Having gone through Yaga’s origins and powers in the previous two blogs, it’s now time to find out where the infamous witch lives. Not only that, but we’ll also take a look at some of her magical items! Once again, the tale is full of symbology and meaning, as is the nature of this being. On this note, let’s dive in!

Where does Baba Yaga live? 

 

Well, mostly in forests, swamps and bogs, empty fields; and (get this) in any dimension or plane of existence she so wishes! 

So, if Asgard is in another dimension she can definitely go there if she wanted to; and so too with Olympus. That is, if those were the dimensions Slavs believed in, and they were not. Slavs believed in many different ones, like everyone else really. 

In a very thematic sense some religious cosmologies are split into the Holy Three again; Celestial/Heavenly place, Mortal place, Death/Hell place. The death one is usually split into a few, other lovely numbers I'm sure; punishment and some sort of afterlife or paradise. Christianity has a Three-World system (Heaven above, Earth in the middle, and Hell below). That’s not to say all of the places are like that; the Norse believed there were Nine Worlds; the Greeks in at least Four, going up to Seven. There is an entire place in Bulgarian folklore which goes down, or up, or sideways also seven times - worlds within a world, and some Slavs believed all the fairy-stuffs lived in them: dragons, mermaids, spirits, pokemons, and so on. 

Back to Yaga, some scholars see her as the gatekeeper of the Underworld, or Hell, preventing the souls from escaping. Some others see her as their punisher or master of that realm. In any case, she's a multidimensional being and will be a problem for Doctor Strange! 

 

More importantly, Baba Yaga doesn’t pop in wrapped in her evening gown with rolls in her hair, wearing some fur slippers while sipping herbal tea, no, no, no…She travels in a hut on chicken legs. How awesome is that?! 

A Magnificent Mansion 

 

Her famous House on Chicken Legs is taken to be the entrance to the underworld, or the underworld itself, or simply her house… (confusing I know).  In the older legends the house had four legs (arguably representing the four directions of the world, symbolising her mastery of them) and gusts of wind would propel the hut in any direction of Yaga’s whim. 

In more recent tales the house is on two legs, perhaps because people couldn’t really get how walking on four legs works; who knows. The legs represent her ever-shifting nature and aspect once again, and the fact that she can be anywhere at any time; listening and waiting, or perhaps weaving your path into hers. 

Yaga and her house are inseparable, so wherever she went the chicken hut went as well. If a mortal were to enter her hut they would see her inside stooped over her cauldron of bubbles, toil and trouble. Other times, a person entering her curious extradimensional space would see Baba Yaga in every one of the four corners of the hut; her nose protruding out from the darkness and her voice booming out from everywhere. Creepy, right? There is no evidence to suggest that the house was sentient or alive in some way but I like to imagine it was. Fantasy is awesome.

In some earlier records her hut is surrounded by a wall or fence made of human bones - the handle of its gate a skeletal hand (spookey). The skeletal fence would be dotted with human or animal skulls all around; their eyeballs giving out a soft and eerie light come nightfall. This is a nod, once more, to her very old aspect of a death goddess or gatekeeper. It could be taken to mean the end of life, the place where damned souls go after they die, or the beginning and protection of all life after death. 

The story varies, but there is no (scholarly) doubt it comes from her underworld-ish aspect. Sometimes, there is no fence in the stories, but rather the door itself has a bone handle. Whatever the case, it all points in the same direction - tread with care, it's a dangerous place and you’re most definitely being watched.

Meandering is for Mortals

 

 

Now, we continue with her impeccable style of getting around. When Yaga’s hut would arrive she didn't just open the door and walk around nor did she grab a broom to fly (of course she flies), but rather she grabbed a mortar and pestle. It’s a curious way of getting around sure, but it has zero emissions and is the obvious choice for transport. 

The pestle and mortar represent her crafting skill and status - the vital importance of these tools to olden peoples used since the beginning of the Stone Age up until today, is more than symbolic and empowering when represented in baba Yaga. The mortar and pestle allowed people to make flour and thus bread, paste, medicine, poisons and much more.

 

The very fact that those especially, the pestle and mortar, are associated with Yaga, relate to the admiration and fear of the immense knowledge and power she represented to the people who believed in her. This symbolism further elevates her importance and divine-like rank. Hold on, it doesn’t stop here (nor did anyone expect it to). 

 

Magical Miscellany

 

Her pestle is her staff or her magical wand. With one wave of it Yaga could shapeshift into absolutely anything she wished - a dragon, a mermaid, a devil (not in the Christian sense), a giant, an ant; you name it, she can turn into it.

Again, it’s why in so many stories she represents the change, that transformation for good or bad; just like the pestle would transform grain into powder or herbs into a paste. 

Yaga could also conjure up any animal that came to her mind, using her precious pestle; imagine you’re a bear looking for honey or berries (or tourists) to eat, and suddenly you appear at a random location, sitting across from the most powerful witch... Scary. Maybe she’s just lonely and wants to have a guest for tea…we’ll never know.

She also uses her pestle to summon horses galloping faster than the wind and magical weapons for heroes in need. Additionally, as a “minor” feat, the pestle could also erase any trace of Baba Yaga so she’s always the one that finds you.

 

And if you think about it, when the heroine finds Baba Yaga randomly in the forest, does she really find her or does Baba Yaga allow herself to be found?

I think this is an excellent place to leave Yaga and her intense and immensely informational character and resume. This entire blog can easily be a book, and there are entire ones dedicated to the study of this mystical goddess-witch. This more summarised version does not pay all the honour Yaga deserves, but it sure shortens the reading.

I promise you, most of this information is factual. That is, until someone discovers more about Yaga, in which case it may no longer be factual, or indeed still may be. What is certain is that Yaga remains a powerful and ancient character, and we are yet to learn everything we can about her.

 

Where to now?

In the next part of this blog series, we’ll examine Yaga’s relationship to her children - daughters, granddaughters, adopted daughters from ghastly deals or whims (if you’re a fan of the Witcher 3 game or the books, and ever wondered about where Andrzej Sapkowski’s inspiration for Witchers receiving payment in the form of children who become witcher apprentices, came from, known as the Law of Surprise - Baba Yaga is your answer).

After that, we can discuss some of the more prominent tales of her, and the ones she features in as the villain or supernatural aid. Some tales are about her and her entirely, while others she merely acts as the catalyst for change. 

Stay tuned for more exciting stuff, and as always you can follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for more updates!