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Baba Yaga
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Image:Bilibin. Baba Yaga.jpg thumb|right|196px|Baba Yaga by [[Ivan Bilibin]]
'''Baba Yaga''' (
Czech language Czech '''Baba Jaga''',
Slovak language Slovak '''Baba Jaga''',
Polish language Polish Baba Jaga,
Slovene language Slovene '''Jaga Baba''',
Macedonian language Macedonian Баба Рога,
Russian language Russian Бáба-Ягá,
Bulgarian language Bulgarian Баба Яга,
Ukrainian language Ukrainian Баба Яґа,
Serbian language Serbian: '''Baba Roga''') in
Slavic mythology is the wild woman, the dark lady and mistress of
magic (paranormal) magic. She is also seen as a forest spirit, leading hosts of spirits. The word ''baba'' in most
Slavic languages Slavic languages means an older or married woman of lower social class or simply
grandmother.
Baba Yaga is portrayed as a
witch who flies through the air in a
mortar and pestle mortar using the pestle as a rudder sweeping away the tracks behind her with a broom made out of silver birch. She lives in a log cabin that revolves around by means of a pair of
chicken legs that dance. Her fence outside is made with human bones with skulls on top. The keyhole to her front door is a mouth filled with sharp teeth. In another legend the house does not reveal the door until it is told a magical phrase: ''turn your back to the forest, your front to me''.
She aids those who are pure of heart and eats the souls of those that visit her unprepared and unclean of spirit. She is said to be the Guardian Spirit of the fountain of the water of life.
According to some versions of the myths, Baba Yaga ages a year every time someone asks her a question. This is why she is often portrayed as a cranky old
hag - she is frustrated and angry about having been asked so many questions. The only way for her to de-age herself is by drinking a special tea she brews from
blue roses. Heroes who bring her a gift of blue roses are often granted wishes as reward for their aid.
In one folk tale a young girl, Vasilisa, is sent to visit Baba Yaga on an errand and is enslaved by her, but the
hag hag's servants — a cat, a dog, a gate and a tree — help Vasilisa to escape because she has been kind to them. Finally, Baba Yaga is turned into a crow. In another version of the same story recorded by
Alexander Afanasyev in ''Narodnye russkie skazki'' (vol 4, 1862) Vasilisa is given three impossible tasks that she solves using a magic doll her mother gave to her.
Baba Yaga in the arts
Baba Yaga, or characters inspired by her, appears in a number of works of art, including many novels, films, musical pieces, comic books, and computer games. She is in particular a favorite subject of
Russian films and cartoons.
Creative works inspired by Baba Yaga include:
*Numerous
Russian films and cartoons
*''Baba Yaga'' (Italian film,
1973, by Corrado Farina)
*''Baba Yaga'' (a drawing of Baba Yaga's hut by
Viktor Hartmann that features in
Modest Mussorgsky Mussorgsky's ''
Pictures at an Exhibition'')
*''Jack Frost'', an episode of
Mystery Science Theater 3000, in which Baba Yaga and her chicken-legged house appear.
*''Baba Yaga'' (musical release,
1999, by Norwegian folk musician Annbjørg Lien)
* ''
Enchantment (novel) Enchantment'' (a novel by
Orson Scott Card)
*''
The Sandman (comics) The Sandman'', ''
Stardust'', and ''
The Books of Magic'' by
Neil Gaiman featured Baba Yaga in a number of stories based on folk tales.
*Baba Yaga appears in Mike Mignola's comic book
Hellboy, in the issue ''Baba Yaga''. She is depicted or referenced in other issues, including the ''Conqueror Worm'' and ''Wake the Devil'' collections.
*Baba Yaga also appears as a character in the
Science Fiction novel [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0451458680 Belarus] (link to
Amazon.com) by
Lee Hogan
*Koshka's Tales (Stories From Russia) by
James Mayhew features Baba Yaga as the main plot's antagonist. (ISBN 1-85697-121-X)
*Studio Ghibli's ''Spirited Away'' (originally titled Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi)
Spirited Away is a retelling of the above folk story, presented in Japanese folk culture wrappings. Here the girl Vasilissa is named Chihiro, spirited away into Baba Yaga's service.
*The ninth piece in
Modest Mussorgsky's
Pictures at an Exhibition Suite for the piano. The music conjures the image of Baba Jaga trudging through the forest with her pestle, and of the spirits surrounding her.
*The
symphonic poem ''Baba Yaga'' Op. 56 by
Anatoly Lyadov. The music depicts Baba Yaga summoning her mortar, pestle and broomstick, then flying off through the forest.
*The children's book ''Weirdos of the Universe Unite'' by Pamela F. Service features a collection of deities from various mythologies fending off an alien invasion. One of the main characters in the book is Baba Yaga.
*
Baba Yaga (Quest for Glory) in the
computer role playing game series
Quest for Glory, is the main villain of the first episode. She is a powerful sorceress who torments the lands she visits; the character must win entrance to her chicken-legged hut and remove the curses she has placed. She briefly reappears in the 4th part; the player seeks her aid and advice when facing an even greater evil.
The following Western works bear little or no relation to the "real" Baba Yaga but the name.
*In
Fables (comics) Fables by
Bill Willingham she poses as Red Riding Hood in order to infiltrate Fabletown and is defeated in magical combat by the Black Forest Witch.
*In the
Vampire: The Masquerade role-playing game, Baba Yaga was a powerful vampire of the
Nosferatu (World of Darkness) Nosferatu clan which reappeared after the fall of
Gorbachev, killing all of the
Brujah clan vampires that controlled the
Soviet Union
*In the 1998 Film
Lawn Dogs as a fabled witch in the woods.
External links
-
http://www.oldrussia.net/baba.html
-
SurLaLune Fairy Tale Pages: The Annotated Baba Yaga
{{Slavmyth}}
Category:Slavic mythology
Category:Characters of Russian folklore
Category:Witchcraft
bg:Баба Яга
de:Baba Jaga
es:Baba Yaga
fr:Baba Yaga
hr:Baba Jaga
nl:Baba Jaga
pl:Baba Jaga (mitologia słowiańska)
pt:Baba Yaga
ru:Баба-Яга
sl:Jaga baba
fi:Baba Jaga
sv:Baba-Yaga
uk:Баба-Ñ?га
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