Läänemaa-muljeid, suvi 1996
Impressions from Läänemaa. Summer 1996

Summary/Abstract: (Paragraphs from the fieldwork-diary, extracts from the collected material) The EFA summer expedition of 1996 to the parishes of Martna and Kirbla was regarded with some prejudice and fears (the religious exorbitance in Läänemaa, the introversion of the local people, etc.), but all the more decisively. Soon it was clear that the locals were everything but introverted and religious movements were something I soon started to long for. Quite soon I also got the impression that although there had been several musicians and good singers in that region (now we only managed to collect the basic data and memories of them) and very many still had song notebooks, there was no superstition or any narratives of the kind. For example: My father didn't believe. He did always the opposite. There in a village, it was that: "No, today morning it is no use going out, the horse dung between the shafts." my father still went, just out of stubbornness. But then there were still some who knew both legends of place names (this time very many about Kalevipoeg and Kuradikivi - 'Devilstone') and narratives with a rich religious background. (It is common knowledge that when looking for the oldest and natural born locals, the collector may not notice some really interesting people - just as almost by accident I found a woman born in 1947 whose grandfather had been a musician, mother a singer, who herself told of a treasure-bearer seen by her grandmother, of omens connected with herself, the birth of her son and the death of her mother and of many other things.) It is interesting that quite some of the people who themselves had no other supernatural experiences had still just before the war either seen themselves some heavenly signs or had heard of them from someone close. In most cases the sky had been purple red in the east, but there were more concrete omens as well. The rich bee-traditions of Läänemaa which have been recorded in the EFA cardfiles in the `30s, have by now lost most of its religious background. From the earlier local witches, mostly those who dealt with healing plants or fixed sprained bones were mentioned. The of attitudes towards the sensitives and healers of today in Läänemaa varied from severe criticism to deep respect. This year, perhaps more material than usual was collected that could serve as a basis for the so-called background studies, that is, what people themselves talk of their life, conditions and how they feel about the way the world is, what they consider to be important, not only folkloristic material and remnants or signs of the primeval beginning of the things.

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