In most
Slavic and
Eastern European mythology, Baba Yaga is the
keeper of the
Water of Life and the
Water of Death. The
Water of Life can
revive the
dead or spark a new life in the
womb. Baba Yaga would sprinkle the two waters on a
corpse, thus allowing the
soul to be
released from the body and
reborn.
Sometimes she could be tricked into relinquishing her treasures, but she occasionally gave them and to those whom she deemed worthy. With her two sacred waters, she held life and death in her hand. Upon a girl who had demonstrated perfect humility in servitude, Baba Yaga (instead of eating her as originally planned) bestowed enlightenment in the form of a flaming skull.
Like all forces of Nature, Baba Yaga can be portrayed as good or evil, for she is both. According to more recent Slavic mythology, she eats those who cross her path and children who misbehave. She has two distinct forms: the first is a horrible and bony old crone in which her cruel and evil side is manifested; the other is that of a beautiful woman, the goddess of the two sacred waters who rewards honesty and humility. She is the Bone Mother who guards the balance between life and death.