Today we see this figure as a hideous
witch with supernatural powers and an insatiable hunger for human flesh. Tales
about her exploits come from Russia and East European countries. She is known
throughout these areas as a trickster who entices human victims into her lair
where they meet with a horrific end if they are unable to perform the impossible
task she puts before them. Jezi Baba is said
to reward the good – those who can perform her chores correctly and in a timely
manner – and eats the bad – those who displease her. Because the tales of this
figure were not written down until the nineteenth century, her ancient
past is more hidden from us. As an archaic mother goddess,Jezi Baba was
banished to the forest and
marginalized as a witch with the arrival of organized religion. After the
banishment, she had dual aspects – she is sometimes a canabal and at other times
a spiritual guide. Ever, she is grouchy and unpredictable and must be handled
with care.Now Jezi Baba is seen as a hideous, gigantic ogre. It is said she travels with Death and eats the souls of his victims. She is described as having fangs of stone or knife blades and her eyes, like Medusa’s, petrify anyone she gazes upon. Her mouth, in some versions, is said to stretch from earth to the gates of hell. In other variations, she drops her jaw when she sees an unsuspecting human and it opens into a cave that the person walks into and is swallowed whole. Her hands are tipped with the claws of a bear and she wears a necklace made of human skulls. She also likes to smoke a pipe. Jezi Baba is enormous in stature and it’s said that when she lies down, her head is at one end of her little hut, her feet at the other and her hooked, blue nose touches the ceiling. Her mode of transportation is either a mortar, rowing or steering with the pestle, or an iron kettle. She sweeps the air with a fiery broom made of birch, cleaning her tracks as she goes (Russia has a strong tradition of foot-tracking magic).
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| Our Jezi Baba -Did she really deserve this name? |
The
aforementioned hut is an entity of its own. Its name is Izbushka and it stands
on chicken/hen legs at each corner. It whirls about constantly, but obeys
orders. If one were to say, “Izbushka, Izbushka! Stand with your back to the
forest and your front to me.” it will. The hut is found in a clearing, deep
within a birch forest and is made from bones of Jezi Baba's victims as is the
fence surrounding the house. The railing is decorated with the skulls of the
witch’s dinner and their eye sockets glow. The hut’s windows shut like eyes and
the keyholes have sharp teeth, the bolt is a hand.
Even though she
is frightening and hideous, scholars believe that this hag was once a potent
female nature spirit. She likely was once a provider of healing, protection and
guidance. As with Medusa, Baba Yaga is connected to the cycle of life and death.
In early tales, she is the keeper of the Water of Life and Death, dropping a bit
of water on a victim which allows the body to die and the soul to be reborn.
As with many a
powerful, mother goddess, the number three crops up in many tales about her. She
has three ghostly horsemen that ride in front of her hut – white (day), red
(noon) and black (night). In this vein, when she takes flight there are three
birds which accompany her on her journeys – the crow, raven and owl (which can
also represent night and day). It is said that Baba Yaga has three sons, in some
versions they are dragons. Other variations claim she has three, equally vile
sisters. There are countless tales tied to her of a mother with two daughters.
Multiples of three are often the case with mother goddesses for they represent
the maid, mother and crone. As further example, here is a Russian Love Spell
which invokes Baba Yaga:
In the open field, there is a wizened oak
Around the wizened oak dance thrice-nine maidens
From beneath the wizened oak emerges Baba Yaga
She lights thrice-nine oak-wood fires
Burn for me, as
Fierce, hot and pure as Baba Yaga’s thrice-nine fires!
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| Not living up to her name sake ... ... these days anyway!!! |
Evidence points
toward Jezi Baba having shamanistic roots. We see this in one of her names,
“Baba Yaga Bony Leg” which rhymes in Russian and has a resonance that it lacks
in English. Somehow, this is indicative of her shamanic connection. Her
cannibalism, which could indicate ancient blood sacrifice, also points toward a
spiritualistic past. Initiates from around the world describe their induction
ceremonies in similar terms: they are “killed”, chopped up, cooked and consumed
by spirits who then resurrect them. Once reborn, the shaman has powers
previously not acquired. Tales of Jezi Baba’s cannibalism may be seen in this
aspect.
Another
suggestion is that her eating of human flesh is tied to the moon. According to
this interpretation, she is the moon. Symbolically, she eats her own body
and then regenerates (waxing and waning). Izbushka turns on its chicken feet in
time to the moon’s phases. When the lunar body is full, her door is open and the
hut is accessible to the living – she is fat, happy and pregnant. It is only
when the crescent moon is visible that one needs to watch out, for she is hungry
and her womb and belly are empty.
Double-faith –
tenuous but simultaneous practice of ancient Pagan traditions and Christianity –
can be applied to Jezi Baba. With the arrival of the organized religion, the
figure who casts a dominant shadow over Russian folklore, moved deep into the
birch forest. Here, she awaits visitors and is the inspiration for countless
tales. As with Lilith in Jewish tales, Jezi Baba is so infamous she doesn’t need
to be named. References to the old woman in the birch forest are enough to
identify her. She seems to have developed into the boogie-woman of the forest, a
tool for parents to use in order to scare children into good behavior. Stories
of the crone speak of fear, but also tremendous respect and even love.
