The Magic of the Old Timers and a Smoke Sauna in Oulu, Wisconsin
“There is no supernatural in healing, it’s all natural.”
–Dalva Lamminmäki
A recent trip to the ancestral stomping grounds in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan brought to mind the old timers, those folks who make for good stories. For example, one family ancestor was a noted folk healer. He was born in 1850 and left Cornwall, England to work in the iron mines of the U.P. Pictured above, “Doc Bullen,” as he was known, stands by a gleaming Model T car, doctor’s bag in hand and fashionable wife by his side. Two young men in the picture, jaunty but bandaged, were no doubt treated by Doc Bullen. Known as a bloodstopper, relatives have told me that he could staunch the bleeding of an injured person by reciting Bible verses and offering calming words. He even did so over the phone. As folklorist Richard Dorson wrote in his fascinating 1946 book Bloodstoppers and Bearwalkers: Folk Traditions of the Upper Peninsula, many of the people who lived in these remote areas, native and immigrant alike, practiced “shamanistic magic and ritual, drawn from a deep well of folk belief.”
Doc Bullen maintained a sort of clinic at his home on Putnam Street in Wakefield, Michigan where he manufactured a tree resin ointment that he would warm on the stove until it was soft so he could stretch it like taffy and apply it to an injury. In family lore, Doc Bullen ascribed his healing ability to being the seventh son of a seventh son, a sign of special powers. He was what the Finns might have called a tiettäjä, a folk healer who worked in a variety of ways using incantations, herbal remedies and hands-on faith healing.
Sauna is a special place where the old folk beliefs meet the modern. Researchers are scrambling to document the evidence that sauna is good for health. Meanwhile, the belief in sauna’s healing effects are enshrined in its ancient lore. Last February, my husband and I attended National Sauna Week in Hancock, Michigan. This excellent event included a virtual presentation by Finnish folklorist Dalva Lamminmäki on “Traditional Knowledge, Folk Healing and Magic.” She is a doctoral researcher in folklore studies and sauna culture as well as a practitioner in the traditions of Finno-Ugric shamanic healing.
Lamminmäki explained the link between folk healing, magic and the sauna, “Sauna in Finland was an important part of folk healing. It was sterile, warm and private, and people believed that it was ‘loaded’ with the power of ancestors and deities. Sauna was not just a place for bathing, “it was liminal [sic] place and space between this world and the other world.” [source] Whatever method of healing was employed, it often took place in the sauna. Healing practices that are remembered and still used today include cupping, massage, bone setting (like chiropractic), the use of potions, spells and, of course, whisking. Herbal medicines are still common. Washing with Finnish pine tar soap (terva saippua) and using ointments (much like Bullen’s) are thought to be good for certain skin conditions.
I watched several of Lamminmäki’s presentations on the topic and came away with not only a better understanding of the rich heritage of Finnish folk healing but also its status in a changing landscape where “market-based health tourism has reinvented sauna as a place for wellness and leisure.” Lamminmäki worries that traditional Finnish folk healing is in danger if it gets mixed up with other kinds of alternative medicine and so-called new-age beliefs systems. She wonders, “what then happens to the cultural heritage?” [Folk healing and sauna culture in Finland: Traditional healing for the modern day]
On a summer day, the birch tree in our backyard stands tall and curvaceous, each branch extending like the arms of a dancer rattling and catching light on heart-shaped leaves. It is easy to understand why the old Finns believed that trees held spirits. There is also something wonderful in how this common tree provides so many beneficial products. The bark can be woven into baskets, even shoes, the wood used for carving, building and burning. The sap is drinkable, the inner bark ground into flour helped people in the past survive famine, tar can be extracted from the bark and used in skin care products and the leafy branches make the best sauna vihta (whisks). I also use the leaves to make a birch salve. I gather birch leaves just before midsummer and then steep them in almond oil. Later, I strain out the leaves and cook the infused oil with beeswax. The resulting salve is a very gentle way to benefit from the muscle soothing properties of birch and it leaves a pleasing fresh scent on the skin.
With Finnish tradition and heritage in mind, we recently stopped to visit the Oulu Cultural and Heritage Center in Wisconsin where an abandoned homestead has been brought back to life as a place to preserve history and for community to meet. Oulu township, established around 1900, was settled mostly by Finnish immigrants. Over the years, economic changes in the region led to fewer folks farming and maintaining the traditional ways of life. In 2014, the Oulu Cultural and Heritage Center set out to rescue this disappearing history beginning with a refurbished farmhouse. It is now joined by several other historic buildings including an old savu sauna (smoke sauna).
Upon our arrival, we overheard two local fellows chatting away in Finnish. As we toured the property, our guide, an old timer with stories about growing up in Oulu, spoke about learning Finnish from his grandmother and the weekly sauna ritual, Wednesday and Saturday evenings with family and neighbors. As we walked through the buildings with him, it struck me as strange in a way that he should now be presenting the place where he grew up as a museum. It is also a good thing that these stories and all of their magic are remembered. The Oulu Heritage Center is located near Iron River, a few miles off of Highway 2. It is open to the public year round, often hosting special events. Learn more at the Oulu website.
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