The earlier Red Riding Hood

The Story the Girl and the Grandmother
There was a woman who had made some bread. She said
to her daughter:
"Go carry this hot loaf and bottle of milk to your granny."
So the little girl departed. At the crossway she met bzou,
the werewolf, who said to her:
"Where are you going?"
"I'm taking this hot loaf and bottle of milk to my granny."
"What path are you taking." said the werewolf, "the path
of needles or the path of pins?"
"The path of needles," the little girl said.
"All right, then I'll take the path of pins."
The little girl entertained herself by gathering needles.
Meanwhile the werewolf arrived at the grandmother's house,
killed her, and put some of her meat in the cupboard and a bottle
of her blood on the shelf. The little girl arrived and knocked at the door.
"Push the door," said the werewolf, "It's barred by a piece of wet straw."
"Good day, granny. I've brought you a hot loaf of bread and a bottle
of milk."
"Put it in the cupboard, my child. Take some of the meat
which is inside and the bottle of wine on the shelf."
After she had eaten, there was a little cat which said:
"Phooey!... A slut is she who eats the flesh and drinks the
blood of her granny."
"Undress yourself, my child," the werewolf said, "And come
lie down beside me."
"Where should I put my apron?"
"Throw it into the fire, my child, you won't be needing it
any more."
And each time she asked where she should put all her other
Clothes, the bodice, the dress, the petticoat, the long stockings,
the wolf responded:
"Throw them into the fire, my child, you won't be needing
them anymore."
When she laid herself down in the bed, the little girl said:
"Oh granny, how hairy you are!"
"The better to keep myself warm, my child!"
"Oh granny, what big nails you have!"
"The better to scratch me with, my child!"
"Oh granny, what big shoulders you have!"
"The better to carry the firewood, my child!"
"Oh granny, what big ears you have!"
"The better to hear you with, my child!"
"Oh granny, what big nostrils you have!"
"The better to snuff my tobacco with, my child!"
"Oh granny, what a big mouth you have!"
"The better to eat you with, my child!"
"Oh granny, I have to go badly. Let me go outside."
"Do it in the bed, my child!"
"Oh no, granny, I want to go outside."
"All right, but make it quick."
The werewolf attached a woolen rope to her foot and let her
go outside.
When the little girl was outside, she tied the end of the rope
to a plum tree in the courtyard. The werewolf became impatient and said:
"Are you making a load out there? Are you making a load?"
When he realized that nobody was answering him, he jumped out of bed and
saw that the little girl had escaped. He followed her but arrived at her
house just at the moment she entered.
From Zipes, Jack. The Trials and Tribulations of Little Red Riding Hood.

A little extra on "The Baba Yaga"

The word “baba” in Russian means a woman older than a girl; usually any married woman was considered to be “baba” notwithstanding her age. In old Russia, girls were given out for marriage by their parents pretty early on. Once a girl’s virginity was lost, she was consigned to be a “baba” for the rest of her life. “Baba” is truly a derogatory word implying the whining, constantly yelling and upset nature of some women. It is a root word for the well-known “babushka”, which simply means “grandmother”. Though “babushka” sounds very warm and comfy, “baba” sounds harsh and abrasive.

Usually, Baba Yaga is a frightening Witch who lives in the middle of a very deep forest, in a place which is often difficult to find unless a magic clew (a ball of yarn or thread) or a magic feather shows the way. What powerful imagery!

Baba Yaga’s hut is often surrounded by fence made of human bones and topped with human skulls with eyes. Instead of wooden poles onto which the gates are hung, human legs are used; instead of bolts, human hands are put in; instead of the keyhole, a mouth with sharp teeth is mounted. Very often Baba Yaga has her hut is protected by hungry dogs or is being watched over by evil geese-swans or is being guarded by a black cat. The gates of Baba Yaga’s villa are also often found to be guardians of Yaga’s hut as they either lock out or lock in the Witch’s prey.

As for Baba Yaga herself, she flies through the air in a mortar using the pestle as either a device to drive her mortar or as a wheel to control her motion; she sweeps away her tracks with a broom. In Russian, “Baba Yaga” is often accompanied by “Kostyanaya Noga”, which means “the bone leg”. Here is a very strong indication of how skinny and even physically weak she is. Yet Baba Yaga is very powerful: a sense of purpose drives her forward to perform “evil” deeds. She is the epitome of disgust and evil. Baba Yaga either hunts for her prey or awaits it at home, knowing that it will come to her. Note the similarities with the western fable of Hansel and Grettel.

Baba Yaga is a Slavic version of Kali, the Hindu Goddess of Death, the Dancer on Gravestones. Although, more often than not, we consider Baba Yaga as a symbol of death, she is a representation of the Crone in the Triple Goddess symbolism. She is the Death that leads to Rebirth. It is curious that some Slavic fairy tales show Baba Yaga living in her hut with her two other sisters, also Baba Yagas. In this sense, Baba Yaga becomes full Triple Goddess, representing Virgin, Mother, and the Crone. Baba Yaga is also sometimes described as a guardian of the Water of Life and Death. When one is killed by sword or by fire, when sprinkled with the Water of Death, all wounds heal, and after that, when the corpse is sprinkled with the Water of Life, it is reborn. The symbolism of oven in the Baba Yaga fairy tales is very powerful since from primordial times the oven has been a representation of womb and of baked bread. The womb, of course, is a symbol of life and birth, and the baked bread is a very powerful the image of earth, a place where one’s body is buried to be reborn again. It is interesting that Baba Yaga invites her guests to clean up and eat before eating them, as though preparing them for their final journey, for entering the death, which will result in a new clean rebirth. Baba Yaga also gives her prey a choice when she asks them to sit on her spatula to be placed inside the oven: if one is strong or witty, he or she escapes the fires of the oven, for weak or dim-witted ones, the road to death becomes clear.

Article by Freya
Freya@RealMagick.com