Puugipask, mahasadanud pilved ja taevased seened

Abstract

A remarkable place in Estonian folk belief has been occupied by slime fungi Fulgio septica. It has been thought to be connected with treasure collector or even with witch. This slime fungi is the biggest of the kind in the world: the receptacle can grow up to 30cm in diameter. In the folk tradition it is known as puugipask, puugisitt (the shit of treasure bearer) or nõiapask (shit of witch). Its most common color is yellow, but there are other tones as white, or it can be either gray or red. But there are not as many variations as pilvepala (the piece of a cloud). The puugipask is left were the treasure bearer has carried something away. To protect the household against the treasure bearer the mushroom has been burnt, or nailed to the wall or cut with a sharp thing or shot with a gun.The pilvetükid or pilvepalad (the pieces of cloud) is an internationally spread concept known in Estonian, Latvian, Livonian, Votian, Finnish, Swedish and German folk belief. The pilvetükid (the pieces of cloud) is called mushrooms by M.J.Eisen: the mushrooms are almost invisible, but after rain become full of moisture and an appearance resembling jelly. The text leads to algae rather than mushrooms. In most occasions they are slime fungi - usually the specie is called Tremella nostoc, still the determination of the concrete specie is complicated because the pilvepala (the pieces of cloud) has characteristics of different biological species. The notations from Estonia say that the pilvetükid (the pieces of cloud) can be white (Räpina, Põlva), blue (Simuna, Järva-Madise), yellow (Simuna, Kolga-Jaani), gray or green (Võnnu). A single notation says that the the pilvetükid (the pieces of cloud) can be whitish blue, later when growing old it can turn into yellowish tones (Kolga-Jaani). It is obvious that different biological species are known as the pilvetükid (the pieces of cloud). The pilvetükid (the pieces of cloud) are described as follows: it is like jelly (Sangaste), sour milk (Helme), hardened bullion (Puhja), beef jelly (Varbla). The pilvetükid (the pieces of cloud) are considered to be sacred for the origin from the sky - they are taken in as a cure to recover from several diseases such as: malaria, stiching pain, typhoid fever, warts, eczema, constipation; eye diseases can be prevented by washing eyes; they are believed to make giving birth easier. According to the archive data the pilvetükid (the pieces of cloud) can also be good for quarking (Simuna), epilepsy (Simuna), swelling (Vändra), tooth ace (Kõpu).It is believed in Estonia that the pilvetükid (the pieces of cloud) cause rabies. In addition it is connected to the international motif of a patron who feeds wolves.