Rooting. A Pirtis retreat of Plants, Steam & Ancestral Memory

Date: 2025-06-09, 13:00
Organizer : Lithuanian Bath Academy

Lithuanian summer

Theme: Rooting – A Return to the Earth, to Ourselves

Lithuania – crowned the best health tourism country of 2025 – opens its forest-gates once more.
We invite you to step beyond modernity and into the deep breath of the land, where ancient roots still whisper and steam carries stories.

Set just before and after the full Moon of June, beneath the canopy of our native trees and guided by the elements – Air, Water, Fire, Earth – this year’s Plant and Sauna Culture Camp calls us to root.

We gather in the green heart of Lithuania, near sacred mounds and ancient forests, where the wisdom of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania is not in textbooks but in leaves, stones, breath, and sweat. Through the lens of herbal traditions, lunar rhythm, and sauna rituals, we will reawaken what it means to belong – to the land, to each other, and to ourselves.

• Rather than lectures, we choose stories.
• Rather than schedule, we follow rhythm.
• Rather than watching – we live it.

Exploaring the plants

This year’s highlight: sauna aromatherapy

In 2025, our steam becomes scent — and scent becomes story.

This year’s special focus is sauna aromatherapy: a deep dive into the healing fragrances of Lithuanian nature. Discover how birch, pine, juniper, meadowsweet, and wildflowers open the breath, soothe the spirit, and guide the body into balance. We'll blend traditional pirtis practices with sensory exploration — distilling hydrosols, crafting infusions, and learning to use aromatic plants in ways that awaken both memory and medicine.

Camp Schedule | 9–13 June | Aligned with Lunar Phases & the Four Elements

Monday, 9 June – AIR

Space. Communication. “Stitching”. Lightness. The Surface.

We arrive from the structured world — full of thought and scent, yet distant from touch. Through air and aroma, we begin to reweave our bond with the plant world.
Lunar rhythm: 13th Lunar Day | Moon in Sagittarius | Pre-Full Moon

Programme:
From 14:00 – Arrival, check-in, refreshments
16:00 – Official opening of the camp: overview and introductions
18:00 – Sauna: natural aromatherapy session

Tuesday, 10 June – WATER

Flow. Feeling. Contact. Movement. Deepening.

Through dew, sap, sweat, and steam — we merge with plants in the language of water. Our bodies soften; the edges blur.
Lunar rhythm: 14th Lunar Day | Moon in Sagittarius | Pre-Full Moon

Programme:
Morning: Wild herbalism walk &
Afternoon: Whisk tying, herbal remedy making, hydrosol distillation (optional)
Evening: Bathing with herbal infusions — wet and “dry” sauna experiments

Location: likely in the farmhouse or nearby

Wednesday, 11 June – FIRE

Transformation. Rebirth. Transmutation.

Fire cooks, burns, and reveals. Through smoke and sweat, we shed what no longer serves and enter new clarity.
Lunar rhythm: 15th Lunar Day | Moon in Sagittarius | Full Moon peak

Programme:
Journey to the Sauna Garden
Sauna preparation: heating the fire, building a smoke sauna
Evening: Body rituals in the sauna using fire-touched plant bundles

Thursday, 12 June – EARTH

Roots. Depth. Slowness. Integration.

The earth holds the memory. It steadies, nourishes, and invites us to return — not just to nature, but to ourselves.
Lunar rhythm: 16th Lunar Day | Moon in Capricorn

Programme:
Morning: Guided hike (~5 km) to an open-air museum or nearby mounds
(Alternative: museum visit if weather is poor)
Afternoon: Smoke sauna preparation and traditional whisk tying
Evening: Archaic steam bathing ceremony

Friday, 13 June – DEPARTURE

Integration. Closure. Return.
What we’ve gathered — in leaves, in breath, in story — travels back with us.

Programme:
Breakfast, gentle closing circle
Departure by 12:00 noon

The place

The event will take place in a center of roural tourism Pušų Šlamesy ~5 km from Kernavė town.

The homestead is located in a forest, surrounded by nature, has a sauna and a private natural pond. Accommodation - in wooden cottages. Kitchen and barbecue available. 

Kernavė is a small town located on the right bank of the Neris River, 35 km from Vilnius, and in the past it was one of the first centers of the Lithuanian state (13th century). The legendary Pajauta Valley and its five mounds guard the remains of the last European pagan capital. Since 2004 Kernavė Archaeological Site is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Read more here.

How to reach the venue?

Kervavė is located ~70 km from Kaunas Airport and ~50 km from Vilnius Airport. You can reach it by a rented car or by bus. If you need our help, we can arrange transfer from Vilnius and Kaunas - let us know in advance.

Accomodation and food 

Accomodation in shared bedrooms is included into the price. Making and tasting local food together is a part of the camp (products will be provided by organizers). You can also have possibility to eat in local places (in such case you pay for yourself). 

Contact persons:
Rimas Kavaliauskas, email - rimas@pirtis.lt, Phone/WhatsApp +370 687 11601
Birutė Masiliauskienė, email - registracija@pirtis.lt, PhoneWhatsapp +370 689 56969 

Themes covered

• Advanced sauna ethnobotany

  This is an advanced module for sauna practitioners, wellness instructors, and plant enthusiasts wishing to develop a more in-depth knowledge of plants used in Lithuanian pirtis. We explore the details of how various trees and herbs are selected, harvested, processed, and applied in sauna ceremonies and treatments—drawing from folk medicine, plant science, and field practice.

  The course focuses on the cultural significance of and physiologic influence of plants within the sauna environment.

  This theme has additional information available only to logged in users.
• Aromatherapy basics

  There is no doubt that we are actively influenced by all kinds of smells. In the sauna, even more so, as it moistens and opens up our protective barrier - our skin. A well-maintained sauna always has its own unmistakable scent that evokes warm memories. If the sauna smells unpleasant, the desire to bathe there is gone.

  Theoretical topic covering:

  • The history of aromatherapy.
  • The history of Aromatherapy: smell and olfaction.
  • Aromatherapy.
  • Properties of commonly used essential oils. Scent meditation.
• Making whisks

  Practical theme, which includes:

  • collecting and preparing twigs;
  • types of whisks;
  • ways of making whisks;
  • quality requirments;
  • conservation of whisks.
• Mythology of trees and herbs

  Theoretical theme, which reveals hidden properties of mostly used trees and herbs.

  Traditional Lithuanian culture and mythology has very strong connections to the nature. Lithuanians were the lasts pagans in Europe, old knowledges, bealieves and worldview are still a part of everyday life. Understanding plants mythologyand hidden properties of plants are very heplful in rithual saunas or individual work. 

  Some topics of this theme:

  • Male and female plants. Reincarnation to the plants.
  • Heaven and underworld plants. Divine play of the opposites.
  • World three.
  • Mythology of the most common plants of Lithuanian pirtis (oak, birtch, linden, juniper, rowan, willow, bird-cherry, pine, spruce, ash etc.).
• Preparing of plant remedies

  Practical theme, which includes:

  • collecting and preparing herbal material;
  • decoctions, cold and hot infusions;
  • hydrosoils and distilation;
  • other herbal remedies.

  This theme has additional information available only to logged in users.
• Recognising plants

  Excursion to the nature, looking for the plants to be used in sauna. Collecting herbs and branches for whisks. Rules of collecting plants.

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• Rituals with plants in sauna

  Having different whisks and knowing their physical and hidden qualities, we can create special body rithuals or whisking scenarios.

Birutė Masiliauskienė and Rimas Kavaliauskas