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Baba Yaga and the wisdom of fear. This is how to stop seeking comfort

Betwixt: The Story of You

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The Russian fairytale of Vasilisa the Beautiful (or Vasilisa the Brave) tells of her encounter with Baba Yaga, a terrifying witch who lives deep in the forest in a hut with chicken’s legs. Guided only by her trusty doll, the fearsome ordeal ends up changing her life forever. Join writer and former therapist Hazel Gale in uncovering the lessons we can learn from this tale – and revealing why we need to embrace challenge and uncertainty. Brought to you by the creators of Betwixt, the mental health game.

Topics include:

🧹How and why to embrace uncertainty
🧹The archetype of Baba Yaga
🧹The symbolic meaning behind Vasilisa's tasks
🧹Vasilisa’s doll and intuition
🧹The myth of readiness

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References:

Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Women Who Run with the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype (1992)
Russian folk tale, Vasilisa the Beautiful
Carl Jung, Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious (1959)
Marie-Louise von Franz, The Interpretation of Fairy Tales (1970)

#babayaga #vasilisa #fairytale #psychology #archetypes #fear #procrastination #intuition #facingyourself #selfawareness #selfdoubt #indecision #mentalhealth #wellbeing

20 Comments

@valeriiakraeva4413 2 months ago

for anyone wondering “why chicken legs, that’s so random” - it’s a mistranslation from old russian (or slavic in general) to a more modern version with two words sounding very similar but having different meaning. the word is курьи which could mean both chicken and smoked, the consensus is that her house stands on a burning burial pile, which further positions her as someone between two worlds, living and dead

@Andrew_M_Ward 4 months ago

I was a full-grown adult, according to the laws that bind us, before my mother bothered to tell me "just meet people where they're at," which I initially took as a kind of geographical data point, as well as knowing she would never end a sentence with a preposition, and only after a puzzled look did she bother to explain. "We too often assume others will meet us where we are emotionally or psychologically, when we can just as easily meet them where they are, it's faster and easier..." Of course, I took the bait, "Okay, Mom..." She began again, "It requires a bit of empathy, a bit of contextual evaluation, a bit of emotional savvy...if a person believes they can't do something, then don't question them, meet them there and say Okay, you can't do that..."
Years later, I started to understand the wisdom of meeting others "where they're at."
Once you sincerely arrive at their location, they immediately relax and tell you why they can't do this or can't do that, or won't or shouldn't... its been a wondersful tool for understanding

@brain_apostrophe_t 4 months ago

The crediting of the images appearing alongside them OOF ITS NICE TO SEE

@xa2026janus 4 months ago

Thanks! I needed to hear your words now. It brings to my mind the Buddha's words, "choosing the suffering that leads to less suffering."

@pixiwix 4 months ago

Women Who Run With the Wolves has changed my life more than once over the last 2 decades from 18 to 38. I have spare copies in my collection that I hand out to every young woman in my life as I feel she needs it. This video is the best I've seen on YouTube in a very long time - thank you for the work you're doing! <3

@StefanieMore-v1u 4 months ago

You are a mesmerizing storyteller. Thank you. I closed my eyes midway through, and felt transported.

@deferredjudgement 4 months ago

"Noise" can also be a traumatic past always clanging in the background of your current everyday life.

@vateijo 4 months ago

Idk, maybe it's my autism, but I do feel when I am ready usually. There is this inner understanding that I am tired, and I am not ready yet, or I did not get enough experience. At some point, a little lamp lights, and I'm like: 'Actually, let's finally level up and try this'

@iamdebmiller 4 months ago

Do you ever get tired of hearing what a beautiful narrator you are? Thanks so much for this amazing work.

@holbrookjr 4 months ago

"We get ready by getting started" ... 🤯🤯
Wow!! Thank you!!

@magnusmcgraw 4 months ago

I was born in 1970 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. One of my earliest childhood memories is of my older sister reading to my younger sister and me from an incredibly thick book of fairy tales. That book was titled *Belarusian Fairy Tales*, and it contained many stories about Baba Yaga. I realize that this YouTube channel was suggested to me thanks to the algorithm. But—if I may say so—watching this particular video felt just like finding a diamond: one that shines so brightly, thanks to its incredibly high-quality content, that it stands out completely on its own against everything else one finds on YouTube. At least, that is my own personal opinion—and I felt compelled to share it here. Best regards, Magnus

@shulamay 4 months ago

This is such a Russian story!
"Toughen up. Nobody cares. Be competent because no one will do it for you."

@oldsoul3539 3 months ago

That illustration with her house among the trees made me realise oh it's a treehouse up between two trees, the trees look like chicken legs with the roots out the bottom like chicken toes. I always thought a house with chickenlegs was very random, it makes a lot more sense now

@poetrypavilion 4 months ago

I've been postponing making an important decision in my life, but recently I've found the courage to do it.

@Joy_2_the_world 4 months ago

Baba Yaga: The ultimate Task Master

@maglenka. 4 months ago

Just when I started typing "what if I dont know what to do" baba yaga said "what is it youre pretending not to know" at 13:37

@liliya_aseeva 4 months ago

As an (ex)Soviet person myself - good job analysing this tale, it is generally understood in the same way here!
From all the Slavic immortals I prefer Koschey but Baba Yaga obviously is interesting too.

@starlingswallow 4 months ago

I don't know how or why this video popped up on my feed...but as the tears are falling on my cheeks, I'm so grateful it did.

I've been avoiding a few scary things for YEARS. It's a long and arduous tale on how I got here, but let's just say it's been very dark and includes a childhood full of neglect and a first marriage exploding with every kind of abuse.

I've been free for almost 8 years now, but these few things I've been avoiding have towered over me for far too long~ and I know deep down that the change I so wish to see in my life? Stepping into fear and DOING these things will release a magic I only fully knew of and believed in when I was little. My inner child is coaxing me to believe again ❤

This video has given me so much courage to face these things.

Thank you doesn't even touch my gratitude!!

Liked, shared and now I'm following your page. I don't believe in coincidences....but in synchronicities! And this video is a BIG one.

❤❤❤❤

@cheriremily9360 4 months ago

Beautifully done! When I was a child, I knew I was a witch, I just didn't understand what that meant for me. I had always been sensitive to spirits, good and bad, and this terrified me. Mirrors frightened me. I would talk myself to sleep each night and sleep with the lights on, totally exhausted by fear. When I grew into my late teens and into my twenties, I read everything I could get my hands on just trying to understand. Finally, I met other witches, and through sage advice was told to let go and allow. I finally shut off all lights in my room at night and allowed the spirits to connect with me and to trust my visions. I wrote down everything that happened. I learned to astral and from there learned to release my rage in a healthy realm. I met my demonic shadow and embraced myself. I no longer feared the night, the darkness, nor the abyss inside me. And now that I am a crone, I am balanced in both the light and dark. I know who I am and what I am capable of. I know my power and accept I know when to use it and when to leave it be. I can look into the mirror now and I am I the most frightening or the most merciful thing in the room.