Anecdotes from a Russian steam bath

During my years of living in and travelling in Russia, I really learned to enjoy one of their most treasured social pastimes – the banya. The banya is the Russian version of sauna, but it is much more than just a sauna. It is an institution. It is an important social glue. It is also what close friends do together. In the heat of the banya, friendship is forged. Here everybody is on equal terms. There is a Russian saying - In the banya there are no generals. In this naked reality there are no uniforms, no stars. In Old Russian wedding tradition the groom would carry the bride into the banya for a first steam bath together to give the marriage a good start. One could say that “people that sweat together, stick together”, wether newly weds or friends.

Why the banya has gotten to play such a central role in Russian social life, has to do with traditional village life. Russia is a cold country with long freezing winters and which has an abundance of snow and wood. Until recent they often had no running water in the villages, even less warm water. In the heat of the banya you can regain the upper hand over the cold. You also get clean as you wash yourself in the heated water. It was therefore in old times also the chosen place for childbirth.

There are many rituals connected to this bath. You start carefully, get heated up, go outside, to chill a bit and then return for a tougher round. The harder you bathe, the harder you chill, either through immersing your self in cold water or rolling in the snow.  For real hard baths it is common to wear hats and even mittens as protection against overheating. After that it is time to cool off. I have personally rolled in the snow in temperatures down to -45C. And then in again!  The water that is poured on the hot rocks forms into searing steam. The steam can contain essences that will clear you airways as you breathe it in. And then it is time for the whipping. For this whisks of birch leaves are used. They are dipped into hot water to soften up. As you are beaten, the leaves bring heat to your skin, which is then refreshed.  It also serves as a form of massage. The aroma of the leaves is very pleasant and refreshing as well.

During the chilling pauses one usually drinks tea, juices, home made compottes or kvas, the traditional drink made out of fermenting rye bread. At the table there might be bread, salads, fishes, meats, fruit and nuts. As one has spent a few hours in the banya, one feels like a new person, cleansed, refreshed physically and deeply relaxed and one is full and is happy for a close social and happy social time.

There are legends, as old as the Russian Ortodox church, about how the Apostle Andrew visited the northern shores of the Black Sea to preach among the Greek colonies there and then continued north into Slavic lands up along the river Dniepr as far as to Novgorod. "I saw the land of the Slavs, and while I was among them, I noticed their wooden bathhouses. They warm them to extreme heat, then undress, and after anointing themselves with tallow, they take young reeds and lash their bodies. They actually lash themselves so violently that they barely escape alive. Then they drench themselves with cold water, and thus are revived. They think nothing of doing this every day, and actually inflict such voluntary torture on themselves. They make of the act not a mere washing but a veritable torment."

It might be difficult to verify the truth of these stories, but these words very well describe my own and my fellow missionaries’ common first impressions of our first confrontations with the banya. Very soon though, we learnt to appreciate it very much. It kept us warm during the ice-cold winters and there lifelong friendships were born. Many deep and sincere spiritual talks we have had there after services. The banya is not only part of Russian culture and history; it is definitely a part of the Russian revival we have experienced.