WEBVTT - The Monstrefact: Baba Yaga

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of

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<v Speaker 1>My Heart Radio. Hi, my name is Robert Lamb and

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<v Speaker 1>this is the Monster Fact, a short form series from

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff to Blow Your Mind, focusing in on mythical creatures, ideas,

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<v Speaker 1>and monsters in time. I almost hesitate to invoke the

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<v Speaker 1>name of Bobba Yaga in this episode. For starters, the

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<v Speaker 1>old Hag may hear her name and seek me out,

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<v Speaker 1>dragging herself through the sky in a mortar, pushing her

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<v Speaker 1>way with a pestil, and erasing her path with a broom.

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<v Speaker 1>But more to the point, she is a complex figure

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<v Speaker 1>in Russian folklore, similar to various witches and ogresses in

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<v Speaker 1>other folk traditions, but also wholly unique and also ambiguous

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<v Speaker 1>at times. As such, I invoke her, knowing that she

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<v Speaker 1>may indeed return, perhaps for a full length episode of

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff to Blow Your Mind in the future. As Andrea's

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<v Speaker 1>John's points out in the book Bobba Yaga, The Ambiguous

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<v Speaker 1>Mother and Witch of the Russian folk Tale, it is

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<v Speaker 1>both accurate and incomplete to think of Bobba Yaga as

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<v Speaker 1>a mere witch. Certainly, all the hallmarks of the supernatural

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<v Speaker 1>hag are present. From grotesque descriptions of her body to

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<v Speaker 1>her various magical powers, but she is also a creature

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<v Speaker 1>that frequently desires human flesh, and so she is ogre

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<v Speaker 1>as well. Depending on the telling, she may take on

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<v Speaker 1>gigantic proportions. Folklorist Carol Rose mentions accounts in which she

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<v Speaker 1>drops her jaw to the ground and doomed traveler's venture inside,

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<v Speaker 1>thinking they found a cave line with stones, stalactites, and stalagmites,

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<v Speaker 1>but she is also very humanoid in other depictions. John's

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<v Speaker 1>also points out that Bobba Yaga may serve different roles

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<v Speaker 1>in different tales. While she certainly does play the villain

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<v Speaker 1>in many Russian fairy tales, she also fulfills the role

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<v Speaker 1>of donor from time to time, a character who appears

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<v Speaker 1>in a tale to provide the hero with magical assistance.

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<v Speaker 1>She was both cannibal and counselor. This Baba Yaga, and

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<v Speaker 1>of course, much may be said about Baba Yaga's hut,

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<v Speaker 1>A monstrous home for a monstrous being. You'll find it

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<v Speaker 1>deep in the forest, in a clearing, surrounded by fences

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<v Speaker 1>decorated with human bones, the skulls each retaining their fleshy eyeballs.

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<v Speaker 1>This wooden hut stands atop a pair of chicken legs,

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<v Speaker 1>or sometimes a single chicken leg, and famously answers to

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<v Speaker 1>the cry Hut, hut, stand with your back to the forest,

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<v Speaker 1>your front to me. This aspect of her tail resonates

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<v Speaker 1>with tremendous strangeness, according to Civilian Forester. In Baba Yaga,

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<v Speaker 1>the Wild Witch of the East, and Russian fairy tales,

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<v Speaker 1>the bird legged hut may symbolize her connection with the

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<v Speaker 1>Avian world. It may also illustrate the home magical mobility,

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<v Speaker 1>allowing it to amble about the mysterious woods from one

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<v Speaker 1>point to another, far from a fixed point of reference.

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<v Speaker 1>You can trust it is a place lost in the forest,

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<v Speaker 1>perhaps just as you are lost in the forest. Forrester

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<v Speaker 1>also points to mundane stilted houses as a possible inspiration

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<v Speaker 1>for the folk tale, but stresses that the spinning may

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<v Speaker 1>also be connected to rights and concepts of the passage

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<v Speaker 1>of time. Quote a spindle holding up a rotating house

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<v Speaker 1>where a frightening old woman tests her visitors and dispenses

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<v Speaker 1>wisdom suggests a deep ritual past. Tune in for additional

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<v Speaker 1>episodes of the Monster fact or the Artifact each week

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<v Speaker 1>as always. You can email us at contact at stuff

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