Baba Yaga/Bone Mother from Eastern Europe

Bone Mother

Originally she was Baba from Eastern Europe. Autumn was her season for she lived in the last sheaf of corn. The woman who consumed it would become pregnant within a year. Baba became the fearsome Baba Yaga of Russia. She lived deep within a birch forest. Her house was surrounded by a fence of bones with human skulls atop it and a lock that was a mouth full of sharp teeth. Her house turned on chick legs. Baba Yaga became the evil witch that ate children and scared men to their deaths. It was written her mouth stretched from Earth to the gates of Hell. She flew through the air with a mortar and pestle sweeping the trail with a broom.


But let us look closer. She is not only the Goddess of the underworld, but also the guardian of the fountain of the waters of life. Baba Yaga not only is the Goddess of death, but also the Goddess of life. At dawn, a white horseman leaves her residence. When noon arrives, a red horseman leaves her residence. And finally, at dusk, a black horseman leaves her residence only to have the cycle begin again at dawn. The signs of the triple Goddess remain. If you were to ask Baba Yaga she would tell you these were not men, but amazons that rode the horses.
Baba Yaga's lineage is not known. When asked how she feels about being made into an evil hag, the grandmother of the devil, a demonic witch, Baba Yaga explains at least she was kept alive so when someone wished to seek her out she could be found. Baba Yaga believes this image keeps many of the unwanted away. Even writers who spoke of her evil side also would speak of her giving side. She does not associate with men at all and believes they distorted her image out of fear. Baba Yaga is a woman's Goddess and associates herself not only with the Crone, but also with the Amazon. She is considered a wise old woman, even by those who fear her.