All about Baba Yaga
Origin of the term
In various languages of the Slavic language group there are foundations that, according to some similarities in folklore, could form the basis of the name “Yaga” .
In Russian, the closest word is “ulcer”. That is, a sarcastic, bad-tongued woman. There is also a version that supposedly has its roots in Vedic culture. Not Baba Yaga , but Baba Yoga - the ancient goddess of wisdom and justice. However, this is a pseudo-scientific theory that has no evidence.
What does Baba Yaga look like?
Yaga is a tall, incredibly thin old woman. She has few teeth in her mouth. The nose is long and curved. Some stories indicate that her bones protrude through the skin (Baba Yaga - a bone leg). Also, the bone leg indicates this character’s connection with the other world. Traditionally, Yaga has only one leg. In fairy tales she never walks, but lies in her hut or flies in a mortar.
She's almost blind. The presence of a person is usually recognized by smell -
Something smelled of the Russian spirit.
Baba Yaga is immortal , according to fairy tales.
Baba Yaga's Hut
In fairy tales it is located either on the border of the forest (the border between the world of the living and the dead), or “far away lands”, i.e. very far away (also associated with the other world).
The hut cannot be avoided, but one must certainly go through it. This once again indicates its border position between two worlds. Around the hut there is certainly a palisade, hung with human skulls, instead of traditional clay pots. And this is one of the attributes of the other world.
The hut has neither windows nor doors. However, an important detail is always mentioned - it is turned towards the forest in front, towards the hero - with its back. In order to get into it, you need to say the magic words:
“Hut, hut, stand with your back to the forest, and with your front towards me.”
The interior of this building is also remarkable. Fairy tales describe that Baba Yaga’s arms and legs are spread out on all sides of the hut. The nose is pointed at the ceiling. This may indicate Yaga's enormous stature or the fact that the hut is very small. The second option, according to researchers, is preferable.
This description makes the hut look like a small funeral structure - a “hut of death” with the ashes of the dead among the ancient Slavs. Chicken legs are an indication that the burial structure is raised above the ground. This also corresponds to the “air” burials of the ancient Slavs, which were placed on platforms or trees.
Another symbolic interpretation of “chicken legs” refers to the ancient totemic idea of Yaga as an animal charmer - they serve her, and she herself can take the form of various living creatures. The traditional expression of Baba Yaga: “ Fu-fu-fu, something smells like the Russian spirit!” "reflects the ideas of the ancient Slavs about the dead: for them the smell of a living person is unpleasant, they clearly feel his approach to their burial.
In contrast, the smell of the dead is also unpleasant to the living.
III.
Twilight hovered in the air for a long time, like a gray shroud that had come from nowhere. After them, very quickly, almost instantly, night came. Residents of the European part of Russia have never seen such nights. Menacing, primitive, as if taking us back to that distant era when there was no electricity, cars, or sounds of noisy cities on Earth - such a night in itself did not imply the presence of a person, taking it for an evolutionary error, a deviation from the norm.
Alyoshka kept walking and was afraid that they would have to pitch a tent in pitch darkness. After all, everyone knows that a wild animal will never climb into a strange canvas contraption, even if defenseless human creatures are sleeping peacefully inside. But nothing prevents him from attacking while they install this very thing, in the light of headlamps.
Romka had a different opinion on this matter. He continued to look for the most suitable place for a tent. There is a slope here, there are too many thorny branches, the drinking water stream is too far away, or the tree crowns are too creaky. In short, all these “too much” ultimately led to the fact that the last light of the day burned out like a match, and a place for a tent was never found.
Alyoshka was already shaking slightly. Not out of fear. Maybe from the cold, but it didn’t change the essence of the matter. Suddenly, something flashed ahead. And then it disappeared. The guys stopped, as if wanting to make sure the vision was real. A moment later the light appeared again. Affectionate and almost unreal. What could this be in such and such a wilderness?
Romka walked confidently towards the light, encouraging his partner: “Let’s go!” These are probably tourists. There we will warm ourselves by the fire and set up a tent. But the closer they came, the more clearly they saw the light, which could not possibly have come from the fire. Now it looked like a small, hospitable window, shining temptingly among the trees. A little more and the travelers came out into the open.
The forest ended, giving way to a smooth plain sloping down to the bank of a wide river. Here, neatly nestled between two gigantic fir trees, stood a small wooden guardhouse.
- Have we lost our way? – Romka muttered confusedly. “According to my calculations, we should only have the river by tomorrow afternoon.” And from there, it’s a three-hour walk to the village.
Noticing the fear in the eyes of his younger comrade, he hastened to justify himself, “Well, by the way, you and I weren’t walking that slowly.” And, you see, luck. It seems that we will still have a roof over our heads today.
With these words, he confidently walked towards the gatehouse. Alyoshka reluctantly trudged behind. However, when they came almost close to the building, the guys were surprised to find that the light inside was not on. No, it’s not that thrifty owners turned it off. It’s just that this small wooden house had no windows at all. Just like there was no door. Although, it was hard to believe.
Perplexed, Romka walked around the guardhouse in a circle several times, shining the light of his lantern on it. Nothing!
“Well, well,” he scratched the back of his head, puzzled.
Alyoshka also walked around the house. But in one place I almost fell. The roots of the trees protruding from the ground seemed to be deliberately arched.
- We'll have to pitch the tent right here. We cannot go further until it is dawn.
- What, are you proposing to put it next to THIS? – Alyoshka screamed in horror, to whom the wooden house without windows and doors reminded him of children’s horror stories. - Why not? The place here is windless. And fresh water is nearby. In the morning we’ll wash ourselves, have breakfast...
- What are you talking about! - Alyoshka protested. “Maybe then we’ll immediately say, “Hut-hut, turn your back to the forest, and turn your front to us,” so that without hesitation... He didn’t finish. Before the eyes of the amazed travelers, the structure began to move.
The vegetation around was also shaking. What happened next was simply impossible to describe in words, because the headlamps blinked and went out. Both at once. The guys found themselves in pitch darkness. But before they could realize what had happened, the door opened...
- Oh, poor things! Where are you from? Alone! After all, there are so many living creatures in our wilderness! Come on, let's hurry inside! An old woman stood on the threshold of a wooden house, spreading the most good-natured smile. Ordinary. One of those who sell seeds on the streets. She was wearing a long dress with a lace apron, and a beautiful painted scarf covering her gray head. The guys stood silently. Romka was the first to come to his senses:
- Sorry... We... we just thought it was a forester's house. Or... tourists...
Grandmother looked at him intently:
- What tourists there are in our area! It never happened in birth. Come in. Let's figure it out inside. Romka confidently moved towards the wide open door.
But Alyoshka convulsively grabbed his hand:
“Please,” he whispered, “please, let’s leave!” I'm scared. What does this all mean?
- Don't be afraid. Where are we going to go for the night? Everything is better than in the forest. With me, what do you have to fear? I forgot, I have a level in mountaineering. And yet, I am the senior counselor in our camp. Forward!
Being left outside alone was even scarier. So, Alyoshka had to obey.
Three images of Baba Yaga
Traditionally, three collective images of Baba Yaga stand out from fairy tales, each of which has its own characteristics.
1. Yaga the Adviser and Giver. This is the main image that occurs more often than others. “Prophetic” is the main characteristic of this image. Baba Yaga is wise, she knows a lot, can predict the future and helps the main character. In addition to advice, she gives him magical objects: a ball, an invisibility cap or a horse.
This image is rooted in the female Slavic deity, the progenitor of the human race, the maternal principle.
2. Yaga the Kidnapper. Based on fairy tales, he kidnaps children and young men. This is not just the image of a bloodthirsty cannibal, going to any lengths in order to lure victims to her. The character here is based on the ancient Slavic rite of initiation - the initiation of boys into men. Symbolic death and the subsequent new, mature life of an adult man is nothing more than a visit to Yaga’s hut - the afterlife and return to the world of the living.
And also, based on fairy tales, Baba Yaga eats children, baking them in the oven. Here there are noticeable echoes of the ancient Slavic ritual of “flashing” children - placing them in an oven for a kind of blessing by fire. Newborn babies were also nursed in a warm oven place, laid out in dough. Not for eating, of course.
3. Yaga the Warrior. This image is less common than others in fairy tales. Here Baba Yaga is a hero, a woman endowed with superhuman strength. She is terrifying. Unlike previous images, here he fights at the head of his dark army. Her “ army’s strength is untold .”
Yaga confronts the main character. She is a witch, a terrifying prehistoric creature like long-forgotten dark deities. The Warrior's vehicle is a dark horse.
Recommended by topic
How myths are born in mythology Mjolnir Vanaheim
As we have already said, these days such people who have knowledge about the miraculous properties of herbs and plants are called healers. Our fairy tales often mention facts that Baba Yaga knew how to brew love and healing potions. In addition, in her hut there is constant mention of some herbs and roots that she dries.
In ancient times, healers were respected and often used. But they were also afraid, because... It was believed that they could use their powers for both good and evil deeds. In general, people turned to healers only in cases of extreme need, because... fear sometimes exceeded common sense.
Scientific theory
Scientists do not have a consensus on the origin of this character. Here are two opposing concepts:
Baba Yaga... Under this name the Slavs revered the hellish goddess, depicted as a monster sitting in an iron mortar with an iron pestle. They offered her a bloody sacrifice, thinking that she was feeding it on her two granddaughters, whom they attributed to her, and at the same time enjoying the shedding of blood. Under the influence of Christianity, the people forgot their main gods, remembering only the secondary ones, and especially those myths that have personified phenomena and forces of nature or symbols of everyday needs.
Thus, Baba Yaga from an evil hellish goddess turned into an evil old witch, sometimes a cannibal, who always lives somewhere in the forest, alone, in a hut on chicken legs. Like witches, she attends the witches' Sabbath, flies to Bald Mountain, but not on a broom, but in a mortar, and covers the trail with a pestle, speaks rudely; when at home, he spends most of his time sitting on the stove. The evil old woman, as a housewife, besides the mortar and pestle, which replaced the mill in the old days, also has a cat. In general, only traces of Baba Yaga remain in folk tales, and her myth merges with the myth of witches.
Zabylin M. Russian people. Its customs, rituals, legends, superstitions and poetry. At 4 o'clock // Comp. and resp. editor O. A. Platonov. M.: Institute of Russian Civilization, 2014 – 688 p.
Byaba Yaga - initially - a positive character of ancient Russian mythology, the ancestor of the clan, the keeper of its living space, its customs and traditions, way of life, who also looked after the younger generation. One of the most significant beregins. As Christianity was introduced in Rus', Baba Yaga, like other gods of the pagan worldview, increasingly began to be attributed negative traits and intentions. From the guardian of the clan, Baba Yaga transformed into a vile, malicious old woman of tall stature on a bone leg, with a wooden stick, with a beak-shaped nose and teeth protruding from her mouth, with disheveled shaggy hair.
Tibenko T. I., Bondarenko I. V. Who are you, Baba Yaga? // Young scientist. - 2015. - No. 2. — P. 17-19. URL: https://yun.moluch.ru/archive/2/137/ (access date: 04/23/2018)
II.
Alyoshka had no idea how brave he really was! And hardy! Well, and, if we continue, also smart. Because, as their leader, Anatoly Sergeevich, says, stupid people are simply not accepted into the environmental circle.
Three whole days of walking, together with the counselor Romka, through the taiga, God knows how far from civilization - this is a real adventure! And the main thing is that now none of his classmates will dare to call him a coward.
When Alyoshka voluntarily sentenced himself to spend two whole weeks of summer vacation in an environmental camp at the Romantika base, he firmly believed that this sacrifice would bring him universal glory. Everything turned out even better than planned.
The bus that was supposed to take the kids back to the village broke down, the phones at the base didn’t work, and the prospect of being home before others, coupled with a subsequent departure to the sea, was so attractive that the most timid boy in the school himself volunteered to walk back with the counselor to report a breakdown and send help to the base.
The plot unfolded as it should. Then, if you’re lucky, you can lie a little more and you’ll get the glory of a hero worthy of chronicles. Well, about all sorts of difficulties. Although, I must say, it was not entirely without difficulties. For example, when, while crossing the river, Alyoshka got his shoe wet.
Or, when on a slope, about thirty meters away, they saw a real bear. But, if you wanted, you could drown in the river for a very long time and, only by luck, survive. And an encounter with a bear could turn into a real battle. No... Well, okay. Not a battle. But they could collide almost head-on, which is also extremely dangerous!
Alyoshka slowly hobbled after his guide, and these thoughts gave him strength. They spent the first night in an old abandoned forester's lodge. We gathered in a tent. But luckily we discovered this shelter. The nights here at the end of summer are no longer warm at all. In a sleeping bag, and in the open air, teeth don’t fall on teeth. And in the lodge, although it is damp, it is warm.
We pitched a tent right inside - and the mice didn’t interfere, and larger animals couldn’t get out of the forest. Now, as Romka said, there is no hope of finding a roof over your head until the village itself. He knew these places very well. That's why he volunteered to go for help. He also took a sixth-grader with him. And, after all, I didn’t want to. But since they imposed it, within the framework of the exchange of experience, so well.
Balmont's poem about Baba Yaga
At the monsters
I was in a hut on chicken legs. Everything is as before. Yaga is sitting. The mice squeaked and rummaged through the crumbs. The evil old woman was strict.
But I was wearing a hat, I was invisible. I pulled two strings of beads from Staraya. He angered the Witch and disappeared into the haze. And I twirl my mustache with a laugh.
I’ll probably go to Koshchei now. I'll find pearls for songs there. I will approach the Serpent right up to its mouth. I find out secrets - and I was like that.
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IV.
It turned out to be quite spacious inside. From the outside, it would have been impossible to think that in such a tiny house there could be a senza with a decent room - a large stove, a long wooden table and wide chairs around it. In general, the decoration was quite restrained. No paintings, no little things like wall clocks or forgotten books.
Immediately from the threshold, the old woman seated them at the table and began to pull treats out of the oven. What was missing here! Baked chicken, pickles, new potatoes in oil, pies, cheesecakes, sweets, preserves...
After the day's meager field lunch of buckwheat and stewed meat, the guests' mouths were watering. Now even Alyoshka stopped doubting. He wanted to eat it all at once so much that nothing else mattered. Having set the table, the grandmother sat down next to her and watched with affection as her guests finished off their food.
Throughout the meal, silence reigned in the room, only occasionally broken by the slurping and clinking of dishes. Alyoshka ate and ate, but the feeling of satiety never came. Looking at his counselor, he was surprised to find that he swallowed pieces of meat whole, without chewing or separating it from the bones. He did the same with all other food.
Alyoshka pushed him under the table and whispered:
“It’s probably not good to eat so much at a party.”
Romka became embarrassed and, having swallowed the last piece, pushed the plate away from him:
- Thanks a lot. Everything was delicious.
- What, are you full already? – the old lady became worried. - You didn’t eat anything at all! – there was annoyance in her voice.
“Thank you, we really don’t want any more,” Alyoshka confirmed.
“Well then, it would be nice to wash off the road,” suggested the grandmother.
The guys looked around, wanting to understand where this could be done.
- Do you live here alone? – asked Romka.
The old lady smiled - no, of course not. One is sad. Matthew is with me, my faithful friend. He should come soon. So let's get acquainted.
The guys looked at each other. With these words, the old woman stood up and, reaching the opposite wall, opened the previously inconspicuous door and disappeared behind it.
Alyoshka began to shake the counselor by the sleeve:
- Rom, and Rom, well, let's leave! I really don't like all this! Now Matthew also appears somewhat strange. Coming soon.
“It’s somehow inconvenient,” the counselor muttered embarrassedly. She's so hospitable.
At that moment the old woman returned to the room:
- Well, guys, the bathhouse is ready. You can take a steam bath. In the meantime, I’ll prepare the samovar.
In the next room there really was a real bathhouse. Russian. On the wood, with fragrant brooms. Having steamed and felt that the dirt accumulated over two days of travel (and even earlier, during two weeks of living at the Romantika base without amenities) had disappeared without a trace, flushed and fresh, the guys returned to the old woman.
The samovar was already smoking on the table. The smell of aromatic tea spread throughout the room, and this caused some inexpressible languor to appear in the body. My arms and legs became heavy, and my eyes closed on their own. Romka drank tea. A lot of. Mug after mug.
But Alyoshka, for some unknown reason, didn’t drink. While the old lady kept adding more and more portions of tea, Alyoshka slowly exchanged mugs with the counselor. Suddenly, a grinding sound was heard behind the door.
- What is this? – Alyoshka asked worriedly. The old lady smiled slyly:
“It’s my Matthew who has returned from hunting,” with these words she stood up and headed towards the door. Alyoshka stared at the counselor in fear, but he looked indifferent, continuing to drink his tea at ease. The door opened with a creak and someone entered the room...
Cat. Average, black, slightly shabby. He walked importantly past the table, looked around at those sitting and jumped straight onto the stove.
- Matthew! Well, what a shame! – the old woman said reproachfully. “I prepared a warm place for the guests.” And today you can sleep in the senets. The cat meowed displeasedly, but left the stove.
- Does he really understand? – Alyoshka asked in surprise.
- Certainly. He is very smart to me. Romka hasn’t said anything for a long time. How much tea can you drink! Only now Alyoshka noticed that while sitting at the table, the counselor somehow gained a little weight or even swelling. He was all sort of jelly-like and clumsy.
- Romka, Romka! What happened to you? – Alyoshka shouted in fear. There was no answer. Instead, the old woman quickly jabbered:
- He’s tired, my dear. You must have not had much rest. Let's go to bed already. Otherwise, it’s late. After that, the grandmother put them in a warm place on the stove, for good measure, covering them with two warm blankets.
Romka fell asleep immediately, and Alyoshka lay for a long time and listened to the hostess fussing behind the curtain: clearing the dishes from the table, sweeping the floor, and doing something else that he couldn’t make out. As a result, the dream overcame him too.
