Sauna Land – Finnish Folk Tradition Week
A Window to the Finnish Soul
The week opens a unique window to the ancient ways of living in the North. During our time together we will embody and unfold the Finnish and Karelian heritage. We will learn to sense the heritage with our bodies, spirits and minds and understand how the past is rooted in the Finnish soil, soul and sauna.
A Week of Healing and Learning
We will spend the week together in the Kotakylä. This very special place in North Karelia gives us a perfect setting for our week of healing, learning and working together. In the tranquility and natural light of Kotakylä we will experience how forces of nature and cultural traditions can empower and unite us.
Kotakylä - Nature and Tranquility
Kota is a tent- or tipilike dwelling, that refers to home and kylä means village. Our accommodation will be in comfortable huts with heating, but we can make fires and spend time together in the kotas, or even stay overnight.
Kotakylä welcomes us with an enchanting view to Lake Vaikko, a beach with clean water and fine sand, meals by the fire, and wilderness all around. Five amazing saunas, including the smoke sauna will be heated during the week. We can also swim or paddle, sit by the fire or just listen to the silence. Or we may stay up and watch the night sunset above the lake - or wake up at 4 a.m and greet the rising sun.
Cherish the Old Traditions
The Finnish Traditon Week is provides us with exciting ways to sense the Finnish and Karelian cultural heritage. We will get experience how the traditional working skills, rituals and ways of healing can cherish our lives.
So if you feel excitement in the air, this could be the time to join the chain made by our ancestors, and explore their myths, old ways and ancient wisdom.
Feel the Spirit of the Ancestors
Kotakylä is a place for well-being and presence. It is like a secret world separated from the rush and stress of modern times. In Kotakylä we are one with the surrounding nature. There we can return to our roots and live in the spirit of the ancestors.
Nourish Your Body and the Soul
Our week in Kotakylä will nourish your body and soul, refresh your mind and lighten your steps.
When entering the enhanted realm and timeless time of Kotakylä you are welcome to hide your phone and computer - and let the forest do its healing magic!
Here are the main themes of the cultural adventure that awaits us:
FOLK ART: Kalevalaic Singing, Incantations and Word Magic
MANUAL SKILLS: Sauna Hat Felting, Sauna Whisk Making, Birch Bark Bowl Making
WAY OF LIFE: Slash-and-Burn Tradition, Sauna Evenings
HEALING RITUALS: Labyrinth Building, Collecting Herbs, Smoke Sauna Ceremony
JOURNEYS: Visiting Monastery Site, Inner Journey to the Beginning.
Group size: 8-12
Valid: On request summer 2025
DAILY PROGRAM
DAY 1. ARRIVAL AND WELCOMES TO KOTAKYLÄ
Arrival and accommodation. Transfer from Joensuu Airport or Joensuu Railway Station. We will start our Finnish Folk Tradition Week by getting together at Kotakylä - a peaceful haven on the shores of a wilderness lake. Our host during the week, a traditional singer and folklore educator Eero Peltonen welcomes you to Kotakylä. You will find your own nest, enjoy the silence, birdsong and the beauty of water and trees around. We all get together by the fire and enjoy a light evening meal. 18.00 Light Evening Meal
DAY 2. LABYRINTHS AND WORD MAGIC
8.00 Breakfast
10.00 LABYRINTH MAKING
We will start our Finnish Heritage Week by diving into the mysteries of the labyrinth, or jatulintarha - meaning giants garden. We will also get a unique opportunity to join the making of a new labyrinth in Kotakylä. We will hear - and maybe even experience - how the labyrinths could have been used in the old times. Folk poetry from the 19th Century will be introduced to shed light into the secrets of these stony structures.
12.00 Lunch
14.00 INCANTATIONS AND WORD MAGIC
On this enchanting afternoon we will learn how to use incantations and the formulas of almighty words. We will sing incantations and hear audio and text samples of old charms. We look for magic words that give the incantations their mighty healing and charming power. We will also get tools and advice for creating our own incantations.
18.00 Light Evening Meal
20.00 HEMMOSAUNA – THE GENTLE SAUNA EXPERIENCE
The nature of this sauna can already be deduced from the name. Hemmo means familiar, friendly and gentle. Hemmo's lounging chairs give it a special relaxing character and atmosphere and a big a wood-burning stove provides a long lasting warmth.
DAY 3. RUNOSONGS AND SAUNA HATS
08.00 Breakfast
10.00 KALEVALAIC MYTHIC SONGS AND LEGENDS
The morning is dedicated to a tradition that is at least 2000 years old – singing oral folk poetry of the Baltic-Finnish peoples. This tradition is called runolaulu in Finnish and Kalevalaic singing, or runosong in English. We will learn this archaic way of singing in a traditional way, by repeating the verses sung by the pre-singer. We will also hear about the myths, legends and wisdom behind these poetic songs.
12.00 Lunch
13.00 FELTED SAUNA HAT MAKING
This afternoon we will make a unique sauna hat for ourselves. Our local guide Piia Seppälä will introduce us to the ancient skill of felting, where sheep wool, water and soap are used to create durable and warm textiles. We will test our new self-made sauna hats in the sauna already in the evening.
18.00 Light Evening Meal
20.00 LAUTTASAUNA - SAUNA EXPERIENCE ON THE LAKE
In the floating raft, we have a perfect place to get ourselves warm and refresh
On the Ferry Sauna, we have a perfect place to warm up and refresh ourselves by jumping into Lake Vaikko below, swimming and climbing back to the sauna.
DAY 4. INCANTATIONS AND WORD MAGIC
08.30 Breakfast
10.00 INCANTATIONS AND WORD MAGIC
We will explore further the traditional use of incantations and magical words. We will make a guided imagery journey to the time of creation described in Finnish-Karelian myths. The journey is accompanied by Finland's national instrument, the kantele. From this inner journey we will make an incantation, which we also can perform if we want.
12.00 Lunch
FREE AFTERNOON. A time to swim, paddle, walk in the forest, visit the local village or just sit by the fire, relax and enjoy the peace around.
18.00 Light Evening Meal
20.00 KOTASAUNA. A DIFFERENT SAUNA EXPERIENCE
You will find this extraordinary sauna hidden inside the logs. Kotasauna is known for its lingering and humid steam that lets you enjoy the warmth for a long time.
DAY 5. SLASH-AND-BURN AND BIRCH BARK
08.30 Breakfast
10.00 SLASH-AND-BURN FARMING AND USE OF BIRCH BARK
We will get a chance to be a part of the beginning phase of the ancient slash-and-burn farming. In this method the forest is first cut down and later burned. The resulting layer of ash makes vegetables and grains grow well. We will bring out the saws, cut down a few birch trees, which we leave on the ground as food for the fire. However, we will remove the bark and learn how to built a traditional birch bark bowl.
12.00 Lunch
13.00 VISIT TO PYÖTIKKÖ VILLAGE AND MONASTERY SITE
We will travel to the Vuokko village where people lived already in the Stone Age. We will visit two Orthodox chapels, and learn about icons, laments and the spiritual tradition. One of the shrines is at a site of a former 19th century Orthodox monastery, where the Old Believer monks lived. In the 1990s a Karelian style tsasouna was built on these holy grounds. We will also visit a chapel dedicated to fishermen.
18.00 Light Evening Meal
20.00 MUASAUNA – EARTH SAUNA
In this dark and quiet sauna, the soothing effect of the earth relaxes our minds and bodies. The light fragrance of the aspen creates a special atmosphere to the sauna.
DAY 6. SMOKE SAUNA AND SAUNA CEREMONY DAY
08.30 Breakfast
10.00 MAKING SAUNA WHISKS AND COLLECTING WILD HERBS
Finnish Sauna Day is always on the first Saturday of June. So this is the perfect time to celebrate Finnish sauna tradition; to make sauna whisks and collect wild herbs for foot baths. We will learn sauna songs and incantations, and hear about Löyly, the soul of the sauna. Löyly is formed when wood, fire, stone and water meet. Löyly is the Finnish Spirit, the healing steam which we will celebrate on this special sauna day.
12.00 Lunch
15.00 THE SMOKE SAUNA HEATING RITUAL
On the Finnish Sauna Day we have a unique chance to be initiated into the smoke sauna heating tradition and witness how Kotakylä´s smoke sauna of is heated. We will start the heating together in a ritual, where we hush the sparks and support the flames with songs and incantations. We will also decorate the ceremonial area with birch branches and wild flowers, and get our whisks, sauna hats and foot baths ready for the evening.
18.00 Light Evening Meal
20.00 SAUNA HEALING CEREMONY UNTIL SUNSET
- The Sauna Ceremony at Kotakylä´s smoke sauna crowns our time together. We will sing the sauna songs and incantations we have learned, wear the sauna hats we have made, use our own whisks and foot baths we have prepared. Finally we welcome the healing spirit of Löyly, to cleanse our soul, mind and body. We let the past go and just watch the sun slowly setting above the Lake Vaikko – close to midnight.
DAY 7. TIME FOR HUGS AND GOODBYES
08.30 Breakfast. Saying Goodbyes.
Price: from 1400€/person, 6 nights, 7 days
The price includes the program, meal mentioned in the program, accommodation in shared gotteges, bed linen, towels, watercraft, fishing licence and the use of saunas from Tuesday to Saturday. Trip to Vuokko village and Pyötikkö monestery area. It also includes pick-up from Joensuu Airport or railway station and transportation back from Kotakylä.
THINGS TO REMEMBER
Remember to bring suitable clothes for working and hiking. Bring also warm clothes that you can stay up in the night when it gets cooler. Sweaters and woollen socks always recommended. Take also your swimming suits with you. It is also good to take an extra battery for the mobile phone, since there are just a few places to load the phone.
Kotakylä lies in wilderness, it has no electric lights and the toilets are outhouses. The huts are equipped with coffee makers, kettles, cutlery and dishes. Fridges and burners are also available. Our meals are prepared in nature kitchen, mostly over an open fire. The water in the lake is very clear and perfect for swimming and washing. There are also two showers near the shore that can be used all day long.
OUR GUIDE TO THE FINNISH TRADITION
Sauna Land – Finnish Folk Tradition Week will be guided by a cultural educator, traditional singer and voice coach Eero Peltonen. He is a torchbearer and a teacher of the Kalevalaic and Finnish songs, poems, laments and inantations. He helps people to find their roots with mighty means - power of music, word magic and mythology. He also works as a travel guide, event host, and a coach of creativity and awareness skills.
Buring 2010-2012 Eero created and led a 10-month training on Finnish folk culture. This college course unique in Finland. The studies involved more than 50 teachers. The students learned about folk art, archaeology, local history, annual celebrations and a wide range of handcrafts. Eero taught folk poetry, traditional music and sauna and folk healing tradtion. He also led the college traditional music group and organized study trips to Finland and Latvia.
Eero lectures on Finnish and Karelian traditions at conferences, recently in Albania, Estonia and France. He has a 30-year experience in Jungian studies. He is more excited than ever to combine the old and new ways of approaching myths, arts, health and wisdom. He loves to guide people to wilderness and to model and teach how to enliven, update and enjoy folk heritage. And free the spirit!
