Bukla (weasel house-totem)
Bukla / Nuselala
House weasel totem — luck-bringer, spinner, and udder-thief; each house has its own.
Description
House weasel (marten/weasel) once-woman totem: luck-bringer and supernatural being under gentler names nuselala, nuseza, nusja. Folklore: once a woman turned beast; clears mice but also sucks livestock udders when milking; loves to spin — houses leave distaff+wool, bread and cheese at a window so she spins/eats instead of harming stock. Each house has its own bukla as guardian luck (Tirta 2004 ~pp. 67–68; Kamsi Labëri 1928). A weasel totem, not the hearth serpent.
Features
- house luck / totem guardian (Tirta)
- clears mice; may harm milking stock (Tirta)
- propitiated with spinning + food (Tirta)
Lead story
At the stock-window someone left a furkë of wool and a crust. Bukla — once a woman, they say — will spin and eat rather than take the udders. Every house keeps its own. She is not the hearth serpent.
Aliases
Bukla · Nuselala · Nuseza · Nusja (weasel euphemism)
Region
Pan-Albanian weasel belief; Malësi e Madhe + Labëri house-totem faces (Tirta)
Relations
- Vitore (Household Serpent)not the same as
- Mother of the Hearthnot the same as
Linked stories
- Bukla — house weasel totemRecorded
Once-woman weasel; each house has its bukla; distaff and food left at the window.