I was 7 years old when my mother gave me a book of Grimms’ Fairy Tales.  It was Christmas of 1955. I am 65 years of age and of all the books that I have saved through my life, this book is the one I cherished most. The cover of the book had a horse with a handsome prince, a king and queen, a maiden, and a slayed dragon, on the back of the cover. There were also witches inside. If you look closely, you can see her small figure in the picture. Although the maidens were always fair, I secretly wanted to be the witch because she had more power and knowledge. The castle was in the background and the book gave me countless hours of stories that stirred my imagination and gave me flights of fantasy. I read the stories many times. It gave me the concept of magic and I never forgot that. Now, in the autumn of my life, I have come to realize just how important the concept of magic and symbolism is, that were contained in these stories.

When I was in my teens, my mother’s best friend, loaned me a collection of Japanese fairly tales. This book was given to her by her father who was Japanese. Her mother was Irish, and during World War II, her family struggled with the prejudice of being Japanese American. I found the stories to be just as fascinating, easily crossing cultural lines.

Some time in the middle of my life, after the Internet came into existence, I stumbled upon a Russian artist who illustrated a number of Russian fairy tales. His name was Ivan Biliban. He died during the siege of Leningrad in World War II.  His illustrations of classic Russian fairy tales brought to life the stories he illustrated, and I found myself drawn to a particular character by the name of Baba Yaga. Baba Yaga was a pagan goddess (witch) who lived in a house that had chicken legs and walked about all by itself. It also twirled round and round. One had to use magic words to gain entrance.

                              Baba Yaga got around in a cauldron that was shaped like a mortar.

                                                                 Baba Yaga's House
 
The other day, I came across the book, “Women Who Run With the Wolves” by Clarissa Pinkola Estes. To my delight, when I opened the book, there was Baba Yaga again. The author provided her insights on the classic Russian tale, and like Ivan Biliban, she brought the tale to life. Baba Yaga was an old chrone who exhibited both good and bad. She symbolized the maiden, the mother, and the crone, all in one. Life/death/and life again. The endless cycle. The fair maiden Vasalisa, was sent into the forest to retrieve fire from Baba Yaga by her wicked step mother and sisters, hoping she would die. This story closely resembles the story of Cinderella, where the father is blind to their cruelty towards Vasalisa. Vasalisa’s mother had died at an early age, but before she died, she gave her a doll who had magic properties. Her mother said on her death bed that the doll would protect her and give her guidance. Once Vasalisa arrived at Baba Yaga’s house, she was given certain tasks to perform before Baba Yaga would give her fire. Vasalisa performed all of the tasks, thanks to the doll that she hid in her pocket. According to the author, the doll symbolized the wild side of women’s intuition. It is a side that many women fail to recognize or suppress, and often reject because they are told that this quality is not acceptable in the world of men. It is the missing spiritual part that many women lack in this day and age. It is a part that is badly needed, and causes women to feel a hole in their life that they cannot fill. It is the intuition that pulls us through the most trying times of our lives, and guides us on our life long journey. Once recognized, it completes us. It is so simple, yet so hard to see. As Baba Yaga says to Vasalisa,- to know too much can make one old too soon. We acquire knowledge about ourselves at each stage of our lives, both good and bad. All we have to do is recognize each stage with understanding and acceptance.

At the end of Vasalisa’s tasks, Baba Yaga gives her a skull on a stick that emanates fire, and she returns to her wicked step mother and sisters. The skull sees their Mal-intent and burns up the wicked ones, freeing Vasalisa to live a happier and more complete life. Vasalisa is no longer the gentle maiden, but a woman who is empowered. I like that.