As the days grow longer and warm nights are shrouded in half light until small hours, a certain hesitation is brewing for the time of solstice, for Juhannus. A weekend of partying and wonder, being in nature and experiencing the long days of joy, this is our celebration of summer. Weeks away yet, I celebrate the coming time by speaking to trees, wandering beneath their shade and keeping each of their unique species in mind.

Trees are wonderful creatures. They are more similar to humans than we sometimes think; growing, dying and spreading their children by wind and by small creature. In their stationary lives, trees are able to communicate with each other through root systems. They live in complex interconnections between flora and fauna. We have much to learn from trees. But one such tree that I most love is the delicate birch with its papery bark and slender silhouette.

I long to jump into the cool lake after sauna as the weekend looms in such high temperatures. Up at the lake, our view from sauna includes the bending birches whose trunks grow ever closer to the surface of the water. These trees hold up our bank with strong and web-like roots, disallowing the lapping waves to erode away the shore. They provide us with young branches to bind together in vihta and connect us to generations who once regarded the birch as a necessity for life.

Each leaf that hits ones back with vihta is more than meets the eye. Just as humans have natural systems to keep us healthy and fight disease, as do trees. I have heard from old people that birch leaves have special medicinal properties. They have been used for thousands of years to make medicine, treating disease before the dawn of western medicine even began.

I was curious about how true these claims were, so I did some research of my own. According to a study published by the National Center for Biotechnology Information, birch trees perform natural antimicrobial activities, therefore, fighting disease for the tree, but also for humans if used correctly. Now, as we use vihta in sauna, we can inhale the fragrance of young birch basking in löyly, letting it bring us joy as well as good health.

So, look for birch in life outside, but also in art. Let it inspire you to find beauty in things that serve purpose, letting function become grace and vice versa.

— Meade Redwine

meade.redwine@gmail.com

@meade_lumi

Further reading - research paper on health properties of birch:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6957409/