Photo: Kadrina Saunaklubi's Facebook page

The Kadrina Sauna/klubi (club) in Lääne-Viru county, northern Estonia announced that their saun (Estonians drop the A from the end of the Finnish word) is temporarily closed. But they will open esimesel võimalusel, the first chance they get.

The club's motto is "Vihaga, kuid vihata", meaning "With a sauna whisk, but without anger". Anger as in vihtlemine (beating yourself with the whisk of twigs) in too intense a manner? It's actually a play on words. The switch of birch branches is vihta (or vasta) in Finnish and viht in Estonian with the posessive or genitive case being viha (the whisk's / switch's). E.g. Värske viha lõhn oli imeline – the smell of the fresh whisk was heavenly. But viha is also the word for the emotion known as anger.

You should never enter a saun in an angry mood (vihaga), but you should have a kosutav (invigorating) experience with a whisk of branches (vihaga) that has soaked. Without a doubt, you will leave the leili/ruum (steam room) or sauna/lava ("platform") vihata – void of any feelings of anger. Nor will you take the viht with you; you will leave without the whisk (vihata).

Leil is the steam that rises from the sauna/keris (stove's rocks) when you throw water on them. Put that idea on hold for now, just in case. But remember, this and all the other eba/mugavused (inconveniences) are "me ühise tervise nimel", in the name of our collective health! Olge terved – "Be healthy", stay healthy!

P.S. Wikipedia also has the entry of "bath broom" for viht and there is a saunalise (sauna user's) manual of sorts which is also entitled "Vihaga, kuid vihata. Eesti rahva esimene sauna-aabits” (With a viht, but without viha (anger); Estonians' first sauna primer) by Rein Sikk, 2015, Tammerraamat, hardcover, 176 pgs.

Riina Kindlam