Baba Yaga Russian Witch

Every culture has its fairytales and in those fairytales you will undoubtedly discover a witch or two. In Russian fairytales or skaski, the name of this witch -- vedma -- is Baba Yaga.

Baba Yaga is a frightening creature to look at: she is portrayed as a crone, an old, wizened woman, with long, whitish-gray hair, thin, gnarled fingers and legs. She is definitely having a bad hair day!

Where does Baba Yaga live? In the deep, dark forest, in a small hut that stands on spindly chicken legs, and as per Pushkin’s description in the poem, “Ruslan and Ludmila,” it has no windows or doors. Skulls adorn the roof of Baba Yaga’s hut, which magically spins around at her command, and also sit atop the fence made of bones that surrounds her property. Her home is not an inviting place and there is no welcome mat at the door.

Baba Yaga is a solitary figure and lives alone. She’s not typical in the respect that she does not fly on a broom, but on a pestle, and there is no cauldron brewing nearby. As Baba Yaga travels, the winds pick up and make howling noises; she does not go quietly.

One of Baba Yaga’s favorite hobbies is to lure children to her so that she can eat them, but she has no power over those who are pure in heart. There are also instances where Baba Yaga serves as a guide for the seekers that are on the path by sharing her knowledge with them. Therefore, Baba Yaga can’t be all that bad after all.

So, why is it that for all of time witches such as Baba Yaga were given a bad rap? The simplest explanation is that fear envelops the things that are incomprehensible and inexplicable by the normal laws of science or rational thought.

Witches are in tune with Mother Nature and possess a keen sense of intuition. They cultivate powers of concentration and focus on a desired effect and use props such as candles, herbs, oils and the light of the full moon or dark of the new moon to help the process, loosely labeled as a “spell” along.

In fact, there is exciting scientific research being performed on the power of thoughts and intention. Scientists are discovering what witches have known for centuries: that there is a link between desired effect and the outcome.

As for Baba Yaga, because no one is privy to what spells or hexes she cast or did not cast, let’s just leave it at this: the world is a magical place and all of us have the opportunity to tune into the magic. Whether or not we use the force for good or evil……well, that choice is up to us.