Goddesses: Baba Yaga

Baba Yaga is a witch and one of the most famous figures from Slavic folklore. She is known for living in a magical hut with chicken legs in the forest, where she lures innocent children and often eats them. Often considered an evil and menacing woman, her story has recently been examined in a more empowering light.

Further Reading:

• Warriors, Witches, Women: Mythology’s Fiercest Females by Kate Hodges
• Baba Yaga: The greatest 'wicked witch' of all?
• Baba Yaga
• Into the Forest

This month, we're talking about Goddesses: mythical figures who have shaped culture, history, and imagination around the world.

History classes can get a bad rap, and sometimes for good reason. When we were students, we couldn’t help wondering... where were all the ladies at? Why were so many incredible stories missing from the typical curriculum? Enter, Womanica. On this Wonder Media Network podcast we explore the lives of inspiring women in history you may not know about, but definitely should.

Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more.  Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures. 

Womanica was created by Liz Kaplan and Jenny Kaplan, executive produced by Jenny Kaplan, and produced by Grace Lynch, Maddy Foley, Brittany Martinez, Edie Allard, Lindsey Kratochwill, Adesuwa Agbonile, Carmen Borca-Carrillo, Taylor Williamson, Sara Schleede, Paloma Moreno Jimenez, and Abbey Delk. Special thanks to Shira Atkins. 

Original theme music composed by Miles Moran.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hello from Wonder Media Network. I'm Jenny Kaplan and this
is Womanica. This month, we're talking about goddesses, mythical figures
who've shaped culture, history and imagination around the world. She's
an old crone with a hurricane of gray hair and
a piercing scowl. By day, she flies around in a mortar,
carrying a pestle and commanding a murder of crows. By night,

(00:27):
she lives in a hut that walks around the forest
on a pair of chicken legs. She lures unassuming children
into the tangled, dark depths of the wilderness, where she
sometimes helps but often harms them. Please welcome Baba Yega.
Baba Yega is an old witch from Slavic folklore with

(00:48):
an even older backstory. She was mentioned in writing in
a book on Russian grammar in seventeen fifty five, but
stories featuring the ogres were shared orally much earlier. Scholars
have on woodcuts with her likeness from the seventeenth century.
Her mischievous and wicked antics have filled Slavic mythologies ever since.

(01:09):
Some scholars believe Babaiyega may have originally been an earth
mother figure or the personification of nature, exhibiting both cruelty
and kindness. According to other researchers, Babayega was meant to
be the goddess of death. Babiega's origins are not widely
agreed upon. In one legend, she originates from the devil.

(01:32):
The devil stewed twelve nasty women together in a cauldron
to cook up the most perfect essence of evil. He
gathered the steam in his mouth and then spat into
the cauldron. The result babai Aga, this most perfect evil,
then lived out her days exploring the forest in her
flying mortar, using her pestle to grind up the bones

(01:53):
of her prey. Babaiyega sent her crows out each day
to hunt for little children to bring back to her
hut for a nice supper. Not to eat supper, but
to be eaten as supper. In one popular story, baba
Aga stays hungry. This version of the tale begins with

(02:13):
a young girl named vussy Lisa. When vussy Lisa was
eight years old, her mother fell ill. While on her deathbed,
she gave her daughter a magical doll. She told her
to keep the doll with her always Whenever vussy Lisa
found herself in a bind. She just needed to offer
food or drink to the doll and it would offer help.

(02:35):
After her mother died, vussy Lisa's father married a new
woman with two daughters of her own. Vussy Lisa's father
was often away and left alone. The stepmother and stepdaughters
abused vussy Lisa. They forced her to clean the house
day after day. Her stepmother sent away any suitors who
tried to take vussy Lisa away from her terrible home.

(02:57):
One day, vussy Lisa's stepmother asked her to r on
some errands in the forest. The stepmother knew an evil
witch named Baba Yaga lived in the forest, and she
hoped the witch would kidnap vussy Lisa so she could
be rid of her for good. But Bussy Lisa's magical
doll kept her safe. On her excursion, she collected a
basket of berries and returned home. Furious, her stepmother sent

(03:23):
her straight to Babba Yaga's hut to ask for fire.
Babiaga agreed to give vussy Lisa fire in exchange for work.
Babiya God gave her task after seemingly impossible task, and
with the help of her secret magical doll, vussy Lisa
was able to accomplish them all. She stayed in the
forest this way for a while as babba AGA's servant.

(03:46):
Babai Aga agreed to not eat vussy Lisa so long
as she was able to complete the chores she was assigned.
The old witch was shocked that Vussy Lisa was up
to the task time and time again. Finally, Babaye God
demanded to know how Vussy Lisa was able to perform
all the tasks. Vussy Lisa told her about her mother's

(04:08):
magical doll, and babay A Goad banished her from her hut.
She didn't allow any blessed objects in her home. Before
Vussi Lisa left, babay Agad gave her a skull filled
with the fire she was sent to retrieve in the
first place. When vussy Lisa finally returned home, the fire

(04:29):
burned so bright it scorched her stepmother and her stepsisters
to a pile of ashes. Thanks to baba Aga, Bussy
Lisa was free from her oppressive family and went on
to become a seamstress, marry the king, and live happily
ever after. Often old women in folklore fall into two archetypes,

(04:50):
wicked witch or evil stepmother. Either way, they're always the antagonist.
Despite her moments of altruism, Babayega falls into this track.
In most stories, she's meant to be feared, not related to,
or admired. But in truth, babay A Goad is much
more complex. She's more of a morally ambiguous trickster than

(05:13):
a villain, and if you look at her in a
different way, she can be just as inspiring as any
fair maiden in a fairy tale. Babi A Gad is empowered.
She lives on her own terms, alone in the forest,
without a family to be responsible for or social norms
to follow. She subverts the idea that women should be
nurturing and agreeable. Her hut walks around on legs, so

(05:35):
she literally isn't tied down to a home. She's unpredictable, untamable,
and reminds women of all eras to tap into their
wickedness and strength. Her enduring influence is seen in pop
culture today. The title character in the action film series
John Wick is called babai Aga by his foes. The

(05:58):
bathhouse owner in the Studio Oh Jibbli film Spirited Away
was inspired by Babayega and many authors have tried their
hands at modern and feminist reimaginings of Babaye Gas stories.
No longer confined to just the villain archetype, Baba y
A Gay is respected as an independent, minded and clever
which all month we're talking about goddesses. For more information,

(06:23):
find us on Facebook and Instagram at Wamanica Podcast special
thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and co creator.
Talk to you tomorrow