| Names: | Auteretar  and/or  Sanervatar |
|---|
From a historical perspective, the sauna is a place of healing. Birth is given in saunas, the sick treated, the dead washed for the final time... In addition to the sauna just being a general place for bathing, of course. This is why the sauna deity is focused on healing.
The sauna steam is called löyly. It is truly an important concept, as the word itself is connected to the meaning of "soul". In a runosong, löyly is called Auterinen ("hazy" son), created by Auteretar, who is then asked to arrive into the sauna. (In later runosongs, Christianized into Virgin Mary arriving...) This is in the context of healing the sick and preventing "bad" löyly from going into an open wound.
In the same context, there is another runosong which calls the sauna's maiden Sanervatar, and she is said to live in the löyly itself. This runosong also asks "father of the sky" (Yahweh? Ukko?) to come into the löyly, and calls it the breath of old Väinämöinen and sweat of young Joukahainen as well. In many instances, the löyly is also called the sweat of Väinämöinen. Thus, there are many divine forces involved with sauna and its löyly.
| Auteretar | From auer "(sun) haze". |
|---|---|
| Sanervatar | Because this name appears in North Karelia as "Salvatar", which is too short for the poetic line its from, Kaarle Krohn assumed the original form to have been "Salevatar" from saleva "slender, dainty". |
Only in Finnish, sorry. This is the source material.