Unraveling Baba Yaga is a prose poem I wrote for my mother… The story of Baba Yaga is one of her favorites. It originated in the Slavic countries of Europe, as a folktale. In the story, Baba Yaga is hideous and old, living in her house in the woods, with only animal companions. I re-imagined this story of spiritual transformation through trial because I love the whole notion of shape-shifters and the merging of nature and wildness with human life. Baba Yaga is fierce and she is terrible, but there is also a tenderness that ultimately emerges in her. It may not happen until she dies, but how is that different from the transformation that many people go through when facing illness, difficulties, or death? She is in exile because she revealed Shamanic secrets to a human child. As a result, she's sent out into the woods (darkness) as her penance. Once there, she must serve and answer the worst and most unruly children, aging rapidly under the weight...
Women's Spiritual Poetry