Baba Yaga is a fairy-tale character, known to everyone from childhood, and that is not without reason. Modern children have the idea that Baba Yaga is an old, terrible old woman who feeds on small children and walks on a bone leg and “Baba Yaga is a bone leg”. I wonder why Baba Yaga is called "Baba Yaga"? If the word "Baba" is more or less clear to us, then what does the word "Yaga" mean?
It turns out that the word "yaga" is very ancient and its "age" is at least several thousand years. This word is well known in Sanskrit and is formed according to all the rules of Sanskrit grammar, which helps us to clarify its "hidden" meaning.
Originally Baba Yaga (Baba Yaga) was called Baba Yoga. Remember how children most often say - hedgehog grandma (yozhka).
It is believed that the word "yoga" comes from the Sanskrit root yoj or yuj, which has many meanings: "connection", "union", "connection", "harmony", "union", "exercise", "curb", etc..d.
"Yagya" or "Yaga" (with an emphasis on "I") in Hinduism is the traditional offering of gifts to the gods through fire.
The word "baba (" (with the stress on the second syllable) in Sanskrit means - "holy", "pure", etc. Until now, in India, yogis and wandering sadhus (monks) are respectfully called "baba" (Hindi बाबा - "father"), it is also customary to call small children.
It turns out that Baba Yaga is actually Baba Yoga - an "instructor" in yoga, i.e. owning yoga.
In the ancient legends of the Finno-Ugric peoples, Baba Yaga, she is a golden Baba, was a childless young woman, and wore red boots with a pattern embroidered with gold threads. Hence Baba Yaga is a golden leg or simply - Golden Baba.
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According to the legends of the Slavic-Aryan peoples, Baba-Yaga, the Yogini-Mother is an eternally beautiful, loving, kind-hearted Goddess Patroness of orphans and children in general. She wandered the Earth either on a fiery celestial chariot, then on horseback across all the lands, gathering homeless orphans through the cities and towns. In every vesti, the Goddess was recognized by the radiating kindness, tenderness, meekness, love and elegant red and gold boots, and they showed her where the orphans lived. Yogini delivered orphaned children to her foothill Skete, which was located in the thicket of the forest, at the foot of the Altai Mountains. She did all this in order to save them from their inevitable death.
In the foothill Skete, where the Yogini-Mother led the orphans through the Fire ceremony of dedication to the Ancient Highest Gods. Strangers who sometimes attended these rituals and did not understand its essence, then very colorfully told that they watched with their own eyes how small children were sacrificed, throwing them alive in a fiery furnace. However, the children were alive and well, and later became priests and priestesses, created families and continued their lineage. But the strangers did not know any of this and continued to spread tales that the wild priests of the Slavs, and especially the bloodthirsty Baba Yoga, sacrifice orphans to the Gods. These silly "fairy tales" influenced the image of the Yogini-Mother, especially after the Christianization of Russia. Then the image of a beautiful young Goddess was replaced by the image of an ancient evil and hunchbacked old woman who steals small children,roasts them in the oven and then eats them. Even the name of the Goddess of Yoga was distorted, they began to call her "Baba Yaga" and began to frighten the Goddess of all children.
In Russia Baba Yaga (with an emphasis on "I") was the name of a woman who gave birth to 16 children (full circle). Here "yaga" is from the word "berry", i.e. ripe, juicy. Remember "At 45, a woman has a berry again"? By this age, women had 16 children each. Such a woman was also called "wit-ma", which means - a knowing mother, that is. knowing. She knew how to give birth and raise healthy children. And this is undoubtedly the main knowledge for a woman!
Thus, the Russian language still retains very ancient elements, which are in no way less than several thousand years old, and which testify to the two hypostases of Baba Yaga. One of them is the Goddess Patroness of orphan children, and the other is a knowledgeable (knowledgeable), wise woman with more than sixteen healthy children.
Indeed, we have a lot to learn from our great-great … great-grandmothers!