Saunahaltija - leprechaun of sauna lives in the sauna of every happy household. This story tells you how to invite a leprechaun of sauna if you do not have one. If you do not have a sauna, come to Finland and go to sauna. You may end up building one. And then you need to consider inviting a leprechaun of sauna as well. Because every happy household has someone who takes care of the rules and regulations and wellbeing of people who live there.

Long time ago there was a sauna hut near Ströms bay. It belonged to Ströms mantion. The servants took care of household work in the sauna. The caretaker of that sauna was a hardworking man with a lot of other responsibilities as well. He had 5 children and a wife who also worked very hard at the mantion's farm. One of the daughters helped her mother to take care of the lifestock of the farm. She was 9 years old and took care of the cows in the forest during summer. Wheat, rye and hay was being grown and harvested at the fields. The workers lived in humble cottages and had small potato fields of their own to take care of in addition to the mansion's farm. They had built a workers' sauna to provide a place for washing and healing. Women gave birth to their children in the sauna and people who died were washed and prepared for funeral in the same sauna. Aches and pains were cured in the sauna. During dark winter evenings people gathered to listen to folktales and runosongs of the elderly people. There was also a young man who knew a lot of stories and songs but out of respect to the elders he was usually quiet. But he could remember the longest stories and when he went fishing he would sing to the sea. He was always eager to help making firewood and heating the sauna. He liked to give the leprechaun of sauna some treats and kind words. His grandfather had taughed him to do so. Most people never saw the leprechaun but they knew that it was there. They could not imagine a sauna without a leprechaun. Everyone knew if they misbehaved in sauna, only misfortune would come out of it. People did not want trouble, life was hard enough as it was. Sauna was under the rule of the leprechaun. It provided health and wellbeing as long as there was respect and obedience. Every year after all the farm work being finished for the year, workers celebrated Kekri. People remembered their family members that were no longer with them. Blessed bread was baked for loved ones and beer served to the dead as well as a sacred sauna prepared for them. The leprechaun of sauna appeared that day to the young man who was preparing the sacred sauna. He was taking some special fire wood to the sauna and when he opened the door he noticed a small being looking at him from behind the stowe. It was very dark inside the sauna, but he could grasp the leprechaun's sharp look in the one and only eye it had. He did not dare to stare too long. He put the firewood in the stowe, bowed and said: "Oh, good old leprecorn of this sauna built by hardworking people, we greet you with this beer we made and this bread we baked, we salute you and honor you at the time of Kekri, from generation to generation, we thank you for providing us health and purity, let the water be fresh and healing, the fire gentle and caring, we promise you to respect the rules of sauna, behave in good manners to bring happiness, health and peace amongs all beings. Thank you, thank you, thank you.* The young man made sure he left the sauna in perfect condition and closed the door silently. He walked back to the cottage where people were preparing the festivities for the evening. He did not tell anyone that he had actually seen the leprechaun. It was not something to be told in a haste. He wanted to wait for a special moment to tell this story. Suddenly he heard shouting from outside: "The Ströms mantion sauna is on fire! Fire! Fire!" Everybody ran out to see if there was a chance to stop the fire. But it was too late. They could see the flames from distance. The caretaker's 9-year old daughter was running towards them and weaping: "Please help my daddy, they beat him real bad, help him, please." When the workers reached the burning sauna, they found the caretaker lying on the ground all beaten up and bleeding. Some of the men carried him to the front of the workers' sauna and cared for his wounds and washed him. He recovered and told them what had happened. He had gone to the mansion's sauna to put more firewood in the stow and make sure everything was perfect for the master and his guests. Some of the men at the mansion had started drinking heavily and came to sauna earlier than they were supposed to. The caretakers' wife had been there to put clean linnen towels on the benches for the guests. The daughter had brought some beer and bread for the leprechaun of sauna. The drunken men started to make fun of the family. One of them ate and drank the leprechaun's treats and laughed loudly. He took the clean linnen and wiped his mouth. The other tried to grasp the daughter who got terribly scared of the drunk. She ran to the father who was putting firewood to the stow. Hot water fell by accident on the drunken man. He shouted and started beating the caretaker who tried to escape outside the sauna. Burning firewood fell on the wooden floor at some point of the chaos. When the master of the house arrived, he saw the sauna burning and a bleeding caretaker lying on the ground. The drunken guests were escorted back to the mansion to continue their celebration. A new sauna was built next year, but the leprechaun did not return. The new sauna was burned down on a midsummer night. Later that year the mantion burned down also. The family of the caretaker had to move to another farm to make a living. Many years passed until the mantion was built anew. And of course a new sauna.

Folktales and songs in Europe are a roadmap to lifestyles in the past and today. My story is based on Finnic traditional runosongs and folktales. Ströms mantion is today Helsinki Art School where children and young people study visual art and media art. The sauna is now in the 19th century mantion building. And the leprechaun has returned. With the help of creativity and harmony of the people who live and work in the building today. Instead the workers' old sauna does not exist anymore. The area is no longer farming land. Mythology and history, art and science, beings and people, live hand in hand in our creative Europian community. Urban landscape has hidden corners where the past and today shake hands.