Pagan Dawn article

I set out to write Baba Yaga: Slavic Earth Goddess at the time when the collective was screaming with pain and fear and the call for making unconscious conscious was becoming ever stronger all around. My work with Baba Yaga intensified a few months prior when she was not just coming forward more but staying around for longer. That is unusual for an elusive and highly private deity. Yes, to me, she’s beyond literary and cultural archetype and a folklore figure. To me she represents the world in both its dark and light manifestations. She is the ultimate alchemist and magician of the highest rank.

Why now, I wondered after seemingly eternity waiting for her to speak? It was time she disclosed a path for collective to take, if unafraid and prepared. It was time for her to whisper, if not speak openly. Feeling overwhelmed and deeply honoured I began to listen to what she said and in that discovering who she really was beyond her collective labels.

The book was born that speaks of Baba Yaga in ways of who she really is. My journey was only just beginning when in 2020 she stayed around for longer than she, perhaps, wanted. She first appears around Samhain and remains throughout winter dwelling in dreams and shadows and post Ostara she begins to loosen her grip on the Earth and allows the Maiden to step forward. This time she stayed for longer to bare witness to events that unfolded and to offer assistance and wisdom, however, unheard of, to myself in writing the book and to the world in its state of chaotic fear.

Apprenticing into her magic is a difficult task, perhaps, one of the most difficult tasks one can undertake as once on the path turning back has serious consequences and if staying transformation is inevitable and profound. 

Baba Yaga is a world-famous character with which we are familiarised from early childhood and she stays for many of us in our consciousness for the rest of our lives. This speaks of her power and universal appeal, but why? I believe that is because her mysteries are deep and limitless. She inspires questions and sparks endless curiosity, yet she often remains as a static archetype of a scary Crone who lives in the woods and devours children. She continues to live in fairy tales that tells stories over and over in the same way they had always been told. In our consciousness she does not evolve and that is also for a reason. She’s full of darkness and darkness is a place of immense fear and avoidance for us humans. So, she remains hidden via the narrative and via our lives, as who dares look darkness in the face? Now we are faced with it in all areas of our existence. “Facing the demise of what is familiar and precious and becoming wild again is the quest of brave and raw ones. Are you one?” The thing that I discovered was just how much she resents repetition and lack of evolution and her imprisonment in the collective hive mind infuriates her. As I began my relationship with Baba Yaga, I discovered the light behind the darkness, kindness behind hatred, the well-hidden nuances of this folklore figure, her character, spirit, attributes, and magic. 

She calls for a revolution and evolution, for rediscovery of spirit like never before. She is hugely relevant today to all of us individually and the world. For the first time in very long, perhaps, she is willing to offer some wisdom, however unnatural it might seem, as she is private and does not come forward unless there is someone truly ready on the other side. Are we ready? Many of us are. She can offer perspectives on balance, climate change, beauty and aging, motherhood, belonging and connection, partnerships, and gender roles. She is the world, the Earth, nature all wrapped into one energy that is immensely powerful and important and to know her is to know the deepest, the most meaningful and profound truths about yourself, others, and the world.

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We are born with it

When engaging with the intuitive function there are ways that it might come in. I am often asked about how to learn to listen to it or how do we know that intuition is being activated. It is neither learning nor knowing it just is. It is like not knowing what colour your own eyes are. It is that innate. It is simpler than what we perceive as something to learn or know about. It is always there and the main way is through feeling.

Feeling is difficult for many through various life impacts, conditions we grew up in and messages we received regarding feelings and emotional expression in general. Doing vs being is a debate that is endless in this world and often stems from the habitual patterns of behaviour the majority developed over their life time. It is so strong, in fact, many can not name a feeling they are experiencing. So ‘what to do about intuition’ then becomes an automatic block.

For most of us, however, it is a natural thing. It just got put aside and literary forgotten as another way of navigating life. The journey of rediscovering it is exciting and I dare say when it ignites you will know. One has to be open to doing thing differently, and as many would testify this happens when old ways no longer work. When thinking is a good thing it only offers half of what we are capable of. Without adding feeling into our experience it is like functioning with a head alone, but being disconnected from the body entirely.

Having gone through the process for many years of rediscovering or rather going back to my natural way of being, which is via feeling, it feels like coming home finally. Since I was very small, for as long as I remember, I almost, one might say, fought for the right to be able to feel fully and the whole range. I was never allowed and I rebelled and rebelled until eventually in order to survive I had no choice but give it up. I am not alone in that sadly. Since then I vowed to myself that one day I will feel again whatever I want whenever I want and become me again, as feeling and intuitive way of being (linked) are the most natural me I had ever known.

To conclude I will give one example of how lately I discovered an even more nuanced way my intuition speaks. It is either a YES, a NO or a MAYBE.

When it is a YES it is very clear and I never question it. Feelings that accompany that knowing are peacefulness, certainty, calmness in my body and satisfaction. When it is a NO it is also clear, but feelings that come with it are ‘phew, thank God’, I.e. a relief, a lucky escape type of scenario, gratitude, humble awareness of things bigger than myself that guide me, joy, release and calm.

The MAY BE took me a few tries to understand and when it is a May be, it is more a NO than a YES, always. I have gone down the path of a yes when it was always a no at the end, so you might say I have tested it and sometimes paid the price. So when it is ‘not sure’, it is a NO for me.

I hope you find this interesting as I certainly do. These are fine-tuned relational threads with my own intuition but before then it is a long road back to YOU and most importantly to your feeling self.

I talk about how the journey might unfold and offer ways of connecting in my BOOK, which proved to have reawakened more in readers than just a magical practice based on what you want and how you feel in any given moment. Check it out for yourself and hope you extract something that sparks you in wanting to engage with a natural state that is our intuition.

Book reviews

“You have given the world a delightful and deep examination of Baba Yaga from your insightful and learned perspective. Thank you. In a world where uncertainty and fear are the currency of the day, we can become enchanted by a sort of artificial lightness that ultimately only makes us more anxious. We become terrified of the dark. Yet it is in the dimness of our own souls that we find refuge from the harshness of life.  If we are able to peer into this darkness we may see a peculiar little house governed by a curious figure. Baba Yaga, crone of legend, greets us with a glint in her eye, and a question on her lips. “Who are you?” she inquires with a cackle. Natalia Clarke answers this question, while exploring the stories and characteristics of Baba Yaga through traditional lore and personal insights. Merging together her Slavic origins, training in depth psychology, and natural spiritual practices, she is our companion as we venture into the mysteries of this face of the crone. Beautifully written with journal entries, dream explorations, and ways to connect with Baba Yaga, I highly recommend this delightful book for anyone who wants to go deeper into her mysteries.”

Cyndi Brannen, the author of Keeping her keys 

“I’ve felt for a long time that there must be more in the call to Baba Yaga’s cottage than the fairy tales tell us. Natalia Clarke has drawn on her Siberian heritage and personal insights to show us how we might approach this powerful Goddess. This is a book for anyone drawn to dark Goddesses and Crone Goddesses. It’s also the first map I’ve seen that explores the forests in search of wild Gods who will not make themselves comfortable in our homes or on our altars. It’s ground breaking stuff.”  Nimue Brown

“A truly fascinating book that opens up our understanding and knowledge of this perhaps misunderstood Goddess.  Natalia Clarke shares personal experiences mixed with folklore and practical information to guide seekers to find their own connection with Baba Yaga.” Rachel Patterson

This is an impressive work, clearly written, exploring Baba Yaga as Earth Goddess and laying out what an apprenticeship with her might look like. In a culture that tends to categorise everything – emotions, actions, people – as either wholly good or wholly bad, this book brings some much needed nuance and an exploration of a healthy darkness through this fantastic, visceral deity. Meredith Debonnaire