Mabon: Visiting Baba Yaga



(By Nicholas Roerich)

Here in North Country, we build our structures to last.  This often means putting them on firm foundations such as concrete slabs or posts.  Although there are also many farms in this area, there are virtually no cabins that rest on chicken legs.

“Virtually” still leaves open the possibility that there is such a cabin hiding deep within the woods.  If so, that would most likely be Baba Yaga’s.

Before visiting this renowned crone, a few instructions are in order.  Baba Yaga (“Baba” meaning “grandmother” in Slavic languages) doesn’t entertain visitors lightly.  In fact, she’s been known to kidnap children and threaten to eat them.  Therefore, it’s best to hire a babysitter, at least for the first couple of attempts to access her abode.

Keep an eye out (maybe two) for a dancing (on chicken legs) log cabin.  According to Wikipedia, Baba Yaga’s cabin is “surrounded by a palisade with a skull on each pole, or both…”  Her front-door keyhole consists of “a mouth filled with sharp teeth,” and the outside fence is “made with human bones with skulls on top.”  Since one fencepost is usually reserved for the latest human intruder, why would anyone want to tempt fate by visiting?

Baba Yaga is not only a fierce opponent, but she is also an essential ally.  Many a would-be hero has gone to her in search of the wisdom it would take to continue on the path to enlightenment.  She is the embodiment of Robert Graves’ “crone” archetype.  Patti Wigington describes the “crone” in this manner:  She is the hag, and the wise woman, the darkness of night, and eventually death.  She is the waning moon, the chill of winter, the dying of the earth.  This female elder has also been “the healer, the teacher, the imparter of knowledge” who “mediated disputes…  had influence over tribal leaders…” and “cared for the dying as they took their final breaths.”

Getting past the teeth and skulls can therefore be quite rewarding.  After all, what great knowledge has ever

been gleaned without some trials and tribulations?

Resources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baba_Yaga

http://paganwiccan.about.com/od/wiccanpaganhistory/a/MaidenMotherCrone.htm

http://paganwiccan.about.com/od/wiccanandpaganrituals/p/Croning_Info.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_Goddess_(Neopaganism)

Copyright September 23, 2011 by Linda Van Slyke   All Rights Reserved