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Baba Jaga
(Baba Yaga, Baba Jaga, Baba Yaga the Boney Legged, Baba Yaga Kostianaya Noga, Jezi Baba)
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Baba Jaga can be many things: an aged crone, a young woman, or one of three sisters of the same name. Said to be a cannibal who eats children, she dwells in the forest in a hut perched on chicken legs and surrounded by a fence of human bones. She travels about in a morter, using a pestel to steer and a broom to sweep away her tracks, and a host of forest spirits are said to follow her. A White Russian tale says that she travels in an iron kettle instead with a fiery broomstick instead. She is a Goddess with many dualities; while some sources claim she is an evil witch, others refer to her as a good fairy. Likewise, while some sources claim her to be the grandmother of the devil and that her mouth stretches from the earth to the gates of hell, other sources say that she guards the Fountain of the Water of Life and she possesses the gift of prophecy. She is often said to give advice and magickal gifts to people; but she will eat anyone who breaks an agreement with her or tries to approach her with an unclean heart. Baba Jaga is often represented in art as an underweight little old woman with a long nose. |
Ivan Bilibin (1876-1942) |
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One of the main tales about Baba Yaga is about a young girl whose stepmother happens to be Baba Yaga's sister. The hateful stepmother, jealous of her husband's affection towards the little girl, sends her off to visit her aunt Baba Yaga, whom the stepmother knows will eat the small child right away. The child knows that something is suspicious, but obediantly heads off to Baba Yaga's hut. While at Baba Yaga's house, the little girl is told to run herself a bath, so that she'll be clean when Baba Yaga goes to eat her. The little girl goes to do this but instead gives gifts to those she finds; she gives her handkercheif to Baba Yaga's maid in exchange for a little food; she gives the ham to Baba Yaga's cat in exchange for magical belongings of Baba Yaga's (a comb and towel) and she gives the rest of the food, a loaf of bread, to Baba Yaga's dogs so that they will not attack her. Lastly she finds some oil and oils the hinges of Baba Yaga's gate so it will not lock her in. As she exits, Baba Yaga notices her escaping and goes to run after her: The little girl throws down the towel and it becomes a river that can't be crossed. Baba Yaga starts drinking all the water out of the river and so the little girl throws down the comb, which turns into a forest too thick for Baba Yaga to get through. The girl runs home and tells her father everything that had happened, and in anger he sent his wife away, never to bother them anymore. In the meantime, Baba Yaga was furious that her own cat, maid, dogs and gate had betrayed her. When she questioned them, they replied, "Of course we helped her. She has been very kind to us and given us gifts. You have not given us so much as a morsel of food since we met you." |
Boris Zvorykin (20th Century) |
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Yaga Baba rides off to right the Crocodile
The drawing to the immediate left of this paragraph is a satire; The author is unkown because he was a schismatic “old-believer”. The print, believed to be anti-government satire, shows Yaga Baba (a reversal of Baba Yaga’s name) going off to fight the “Crocodile”, the tzar Peter the Great, with Baba Yaga impersonating his wife Catherine I, a native of Estonia (Hence the reason Yaga Baba is dressed in traditional Estonian costume). The small ship in the bottom left corner hints at Peter’s love for ships and creation of the Russian navy; supposedly to avoid any possible misinterpretation of the print. |
Unknown, but thanks to Alexander Boguslawski for the pic. |
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