SPEAKER_06: Change the oil without changing your schedule. Rotate the tires without rotating your routine. Give us the keys without giving up your day. Your local Ford dealer now offers pickup and delivery for all service needs. We'll pick up your Ford, service it, and bring it back to your home, work, or anywhere you need it. Ford pickup and delivery. It's the way to run an errand without running around. Schedule today through your FordPass app or contact your local Ford dealer.
SPEAKER_03: You can join us while we unpack it all by searching for Life Uncut Now wherever you get your podcasts.
SPEAKER_00: She lies around in a mortar carrying a pestle and commanding a murder of crows. By night, she lives in a hut that walks around the forest on a pair of chicken legs. She lures unassuming children into the tangled, dark depths of the wilderness, where she sometimes helps but often harms them. Please welcome Baba Yaga. Baba Yaga is an old witch from Slavic folklore with an even older backstory. She was mentioned in writing in a book on Russian grammar in 1755, but stories featuring the ogress were shared orally much earlier. Scholars have found woodcuts with her likeness from the 17th century. Her mischievous and wicked antics have filled Slavic mythologies ever since. Some scholars believe Baba Yaga may have originally been an earth-mother figure or the personification of nature, exhibiting both cruelty and kindness. According to other researchers, Baba Yaga was meant to be the goddess of death. Baba Yaga's origins are not widely agreed upon. In one legend, she originates from the devil. The devil stewed 12 nasty women together in a cauldron to cook up the most perfect essence of evil. He gathered the steam in his mouth and then spat into the cauldron. The result? Baba Yaga. This most perfect evil then lived out her days exploring the forest in her flying mortar, using her pestle to grind up the bones of her prey. Baba Yaga sent her crows out each day to hunt for little children to bring back to her hut for a nice supper. Not to eat supper, but to be eaten as supper. In one popular story, Baba Yaga stays hungry. This version of the tale begins with a young girl named Vasilisa. When Vasilisa was eight years old, her mother fell ill. While on her deathbed, she gave her daughter a magical doll. She told her to keep the doll with her always. Whenever Vasilisa found herself in a bind, she just needed to offer food or drink to the doll and it would offer help. After her mother died, Vasilisa's father married a new woman with two daughters of her own. Vasilisa's father was often away, and left alone, the stepmother and stepdaughters abused Vasilisa. They forced her to clean the house day after day. Her stepmother sent away any suitors who tried to take Vasilisa away from her terrible home. One day, Vasilisa's stepmother asked her to run some errands in the forest. The stepmother knew an evil witch named Baba Yaga lived in the forest, and she hoped the witch would kidnap Vasilisa so she could be rid of her for good. But Vasilisa's magical doll kept her safe on her excursion. She collected a basket of berries and returned home. Furious, her stepmother sent her straight to Baba Yaga's hut to ask for fire. Baba Yaga agreed to give Vasilisa fire in exchange for work. Baba Yaga gave her task after seemingly impossible task, and with the help of her secret magical doll, Vasilisa was able to accomplish them all. She stayed in the forest this way for a while as Baba Yaga's servant. Baba Yaga agreed to not eat Vasilisa so long as she was able to complete the chores she was assigned. The old witch was shocked that Vasilisa was up to the task time and time again. Finally, Baba Yaga demanded to know how Vasilisa was able to perform all the tasks. Vasilisa told her about her mother's magical doll, and Baba Yaga banished her from her hut. She didn't allow any blessed objects in her home. Before Vasilisa left, Baba Yaga gave her a skull filled with the fire she was sent to retrieve in the first place. When Vasilisa finally returned home, the fire burned so bright it scorched her stepmother and her stepsisters to a pile of ashes. Thanks to Baba Yaga, Vasilisa was free from her oppressive family, and went on to become a seamstress, marry the king, and live happily ever after. Often, old women in folklore fall into two archetypes, wicked witch or evil stepmother. Either way, they're always the antagonist. Despite her moments of altruism, Baba Yaga falls into this trap. In most stories, she's meant to be feared, not related to or admired. But in truth, Baba Yaga is much more complex. She's more of a morally ambiguous trickster than a villain. And if you look at her in a different way, she can be just as inspiring as any fair maiden in a fairy tale. Baba Yaga is empowered. She lives on her own terms, alone in the forest without a family to be responsible for or social norms to follow. She subverts the idea that women should be nurturing and agreeable. Her hut walks around on legs so she literally isn't tied down to a home. She's unpredictable, untamable, and reminds women of all eras to tap into their wickedness and strength. Her enduring influence is seen in pop culture today. The title character in the action film series John Wick is called Baba Yaga by his foes. The bathhouse owner in the Studio Ghibli film Spirited Away was inspired by Baba Yaga. And many authors have tried their hands at modern and feminist reimaginings of Baba Yaga stories. No longer confined to just the villain archetype, Baba Yaga is respected as an independent-minded and clever witch. All month we're talking about goddesses. For more information, find us on Facebook and Instagram at Womanica Podcast. Special thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and co-creator. Talk to you tomorrow.
SPEAKER_07: Hey guys, Britt and Laurie here from Life on Cut podcast. We are the number one dating and relationships podcast in Australia because we do things different down under.
SPEAKER_05: We cover everything from dating, sex, relationships, and pop culture. We chat with a lot of experts about things like love, cheating, narcissists, because we both dated one, long distance, fertility, communication, and breakups. And we talk to some people you might be familiar with like Rebel Wilson, Matthew Hussey, Stephen Bartlett, Joanne McNally, and Mark Manson.
SPEAKER_05: You can join us while we unpack it all by searching for Life on Cut now, wherever you get your podcasts.
SPEAKER_01: Ready to be inspired? I am Pauline Witt, the host of Eating While Broke Podcast. Step into a world where I sit down to budget meals created by self-made entrepreneurs, influencers, and celebrities. Together, we revisit the very dishes that fueled their journey from humble beginnings. Every Thursday, listen to Eating While Broke on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you listen to your podcast. The Black Effect Podcast Network is brought to you by Uber. Earn like a boss at Uber.com slash boss.
