Faiths of Sublanarya: Goddess of Witchcraft Part 5: "Grandmother" Baba Yaga and Hylda Fairer-than-a-Fairy

The final part in our series on the "Goddesses of Witchcraft" is the fairy tale of Baba Yaga and a young girl named Hylda.

The daughter of a merchant's first wife, little Hylda was a small girl when he mother became very ill and was confined to her bed. Hylda cared for her mother while her father was away on business but Hylda did not mind. She was a sweet child, doting on her mother and caring for her without a complain, and her mother loved her so that she called her "Hylda Fairer-than-a-Fairy". As her mother lay in bed, wasting away, Hylda would sit with her and, in turn, the girl's mother would tell her lessons and stories from her home. Some of the stories were so fantastic that they were difficult to believe. Hylda's mother had come from a far away place that was very different than the land of her father and the stories she told were fairy tales of fairy kings and queens, the lessons she taught her were of the old ways and traditions and manners too, and Hylda hung off of every word.

Eventually, Hylda's mother passed away but not before giving her a gift: a small wooden doll. Her mother told Hylda to give the doll a little to eat and drink every day, to care for it as she had cared her own mother, and that when she needed it most, it would help her. Hylda fed the doll and gave it a little to drink and it did give her comfort.

After a time, Hylda's father remarried: the new wife had two daughters and all three were very cruel to Hylda. Hylda and her father moved into their home, where they made her do all the cooking and cleaning, but with the doll to comfort her, Hylda managed. One day, the stepmother demanded they put out all but one light in the house. When the older daughter put it out, Hylda was told to go to fetch a light from their "grandmother" in the woods.

Hylda was not from this land and did not know that the the "grandmother" was Baba Yaga or that the stepmother intended to rid herself of the girl. She knew that there was something sinister about her stepsisters smiles and yet, the doll advised her to do as told. And so she did.

They told her the direction to go and she set out for the old woman's house.

She walked for hours and, just as dawn arrived, she saw a tall white rider followed by another rider dressed in red. The doll told her to wait for them to pass and they continued. Eventually, she found the old woman's house.

Baba Yaga's house, or hut, stood upon a pair of large posts that to the girl looked like a pair of chicken legs. The hut was surrounded in a fence and, upon each post, a skull was set staring outwards from the hut. Hylda was so terrified that she wanted to run, but the doll advised she stay. And so she did.

As night approached  a black rider, like the ones in white and red, passed her by and the eye sockets
of the skulls lit up. Hylda wanted to run, but her legs wouldn't move. That was when Baba Yaga returned, flying in on a giant mortal and rowing it with a giant pestle, before landing in front of the girl. She cackled as she approached, landing with a loud thud, before climbing down from the pestle and looking over the girl. Despite her age, the old woman stood tall and had a terrifying strength about her.

Before the witch could speak, Hylda spoke up, "Good evening Grandmother. My stepmother has sent me to you to borrow a light."

The witch paused at being called "Grandmother" when, for a moment, it seemed she was about to kill Hylda.

Maybe Baba Yaga liked the girl or maybe she just wanted to draw out her end.

Baba Yaga told the girl that she could borrow a light but would need to complete some tasks or be killed: Hylda was to clean the house and yard, wash the laundry, and cook a meal. Also, before Baba Yaga returned, she was to separate the good from the bad corn and to desperate poppy seeds from grains of soil in the yard.

The girl toiled while the witch was away, collapsing from exhaustion and despair, but the doll offered hope again: it told her that she would complete the tasks and the girl should sleep. And so she did.

When she awoke, at dawn, she saw the three riders pass the house, the black chased by the white and red, and Baba Yaga was messing about in her hut. She seemed pleased with the girl's completion of the tasks, sets of invisible hands preparing the corn, as she greeted Hylda. She then told Hylda she could take a light home but first asked Hylda about herself. Hylda told her everything and the women seemed to be in a dower mood by the end. She then asked Hylda if she had any questions.

Hylda asked about the three riders and Baba Yaga seemed to like that, explaining that the white rider was the Sun, the red rider was the Day and the black rider was the Night, and that all three were in her service. She asked Hylda if she had another question and, when Hylda considered asking about the invisible hands preparing the corn or the skulls on posts, the doll begged her not to. And so she didn't.

Upon hearing she had no further questions, Baba Yaga asked her how she completed her tasks and, upon hearing "my mother's blessing", the witch seemed to have no further questions either. She told the girl she had no desire to spend any more time with any blessings about her house and so she gave the girl a skull lantern as payment, filled with glowing coals, and bid her "Goodbye Granddaughter" and "Good luck and give my gift to your stepmother and her daughters!"

And so, Hylda walked home through the woods, and to her stepmother's home. She opened the door, stepping inside, and when her step family saw her, the glowing coals exploded from within skull, striking her step family...

...and burning them to ashes.

The doll told her to sweep the ashes out into the yard and to bury the skull. In some versions of this story, a prince comes upon the house and marries Hylda, but that's not how witches tell it. In some versions of the story, she returned to Baba Yaga, who may or may not be her grandmother, and the witch teaches her the Craft and in others the doll teaches her but, in the end, the two became opposing forces.

 Baba Yaga the Bad Witch and Hylda the Good Witch 

Baba Yaga is a potent political force among the Fey Court, though she is as often found in the material plane as the outer planes, and is rarely turned away from the Seely or Unseely courts when she comes a-calling in her flying mortar or in her walking house. Her daughters are the gorgeous Veela, powerful fey, and serve her in any number of ways alongside her more famous champions, the Three Horseman of Baba Yaga.  She is a serious contestant against the likes of Morgana La Fey and even tiptoes in the shadow of Hecate herself in her mastery of the Craft.

As for Hylda, she has become a patron saint for all "white witches" or "good witches" that wish to use the craft to help people, carrying for the poor, the sick, the old and the downtrodden, using a mix of folk wisdom, arcane power and divination to fix the problems. She is a popular character among little girls and is often painted or carved in artwork meant for children. As for her presence in the world, it is much less prominent as Baba Yaga but she is invoked by any witch who fights against the dark and demons of the world and from within themselves.

BABA YAGA

Title(s)

The Bad Witch, The Crone, Grandmother, Old Irontooth, Old Lady in the Woods

Pantheon(s)

New Gods

Power Level

Lesser Deity

Alignment

Neutral Evil

Symbol

A chicken's foot, three riders in white, red and black, and flaming skulls

Portfolio

Witchcraft, the fey, curses and hexes, womanhood, revenge

Domains

Arcana, Trickery, Light

Worshipers

Hags, witches, fey, elderly widows, woodsmen

Favored Weapon

The staff

HYLDA FAIRER-THAN-A-FAIRY

Title(s)

The Good Witch, The White Witch, The Granddaughter, The Beautiful, The Good Medicine Woman

Pantheon(s)

New Gods

Power Level

Lesser Deity

Alignment

Neutral Good

Symbol

A wooden doll

Portfolio

Goodness, kindness, charity, children, caretakers

Domains

Life, Arcana

Worshipers

Good witches, healers, doctors, nurses, wise women

Favored Weapon

The staff