Ask Baba Yaga: How Can I Stop My Gross Habits?

Baba Yaga by Denis Zilber

With Baba Yaga's forest often considered as "the boundary between the world of the dead and the living", it's no surprise to see her 'sisters' (as mentioned in last Thursday's post with Ms. Claus) active at this darkest time of year, manifesting on the threshold.

Even when Baba Yaga appears in the most unfavorable light and has a ferocity of nature, she still knows the future, has countless treasures, and knows secret knowledge - all typical aspects in the portrayal Shamanic Wise Women and Healers. Often she is said to live in the densest forest, which further scared people and added to the mystery and fear surrounding her because the forest is perceived as the boundary between the world of the dead and the living. No wonder then that her hut is surrounded by a palisade of human bones and skulls and that in many fairy tales, Baba Yaga eats human flesh. (source)

And this is where we sit today too: on the threshold: of a New Year, of a new era, of so many decisions and resolutions. How do we shift our world view, our world affect, our experience, our reality, to make it different - even if only slightly - from what it's been thus far? How do we rewrite bad habits? Turning to Baba Yaga seems quite the sensible thing to do. What might she offer us though?

Here's today's question and answer (via poet and oracle Taisia Kitaiskaia* of The Hairpin):

(Originally posted at The Hairpin HERE)

"... away from the puppet show..." Well that takes the glitter right off - which is probably the most useful New Year's advice the majority of people ever receive. There's no avoiding the hard work is there? But then, if we were honest, we already knew that. 

May you have what it takes - and the support - to do the work to make your 2017 better.

This is the email address where you can send your questions

directly to Baba Yaga herself.

AskBabaYaga AT gmail DOT com

To encourage Baba Yaga to continue imparting her no-bones-about-it wisdom (ok, there may be some gristle in there... bones too), I suggest we not to leave her box empty... 

Thank you Baba Yaga (& Taisia).

* Taisia Kitaiskaia is a poet, writer, and Michener Center for Writers fellow. Born in Russia and raised in America, she's had her poems and translations published in Narrative Magazine, Poetry International, and others.