Baba Yaga
Baba Yaga (Jezi Baba, Jezda, Cyrillic Ба́ба-Яга́) in Slavic mythology is the wild woman, the dark lady and mistress of magic. She is also seen as a forest spirit, leading hosts of spirits. The word baba in Russian and many other Slavic languages means an older or married woman of lower social class.
Baba Yaga is portrayed as a witch who flies through the air in a mortar using the pestle as a rudder sweeping away the tracks behind her with a broom made out of human hair. 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's told a magical phrase: turn your back to the forest, your front to me.
She aids those who are pure of heart; and eat 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.
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'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 Hungarian folklore she was originally a good fairy, but later became a witch.
Creative works inspired by Baba Yaga include:
She is also portrayed in numerous Russian films and cartoons.
