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