Sauna for Life and Death

By Acerbi Giuseppe - Museovirastohttps://www.finna.fi/Record/musketti.M012:KK1841:1, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=90292107

This is a short section from my new book on Fire and Ice Shamanism, and I will share information on the sauna. The basic sauna ritual information can be found in my first book, Working with the Ancestors. Working With the Ancestors: A Heathen's Guide to the Rituals of Northern Europe: Felty, Jeff Hooded Wanderer: 9798757701370: Amazon.com: Books

The sauna is equal to the sacred grove when it comes to sacred locations in Northern Europe for spiritual practices. The sauna was considered the physical worlds connection to the other side, and it represents both life and death. It was thought to be feminine and represented the female womb.

Women would go into the sauna with their female relatives once they started labor and give birth inside it. Once the baby was a few months old the family would take the baby into the sauna to introduce it into the sauna tradition.

A person near death would be taken into the sauna to be given their last bath. Then once they crossed over, they would be taken back into the sauna to be prepared for their burial.