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KUKSA, THE SOUL OF THE SÁMI CUP

You're almost finished,you're so happy and excited about what you made,it's something unique,different and it carries your essence,your soul.As you look at it,you caress each of its curves and think about enjoying a good drink,by the fire while the smell of what you are drinking mixes with the smell of the birch wood of the kuksa.You've finished carving your kuksa,but it's not the end.Before drinking from it, it's traditional to do a ritual to finish preparing the wood of the kuksa so that it can withstand the drinks, but also to thank nature for what it has given us to be able to make this kuksa, to finish closing the link with the piece we have carved and thus demonstrate the union with the earth. There are differences between the rituals that each area or family does, but some steps are essential: fill a quarter of the kuksa with mead, whisky or brandy and move the liquid in a clockwise direction wetting the whole inside of the kuksa, then drink the liquid to fill the kuksa again and this time move the drink in a counterclockwise direction. You drink again and then some people put strong coffee in the kuksa and let it sit for several hours,then throw it away and refill it with alcohol,which shouldn't be drunk,but poured into nature as an offering.Other people skip the coffee step and after drinking from the kuksa,the third step is the offering to nature.So the kuksa is ready! And there you are at last, in silence, in the forest glade, she and you, in front of the fire, celebrating the new union, enjoying the warmth of the wood enveloping the drink, letting the past, present and future come together in a simple act... And after drinking, while staring into the fire, a smile shines on your face...


 
 
 

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