lights and can play music. You can put some ice in it and store drinks there and then listen to music via Bluetooth. You can also use it in the sauna as a water bucket, or a "kiulu" how we'd call it in Finnish. Although I wouldn't trust taking an electric device like that to the sauna, I know it's meant for it, but I'm not sure I trust it. In the manual they even advice to fill the bucket with cold water so it doesn't heat up to much in the sauna.

I hope everyone had (or will have) a good Christmas! Or whatever you might be celebrating at this time of the year.

[raymondduggantravel]

🇫🇮 Welcome to Finland: Where Nature's Beauty and Innovation Thrive 🌲🌅

Welcome to Finland, a land of pristine lakes, Northern lights, and cutting-edge design. From the vibrant city life of Helsinki to the tranquility of Lapland's wilderness, Finland captivates visitors with its natural wonders and unique cultural offerings.

Introduction: Step into a land where saunas are a way of life, and every season brings its own magic. Finland invites you to explore its vast forests, swim in crystal-clear lakes, and experience the thrill of chasing the Northern lights. Whether you're discovering modern Finnish architecture or enjoying traditional Karelian pastries, Finland promises a journey of discovery and relaxation.

History: Finland's history is shaped by its geographical location between East and West, and its cultural heritage reflects influences from both Swedish and Russian rulers. The Finns have a deep connection to nature and their ancestors, with traditions like the summer solstice celebration of Midsummer and the ancient epic poem "Kalevala."

Helsinki, the capital city, blends neoclassical architecture with contemporary design, offering a vibrant arts scene and a bustling market square. The Helsinki Cathedral and the Suomenlinna sea fortress showcase Finland's history as a part of the Swedish and later Russian empires.

Beyond Helsinki, Finland's lakeland region is dotted with thousands of lakes, offering opportunities for fishing, boating, and relaxation in picturesque cottages. Lapland, in the northernmost part of Finland, is known for its reindeer herding, Sami culture, and winter activities such as husky sledding and skiing under the Northern lights.

Finnish cuisine highlights local ingredients such as salmon, berries, and mushrooms, with dishes like reindeer stew and cinnamon rolls ("korvapuusti") satisfying both locals and visitors alike. Finnish design, known for its simplicity and functionality, has produced iconic brands like Marimekko and Iittala.

Experience the allure of Finland with Expedia! Book your next adventure and discover the wonders of this enchanting country. 🌌🛷🇫🇮 Explore Finland with Expedia

Join us as we celebrate Finland's rich history, stunning landscapes, and innovative spirit.

[susanreeed]

Northern Lights: Finland Vacation Packages for Adventure Seekers

The Northern Lights, also known as the Aurora Borealis, is a natural phenomenon that has captivated the hearts of adventurers for millennia. For adrenaline seekers and nature lovers alike, taking a Finland holiday package to see this celestial extravaganza is an unforgettable experience.

Magic of the Northern Lights

The Northern Lights are a stunning show of colors that dance across the Arctic sky, generated by charged particles from the sun interacting with gases in the Earth's atmosphere. Finland's location in the auroral zone makes it one of the best places to see this spectacular occurrence.

Imagine standing beneath a canopy of stars, as bright shades of green, purple, and pink swirl and dance overhead, creating an unearthly beauty beyond description. The beauty of nature's handiwork astounds and humbles those who witness it.

Book Now: Finland Vacation Packages

Custom Vacation Packages for Adventure Seekers

Finland provides a variety of vacation packages designed exclusively for adventurers looking to view the Northern Lights. These programs combine the excitement of hunting for auroras with opportunity to explore Finland's beautiful nature, eat local food, and immerse oneself in the rich culture of the Arctic region.

From guided expeditions to remote wilderness cottages to thrilling snowmobile safaris under the starry sky, each Finland holiday package is designed to give an unforgettable adventure full of excitement and wonder.

Experience Arctic Magic

Beyond the Northern Lights, Finland's Arctic terrain is full of natural beauties waiting to be discovered. Adventurers can go husky sledding through snow-covered forests, ice fishing on frozen lakes, or snowshoeing along beautiful wilderness pathways.

For those wanting an adrenaline rush, Finland offers ice climbing, skiing, and even ice swimming for the daring. After a day of exciting activities, what better way to unwind than to rest in a traditional Finnish sauna, followed by a dip in an ice-cold lake—an experience that will rejuvenate both the body and the soul.

Cultural Experiences and Local Delights

No vacation to Finland is complete without experiencing its people's warmth and hospitality. Travelers can visit indigenous Sámi settlements to learn about their traditional way of life, take reindeer sleigh rides, and even try their hand at traditional crafts like carving and weaving.

Foodies will be delighted to get the opportunity to experience Finnish delicacies such as substantial reindeer stews and freshly caught Arctic seafood grilled over an open fire. And for those with a sweet tooth, Finnish berries and pastries will satisfy any hunger.

Source URL: https://susanreeed.wixsite.com/home/post/northern-lights-finland-vacation-packages-for-adventure-seekers

Conclusion

For adventurers looking to watch one of nature's most spectacular shows, Finland is the ideal spot. Travelers can embark on a voyage of discovery, adventure, and breathtaking beauty by booking personalized holiday packages to chase the Northern Lights and explore the Arctic environment.

So pack your bags, cuddle up against the cold, and prepare to follow the Northern Lights in Finland—a once-in-a-lifetime trip that will leave you enthralled and wanting more.

[dailyfinny]

Depending on where I am, I have a traditional smoke sauna at my cottage in North Karelia, and at my home in Porvoo I have a hot rock steam sauna with a wood burner to heat 🥰 The smoke sauna is claimed by most Finns to be the “original” finnish sauna and it has a very long history which is important to me! But sometimes the smoke can feel heavy on my chest, and so my steam sauna can be a more relaxing experience.

I like them both equally, but guests prefer the hot rock steam sauna it seems, but even still they can’t seem to last very long 😅

Though there is one person who is tough competition when it comes to being the last to leave for a cold shower..

And although it’s not really a competition, no one has ever outlasted me yet 😊

[milirii]

Midsummer is almost here and I wanted to write a fic with BC and some mid-summer magic. But I didn't have any extra time, so here is just my plan I wanted to share with you anyway ❤️

(this is long post, sorry!) (if some of you feels inspired: you may take this and do your magic with it)

Before getting into details, I think I need to explain some of these midsummer traditions just in case. In midsummer there is old beliefs that midsummer night is a particularly powerful time to do some tricks (or magics) to either predict your future (more spesifically love life), try to make your crush to like you back or to improve your own fertility. Probably needles to say that these midsummer-magics were mostly done by young ladies who wanted to get married.

The most well-known trick is collecting 7 (or 9, depends a bit of what part of Finland you are from) different flowers and putting them under your pillow. You should see your future spouse in your dream. You can also see a reflection of your spouse if you look at the surface of the pond or down the well. While being naked ofc.

And if you want to actually meet your future spouse, you can try these:

Roll naked in the field owned by your crush or walk 3 times around a triangular field. In last round your future spouse should come across you.

Walk around sauna three times at midnight and after that look inside the saunastove. Naked. Oh and remember to have a gift to your spouse. Otherwise there will be bad luck.

Run around a biggest stone in the yard 7 times and hold hymn book in your hand at the day before midsummer day. Your spouse should be sitting at the stone in midsummer night.

Then there is some not as direct predicts. If you see snake at midsummer night, the snake will go to the direction where you find the spouse-to-be. If you get smoke to your face while sitting at the bonfire, you'll be getting married soon. And if you hear cuckooing in midsummer night, the number of cuckooings will tell you how many years you have to wait to find your other half. If there isn't any cuckooing, that means you find your spouse in current year.

And now: if you are still interested of what I thought would be a fic, but was too busy to actually write, here comes:

Joonas would do every trick naked, like these are originally meant to be done. (Like rolling in the fields and walking around them and peaking to wells and stuff)

Niko would try to scare him and meet him halfway of the last round around the field.

Niko himself would run seven times around the biggest stone of the yard in the cottage (without the required hymnbook in his hand because he do have a hymn 396 tattooed on his arm and that is basicly the same thing, right?)

Later, when Niko is done with tricking Joonas when he is running around the fields naked, he founds Joonas sitting on the stone and playing softly guitar while looking at lake and dreaming.

They end up leaning against each other and singing old Finnish songs together in the white summer night.

Tommi truly doesn't believe in any of that magic stuff. But he would accidentally see a snake in forest and it escapes towards the cottage yard where Olli is currently tending their bonfire.

Later in the night when they are all sitting around the said bonfire, the smoke keeps following Tommi even when he tries to change the spot.

Finally he gets tired of coughing and Olli howering over him and being worried of him breathing so much smoke and retires to sleep.

Olli would pick seven different flowers and put them under his pillow. Sadly, he wakes up with stuffed nose because he is allergic :(

He didn't even have time to see any dreams, but it doesn't bother him too much. Who could really complain while Tommi is right there making sure you can breath and his chest is best pillow you could ask for <3

Aleksi doesn't want to do anything too brave, or to see his future partner at all. He wants to have some excitement and surprises waiting for him. (and he doesn't want to know if his future boyfriend isn't Joel)

But he is a little bit curious of when the boyfriend of his dreams will show up and decides to listen if he hears any cuckooing in the summer night. There isn't any and Aleksi is sad, because he isn't fully aware of how this particular prediction works.

Joel doesn't want to believe in that midsummer crap, but secretly he does believe a little bit and goes out to the sauna after he thoughts others went to sleep. (so, way too late) He walks around the building and then goes in and peaks inside the saunastove.

He feels a bit stupid. Especially after not seeing anyone in anywhere. And then Aleksi manages to scare the shit out of him when he sneaks in too to warm up a little, after wandering through forests and trying to hear the cuckoo.

Joel exits the sauna while blushing furiously. And then decides to pick a flower to give to Aleksi as a gift because after all he don't want to risk his chances with him. It is Aleksi's time to blush.

They sleep that night in the sauna chamber. Curled around each other.

[finnishhockeyelf]

Hi this might sound super dumb but I’m not from Finland and have only briefly heard about Midsummer, could you explain to me like what it is and how it works/what you’re supposed to do, thanks!

Hi!! This is not dumb at all, I'm glad you asked ☺️

As you most likely know the thing about midsummer (or juhannus as we call it) is that it's the longest day of the year in the north and the sun goes down very late if at all. It's celebrated always in the weekend of that week when the longest day is.

We have traditions like lighting bonfires in the midnight and people gather to watch them and of course midsummer sauna is a must. There are some traditional midsummer enchantments i.e. if a girl picks up 7 different flowers and sleeps with them under her pillow, she'll see her future husband in her dream, or if you look into a well at midnight (preferably while naked) you can see your future husband there or you can run around the sauna three times at midnight (naked again of course) and then look into the fire box or a well and then you'll see you're future husband. These are old folktales but some people still do these or variations of these more as a joke. Also because most of the flowers are starting to bloom around that time it's common that people go pick them and make wreaths. Almost everyone goes to a summercottage with friends/family and it's common to do bbq (not as hc as in states) and eat and drink well. It's kinda a party and people who stay in the cities usually go to clubs and there are many festivals/events made for just midsummer. Some people get very drunk and since many finnish summercottages are on a lakeside, someone always unfortunately drowns, and every year the biggest papers announce the number of deaths by drowning that midsummer. Hmm what else... common activities to do in the cottage (while waiting for the sauna to heat and the food to be ready of course) are playing darts or mölkky or go swimming or fishing. I think that's all I can think of! Hopefully this was at least a bit useful haha 😊🌸

[mythologiafennica]

Juhannus – the magic and the myths of Finnish Midsummer

You know the picture, dark silhouettes of people dancing frantically around a flaming red bonfire. Bare feet, love potions, sauna, odd rituals, a night that never comes, a sun that doesn’t set. You know the picture.

Even to this day Juhannus (’Midsummer’) has a special meaning to Finns. It’s completely normal to go ask your boss if you can leave the office a little early today since it’s Juhannus and you’re supposed to go to your cottage. (That is, if your boss hasn’t already left for the exact same reason.)

We burn our bonfires, we gather seven flowers, hop over seven fences and sleep with the tiny bouquet under our pillows in order to get a glimpse of our future lover in our dreams. But where do these old habits come from? What is Juhannus at it’s core? Well gather around the candle children, for I will do my best to unravel it.

The origin

As in many other European cultures, Juhannus is a celebration of fertility and light. During the pre-Christian times, this celebration was held in the name of the god Ukko. When Christianity started to gain hold the celebration got to carry the name of John the Baptist (fin. Johannes) since his birthday was supposedly celebrated around the same time. The old name, Ukon juhla (celebration of Ukko) held on in southern Karelia until the late 1800′s. In some dialects Juhannus is called mittumaari, mettumaari & messumaari.

The events

Certainly the most well known tradition associated with Juhannus is the bonfires. This originated from Karelia and was absorbed into the celebrations held across the country during the 1900′s. So this is in fact a fairly new part of the festivities. The bonfires are mostly associated with the cleansing of bad spirits and bringing about good fortune, good crops and healthy cattle.

Bathing in the sauna was done early in the day, so as to be clean and ready to take on the nightless night when the time came. The sauna and the house would be adorned with green leaved trees, most commonly birch and/or aspen. Young birch trees would be cut down and placed on either side of the main door and to frame windows. A thorough cleaning of the house was also considered an important tradition, as usual during the turning of seasons. The clean floors would then be covered with the leaves of rowan, aspen and bird cherry.

In parts of Ostrobothnia people set up a spruce tree on the yard (sort of like a Christmas tree, but trimming away all branches except for the very top, leaving a hat of sorts.) This tree then stood on the yard until kekri, harvest time. Whereas birches would be taken down quite soon after Juhannus was celebrated.

The magic

As is with so many other seasonal turning points, Juhannus was also seen as a time when the borders of the spirit world and our world thinned, and therefore it was a brilliant time for magical purposes. Love related magic was not only very popular but also easy for everyone to do. Juhannus was the time when one could catch a glimpse of their future, be it good harvest or a new lover.

The dew that covered the fields on Juhannus was seen as the very power of the crops and thus it held immense power. One would collect it from their own fields, store it and give it to the cattle when autumn came in order to strengthen the cattle with the force of summer before winter. The dew was also used to cure various common illnesses, either by drinking it or sprinkling it on the skin.

As concluded in my text about healing, people believed that the amount of good fortune was fixed, and therefore one could perform dark magic on the night of Juhannus and snatch away another’s good fortune by collecting the dew from their field and sprinkling it on their own. This way their crops would flourish as the other’s would shrivel and die.

The dew also provided help in powerful love spells. After a maiden who desired to be wed returned from watching a bonfire (or right after bathing in the sauna) she would roll naked in the fields belonging to a house where a desired partner lived. The powerful dew would then stick to the maiden’s skin, and furthermore, when the men of the house would later in the year eat the bread of the crops, the lust and desire would then get a hold of them as well. And they would then live happily ever after.

Here’s a little list of easy midsummer magic for seeing your future partner:

place a four leaved clover under your pillow for the night

place a wreath tied with nine strands of hay under your pillow for the night

look into a well, naked, at midnight

listen to the cuckoo singing in the night, each sound is one year until you will meet your lover

walk around a triangle shaped field thrice, naked, and on the third time you will meet your lover

the smoke from the bonfire blows towards the one to be wed soon

if logs stood up after the bonfire burned low, there would be as many spinsters as there were logs standing up

walking backwards towards a pile of logs after sauna would determine the kind of lover you would get, if your butt hit a log that was split in half your lover would be taken or married already, but if it was still whole your lover was single and would be your entirely

The myth

Aarni, the guardian deity of treasure, cleaned his treasure during the night of Juhannus. He would burn away the mildew and rust on his coins and jewels, creating a magical flame with a blue hue. This rare flame was called aarnivalkea (cf. wisp) and by following this blue light one might stumble upon a fortune.

One could increase their chances of spotting such a blue flame by looking for it through a ring shaped object; better still if the ring was formed naturally, such as a twig that had formed into the shape of a ring as it grew. A skull worked also, but it had to be fetched from the cemetery on a midsummer’s night. The best place to look for an aarnivalkea would be from high up a tree or at the crossroads where three roads met.

The journey to the treasure of Aarni was a perilous one during which one would meet all sorts of horrors from the world beyond, one of them being a mythical ox. If one was brave enough to hold the ox by it’s horns they might wake in the morning to see that they were holding a pot of treasure instead.

Pteridium aquilinum, bracken (fin. sananjalka, saniainen), was believed to bloom only on the night of Juhannus. It was believed that it used to be a beautifully blooming plant until someone had wiped her ass with the leaf of a bracken, and the poor plant was so ashamed of this that it only dared to bloom in the midst of midsummer’s night.

If one was lucky enough to see this mythical blooming they might also be able to snatch the seed of the bracken, which was believed to grant one magical powers, such as the ability to turn invisible. Another magical trick was to cut the bracken close to it’s root at a slant and then look at the black dots appearing on the surface. These would form the initials of, you guessed it, one’s future lover.

Getting drunk and being noisy during Juhannus was believed to bring about a good harvest and good fortune as well as banish bad spirits. So in honour of these ancient traditions, that is exactly what I plan to do this Juhannus, drink responsibly and make some noise to keep away the forces of evil.

Questions?

[rosmariiniwitch]

Sauna Magick 101

Nordic people, it's time to shine! As a proud Finn I decided it would be the best to tell you about saunas (also called bastu by Swedes but sauna is the right name, fight me ) .

When it comes to magick that involves whisks and messy healing methods, use your own Sauna and always clean up after yourself!

About Saunas

Nordic saunas were invented by the Finnish people. (The Mayas did also have their own ones!)

The first saunas (built in 1500-900 BCE) were often little cottage-like buildings with a fireplace with stones in it. That fireplace thingy has now developed into a sauna stove or a kiuas, as we like to call it.

Us Finns have this saying that "If Booze, Tar and Sauna aren't doing any help, the illness is going to make you die." This tells a lot about our culture. Sauna was a place for healing - for example bloodletting, cupping therapy and massages were often done in saunas. People gave birth in saunas as well as dead people were gaven a last washing there.

The old folk of the North believed in elves. Almost every single building a person has has it's own elf. Sauna elves were often greeted by a spell, often a simple "Good evening!" or saying it out loud that water and the steam were important in healing worked.

The heat often bathed in is often something between 70C-90C (158-194F) . The sauna users are naked the whole time. An old tradition of whipping yourself ( or your friends and family) with a sauna whisk remains. It can be weird when I tell you to tie a couple of sticks together and hit yourself with them, but what if I told you that it helps your body? Oh, speaking of which...

Sauna Whisks

The essential oils which birch leaves have help you with cleansing your body and reducing pain. Whisking yourself helps you with getting rid of dead skin and it does wonders to your circulation of blood and metabolism. Birch is associated with spiritual cleansing as well!

Magically making a Sauna Whisk

The most popular material for sauna whisks are Birch twigs, though - let me tell you - you can also use Rowan or even Juniper ( if you only simmer the juniper branches in boiling water for a while.) . For a nice smell and magical properties, you can of course add a little bit of lavender or a blackberry branch.

The best time for gathering the twigs are in June when the leaves are young and soft. Ask the trees ( and the landowners) a permission to take branches. You need a good 30-40 branches.

Bless the branches in a simple ritual.

Clean the branches off some of the leaves, so that you make a handle that is pleasant to hold.

Gather the branches together and make sure that the longest ones are in the middle.

Tie the branches together and place them in a water pot in the sauna waiting for you to use them.

Using a Sauna Whisk

If you have an intent, you can state it when you're in the sauna. Use a spell like this, for example:

"With the power of blessed leaves,

I shall be in perfect ease.

When branches meet the body of mine,

I shall be purified.

Negative energy, I banish thee,

it harms none, so mote it be. "

Whip yourself thoroughly from your shoulders to your toe. Enjoy the smell of your whisk and feel it filling the sauna.

Clean the sauna after a whisking ritual.

Lotions and Essential Oils

Saunas are great for lotions and oils! It is popular to use honey on your skin in saunas, as well.

Using Sauna Oils and Aromas

I would recommend that you use specific sauna oils in saunas instead of just essential oils. Do your research about the oils you're using and how they react to the heat!

Choose the right oil that calls for you. Often these oils are mixed in the water you throw on the sauna stove. Remember that these bottles can get very hot if you store them in Saunas!

When used correctly, the heat of the sauna combined with an amazing aroma can be a wonderful and powerful healing experience.

Applying Lotions

I like to do my skin care when I'm having a sauna night! Saunas are great for face masks or peeling creams etc. and I personally love to use sauna honey on my skin! Honey makes your spells more powerful and when you use scented honey, it can bring things for your life (for example, rose honey is the honey of love)

Saunas give your skin care items some time to take effect, and I like to think that the heat helps them as well.

Washing yourself magically

In the modern times, there are often showers near the saunas so you don't have to mix your own washing waters. However, while visiting summer houses or just the saunas of your backyard, you might not be given that kind of luxury and you have to mix the waters traditionally.

If you have to use the water-in-bucket method, I recommend to put a couple of herbs there. It isn't probably the best idea to put essential oils, as they can be harmful to your eyes etc.

Water with rosemary in it is also helpful in cleansing you both physically and magically.

Make a special washing water! Put water, herbs, honey, soap and some coconut oil on a washing basin and clean your body with it before you use normal water to wash it off.

Bless your water!

Visualize all of the negative energy going down the drain as you wash yourself

Other Fun Tips

Who said you couldn't use candles? Just make sure you have a small plate where you place the candle. Be aware of safety.

Go swimming in between of your sauna sessions!

If it's winter and you're feeling brave, you can go and roll in the snow!

Give an offering to your sauna elf, like a candle, food, money or liquor!

[iamjustthemoon]

i’m missing finland again

I'm missing Finland again. an ache, in the deepest parts of where my heart starts, through the end of my stomach, with a flowing throb into the deep trenches of my upper intestines and a slow trickle down through the other organs that sit inside my waist. it’s an ache like the missing of a person.

.

My nostalgic memories of my every summer habits tattooed into my being, start pulling at me wondering why I am not revisiting these places. The smells and places growing strong in the storage sections of my brain. They sit deep within my hippocampus to neocortex, iron clad in the almond shaped amygdala forever binding these memories into the emotional whirlpool of what I consider me.

.

I ache when I leave, standing in the airport. That part hurts, just like the leaving of a lover, or a friend, or a family member you cherish. But then once on that plane, you look ahead, shift gaze forward, and it's onwards from here. You let the sinking sadness of the place float gently in the airwaves you are rocketing through, knowing you will be returning sometime, this pain is not forever.

.

Now, in this global crisis, this ache of missing has started to throb from the absence of this place, as I physically cannot go. The missing started like a whisper, and as the days tick past, the weeks then months, my body’s muscle memory starts to pull at the parts of me that remember

.

I start to use my imagination again. I tap into the pieces of my brain I haven’t actively exercised to their full potential. The child in us, who used to imagine everything; I use her now to get somewhere I want to be, but can’t. I let the shifting weather, with her cool whispers, remind me of the late summer Finnish days, always cool enough as the purple light of midnight sets around me. The clearer air and soft bird song, I let any inkling of similarity catapult me into a deep memory that I pull into and over me like the softest of blankets, covering my face and body into a sea of memory.

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I use sensory triggered imagination to reach the spots of memory in my brain, then unlock them with the most powerful potential, as scent is the most rudimentary of senses. Smell has roots trailing back to single celled organisms interacting with the chemicals around them, tapping into our brain now wired with over 1,000 smell receptors, versus the 4 we have for sight, and 4 we have for touch. Smell unlocks the deepest parts of our

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One whiff of a cool breeze, or the scent of cardamom, a mossy patch in the woods, or the laundry detergent my grandmother always uses, sends me rushing back into the space that I ache for. I hold on tightly to this space i’ve been catapulted to and sharpen my eyes of imagination to keep me floating there.

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I miss crisp summer days, midnight sun; where evening turns to dusk turns to purple blueish pink light that lasts up to eleven o'clock at night, and the darkness only sets in for about two hours, and even then it’s a dark blueish dark, not completely black. the sun starts to rise again around 2 am, and once your eyes open fully at 7 or 8, the sun has already danced it way high into the sky and you feel as if you’ve just risen at half past noon.

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I miss the clearness of the air and the forests, The simplicity of the birch trees and pine trees. the straightness of their trunks, and the mossy rocky undergrowth that blankets the forest floor. The sparse undergrowth of trees and small bushes. The stark contrast of the paper white birch trees; trunks of white with dark streaks of black that look painted on with deliberation, amidst the stick straight trunks of the dark brown pine trees. Small blueberry(bilberry) plants cover the forest floor. Unassuming and low to  the ground, their small green leaves hidden amongst the piles of moss and other small greenery that speckles the ground. But once the season hits, little blue berries dot these small green low lying plants, and the abundance of these powerful sweet berries is overwhelming.

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I miss the quiet of Helsinki. the stone walkways and smooth buildings with beautiful doors. The seagulls and the soft scent of salty air from the brackish Baltic sea. pastel painted old stone buildings that sit nestled together in a myriad of colors. the sloping dips of the stoney streets bordered by lines of soft colored stripes of buildings on either side. Burnt oranges, sandy yellows, deep ochres and mint greens.

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I miss the marketplace hustle of vendors selling blueberries, strawberries, apples, lingonberry (puolukka), snow berries (lakka), large sugar snap peas, fish of all kinds (salmon, muikku), wooden bowls and spoons, reindeer leather, small metal souvenirs. The scent of cardamom and cinnamon lingering sweetly in the air from the freshly baked yeasty sweet breads all Finns eat with coffee.

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I miss the clear bright blue sky. The clarity of it’s color cascading down to the tops of the trees and forests that are never far from sight. The reflective surface of the lakes that dot the quiet countryside, of rolling meadows and small, red wood houses, each one with it’s own small black sauna that sits on water’s edges.

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I miss the glassy still lake at sunset, when the surface reflects the purple blue streaks of sky, the colors that bloom just after the sun touches the backs of the trees and disappears for only a few summer hours. The stillness of the water creates a mirror to amplify the watercolor sky that turns the whole view into a vivid painting. The hot, smoky heat of the wood smoked sauna still lingering on bare skin as i step into the cool, still, painting. I dip my legs in purple, pink, and slowly sink myself into the cold ripples, watching the heat steam off my warmed flesh and into the evening sky. The extreme contrast of temperatures brings me to a sense of rebirth, as I submerge my head underneath the cold water and bring it back up to surface. Nothing feels better than this.

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I miss the grocery stores; the potatoes in massive barrels. New potatoes are smaller than the ones in the states; about the size of an egg. You can buy them cleaned (washed and scrubbed) in one barrel, slightly dirty in another barrel, and then completely dirt covered, no cleaning yet, in another barrel. This being the cheapest option, as you take them home and scrub them in the sink, or lake, with a potato scrubbing brush, or glove, or by rolling them in the sand at the shores of the lake, as we did in Puumala when I was a kid. the aisles of endless milk products. rows and rows of cartoned yogurts in every flavor, quark and cottage cheese, and plastic packaged blocks of squeaky cheeses. the meat and seafood counter with the majority dedicated to slabs of fresh fish. Salmon. Fresh salmon, salted salmon, dill salmon, smoked salmon, plank salmon.

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I miss the smells of raw birch and finnish pine; smells that linger in beautiful well designed buildings. Classic Scandinavian architecture with it’s clean lines, light wood, large windows; perfect use of space and light.

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I miss the ferries that meander around the island speckled coast. the salty air and ocean spray. the tiny little islands still inhabited, with traditional little houses painted in red, or yellows, sometimes whites. the quiet of the calm Baltic, softly wavy waters and continuous string of little islands as far as you can see.

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I miss the rolling coastline of the edges of helsinki. the small islands that dot the surrounding baltic sea, and the small bridges that connect them. I miss kallios, the epically smooth rock that reveal themselves at the edges of water, and speckled in forests. their smooth skin peaking like the backs of whales cresting the ocean surface. the secrets of time told by these rocks, smoothed down by the weather over eons of years. The silkiness of this stone is so gentle, it sends soft tingling sensations down to the bottom of my feet when I run my hands down the sides. with especially large ones like small mountains, kids like to make slides out of their smooth curved surface, marked by silky ribbons of use cascading down the sides.

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I miss the Helsinki airport. It's quiet silence, not eerie but welcoming. soft, padded sounds in a pristine clean space, light wood and floor to ceiling glass windows. Sometimes soft bird chirping sounds are heard in the bathrooms as ambient noise. The quiet in the airport is what gets me. It feels as if only two or three planes land a day, and spaced so evenly apart that the scattered speckling of people makes the space feel like not a bustling hub of international air travel, but a quiet abandoned, but well kept modern shopping center, hushed but breathing. the portal to my entering this sacred spot of mine.

[kuuttituutti]

Sour cherry, heart shaped, home 🌹

sour cherry: an obscure tradition from your family?

When we go to the sauna on christmas eve, we are not allowed to talk. The more you talk in christmas sauna, more mosquito bites you are going to get next summer : D

heart-shaped: do you believe in love? are you in love?

I believe in all kind of love. I’m not in love, but maybe someday

home: where do you dream of living?

I love this question. I dream on living on a cottage near lake or sea or a river. There needs to be water and a chance to swim. I would love my house to be wooden or brickhouse.  And a fireplace would be lovely.  A swingset on a yard. Kind of far from others, but that I could just drive or walk to the nearest strore. 

Basically the basic finnish summer cottage : D

Thank you so much for asking!

[willgayers]

Omg you're from Finland?? So cool!! As an American that is very seriously considering moving out of country somewhere and is considering moving to a Scandinavian country, I'd really appreciate it if you'd share a little bit about what life is like there? Do you enjoy living in Finland?? Sorry if this is weird...America is just a pretty scary place to be lately.

first of all; i spent half an hour writing the answer and then accidentally closed the tab. i am sCREAMING INSIDE !!!!!

but, lets do this again, so:

hey!! yeah i am from finland! born and raised! and its not weird to ask ,, tbh i kinda get your point. i actually answered to an ask yesterday telling what are my 5 favorite things about living in finland, but i can tell you some more under the cut, especially differences etc ! this was actually fun to write 

ok first things first, food is very expensive. ofc not in fast food chains like mc donalds etc, but restaurant-restaurants are expensive and also grocery stores, unless you’re buying the store’s own product so at least we’ve got a cheaper option. but yeah restaurants are very expensive (salads starting from 12euros, pizzas from 13euros, chinese/nepalese starting from 12euros, sushi is so damn expensive dont even get me started on that, i only ever eat it in a lunch buffet… and if you wanna order a steak or something like that lmao prepare to pay nearly 20euros OR MORE),, anyway during lunch hours there are usually special offers. coffee prices aren’t that bad. we also have starbucks! but not all the drinks that you guys have

just like food, alcohol is very expensive, so if you like your liquor be ready waste a lot of money on it. thats why finnish people actually go to estonia by ship to full the cabinets bc their alcohol is so much cheaper! its a finnish tradition lol. same goes with cigarettes. its 8 euros for a pack in here so 9 dollars.

traveling abroad is pretty expensive, but mostly just to the states and some very exotic places like the maldives idk. its like 1000euros to travel to california (i would know because i’ve always wanted to visit but im poor af 3). traveling inside finland is not that expensive , gas is p expensive but depends on the gas station 

clothes are not that expensive, at least it depends on what you’re buying. mostly anyway its the same price range that in usa i think but we don’t have the same stores, at least not forever 21 and primark for example but we do have h&m and zara and then some european stores like bik bok (which is my personal fav!) also victoria’s secret is super expensive cause it’s not normal for finns. there are only 2 of them in here anyway, one in the capital city aka helsinki and a small one at the airport

now to holidays! in actual calendar order ;-) valentine’s day; not big on celebrating, stores have stuff and some people do spend it but… not like… many easter; we have a thing similar to trick or treating, kids only dress as bunnies and witches tho may day; basically students (from like college) get “crowned “with student caps. everyone goes out to a park for a picnic and to drink. a lot. im telling you finnish people are huge drunks,, also its part of the tradition to dress funnily, stores sell weird may day clothing (like glittery hats and neon colored sunglasses), also there are sugar donuts and a either alcoholic or non-alcoholic (you decide) drink called sima. aaand decorations like balloons and paper streamers are literally everywhere midsummer; other finns go to their cottages and barbecue and go to sauna and swim in the lake. others go to a festival to get wasted. either way its a beautiful finnish tradition lmao, also this is the night when the sun shines for the whooole night!! not like literally shines but its not dark at all. there are bonfires and honestly, i’d say midsummer is the one holiday where finnish people really drink. like its -the- heavy drinking holidayhalloween; NO trick or treating which was very sad to kid-me bc no one gave me candy when i went t-o-t as a kid. also still pissed off cause it’s my fav holiday. stores sell halloween stuff and people dress up for parties, but no one really decorates. which sucks. finland sucks for halloween tbh. one plus is that we have the perfect halloween weather because its super dark and chilly and rainy and orange leaves everywhere during halloween-time!!thanks-giving; very very very little people celebrate this. definitely not a common thing. i only do it with friends and we call it friends-givingindependence day; obviously finland’s independence day. 100 years this year!!! christmas; 1000000% celebrate. so much snow. so cold. every store has christmas things and plays christmas music. everyone decorates. i mean it’s only fair bc santa claus lives in finland duhnew year; well i don’t think theres a country that doesn’t celebrate this tbh. stores sell stuff again. we have fireworks. also a lot of drinking. againalso obvs moher’s day and father’s day

concerts happen, not as often (especially with big stars) as they do in the states, but they happen! so do festivals. i actually summer-work at the largest one in finland ayyyyyy 

also, finnish people swear. like. a lot

MINUSES;- it can get freezing in the winter. last winter the lowest we hit was like -32 degrees- most of the time during summer it rains. this is also a finnish people joke because there was a meme saying “in the bible it rained for 40 days and 40 nights. they called it the apocalypse. in finland it rained for 40 days and 40 nights. they called it summer”- some finns are very narrow-minded, so expect not everyone to definitely not agree with you. i actually have a hard time dealing with this and usually always stood out from the mass mainly bc i am way too social and open-minded and everything to hang out with kids my age because their opinions and standards never really match to mine. finns are tbh kinda raised to be cold and they have to be well educated. oh boy if you only would’ve heard all the things they have told me after i have told them that i wanna make a living out of singing and acting and writing! - well the expensive things that i mentioned and the lack of halloween :-( - also if you wanna make it big, like international-big, in the music industry for example, it is very hard to try and do that from here because literally no one either knows that we exist or thinks that we live in igloos and have polar bears in our backyard. also everyone loves sweden more lmao and we hate that. there’s actually a finnish joke ,, we won them in hockey one year with 6-1 and every time we argue with a swedish person… thats always a great comeback, no matter how long its been :-)

PLUS- THINGS;+ we are mostly a very safe country with an amazing president+ free health insurance+ free studying + same sex marriage is approved+ summer is very beautiful if its not raining. especially in the countryside. amazing!!! + finns aren’t over-all bad, for example there is an incredible bond between finns when it comes to extreme finnish stuff, like midsummer drinking, seeing dramatic movies that revolve around finnish history (like war for example, a re-make of an old movie called the unknown soldier just came out and it was intense in the cinema!), hockey victory and this especially!!!! like it doesn’t matter if you hated that guy from your math class, if you two run into each other on a victory night, you fucking hug for three hours because WE FUCKING WON and tbh that is what i find most beautiful in our culture. its cute + ok honestly, just christmas again. finland is the winter wonderland i am telling you!

overall, i enjoy living in finland very much. it is a home and even though i wish to live abroad one day, finland will always be my home!! so if you really wanna move out, i suggest you at least consider finland. we are actually an amazing country. i hope this helped you! XO

[drev-the-ambassador]

Juhannus

Now, in midsummer, Finnish people are celebrating this thing called Juhannus: it’s basically a celebration of midsummer and light, which we indeed have a lot of this time of year. I’m sure other countries have similar celebrations, but I thought I’d tell you how we celebrate it here in Finland!

So, first, the name juhannus actually comes from Christianity: some people say it’s the birthday of that guy who baptized Jesus. I think his name was John or something. The Finnish form of the name John is Johannes, so johannes, juhannus, see where the name comes from? However, I know exactly 0 people who really celebrate juhannus because of that. It used to be a festival related to the old religions here, from the time before our neighbours made us Christian.

When do we celebrate it, exactly? Well, since 1955, juhannus has been celebrated - in Finland and also in Sweden, but probably not as juhannus - on the Saturday between the 20th and 26th of June. This year juhannuspäivä (”juhannus day”) falls on 24th of June, while juhannusaatto (”juhannus eve”), which, according to my mom, is when most of the celebration takes place, is 23rd of June, the Friday before. Also known as yesterday at the moment I’m writing this. 

How do we celebrate? The most common way is to get together with friends, maybe go to a summer cottage, by the sea or one of our 187 888 lakes, and get drunk. Of course. Finns love all the holidays that give us a reason to get drunk. It’s a little sad, really. 

Of course, when you’re drunk, it’s a great idea to go for a swim, especially if you can’t actually swim while sober! That is why many people drown during juhannus, I checked the news just a while ago and already two people had done just that. It’s... also pretty sad, really.

Anyway, there are also people who don’t get terribly drunk on juhannus. I know, because most of my family belongs to this category. The way we usually spend juhannus is that we go to our summer cottage in the beautiful Turku archipelago, usually our grandparents and cousins are there too. We go swimming - while sober because we’d prefer not to drown - go to sauna, roast or barbecue sausages, and just enjoy the summer with the whole family. 

And, of course, a crucial part of celebrating juhannus is the juhannuskokko. Bonfires are burnt around the country. It’s a tradition! It was originally used to fend away evil spirits, I’ve heard. 

There are also specific ways to decorate your house during juhannus. The most common and simple way is perhaps the juhannuskoivu. People cut down small, young birch trees and tie them to the doorposts of the front door of the house. Wikipedia tells me that the same thing is practiced in Sweden, too, which is not a big surprise since we have been influenced by Sweden quite a lot. I mean, also not a surprise, since we were a part of it for ~600 years. Another common decoration are just... flowers. In my experience, at least.

In Finland’s Swedish-speaking areas and in Åland juhannussalko is a tradition too. It’s also used in Sweden, as well as similar things being used in other European countries, but usually during some other time than midsummer. It’s called a maypole in English, a tall, wooden pole decorated with flowers and such. People dance around it, and, I’m sure a lot of people know what they’re for. 

I mentioned sauna very quickly, but it is a tradition to go to sauna on juhannus. It’s called juhannussauna. You’re supposed to make a fresh vihta or vasta  - there is a lot of debate on which is the correct word - from the branches of the juhannuskoivus you just cut from the forest, though any birch tree is fine. When the vihta/vasta is made around juhannus, the leaves are as big as they’ll get but also still soft, so they’re perfect for what you’re supposed to use them for - hitting yourself and everyone else in the sauna with you. 

Yes, that is really their purpose, but you’re not supposed to hit them so hard it hurts, just... Hit them. Carefully. Not as if you were whipping them to death with a bunch of birch sticks and leaves. People do this other than on juhannus, too, by the way. I’ll make a post about saunas someday, so I’ll talk more about vihtas/vastas too. 

There are also a lot of music festivals in Finland during summer, and juhannusfestarit is a thing. A quick Google search tells me that this year alone there are at least 8 of these. There are other, smaller celebrations too, of course, and there is the event called juhannustanssit. People get together to... dance, really, and probably also to drink. I don’t know, I’ve never been to one, as far as I remember.  (Below a painting by Anders Zorn, called Midsommardans, the Finnish name is Juhannustanssit. Zorn was Swedish, though, but he was friends with a couple of famous Finnish artists, so it goes. It also has a juhannussalko in the background.)

Then, there is also the most important part of juhannus... Juhannustaiat! Juhannustaika is like a “spell”, usually to try to find our your future spouse or to get a good harvest. For most spells you had to be naked for them to work, had to run around fields and saunas and look into wells and jump over brooks and stuff, all while naked. There is, however, one juhannustaika that is still practiced to this day (not saying that the others aren’t, but I personally haven’t done any of those) though probably not that seriously. 

It’s very simple, and I’ll tell you how to do it, so you can use it some juhannus, wherever you live! If you can find flowers nearby, I mean. Anyway, it goes like this:

Go outside.

Find 7 different types of flowers.

Pick at least 1 of each type of flower. (Some versions say you have to be naked while picking them, but it’s not necessary.)

Go back inside.

Place the flowers under your pillow.

Go to sleep with the flowers still under your pillow.

Dream.

You should see your future spouse in the dream. 

Dating tips from DREV to you all. <3 And happy midsummer, hyvää juhannusta! (Or what’s left of it!)

[newstfionline]

Finland Has a Sports Screw Loose

By Andrew Keh, NY Times, July 27, 2017

HYRYNSALMI, Finland--There’s something strange going on in Finland. Over the past few decades, as it has all but disappeared from the global sports stage, this humble Nordic nation has sort of lost its sports mind.

More than 2,000 people ventured to the remote backwaters of central Finland recently for the 20th annual Swamp Soccer World Championships. If you and your spouse want to compete in the Wife Carrying World Championships, you must come to Finland. The Mobile Phone Throwing World Championships? Finland. The World Berry Picking Championship and the Air Guitar World Championships? Finland and Finland.

“We have some weird hobbies,” said Paivi Kemppainen, 26, a staff member at the swamp soccer competition and master of the understatement.

Just look at swamp soccer in Hyrynsalmi, a place where Jetta can achieve a small level of celebrity over the years. Jetta is a stuffed badger ensconced in a bird cage. She acts as a mascot of sorts for a team of 12 friends who make the seven-hour drive each year from Vihti, near Helsinki, for the competition. They bought the doll seven years ago from a junk store at a highway rest stop, and her fame around the swamp has grown ever since. A couple of years ago, she was interviewed by a local newspaper.

On Saturday morning, the men stood around shivering in threadbare thrift-store suits, which they said were their team’s official warm-up duds. A bottle of vodka was being passed around (their preferred way, apparently, of warming up). It was about 10 o’clock. Soon it would be time for their first game of the day. They set Jetta aside and stripped off their outerwear, revealing skimpy blue wrestling singlets.

Before they treaded into the mud, they were asked a question: Why?

“You can say you’re world champions of swamp soccer,” said Matti Paulavaara, 34, one of the team members, after a contemplative pause. “How many can say that?”

The genesis of swamp soccer was in 1998, when creative town officials in Hyrynsalmi cooked up a festival-like event that would make use of the area’s vast swamplands. Thirteen teams showed up for the first tournament. Since then, the competitive field has grown to about 200 teams.

The recent matches--six-on-six, with 10-minute halves--were played on 20 fields of varying squishiness, spread out over 50 acres of swamp. Finnish rock echoed through the woods.

People striding on seemingly firm ground would disappear suddenly into the soft earth, as if descending a stairway. Some tottered on their hands and knees, like babies. Others stood still, until they were waist-deep in muck. The scores were generally low. Many of the players were drunk.

It’s hard to imagine an uglier version of the Beautiful Game.

“You play, you lose, you win--no one cares,” said Sami Korhonen, 25, of Kajaani, who was playing in the tournament for the ninth time. “The whole game is so tough, you’re totally wiped out when you’re done.”

This streak of strenuous irreverence began sweeping through the quiet Finnish countryside in the mid-1990s, and has only grown since.

In 1995, a Finn named Henri Pellonpaa killed a world-record 21 bugs in five minutes at the Mosquito Killing World Championships in Pelkosenniemi.

The World Sauna Championships were heavily contested in Heinola from 1999 to 2010, until a competitor died from third-degree burns.

More recently, thousands of Finns, most of them teenage girls, have taken up competitive hobbyhorsing, wherein competitors trot and hurdle obstacles while riding the wooden toys.

How did this happen? How did Finland become such fertile ground for wacky sports?

There’s no simple answer, but Finns offer various deep-seated factors, including an enthusiastically outdoorsy populace (that goes slightly stir-crazy during the region’s oppressively dark winter months), widespread public access to recreational spaces, and a continuing relaxation of the traditionally reserved national character. (Also, alcohol.)

Finland is the most thinly populated country in the European Union. It boasts endless forests and almost 200,000 lakes, and its residents enjoy “Everyman rights,” which guarantee public access to most outdoor lands and bodies of water for recreational purposes. The European Commission consistently ranks Finns as among the most physically active people on the continent.

“We’re like a forest people,” said Lassi Hurskainen, 30, a former professional goalkeeper from Joensuu, who visited the swamp soccer tournament while hosting a segment for a Finnish sports television show. “So we come up with games that relate to nature.”

Straddling the Arctic Circle, Finland endures long, punishingly dark winters. Summer therefore marks a period of national catharsis. It helps that the country has an estimated 500,000 summer cottages, and because many Finns receive up to six weeks of vacation time per year, the act of unhurriedly passing time outdoors feels almost like a national birthright.

The mosquito-killing contest, for instance, was invented by a Finnish businessman named Kai Kullervo Salmijarvi as a summertime diversion for his children.

“I think we go a little crazy in the summer,” said Hanna Vehmas, a sports sociologist at the University of Jyvaskyla. “Mix that with alcohol, and maybe we want to compete a little bit.”

In Hyrynsalmi, the swamp soccer games were just one component of the weekend fun. Finns from all over the country--there were also a few teams from Russia--effectively doubled the population of the small town, where road signs warning of crossing moose dot the quiet roadways.

On Friday and Saturday nights, after everyone had cleaned the swamp water off their faces, there were loud rock concerts in the parking lot of a local resort until 2 a.m., when the soft glow of the sun was still visible over the hills.

“This is what I wait for every winter,” said Tapio Velenius, 38, who has been playing swamp soccer since 2005. “It’s tradition in Finland: having beer, no sleep, having fun.”

Velenius, an electrician from Jamsa who is built like a rugby player, was particularly adept at one of the sport’s most important moves: resting on your hands and knees and lifting up one leg, like a dog at a fire hydrant, to kick the ball.

But even the simplest movements in the swamp had Velenius and the other competitors gasping for air.

“You’re at maximum pulse every time you go three meters,” said Roosa Mannonen, 22, a student from Lahti, who entered the women’s competition with a group of friends.

There was a time long ago when Finland was very serious about its sports. Athleticism and physical activity were important concepts around which the country’s identity was built after it gained independence from Russia in 1917.

The first half of the 20th century brought what Pasi Koski, a sports sociologist at the University of Turku, calls the “golden age of Finnish elite sport.” The country won an average of 24 medals at the Summer Olympic Games from 1908 to 1948, punching well above its weight in the global arena. Champion runners, like Hannes Kolehmainen and Paavo Nurmi, achieved heroic status.

They embodied the important Finnish concept of sisu, which loosely translates into some combination of words like determination, patience and hardiness.

The rest of the world caught up, eventually. From 1992 to 2012, Finland took home an average of four medals at the Summer Olympics, and at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, the country won a single medal: the bronze in women’s lightweight boxing.

But if the halcyon days of elite sports in Finland seem like a distant memory, the contours of a new, far weirder era of national sports prosperity have already taken shape, one that reflects the wave of individualism still growing in this young country.

Hence the wife-carrying races (where the winners receive the wife’s weight in beer) and the air guitar contests (hashtag: #makeairnotwar) and the soccer games in cold, coffee-brown swamp water. Hence the celebrity of Jetta, the badger doll.

“We learned to laugh at ourselves,” Kosi said. “What’s so serious?”

[lamoille-house]

Things to Do in Manitoba- A Star Attraction of Canada

If desiring a take a break and go on a trip then you should pick up Manitoba as your destination for a wonderful holiday. Manitoba is often overlooked as a tourist destination in the heart of Central Canada. There are so many Things to Do in Manitoba.

There are 61 major tourist attractions across the province, from iconic destinations and historic hot spots to cultural centers, and outdoor gathering spaces. There are almost more than 50 National and Provincial Parks. Along with outdoor adventures such as polar bear viewing, beluga whales, horse riding, camping, and hiking through national parks, Manitoba offers more things to do and also offers its fair share of festivals, museums, markets and more.

There is a lot of enticing things to do in Manitoba.

Things to Do In Manitoba: 

The Forks, located at the junction of three Red, and Assiniboine Rivers near Winnipeg’s downtown core is the best place to be in summer and winter. The Fork market and the Johnston Terminal Building restore historical buildings with interesting shops, restaurants, and casual food stalls. In winter the outdoor skating rink is, particularly for families. The Forks market provides an exceptional shopping experience to the locals and visitors. Handmade jewelry, clothes, toys, and historical souvenirs are available.

Seeing the northern lights dance across the sky is what draws visitors from all over the world. The peak viewing time is from January to March. The best time to see an aurora is in the heart of winter when the skies are dark, and the weather is cold. Head outside to the city’s provincial parks to increase your chance of seeing the lights.

Hecla Island: for a nice escape to nature and a relaxing getaway in Manitoba, Hecla Island is a favorite things to do in Manitoba. In summer, you can hike the trails, play golf, and enjoy the beaches and lakes in winter. Head on the cross-country ski trails, book a treatment at the spa and relax around a fire.

See Polar bears in the wild at Churchill where you can witness polar bears and beluga whales in their natural habitat. The best viewing time for Polar bears in October and November.

More Things to Do In Manitoba: 

Beaches: Grand Beach is one of the top beach destinations during summertime where you can also enjoy your evening stroll. You can escape to a corner of Grand Beach where large dunes and plant life allow privacy and quietness that you crave for. 

Asessippi Ski Area and Resort is a family resort. This is the largest ski resort in Manitoba with downhill ski/snowboard runs, night skiing, terrain parks, kiteboarding, dog sled, snowshoe trails, and down snow tubing parks. For adrenaline junkies snow biking or kiteboarding on the slopes is famous. There’s a food court, pun, rental shop, and gift store at the resort as well. 

Assiniboine Park Zoo is a popular place for family fun. The kids visiting this zoo can have a great time exploring and learning about the different animals. The real highlight of the zoo is the journey to Churchill’s experience. Watch the Polar bears swim and play above your head in the underwater viewing tunnels. The zoo also has all three species the tigers, leopards, and bears. 

Fun Things to Do In Manitoba 

Hit the slopes: Manitoba is known to be a prairie province, but many mountains allow for some super downhill fun, from bunny hills to double black diamonds. There are games for all skill levels and interests. So take advantage of the snowy days at Manitoba’s ski hill.

Entertainment along with your family: make memories on a family trip to music or cultural festival. Manitoba’s Museums makes the kids explore different topics. Manitoba offers a load of family-friendly vacation options. Enjoy camping at one of the parks. There are tons of other fun outdoor adventures like hiking and boating. Visit the beach on a sunny summer day splashing and building a sandcastle. There is wildlife viewing for kids. 

Tinker town Fun Park is an amusement park. It is a place of great fun and pleasure for kids. The park includes rides and various attractions to please visitors. Adults have the opportunity to play mini-golf in the park. After enjoying the rides visitors can cool themselves in water wars. 

Festivals in Manitoba: 

Manitoba has tons of festivals. There are so many to choose from, music to culture from Winnipeg to the edges of Riding Mountain National Park.

Gimli and the Iceland festival of Manitoba: Gimli is a small resorts town, approx an hour’s drive from north of Winnipeg on the shores of Lake Winnipeg. During summer Gimli comes to life as visitors and cottagers flock to this area to enjoy the beaches. The main highlight is the Icelandic Festival of Manitoba. The festival is meant for adults and children with all kinds of activities and entertainment. 

Festival Du Voyageur at Winnipeg is one of Manitoba’s premier winter events. This festival takes place each year in February in St. Boniface, the French-Speaking district of Winnipeg. It is celebrated in honor of the French Voyageurs who transported furs in birch bark canoes. Adults and children enjoy this festival. Traditional French music, cuisine, and other entertainment are held in outdoor tents. 

Zoo light festival: when the sun sets the Zoo light comes on. While you walk through the Assiniboine park Zoo you‘ll enjoy the breathtaking, magical display in Polar Town. Experience the great food, mini market, and interactive installations. 

Food festivals: Manitoba celebrates the weeklong festival. Each week is dedicated to Manitoba-themed food. To name a few is Le Burger Week, La Poutine Week, Fried Chicken Fest, and Manitoba Pizza. 

Manitoba Cuisine: 

Sampling the cuisine of a country is one of the delights of traveling. No matter spending your time in the city or hitting the road on your trip, Manitoba’s cuisine will impress and surprise you.

Most traditional dishes in Manitoba is Smoked Goldeyes, Honey Dill and Schmooze Torte

Family Getaway in Manitoba: 

It is not only beaches, lakes where kids can dive or cruise on in a boat. It is much more than that. Manitoba offers so many resorts and campgrounds that cater to families. There are also water parks, zoos, and northern Arctic tours.

Some of the getaways across the province your family will be excited to go on are rubber Ducky Resort and Campground, Lilac Resort, Falcón Beach Ranch, Buffalo Point Resort, Big White shell Lodge, Asessippi ski Area, and Resort etc.

Best Time to Visit Manitoba: 

Manitoba’s hottest and busiest season is summer. July and August is the ideal time to visit since it is warm during the day and cool at nights. 

At the end of May during springtime, it freezes and turns warm by June. 

September is a pleasant season where tree changes color and just cools enough. Time to Relax:

Tourists get busy hopping from one attraction to the other taking advantage of all the cultural and outdoor experiences. So it’s time to take some break and pay a visit to Therma by Nordic Spa nature. The Scandinavian spa is the perfect place to unwind and destress.

Soak for long in a thermal pool, sweat it out in the Finnish Saunas and get a good massage. And last but not least enjoys a good meal. Those interested in visiting Manitoba will find a wealth of unique experiences.

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How to Summer in Finland

Amid startling pure magnificence, you fish, forage, swim and sauna. And do all of it like a true-blue Finn.

Tradition Finland Lubna Amir | POSTED ON: January 7, 2020

  Summer time sunsets by Lake Saimaa stun with their mirror imagery. Photograph Courtesy: Asko Kuittinen/Go to Finland

I look down from my airplane window to see Finland swathed in myriad shades of inexperienced. It appeared like I used to be destined to see the nation in a single shade: after I final visited in winter, the land sparkled white. This summer time, I used to be again, and couldn’t wait to see what the happiest nation had in retailer. I used to be headed to Finland’s under-explored Lakeland. Dwelling to Lake Saimaa, the nation’s largest lake, Lakeland additionally cradles Imatra and Lappeenranta, two cities simply kilometres away from the Russian border that my group of Indian writers was to go to. On my two-hour drive from Helsinki to Imatra, I sit with my face glued to the window—craning my neck to see the dramatic clouds, however it’s actually the land that holds my consideration. As we drive on the nationwide freeway, I gaze out at velvety pine forests, their emerald standing out amid the fluorescent inexperienced of recent grass splashed with the pink, purple, yellow, white of wildflowers. Wildflowers abound, and I itch to cease the bus for a more in-depth look. Over the following few days, I be taught the names of those flowers, and with it, find out how to ‘summer time’ like a Finn.

  Meals? Berry Good

Scandinavian summer time requires lighter consuming: much less crimson meat and root greens, extra fish, recent greens and summer time potatoes. Oh, and berries—strawberries, raspberries, lingonberries, blueberries, every kind of berries. Finland follows Everyman’s Rights—anybody can go foraging and fishing on public land. This contains the 13,000-plus islands scattered round Lake Saimaa. Any Finn price their salt will spend no less than a part of their summer time crusing, foraging, fishing, and usually returning to their roots. Lease a ship—the waters of Lake Saimaa teem with fish, and no prior permits are wanted for rod fishing. Construct a wood-fire or carry your barbecue alongside so you may cook dinner your fish on website. Perhaps forage for mushrooms and herbs on the aspect.

Forage for berries in Lake Saimaa’s many islands (backside left), or just soak in its stunning waters (high left); The Saimaa ringed seal (high proper) is critically endangered, and there are solely 300 of the species left; Karelian pies (backside proper) with unique toppings like lamb and reindeer are novelties within the area. Images By: Lubna Amir (lady, berries); Seppo Ulmanen/500px/500Px Plus/Getty photographs (seal), Photograph Courtesy: Reetta Tuuha

Newbies, fret not. Begin with Vuoksi Fishing Park in Imatra. At this family-run institution, nestled by the Vuoksi river, proprietor Toni Kainulainen will gladly present you the ropes as you fish from the resident salmon pool. Or you may ebook a guided fishing journey with him, the river is filled with bounty, together with rainbow trout, pike, perch, whitefish and vendace. That is additionally a great place to get permits for those who’re fascinated with angling or heading out solo. There’s a smokehouse and restaurant on the premises, so you may catch your fish and eat it too—with out having to do the laborious work (verify vuoksenkalastuspuisto.fi for rental and allow particulars).

Within the metropolis, search for Rimpsu-Reetta, for Karelian pies by Reetta Tuuha. A tackle the normal pies from this very area (South Karelia), Reetta elevates the rye flour-and-rice pies with a bunch of pleasant toppings: reindeer, lamb, beet root, tomato-and-mozzarella and even blueberry and Quark (a private favorite). These mini pies look pleasant and style even higher; there are vegan choices too (timings are frequently up to date on rimpsu.fi). In order for you a style of the unique, head to Cafe Elma, began by accountant-turned-baker Lotta Kärhä 5 years in the past. Painted in pastel colors and adorned with kitchen memorabilia, it is a great place for pie and low. Tip: purchase a few of the rye sourdough for breakfast (Weekly lunch specials and customized cake particulars on lounaskahvilaelma.fi).

  Imatra is dwelling to historical wonders just like the rapids. Photograph Courtesy: GoSaimaa/Go to Finland

  To row out to any of the uninhabited islands in Lake Saimaa for a camping-foraging expertise, you may acquire the topography map from the Vacationer Workplace. It can make it easier to navigate higher across the rocky components of the lake. Should you don’t need to do it alone, attempt an clothes shop like TaigaSaimaa. Proprietor Toni took us to Muukonsaari island, a 15-minute boat trip away. The island transported me again to prehistoric occasions—heavy foliage, thickly-forested land, stray pinecones, leaves and twigs that crack-snapped beneath my footwear. Right here a dandelion, there purple foxgloves. Someplace, a frog croaked. Within the gentle of the dappled solar, Toni noticed chaga mushrooms, which he promptly plucked to infuse in our tea. What tea, you ask? We walked to a clearing the place Toni arrange his wood-fired range, took out the utensils he’d carried and made us pancakes and tea, which we lapped up with a aspect of Queen jam (blueberry+raspberry) and recent berries. To good this very-Finn expertise, we ate and drank from conventional birch wooden bowls and cups. Settled on high of a mossy boulder, awash on this picnic spirit, I requested Toni about attainable wildlife, to which he mentioned he noticed moose as soon as. There are additionally foxes and rabbits. On one other a part of the island sits TaigaSaimaa’s picket cottages and a sauna, which they lease out to teams. No working water, and electrical energy comes from photo voltaic panels. I used to be bought (taigasaimaa.fi; mushroom- and berry-picking on Muukonsaari island from €75/Rs6,000 per particular person, attain out to them for group tenting charges).

  Sunsets in Lake Saimaa are savoured greatest with a lakeside sauna-and-swim session. Photograph By: Deepti Asthana

However First, Sauna

It’s not possible to reside the Finnish life with out one absolute important: sauna. A standard Finnish saying is that there are extra saunas than individuals within the nation, and the Finns are at all times trying so as to add some impromptu pleasure to a ‘regular’ sauna. Final winter, I had completed the exhilarating sauna-jump on an ice pool-sauna-repeat loop. Summer time, I learnt, is equally enjoyable. This time, I obtained to swim within the lake as a substitute—a summery delight for Finnish hearts, a cold shock to my Indian bones. It was not but time for the midnight solar after I visited in early June, but it surely was summer time sufficient for sunsets to happen at nearly 11 p.m.—their gorgeous mirror imagery on lakes holding me captive. We additionally went to Hossukan Helmi sauna, a picket cabin by Lake Saimaa in Imatra. It comes geared up with a gathering room, wood-fired sauna, sizzling tub, and floating fits for individuals who can’t swim. I noticed different cabins too, respectful distances away. The sound of individuals laughing carried via. Contained in the cabin, we turned into bathing fits, and began with the sauna. And lake. And sauna. And lake. And ultimately, sizzling tub. Once I verify the time once more, it’s nearly 10 p.m. and the sky has began to show purple, reflecting within the waters of the placid lake. All I can do is breathe out and in, blissful. Grateful (The sauna is open to public on Thursdays €10/Rs800 per particular person; fb.com/hossukanhelmi). One other manner, after all, is to take advantage of resort saunas. Ours, at Vacation Membership Saimaa, was a sauna water park, full with dancing fountains, slides and flashing lights, aptly known as Cirque De Saimaa (Circus of Saimaa). Amongst the various choices, there was a wooden sauna, a salt sauna, a heated pool, and a particular children’ sauna too. Be warned although: it’s sizzling and steamy on this space, and for those who, like me, put on glasses (which should be saved in lockers earlier than heading out), maintain a pal with good eyesight useful… or stroll into the unsuitable altering rooms, a number of occasions (holidayclubresorts.com; doubles from €108/Rs8,500; Cirque De Saimaa entry €22/Rs1,735).

  Clean Crusing

Lappeenranta’s early 19th-century Previous City Corridor (high) is made solely out of wooden; Go crusing in Lake Saimaa’s plentiful waters (backside). Photograph By: Estea/Shutterstock (constructing), Photograph Courtesy: TaigaSaimaa (drone picture)

Lake Saimaa is a glacial lake, and it shaped the Vuoksi river within the wake of a pure phenomenon over 5,700 years in the past. The fourth-largest lake in Europe, it’s dwelling to 30 species of fish, together with endangered ones like white-spotted Arctic char and dark-spotted landlocked salmon. From Lappeenranta, there are common cruises to discover the lake—some which take you all the way in which to Russian metropolis of Vyborg, just some hours away. Enjoyable truth: for those who journey to-and-from through a cruise ship to Russia from Finland, you may keep there visa-free for 72 hours. Subsequent time, I promised myself. For now, we had been aboard M/S Camilla, having fun with a two-hour lunch cruise on the Saimaa Canal.

The canal connects Lake Saimaa to the Gulf of Finland, and whereas its building began within the 19th century, nearly half of the canal was ceded to Russia after the 1939 struggle. Curiously, Lake Saimaa is at the next elevation than the Gulf (slightly over 76 metres), and if not for a “lock” mechanism in place within the canal, the lake would have been empty. Confused? I used to be too, till we reached Mälkiä lock, the primary of eight. I used to be standing on the stern after we entered the lock and the gate was shut. A couple of minutes later, I realised the ship was going decrease. After nearly 10 minutes, the entrance gate was opened, and the water stage was now 13 metres decrease. There are seven extra such locks alongside the common route, earlier than one reaches the Gulf of Finland. Our cruise ship nonetheless, was slated to cross just one.

Whereas we dined on a refreshing beetroot and goat cheese salad, baked fish and new potatoes, and ice cream with Queen jam, we additionally learnt in regards to the Saimaa ringed seal, a critically endangered species indigenous to those waters. They’re so Finnish, they maintain a respectful distance between one another whereas sun-basking on rocks. Sadly, we didn’t spot any, however the cruise greater than made up for it (karelialines.fi; cruise ticket €22/Rs1,735; 3-course meal from €41/Rs3,500).

  Metropolis of Many Summers

Since summers are short-lived, Finns take advantage of it. There are summer time festivals and theatres, extravagant midsummer day celebrations, and in Imatra, a rapids present. When the waters of Saimaa spilled over to what’s now Kruununpuisto Nature Reserve, it altered the panorama solely. Through the years, the waters scoured via the rocks to a slender ravine, forming the Imatra rapids. The land of the reserve was formally shielded from 1842, making it Finland’s oldest nature reserve, sheltering swathes of distinctive vegetation and millennia-old rock formations. It’s mentioned that the roaring of the Imatra rapids attracted crowds from far and huge, and those that visited adopted human impulse—carved into the rocks are their names. The oldest carvings date again to 1700s, and there’s even one by Brazil’s emperor Dom Pedro II, circa 1876. We walked previous these carvings, listening to historical past echo amid the beautiful landforms. Whereas the rapids have now been harnessed for a hydro-electric energy plant, the dam is opened in the summertime, when individuals from throughout the nation flock to look at the present (verify imatrainfo.fi for speedy reveals and timings, there are particular ones slated for winter as properly).

  The Maiden of Imatra (high left) is homage to all those that took their lives by leaping within the rapids; Cunning artworks (backside left) are a enjoyable discovery in Lappeenranta; Summer time requires fishing within the Vuoksi river (high proper) and cruising the Saimaa Canal (backside proper). Images By: Lubna Amir (statue, artwork); Photograph Courtesy: Vuoksi Fishing Park (man), Esa Hiltula/Agefotostock/Dinodia picture library (cruise)

  Proper subsequent to the rapids, broadly thought of the birthplace of tourism in Finland, stands what the Finns have voted as essentially the most stunning constructing within the nation for 2 years working. An artwork nouveau constructing, the white-and-grey Scandic Imatran Valtionhotelli appears extra like a citadel with its turreted towers and fanciful arches. On the roof, there’s a stony black cat poised to leap, the doorway has foxes carved into the crimson stone. Fairly the picture op, I famous (scandichotels.com; doubles from €135/Rs10,500 for traditional rooms in a special complicated, €185/Rs14,500 for rooms in the principle constructing).

In Lappeenranta, a 17th-century border city by Lake Saimaa, the Fortress of Lappeenranta tells the story. The fortress juts out on a cliff face overlooking the Lappeenranta harbour, and it homes Finland’s oldest Orthodox church, and historical cannons and guardhouses, all constructed beneath Swedish and Russian rule. As we walked previous homes coated in completely happy reds and yellows, I observed how the planters on window sills are likely to spill over with boldly colored pansies and geraniums. There are nonetheless over 70 households who reside right here, I realized. There are artwork museums and cavalry museums, and a few pleasant craft retailers. I entered one, and spot rows upon rows of painted postcards with artworks of Finnish foxes. I purchased 12. A bit forward there are a pair of cannons, and behind, a summer time meadow crammed with yellow dandelions. I couldn’t resist—I walked to the meadow, sat down at its blooming, sun-filled coronary heart, and smelled the flowers round me. The grass beneath my ft felt smooth… candy, nearly. Each good descriptors for Finland in summer time. Feeling twice as fortunate as final time, I raised my invisible, overflowing cup—to the happiest nation on the earth.

Finnair affords direct flights from Delhi to Helsinki. From right here, each Lappeenranta and Imatra are a 2-hr prepare or bus trip away (visitlappeenranta.fi; imatrainfo.fi). Indian travellers want a Schengen visa. Whereas summers are short-lived, and much-loved, winter additionally holds plentiful delights.

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