Children’s fascination with fantastic worlds is natural, stemming from their pure imagination, untainted by scientific concepts that separate reality from unreality—so seamlessly blending into the full spectrum of possibilities. However, their fascination with the supernatural becomes absolutely contagious for any adult when it emerges directly from their immediate reality, as is the case with the children from Moisei, Maramureș, the village where I have gathered the most numerous and intriguing testimonies of people’s experiences with the Forest Maiden.
In urban environments, when discussing such entities and stories, we often refer to folklore, and the conversation oscillates between the importance of preserving intangible cultural heritage and dismissing it as mere “superstition.” In reality, the entire framework defined by these two perspectives barely grazes the complex sphere in which this kind of folklore is alive. This then leads to questioning what “alive” means—whether, in these rural areas, people still tell stories about supernatural beings and events, whether these stories circulate as mere fairy tales or as actual confessions of lived experiences, and whether the younger generation still listens to the elders’ narratives. But how alive and how real does it become when, from the mouths of children, we hear not only the retold stories of their grandparents but also their own personal encounters? What is truly real, and what is unreal?
We invite you to read the accounts of the children from Moisei, which, out of respect and affection for them, we have neither rewritten nor corrected but published just as they were shared with us.
Mythology plays an essential role in shaping a society’s cultural and spiritual identity, and the myth of the Forest Maiden serves as a window into understanding and rekindling the human-nature relationship, with its magical dimension acting as a bridge to the mystery of the wild. From this perspective, children’s embrace of stories revolving around this character is an encouraging sign, suggesting that we are still culturally and socially healthy. The supernatural narrative not only nurtures creativity but also fosters a vision of the world as a place of limitless possibilities, where imagination becomes the tool for innovation, transcending the constraints imposed by present reality.
By encouraging symbolic thinking and the search for meaning beyond surface appearances, we learn to perceive the world in a more profound way.
Special thanks to Professor Maria Mihali (from the village School no. 1 in Moisei) for encouraging her students to share these stories with us.