Dark Goddess Series, Part II - Baba Yaga

Baba Yaga (Baba Ye-gar) is prominently featured in many Russian tales. She is the stereotypical evil witch in appearance, with the long, down-turned nose, pointy chin, and numerous warts. Known also as “Old Bony Legs”, this fearsome hag flies through the air in a mortar, using the pestle to propel herself, and sweeping her tracks with a silver birch broom.

Baba Yaga lives in a house that is perched on chicken feet. The gate around her house is topped with human skulls and she is known as an eater of children. She has a very short temper, yet in some stories she has a helpful side.

She is also the keeper of fire, and the skulls around her home have a fire in each of them. In some stories the fire is green. She has three horsemen – a white rider on a white horse, a red rider on a red horse, and a black rider on a black horse – who represent day, sunrise, and night, respectively.

In one of the more famous stories, a girl named Vasilisa is sent to Baba Yaga by her stepmother. Vasilisa’s mother died some time before, but not before giving her daughter a magical doll. Sent by the stepmother to get coal for the fire, Vasilisa ends up spending several days in Baba Yaga’s house completing tasks such as separating poppy seeds from soot. As in Cinderella, Vasilisa is rewarded and the stepmother and stepsisters are punished in the end.

Vasilisa can be seen as the Maiden who must come into womanhood by completing certain rites of passage –i.e. the tasks Baba Yaga asks her to complete. Baba Yaga herself is, of course, the Crone. She is seen by some as evil, but to others she can be a source of wisdom and help, much as other Crone or dark aspects of the Goddess.

Baba Yaga is the arch-Crone, the wise one, the symbol of the death that we must all face. She is also a symbol of transformation, represented by the mortar and pestle she uses to fly. A mortal and pestle grinds course grains and seeds, wearing them down to reveal the newly transformed material. A poppy seed, for example, is transformed into oil, which is its next phase. So are we transformed through death and rebirth, from one incarnation into the next.

There are so many more things that can be said about this scary woman, but you can look into her information and wisdom on your own time if you wish. Does she really eat children? Is she really as terrifying as she is made out to be? Stories say that those who seek her of their own free will seem to fare better than others. I do not know.

Baba Yaga: The Black Goddess: http://www.mythinglinks.org/BabaYaga.html
More stories of Vasilisa and Marusia: http://www.oldrussia.net/baba.html

Now, if you are in the mood to honor the Crone and her wisdom, you can set aside the 20th of January to honor Baba Yaga/Baba Den, as they do in Bulgaria. Grandmothers, doctors, wise women and others who help bring children into the world are also honored on this day. Children visit and take them flowers.

For Baba Yaga or Baba Den:

Decorate the altar or table with birch branches to represent the broom she uses to sweep away her tracks. If you have a mortar and pestle, place that on the table as well. Burn sandalwood or patchouli incense. Place geraniums on the table and light candles in black, white and red. Do these also if you wish to request her aid in banishing.

Foods:

Banitza – Phyllo pastry with cheese

10-12 sheets phyllo/filo pastry (you can purchase this in the freezer case of the grocery store)
1 lb/500 gr. Brined white cheese, such as a mild feta
½ stick butter, melted
3-4 eggs
1 cup soda water
Pinch of salt

Butter a medium-sized baking dish. Put on a layer of pastry and brush with melted butter. Keep the rest of the pastry sheets covered under a damp cloth so they don’t dry out.

Sprinkle the crumbled white cheese onto the pastry. Cover with another sheet of pastry and repeat the process.

In a bowl whisk together the eggs, salt and soda water. Pour onto the banitza and allow it to soak in.

Bake at about 425 F for approximately 40 minutes, or until the banitza is golden brown and has risen slightly. Allow to cook for 30 minutes before serving.
You can add sautéed spinach to the cheese, or even sautéed cabbage.

Accompany this dish with mushroom stroganoff, buttered poppy seed noodles, and maybe a nice roast chicken with walnut sauce. This menu is a mixture of Bulgarian and Russian recipes, but you could skip the banitza and make (frozen) piroshky instead.

Oh, and don’t forget the vodka.