Högberget Cave

Not far from Helsinki is a peculiar little pilgrimage site known to some as the "Womb of Mother Earth," whose rock walls bear an undeniable resemblance to a place we all know intimately well, even if we can't remember it. 

First thing's first: You do not have a dirty mind. (Or maybe you do, but this isn't why.) Högberet Cave wouldn't be half so renowned were it not for the fact that it looks strikingly like a vagina. 

Adorned by mosses and lichen, the rocky womb is located in an area ripe for trekking, where intrepid explorers locate its mouth by looking for an opening in a several-story high granite cliff. Formed by untold rivulets working their way through the rock, Högberget was born during a simpler period of human history, when the biggest problem was foraging amidst a period post-Ice Age deglaciation… Actually, when viewed through the lens of today's daunting complexities, a major one of which includes the world's largest ice sheets melting, visitors' almost instinctive need to crawl back into a cave almost makes a lot of sense. 

Illuminated by light filtering through cracks above, upon sticking one's head back inside Högberet Cave, the sight requires little imagination with regards to how a simple granite cave became a site of pilgrimage for those who believe in the fertility of Earth herself. After clamoring into its snug, two-by-one-meter interior, visitors have been known to remark upon how familiar the experience felt. 

Primordial though it may be, some places can't help but feel eternally safe.