Sauna Culture, Sweat and Spirituality: On the Architectonics and Cosmology of Sacred Space

Kaarina Kailo, Ph.D., is an Adjunct Professor at Oulu University, Finland, and a writer, scholar, politician, and former professor of women’s studies, as well as a self-made artist who illustrates her books, to make science visible and more aesthetic. She has published hundreds of texts, articles, and books on comparative mythology, mother goddesses in the North, eco-mythology, ecofeminism, spiritual saunas, and sweat lodges, Northern women’s culture, the gift imaginary, and the bear religion. She has held women’s studies positions in Canada and Finland and as a senior fellow at the Finnish academy. She is a fellow of the Archeomythological Institute’s European branch and focuses on peaceful, egalitarian cultures such as the Danube Civilization and healing traditions, especially in the sauna.