Buzzards and Bone Fences
Baba Yaga and Vulture Medicine
Life moves so quickly, it is easier to ignore the things that call for your attention than to stop and allow curiosity to creep in. However, some things will not be ignored. I find, as of late, I hear Baba Yaga cackling in the moonlight calling me to really “see” what is happening around me. I see vultures more frequently, cleaning up the death and debris left behind through carelessness, accident or nature running its course. In a world that looks away from predators and loss, I cannot look away, and yet the chaos cannot be clarified; it too must run its course.
Yesterday I went to a beloved child’s birthday party at a trampoline park. As I was not jumping, I was given a wristband that simply said “Observer”. There is a time to actively participate and a time to observe and allow the chaos to be what it is. There is a time to stand up and a time to watch. Of course, that seems like an easy way out, but meddling with chaos will not end it. Meddling with chaos only makes you chaotic. Sometimes observing chaos can allow you to let go of the things you don’t need, and slowly as the chaos clears, our values become more apparent. What is your priority? Is it different today than last year or many years back? It’s more than OK to change, life is always changing
For Mother’s Day one of my kids gave be an incredible witch’s fairy house. A tall, spired tower in black. It is an endless treasure hunt made of all manners of bits and bobs. It looks like three witches’ hats stacked on one another. Every time I look at it, I discover something new. It’s perfection in its chaos. It’s so perfect that lately I’ve been daydreaming of it in full size, a spiral staircase clinging to the edge of the circular building, filled with herbs and books and crystal balls that shine and reflect the light. All I would add is a pair of chicken legs so that when just being an observer becomes too much, I could simply pull up my fence of bones and walk my perfect tower to a new location deep in the forest.
People laugh when I tell them this, asking, “Why chicken legs?”. Why chicken legs?? Because Baba Yaga...you know Baba Yaga, right? No? How can you not know who Baba Yaga is? No, she’s not the boogey man from John Wick, yes, she is an old witch in the woods. She’s literally the basis for nearly every wicked witch, the “come to my house for candy child so I can plump you up and roast you for my dinner” wicked old witch. The older I get, the more I understand her.
Normally Baba Yaga is considered a winter goddess, an ancient goddess of the earth, both terrible and loving, dark and full of wisdom. But she is also the height of duality and that feels in line with Gemini season, especially this year. She is an ancestral guardian of the dead. Even in children’s books like “The House with Chicken Legs” where the “Yagas” guide the dead into the afterlife, her stories are those that give warning, speak of loss and encourage wisdom. The undertone of Baba Yaga is that those who abuse others for their own gain or privilege shall be punished and quite possibly eaten. She travels in an oversized mortar using the pestle to steer and a silver birch broom to sweep away her tracks. She is a wise old hag not focused on outer beauty to get what she wants, which ultimately is a quiet life. When she is disturbed, there are consequences. If one cannot solve her riddles or do the work she lays out for them to secure her favor or assistance, they may not make it back to the path. However, when you prove yourself worthy, she will let you live, maybe even bestow a gift or two upon you. Wisdom is her greatest gift. Your pretty face means nothing to her.
