Post by Arkhon Arkhozh on Oct 29, 2008 2:58:13 GMT -5
imagecache2.allposters.com/images/pic/FIP/HW-00076-C~Halloween-Witch-Silhouette-Posters.jpg
A song thats specifically a tribute to Baba Yaga to listen to while reading the topic. Animusic version.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=q259PP4HdzM&feature=related
ELP version
www.youtube.com/watch?v=YT_JAZ3R5uc&feature=related
Since its Halloween week I thought I would do something about witches. But I do not refer to female pagan magic users such as a Norse Volva. Nor modern witch pagans such as Wiccans. I mean the legends of evil powerful old women/monsters that eat people. Good old fashioned hags. The origins of the Halloween witch we know about probably comes from Germanic fairy tales such as Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella and Hansel and Gretel. Not surprising since Germany and Poland are neighbors the Germanic cannablistic hag is probably connected to the Slavic cannablistic hag, Baba Yaga of Russian and Polish mythology.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hansel_and_Gretel
"Indeed, a Russian folk tale exists in which the evil stepmother (also the wife of a poor woodcutter) asks her hated stepdaughter to go into the forest to borrow a light from her sister, who turns out to be Baba Yaga - who, though her house is anything but enticing, is also a cannibalistic witch."
www.columbia.edu/itc/slavic/w4010/bilibin_baba_yaga.jpg
As for Baba Yaga. She pretty much is THE witch.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baba_Yaga
"In Russian tales, Baba Yaga is portrayed as a hag who flies through the air in a mortar, using the pestle as a rudder and sweeping away the tracks behind her with a broom made out of silver birch. She lives in a log cabin that moves around on a pair of dancing chicken legs, and/or surrounded by a palisade with a skull on each pole. The keyhole to her front door is a mouth filled with sharp teeth; the fence outside is made with human bones with skulls on top, often with one pole lacking its skull, leaving space for the hero or heroes. 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."
"In some tales, the house is connected with three riders: one in white, riding a white horse with white harness, who is Day; a red rider, who is the Sun; and one in black, who is Night. Baba Yaga is served by invisible servants inside the house. She will explain the riders if asked, but may kill a visitor who inquires about the servants."
"Baba Yaga is sometimes shown as an antagonist, and sometimes as a source of guidance; there are stories where she helps people with their quests, and stories in which she kidnaps children and threatens to eat them. Baba Yaga, as the crone, also embodies the inner archetype of the wisdom of the goddess Sophia. Seeking out her aid is usually portrayed as a dangerous act. An emphasis is placed on the need for proper preparation and purity of spirit, as well as basic politeness."
"Baba Yaga in Polish folklore differs in details. For example, the Polish Baba Jaga's house has only one chicken leg. Monstrous witches living in gingerbread houses are also commonly named Baba Jaga. Baba Jaga, flying on a mop, wearing black and red striped folk cloth of Swietokrzyskie Mountains is an unofficial symbol of Kielce region (it is connected with legendary witches sabbaths on Lysa Góra mountain)."
"In some fairy tales, such as The Feather of Finist the Falcon, the hero meets not with one but three Baba Yagas. Such figures are usually benevolent, giving the hero advice or magical presents, or both. Other recorded Russian fairy tales that feature Baba Yaga are Teryoshecka, The Enchanted Princess, and The Silver Saucer and the Red Apple"
www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/babaya.htm
Baba Yaga in Marvel. In Marvel shes almost the same as the myth only they seem to illustrate her cannablistic aspect more and shes involved with creating undead. They also seem to better connect her to the Slavic pantheon of gods. Not bad for Marvel.
"Powers: Baba Yaga still possess some of the powers of the Russian Gods. She has considerable powers rooted in black magic such as reanimating the dead and manipulating earth and wood. Despite her great age and wizened appearance, she has great strength (Class 10 possibly) and resistance to injury but none of the vitality and vigor from her prime. She was also credited with creating the practice of flying on brooms."
"History: (Russian Myth) Baba Yaga was the ancient Slavic goddess of earth before the Russian Gods came into power, but she seemed to abuse her powers by inflicting mortals with drought and famine. She unwittingly degenerated into a goddess of the underworld who built her hut out of bones on earth near the location of a cave leading to the underworld and often flew through the air on a mortar rowed by a pestle. The model for the fairy tale witch, she subsisted on anyone who wandered near her and soon inspired the story of "Hansel And Gretel." She was also known as the grandmother of Chert (Chernobog), the Russian devil, and Koshchei, the god of misfortune, whom became foes of Bielbog (Yarilo), the god of spring, and Perun, the god of thunder."
www.wizards.com/dnd/images/bovd_gallery/88161_620_48.jpg
Information on hags in general.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hag
"A hag (or crone) is a wizened old woman, or a kind of fairy or goddess having the appearance of such a woman, often found in folklore and children's tales such as Hansel and Gretel.[1] Hags are often seen as malevolent, but may also be one of the chosen forms of shapeshifting deities, such as the Morrígan or Badb, who are seen as neither wholly beneficent nor malevolent.[2][3] The term appears in Middle English, and might be short for hægtesse, an Old English term for witch."
"A hag, or "the Old Hag", was a nightmare spirit in British and Anglophone North American folklore. This variety of hag is essentially identical to the Anglo-Saxon mæra — a being with roots in ancient Germanic superstition, and closely related to the Scandinavian mara. According to folklore, the Old Hag sat on a sleeper's chest and sent nightmares to him or her. When the subject awoke, he or she would be unable to breathe or even move for a short period of time. Currently this state is called sleep paralysis, but in the old belief the subject had been "hagridden".[5] It is still frequently discussed as if it were a paranormal state."
"In Persian folklore, the Bakhtak has the same role as that of "the Old Hag" in British folklore. The Bakhtak sits on a sleeper's chest, awakening them and causing them to feel they are unable to breathe or even to move. Bakhtak also is used metaphorically to refer to "nightmare" in the modern Persian language."
"Many stories about hags seem to have been used to frighten children into being good. Peg Powler, for example, was a river hag who lived in river trees and had skin the color of green pond scum. Parents who wanted to keep their children away from the river's edge told them that if they got too close to the water she would pull them in with her long arms, drown them, and sometimes eat them. Peg Powler has other regional names, such as Jenny Greenteeth from Yorkshire and Nellie Longarms from several English counties."
"In the Dungeons & Dragons game, "hags" are at least three races of female creatures, sort of female counterparts to ogres. They are the annis (named from an analogous creature from the British folklore), the green hag (a green-skinned version of the Slavic Baba Yaga), and the sea hag (sort of a sea witch, not a mermaid). All three sorts are evil, but not overly powerful."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hag_(Dungeons_%26_Dragons)
"Hags appear as wretched old women, with long, frayed hair and withered faces. Horrid moles and warts dot their blotchy skin, their mouths are filled with blackened teeth, and their breath is most foul. Though wrinkled and skinny, hags possess supernatural strength and can easily crush smaller creatures, such as goblins, with one hand. Similarly, though hags look decrepit, they run swiftly, easily bounding over rocks or logs in their path. From the long, skinny fingers of hags grow iron-like claws. Hags use these claws (and their supernatural strength) to rend and tear at opponents in combat. Their garb is similar to that of peasant women, but usually much more tattered and filthy."
"Hags have a ravenous appetite and are able to quickly devour man-sized creatures. They prefer human flesh, but settle for orc or demihuman when necessary. This wanton destruction has earned hags some powerful enemies. Besides humanity in general, both good giants and good dragons hunt hags, slaying them whenever possible. Still, hags multiply rapidly by using their magic to appear as beautiful maidens to men they encounter alone. Hag offspring are always female. Legends say that hags can change their unborn child for that of a human female while she sleeps. They further state that any mother who brings such a child to term is then slain by the hag-child she carries. Fortunately, such ghastly tales have never been proven."
