EUROPE MAGAZINE: ESTONIA’S CULTURAL GURUS
Chimney-less smoke saunas are a characteristic part of everyday life for the Võro community of southern Estonia and are inscribed in UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Eda Veeroja, the matriarch and sauna healer of Mooska Farm, is perhaps their most outspoken advocate. “Sauna heating, whisk-making, sweat bathing and health improvement are a natural part of the daily life of our rural families. Also, such knowledge and skills as sauna building, firewood-making and meat smoking are related to the sauna tradition,” explains Eda. She leads cleansing sauna rituals for lucky visitors involving whisks made of twigs, singing and dips in a cold pond.
