The Spindle of Baba Yaga. The Big One Over Witches, Christmas Divinations, Ritual Beatings, and Female Initiation in Russian Fairy Tales

The wicked old woman from the forest thicket, who constantly seeks to lure heroes to her hut and destroy them... This image of Baba Yaga is what we remember from childhood, but is it really that simple?
Familiar fairy tale characters and plots take on a completely different light when viewed through the prism of ancient initiation rituals.
Why does Baba Yaga live in a dense forest while the Frog Princess resides in a swamp? Why does the main character in the tale "Morozko" refuse to say that she is cold, while Little Khavroshechka buries the bones of her beloved cow?
From this book, you will learn about perhaps the most ambiguous fairy tale heroines.


Baba Yaga knows how to surprise. She takes on many roles in fairy tales - both a generous sorceress who always has wonderful gifts for true heroes, and the mistress of a herd of magical mares, and a midwife, and an Amazon defeating heroes. But in this book, we will focus only on one of her incarnations - the priestess. After all, Baba Yaga helped girls become adults and shared her secret knowledge with them.
You may have noticed that I write the name of the main character in two words, even though dictionaries accept the variant "Baba-Yaga." In this decision, I relied on the analogy with the Great Mother, as Yaga serves the female deity, helping girls learn the rules of behavior, the system of prohibitions, and - most importantly - to become an adult who will be respected in society.
The theme of female initiation has been studied quite little. Referring to wedding folklore, and the research of historians and linguists allows for an expansion of knowledge on this issue, and many fairy tales acquire a completely different sound. They cease to be stories exclusively for toddlers and acquire interesting, and sometimes creepy details.