Iulian Mitran - Columnist

Muma Padurii (Mother of the forest): Romanian folklore 

  Muma Padurii also called Baba Cloanta is a very well know character from the romanian folklore. Many romanian kids know her from the stories that their grandpa or grandma told them when they were in their early childhood. In many of the cases grandma wold say : "If you don't eat all your soup , Baba Cloanta wil come after you ! " . But who is this "lady" anyway? 

  Well....Muma Padurii is one of the many mystical creatures that makes up the romanian folklore. She is described as a old wicked hag , a lonely witch that lives in the heart of the forest. She is the symbol of the force of nature , cruel and not to friendly she is the kind of person you wouldn't like to run in to on a Friday night. It is said that she is ugly and grumpy , and it's said that she enslaves children .

 Her ugliness is one of her defining features , the old ones tell about her that she is taller then the trees , she has green skin , her hair is long to the ground and has peaces of mud and  leafs in it. But she is not always depicted as a evil being , she is also the one who takes care and guides lost children in the through the forest . 

  She's also wise having the answers to many difficult questions , she holds the source of  to universal truth . 

Baba Cloanta  has a sensible loving nature that she rarely gives somebody a chance to see , this privilege is reserved to thous with a pure heart. She is a very representative creature for the romanian folklore do to the strong ties that romanians have with mother nature.

 Muma Padurii gets very angry when people are destroying her home , the forest. She lives in a tinny house somewhere in the middle of the forest far away from the eyes of people. Other tales say that she kidnaps children and she brings them in her little house from the heart of the forest , she dose this because she has no children and she feels lonely . Some tell that she is the leader of the Iele ( magical beings similar with fairies ). 

People from the countryside are usually afraid of her , some of the reported situations in which Muma Padurii attacked them. Muma Padurii is not present only in romanian folklore she is present in the tales of the slavs , a very popular tale where she appears is Vasilisa the Beautiful . In the slavic folklore she takes the name of Baba Yaga. She is mysterious , dark , evil , wise and nature loving ...quite a complex person. You can see her at nights with full moon when she comes out of the woods and goes in to the villages to create chaos . 

  With all of this said we can come to the conclusion that Baba Cloanta is truly a complex and fascinating creature that makes a tale worth reading.