Sisters of the
Burning Branch Goddess Gallery Presents...
Goddess Baba Yaga
This Image is credit of my husband Matthew
Wiseman.
by Morella
Baba Yaga is most commonly known
as the legendary, malicious witch of Russian and Eastern European fairy
tales. She is the repulsive old hag, tall and bony, with a hooked nose and
teeth made of iron who lives in a hut that stands on chicken’s legs. Her
abode is surrounded by a fence made of human bones and decorated with the
skulls of those she has eaten. She is often portrayed riding inside a mortar
and pestle, sweeping away her tracks with a broom. But there is much more
to this terrifying witch than meets the eye. She is in fact a goddess, so
complex it’s difficult to define her.
At first glance, one can easily see that she is the
Crone aspect of the Triune Goddess, the goddess of death. However, this
is just one small aspect of this truly remarkable goddess. Stories of Baba
Yaga abound and in them you will find that she is also the goddess of life,
rebirth, the moon, time, cycles, thresholds, and nature. She is Mother Earth.
She is The Great Teacher. She is the Guider of Souls. She is all knowing,
all seeing, and omnipotent. She is a wild and untamable nature spirit. One
might even venture to say that she is The Goddess personified in Russian
fairy tales.
Baba Yaga first appears in the written record in 1755,
amongst a list of Slavic gods. While the other gods in the book had their
Roman counterparts listed beside them, Baba Yaga had none. Her uniqueness
was well recognized since the beginning. She became increasingly popular
throughout the 19th century as her tales began to be collected and put into
print. Her complexity continues to grow with each tale and the symbolism
in each increases in depth.
Baba Yaga is most often depicted as living on the threshold
of this world and the underworld, deep within the forest, which she protects
with all her being as Mother Earth. The forest creatures venerate her and
the elements do her bidding. She can turn people into stone and the waters
of life and death reveal all secrets to her alone. She occasionally even
becomes the elements, such as when she turns herself into a whirlwind to
kidnap children. She is sometimes seen in cornfields, gathering food
from the harvest, or even as being the last sheaf of corn. In the dry seeds
she collects, she hides the mysteries of death and aging, until they are
planted and bring forth life the following season. Just as the earth brings
new life to the dry, seemingly dead seeds, so does Baba Yaga when she consumes
her victims. It is symbolic of dying to an old way or phase of life and the
rebirth into another. In her tales, this most often symbolizes the death
of childhood and the entrance into adulthood. She is also occassionally accompanied
by a snake ally, Zmei Gorynich, yet another symbol of rebirth and reincarnation.
Certain stories of Baba Yaga portray her as the Triple
Goddess, with there being three Baba Yagas, sisters varying in age from
young to old. There are many references to the number three throughout her
mythos that also point to this idea, most notably in “Vasilisa the
Beautiful”. In this story, she has three pairs of disembodied hands that
serve as her helpers and she has three riders, white, red and black, that
serve her as well. She sends out each rider with its corresponding
time of day, white during dawn, red during the day, and black during nightfall.
(These colors are again referenced in the color of clothing worn by Vasilisa’s
doll.) Having such powers as to control the day and the night, makes her
also the goddess of time, the sun, the moon, and cycles. Further reference
to this idea lies in her revolving hut surrounded by 12 stakes, symbolizing
the movement of time through the 12 months of the year. Baba Yaga is also
a great weaver, often appearing at her loom, which is nearly always symbolic
of ‘weaving time’.
Not only is Baba Yaga a goddess, she is also recognized
as The Great Teacher. She tests everyone who comes to see her and offers
her service and advice at a price. She never minces her words, preferring
honestly to any sort of politeness or civility. She doesn’t allow the protagonists
to ever delude themselves, teaching that no conflict is easy to reconcile,
that there are no easy paths. Baba Yaga teaches all of her readers that
even though life can seem unjustly cruel and harsh, there is always something
to be gained from loss and pain. She teaches women to embrace their inner
wild-woman and to adhere to their own set of beliefs. She shares with
them the secret that they are in control of writing their own story, that
they move the plot of their lives. She teaches us all to be careful what
we wish for and to use our cleverness and our wit to survive. Everyone who
meets the Baba Yaga is reborn with new wisdom.
Among all of her other unique aspects, Baba Yaga is
also said to be omnipotent, to have shapeshifting abilities and to be parthenogenetic,
able to give birth without the fertilization of her eggs. It is also interesting
to note that throughout the historical record of Baba Yaga, her name is
never capitalized as other names are. This could hint to the fact that she
is more of an archetype or to the fact that the term ‘baba yaga’ is another
name given to her because her actual name is too holy or frightening to be
spoken, as we have often seen throughout history.
Referring to Baba Yaga as simply the goddess of death
does her no justice. She is a combination of many goddesses and archetypes
with a dash of sorcery, making her one of a kind. She is the goddess of
dualities, of “death and life, senility and fertility, destruction and renewal,
villainy and benevolence, of masculine and feminine.”(3) Her unique
influence can be seen in literature, film, art, and even in a musical suite.
She is The Great Influencer, she is Mother Nature, she is Goddess
of All.
Correspondences:
Feast Day: January 20th Colors: Black, Red, and White Symbols: Mortar and Pestle, Corn sheaf, broom Sacred Animals: snake, cat Goddesses: Kali, Perchta, St. Paraskeva of the Balkans
Baba Yaga Ritual
Original Creation by Morella
Materials Needed: Cauldron, Mortar and Pestle, Three Candles-Black,
Red, and White, Small Piece of Paper and Pen, Sage Smudge Stick
Light All Three Candles
Purify with Sage Smudge Stick
Cast Circle
Invite Baba Yaga
Recite “Baba Yaga, goddess of death and rebirth, I ask for your help
in banishing that which no longer serves me so that I may be reborn into
a happier, healthier life.”
Meditate on what needs banished from your life.
Write down on a piece of paper what you would like banished-but be warned,
Baba Yaga reminds us to be careful what we wish for. Light this on fire
within your cauldron, feeling this negative presence leaving your life.
Once it had burned up and is cool, transfer the remains to your mortar and
pestle and pulverize them to dust saying “I have banished _________ from
my life, it no longer causes me strife.”
Perform a Self-Blessing
Grounding
Open the Circle and Thank Baba Yaga
References:
1.) “The Witch as Teacher in Fairy Tales” by Nuria Daly
2.) “Encyclopedia of Witchcraft and Magic” by Venetia Newall
3.) “Baba Yaga: The Wild Witch of the East in Russian Fairy Tales” Introduction
and translations by Sibelan Forrester, Foreward by Jack Zipes
4.) “Beasts! Book 1” curated by Jacob Covey
5.) “Moon Magic” by D.J. Conway
6.) “Goddess 365: A Daily Guide to the Magic and Inspiration of the Goddess”
by Patricia Telesco
7.) “Spirtis, Fairies, Gnomes and Goblins” by Carol Rose
