Banya

The Banya is a huge part of slavic folklore & Folk Magic. Having songs, proverbs, aphorisms, and even poems written about it. The cultural importance goes beyond the day-to-day with events even linked to the ritual.

Couples visited a banya when they married. It was customary for Russian grooms to carry their bride over the banya threshold to avoid birth complications. Women gave birth in them with midwives trained to deliver babies inside. Even in death, the banya brought people together. With mourners gathering in them after funerals to ensure loved ones were warm for their journey to the afterlife.

Although these traditions are not followed so much today. Many continue to gather regularly in the bathhouse for that sense of community, to be together, to celebrate and to mourn. – Ethan Pollock