September Retreat
Rugsėjis, the month of sowing rye A few days by a lake in the pine forest, at the turning of the yearPirtis, evergreens, mushrooms, song and the harvest table, with the body slowly getting ready for the dark half of the year.
It's the month when the summer's work is gathered in and next year's seed goes into the ground, both at once. The forests fill with mushrooms, honey comes off the hives, the mornings turn misty over the lakes, and the first cold nights arrive, which is exactly when the pirtis comes back into its own.
Garwyn and I have been talking about one question for these days: what does the body need from us at this turning? Less doing, I think, and more gathering in. Warmth worked deep into the bones, food that grounds, and time on the land with the trees that stay green all winter.
The retreat is still taking shape, and it will have its own name in time. For now, here's the feeling of it.
rugpjūtis ← rugių pjūtis
the cutting of rye
The rye is reaped, bound into sheaves and brought in.
rugsėjis ← rugių sėja
the sowing of rye
Next year's rye goes into the ground. Harvest and sowing, both at once.
spalis ← spaliai
flax shives
The flax is broken and scutched, and its woody shives, spaliai, fly about the barns.
From the longest day to the level one
Daylight in Vilnius across the year. Sun & Moon sits at the top of the summer; this retreat sits at the balance point, just before the dark begins to lead.
Sun & Moon. The longest days, the shortest night, fire until sunrise.
This retreat. Day and night stand almost level, and then the dark begins to lead.
Kūčios and the winter solstice. The light is at its lowest, and the pirtis is at its most precious.
We follow the virsmai, the turnings of the year
A virsmas is a turning, a change of state, the moment one thing becomes another. The ethnologist Aleksandras Žarskus wrote that the old festivals weren't anniversaries of something past: people lived through the turning that was happening, there and then, in themselves and in the land around them.
His Rėdos ratas, the wheel of rėda, the order of the world, has four great turnings. Our retreats follow it. Tap one to read about it.
Vestuvės · Rasa
The top of the wheel, the height of Gaja, the visible, living world in its fullness. Žarskus calls it the wedding turning. This is where our June retreat, Sun & Moon, sits.
Ilgės · Lydėtuvės
Here the summer is seen off, lydėti, and the long nights begin, ilgės. On the wheel the world of visible forms gives way to the inner half, and the word written at this point is rimti, to settle and grow still. The harvest feasts, Dagotuvės among them, belong to this turning, and so does this retreat.
Kalėdos
The bottom of the wheel, deep in Mara, the inward, spiritual half of the year. The longest night, when the light turns back.
Gimtuvės · Uzgavėnės
The birth turning, gimti. Žarskus reads the Uzgavėnės masks as beings knocking at the door of this world, not yet born into visible form, who need the living to help them across.
The red arc runs from Rasa to Ilgės, from Sun & Moon in June to this retreat in September, from the fullness of summer towards its letting go. Wheel drawn after Aleksandras Žarskus's Rėdos ratas (vydija.lt).
Heat, evergreens and the harvest forest
A first sketch, nothing fixed yet. The full programme follows once everyone is confirmed.
Rituals in a white smoke pirtis on the shore, with the steam worked slowly, herbs on the stones, and dark lake water to step into between the rounds.
Pine, spruce and juniper. By September the leafy whisks of summer are past their best, and the evergreens take over, the trees that will carry us through the winter.
Walks in the middle of mushroom season, learning what grows here, what goes in the pot, what goes in the steam, and what is best left where it is.
Gentle somatic practice and movement, warming and strengthening the body before the cold half of the year.
Old Lithuanian songs learned by ear around the fire, and sound in the evenings, when the light goes early.
Food of the season, with Lithuanian guests bringing the honey, bread and craft of their land to the table.
I'm also inviting people from Lithuania to join us, makers and keepers of the craft, so the culture comes to you from the people who live it…
When the leaves fall, the evergreens take over
By September the birch and oak whisks of summer are past their best. These three stay green all winter, and they're the trees we'll meet on the land.
Pusis
The tree of the sandy forest all around us. Pine needles go on the stones and in the steam, and the resin scents the whole room. A pine whisk is light and springy, and we'll gather it together on the land.
Eglė
Dark, soft-needled, and the name of the girl in the oldest tale we have, Eglė, the queen of the grass snakes. Spruce branches were laid on the floor of the pirtis and over the benches, so you sat and lay on the forest.
Kadagys
The prickly threshold tree. Juniper was burned to smoke out the house and the cowshed, and in the pirtis a juniper whisk is softened in hot water first and used with great care. Not for everyone, and that's part of the teaching.
A white smoke pirtis
A particular kind of heat, and one of my favourites…
The old village pirtis was a smoke pirtis, dūminė pirtis. It had no chimney: the fire burned under a great heap of stones for hours, the smoke filled the room and found its way out through the walls and roof, and only when the fire had died and the room was aired did people go in. The walls were black with soot, and the heat was soft, deep and long.
A white smoke pirtis sits between that and the modern sauna. The fire still heats a large mass of stones directly, the way it did in the old smoke pirtis, but the smoke leaves through a chimney instead of filling the room, so the walls stay clean and the air stays sweet.
What you feel is the heat of all that stone: steady and enveloping, gentle on the breath, with steam that rolls rather than bites. It's the kind of heat that warms you right through to the bones, which is exactly what the body is asking for in September.
A lake, a pine forest, and the pirtis on the shore
We'll be in the east of Lithuania, a country of lakes and pine forest, at a quiet place held just for our group, with a white smoke pirtis right by the water and a long jetty out into the lake.
I worked there in September 2026, so I know how the place feels at exactly this time of year: the sandy pine floor scattered with mushrooms, juniper under the trees, the lake still and dark in the mornings. I'll share the name once everything is confirmed.
- LandLake and pine forest, with no other guests
- PirtisA white smoke pirtis on the shore
- WaterThe lake to cool off in, straight from the heat
- TravelWithin reach of Vilnius Airport
You don't need Lithuanian roots, or any sauna experience
This retreat is for anyone drawn to heat, trees and older ways of living with the seasons, whether you hold saunas yourself or have never sat in one.
Before you book I'll ask a few questions about your health, so the heat works for you, and you can always take a round more gently.
Come as you are. The heat meets everyone the same way…
Before you ask
When are the dates?
September 2027. I'll confirm the exact dates and the length of the retreat soon, and the interest list will hear first.
Where will it be?
At a quiet lakeside place in the pine forests of eastern Lithuania, held just for our group. I'll share the name once everything is confirmed.
How much will it cost?
The price will include your bed, all meals and the full programme. Flights aren't included. I'll share prices with the interest list before they appear here.
Can I pay in instalments?
I'm planning a deposit to hold your place, with the option to pay the rest in parts, as we did for the June retreat.
Do I need sauna experience?
No. Many people arrive having never been in a pirtis. I'll guide you through everything, and you can always sit out a round or stay lower on the bench.
What about the June retreat?
Sun & Moon, our midsummer retreat in June 2027, is fully booked. If you'd like to be offered a place should one open, write to me at hello@birchhouserituals.co.uk.
Be the first to know
Leave your email in the box below and you'll hear the dates, the programme and the prices before anything is announced publicly.
See you in the trees, Silvija