You can finally relax in this Red Delicious Apple scented bath knowing that Baba Yaga is keeping your children in line.
 
Baba Yaga is of Slavic origin and is a widely known folkloric character in Eastern European and Russian fairy tales. Though, to many, she’s more than just a character. She’s a divine ancestor, a powerful spirit, an ancient earth goddess.
Baba Yaga isn’t just one thing. She’s many: a monster, witch, hag, villain, divine grandmother, earth goddess, forest spirit, shapeshifter, light bringer, and to some she’s even considered a hero. According to Judika Illes, while Baba is of Slavic prominence, she may have once been the Scythian goddess of the hearth Tabiti. Though we can relate Baba to a multitude of other hearth deities if we wanted to. Including Hestia of Greek origin and Holda and Berchta of Germanic. To modern witches and Slavic pagans, Baba Yaga is a witch goddess who lives deep in a birch forest. She’s the keeper of herbal and healing wisdom and grants her knowledge to those who are worthy and of whom seek initiation.
he tales say Baba Yaga’s house is deep in a birch forest. And that it sits atop a pair of giant chicken legs. Because it has legs, it can move. In other tales, her cabin sits atop the legs of a goat or spindle wheels. I find the spindle wheels most fascinating, as this would tie Baba Yaga to spinning. And spinning? It’s a duty frequently associated with goddesses of fate including The Norns, Fates, Freya and Berchta. So this points to the idea Baba Yaga may have once been thought to spin the wheel of men’s destinies. A power that makes a deity the strongest of all. In addition, while researching Baba Yaga for this post, I asked her to show me something she wants her followers and devotees to see. She showed me a door deep in the forest. One that only she has the key to.
Around Baba Yaga’s house, there’s a fence with skulls that sit on top. These skulls glow at certain times. And in her cabin, there’s a large oven akin to a cauldron. Baba Yaga is said to stretch out on top of this oven to warm herself, and in some tales, she’s so large that she can reach both corners of her home as she stretches out atop it. The cauldron in her home screams of Baba’s domain over magic, regeneration, ancestral wisdom and initiation into the magical arts. During the day, a white horse and a red horse may be seen outside her hut. And at night, a black horse. It may also be surrounded by other wildlife including birds, squirrels, snakes, etc.
 
The number three emerges as a popular theme in many Baba Yaga tales and for good reason. In the occult, three is a sacred number and has been for thousands of years. The Celts particularly favored the number three and felt it symbolized land, sea and sky, as well as life, death, and rebirth. Among other divine triplicities and triple goddesses like Brigid and The Morrigan. Which brings us to the idea that Baba Yaga was a triple goddess. In “The Maiden Tsar” tale, the story speaks of the “three Babas” as sisters.
 
“Be prepared. Baba Yaga is not an easy teacher. And she is definitely no pushover. She will challenge you, she will test you, and she will push you farther than you ever believed you could go. But, like a tough coach or a domineering drill sergeant, perhaps it’s because she believes in you more than you may believe in yourself. To work with her takes courage, intelligence, resourcefulness, and even a little bit of moxie, but if you’re ready for the challenge, you’ll reap incredible rewards—climbing higher, going farther, and doing more than you ever thought possible.” ~ Madame Pamita, author of Baba Yaga’s Book of Witchcraft.