Baba Yaga
Bone Mother
Baba Yaga goes by many names: Bone Mother, Arch-Crone, and the Wise & All-Knowing. She is often described as an old woman, with a really long nose, iron teeth, and a ferocious disposition. Sometimes she has warts and straggly hair. This picture of a witch is not unlike our depictions of the frightening witch on Halloween. She is all that is wild and untamable, profound in her power and her independence. She will demand that we face the wild aspects of ourselves in order to find our own strength. She is not at all tempered by what is civilized, she is only concerned with what is true. Baba Yaga lives deep in the forest, in a hut built upon chicken legs that can move about. Even her house disregards the common rules of behavior. The windows of the hut are eyes and the door lock is filled with teeth. Her home is surrounded by a fence made of bones, with a skull upon all but one of the posts. She has an enormous stove so that she can cook those who displease her. Her servants are disembodied hands, and one should never ask about them. She is also served by three horsemen: The white horseman, whom she calls her Bright Dawn; The red horseman, whom she calls her Red Sun; and the black horseman, whom she calls her Dark Midnight. This witch rules over the elements and is difficult to outsmart. Many come to her in order to solve a problem, or they are sent to her with an impossible task by an evil-intentioned relative, often a step-mother. Baba Yaga eats those who fail at her tasks. She is both a benefactor and a villain, although she does not engage with people without cause. To meet Baba Yaga, you have to go to her.
Magic of Baba Yaga
General
Chakra: Solar Plexus
Element: Fire, Earth, Air, Water
Sabbat: Samhain
Zodiac Sign: Scorpio
Color: Red, Black
Day:
Herb: Birch,
Totem: Mouse, Crow, Fox, Cat
Stone: Garnet, Bloodstone, Ruby
Offering: Corn, Bread, Wildflowers
Power
Birth
Death
Change
Wild
Magic
Wisdom
Power
Truth
Aromatherapy
Clary Sage
Black Pepper
Frankincense
Glossary
Mortar & Pestle
Our witch, Baba Yaga, flies around in a mortar and pestle. This is an ancient tool made up of a bowl (the mortar) and a club-shaped grinding tool (the pestle) used for crushing herbs, spices, and other materials. The pestle fits inside the bowl and can be used as a symbol for the combined roles of the feminine and masculine. The power, when used together, outshines their abilities alone.
Besom
While traipsing through the sky in her mortar and pestle, Baba Yaga uses the besom to erase evidence of her travels. Usually a simple round broom, the besom has become identified with witches as their primary flying tool. However, it is more often used as a tool to clear negative energy from a space. A witch’s besom does not actually touch the ground and do the physical cleaning. Instead, it is used symbolically. I have a small besom above my front door, to help sweep away negative energy before it comes into the house.
Oven
From time primordial, the oven has represented a womb. The womb, naturally, is a symbol of life and birth. Inside the magical hut of Baba Yaga is an oven that stretches across an entire wall. This serves as a representative of both life and death. Baba Yaga sometimes asks her victims to sit on her spatula before being placed inside the oven. Wit and cunning can help one escape the fire, otherwise, death is the transformation required for change and insight.
Bone
The Ancient Goddess of Old Bones, Baba Yaga lives surrounded by bones. They form her boundaries, her jewelry, and her tools. For her, bones are things that we cling to without understanding their strength or worth. Some are the societal norms that clip our wings with their limitations, while others are the frame of our true selves. Baba Yaga collects our bones and pours sacred waters upon them while singing to us about untempered truth. She destroys giving us a chance to rebuild.
Chudo-Yudo
Baba Yaga controls the fire-breathing dragon Chudo-Yudo, who guards the Water of Life and Death. A multi-headed dragon, this water-dwelling creature is sometimes believed to be the child of Baba Yaga. The waters that it protects can heal any wounds, even bringing a corpse back to life.