Meet Baba Yaga

 As some of you know, I have written a series (a novella and two novels so far) about an updated version of the Baba Yaga tales. The novella came out recently, and the first book will be released on September 2^nd. But not everyone is familiar with Baba Yaga, so I thought I would introduce her to you. Here—let me fill up the samovar with tea, and we call gather around the hearth fire while I tell you a story…

Most people are familiar with the standard fairy tales (many of which were written down by the Brothers Grimm, and then prettied up into the versions we know today…the earlier stories were, well, grim). You know Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella, of course. But when I set out to write an updated fairy tale, I wanted to use a story that hadn’t been done quite so many times. There are some fabulous modern rewrites of all those classics, as well as things like Beauty and the Beast, but I wanted something completely different. I wanted, as it turned out, Baba Yaga.

When I was growing up, I loved fairy tales, and read as many as I could get my hands on, including a fabulous series of old tales compiled by editor Andrew Lang into The Blue Fairy Book, The Red Fairy Book, The Yellow Fairy Book, and so on. I’m guessing that it was there that I first encountered the Russian witch known as Baba Yaga. (I am of Russian Jewish descent; I don’t recall this being a story told at home, although my mother says that my grandfather would have known it, and loved Russian culture, so it is also possible I heard it from him.)

Unlike many of the more conventional fairy tale heroines, the Baba Yaga wasn’t pretty. Nor, for that matter, was she weak, or sitting around waiting to be rescued by a prince. If anything, she rescued them. Or, you know, ate them. Baba Yaga wasn’t a princess, you see—she was a witch. Ah, now you’re beginning to see why I decided to write about her.

The Baba Yaga tales all agreed on a few things: She was a powerful witch, and not to be trifled with. She usually appeared in the guise of the “old crone” type of witch, and sometimes traveled with a dragon named Chudo-Yudo. She lived deep in the woods in a hut on long spindly chicken legs, which could move through the forest, or turn its back to any passing journeyer. Unlike most witches, she didn’t fly through the air on a broom; instead, she rode in a mortar steered by a pestle, and used her broom to sweep away her tracks behind her. She was sometimes cruel, but could also grant help or wisdom to a worthy seeker. She was often associated with the three riders: White Horseman, the Red Horseman, and the Black Horseman. She calls them, “My Bright Dawn, my Red Sun, and my Dark Midnight.”

Then we get to the really fun stuff.

You see, there are deeper layers to the Baba Yaga than you might find in your average fairy tale. There are those who consider her to be much more than simply a witch. According to Judika Illes, who wrote about Baba Yaga in her books, Encyclopedia of Spirits: The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Fairies, Genies, Demons, Ghosts, Gods & Goddesses (HarperCollins 2009) and The Element Encyclopedia of Witchcraft (HarperElement 2005), the Baba Yaga started out as a goddess of birth and death, and only over time did she devolve into the witch whose name was used to threaten children who didn’t eat all their dinner.

It was in part what Illes wrote which inspired my modern version of an immensely powerful, neither moral nor immoral witch who was not exactly good nor essentially evil, but in fact, had the potential to give great gifts to those she finds worthy, or kick a little ass for those she does not.

“She is an underworld goddess who controls the forces of life and death…She performs miracle cures. On the other hand, according to fairy tales, personal encounters with Baba Yaga are often fatal; whether this was meant literally or shamanically is unknown. Either way, she is potentially very dangerous.”

And this:

“In some legends, she is completely solitary, but in others, she is a midwife spirit who is the mother of three sons or three dragons. Sometimes there is one Baba, sometimes there are three: three sisters…”

In The Element Encyclopedia of Magical Creatures, by John and Caitlin Matthews [yes, I have a lot of pagan/witchy/mythical reference books—and your point?], I found some more intriguing information about Baba Yaga:

“Although Baba Yaga has become the archetypal bogey-woman with which to frighten children, she is actually a primal goddess whose knowledge of the world is unequalled. Baba Yaga can also appear as a peasant woman of kindly disposition…she is helpful to women and a guardian of good order and behavior, punishing those who outrage it.”

And what became some of the major components of the story:

“Baba Yaga confers upon Koshei, the dragon in human shape, his immortality. She also controls the fire-breathing dragon Chudo-Yudo, who guards the Water of Life and Death. Baba Yaga’s house sits between the world of everyday and the Otherworld, where it acts as a guardian to the land of the dead.”

Yes, there are three Babas in my tales, each with her own Chudo-Yudo. Koshei shows up (looking, in my mind, a lot like Rufus Sewell, but hey, you can imagine him any way you want to). The riders are in there too, although they have traded in their horses for motorcycles, just as my modern Baba’s wooden house on chicken legs is now an Airstream trailer, and her mortar and pestle have been transformed into a classic BMW motorcycle. After all, even the most powerful of witches needs to keep up with the times.

My Baba Yaga may not be a goddess, but she is mightily magical, with strong connections to the elements. You definitely don’t want to get on her bad side. She might just let Chudo-Yudo eat you.

There is something to be said for taking ancient mythology and fashioning it into something modern that is easier for us to connect with—after all, isn’t that what many of us do with our spiritual paths, too?

For more information on the legends of Baba Yaga, you can look here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baba_Yaga

For an interesting take on using Baba Yaga in a modern witchcraft practice, check out this great blog post by Gail Wood: http://rowdygoddess.com/2014/02/25/celebrating-the-hag-baba-yaga-the-hag-of-winter/ (and yes, she mentions my book—how cool is that?).

And if you are so inclined, you can find up what Baba Yaga has been up to lately, at least in one writer’s imagination. I hope you’ll be pleased when you finally meet her.

A Supermoon Spell for Love

 

As you probably already know, the full moon this Sunday (August 10th) is going to be what they call a "Supermoon." A Supermoon occurs when a full moon coincides with the time in the moon's orbit when it is closest to the Earth. This makes for a full moon that looks larger than usual--and the one this coming Sunday is going to be that biggest Supermoon this year.

Beyond the fact that it will be pretty glorious to look upon, you might wonder if a Supermoon is more powerful for doing magical work than any old regular full moon. I'm going to go with: yes.

Think about how much energy a regular full moon has (I have a hard time sleeping for a few days around the full moon for this very reason), and then think about it being closer, and more visually and energetically present. In short, if it seems more powerful, it probably is.

What does this mean for those who practice the magical arts? It's a good time to pull out the spells that mean the most to you; the ones you really want to work. And since here in the Northern hemisphere it is the height of summer, with all its attendant heat and late nights, I thought I'd share a love spell for you to use this full moon, if you are feeling the need for a little more love in your life.

I'm not a big believer in using love spells, per se. I think it is too easy to interfere with someone's free will that way, and I'm definitely a "free will is the law" kind of witch. But this is a different kind of love spell. I first used it in The Goddess is in the Details, and I liked it so much, I put it into The Everyday Witch A to Z Spellbook too. It's a spell not to cast on a particular person, or even with someone special in mind--instead, it works only on the one who casts it, because it is a spell to open yourself to love. (This doesn't have to be romantic love, either. It can be friendship, which in its truest form is most certainly a kind of love.)

So if you want something powerful to recite under an extra powerful moon, here it is, my gift to you. After all, couldn't the world use more love?

I ask the moon and stars above

To open my heart to perfect love

Striving not, nor chasing after

But open wide to love and laughter

Hopeful am I and willing, too

To open myself to lover’s woo

But while I wait for love that’s meant

With myself I’ll be content

I wish for love that’s true and right

Filled with joy and shining light

I release all that which blocks my way

And open my heart to one who’ll stay

I hope the moon brings you something (or someone) fabulous.

Feline Friday: The Busy Summer Version

Is it just me, or is this summer just whizzing by? Maybe it is because I am trying to juggle writing and book promo and household repairs and the Sekrit Project...or maybe the space-time continuum really is changing. You know, just at my house. What do you think? Is your summer whipping by at the speed of light?

Here's some of what's been going on this week, besides the (OMG!) release of the Wickedly Magical novella and accompanying celebration giveaway.

I got a new fridge, because the old one tried really hard to die on the Friday evening of the 4th of July 3-day weekend. Of course, I bought the new one on July 6th, they couldn't deliver it until this last Wednesday...and by the time I got the new one, the old one seemed to be working perfectly again. Sigh. I keep telling myself that if I hadn't bought the new one, the old one would have died for sure. Interestingly, I got exactly the same model, so it is almost as though nothing changed. Except this:

See how CLEAN and organized it is? That will never happen again. (If you look closely, you can see a bottle of champagne on the far right of the bottom shelf on the door. I'm opening it on September 2nd. Who's going to join me?)

Things are blooming like crazy in my yard and garden. No, I am not even remotely keeping up with it.

 The garden.

 Black-eyes Susans in the yard.

The perfect summer dinner: sauteed new potatoes and onions with homemade pesto (all out of my garden), corn, cukes, and tomatoes (a few of which were mine, although most of them are still green) and my own basil and parsley. Yum.

I've got a Guy, who is helping out with the yard and garden, and also staining the decks (I tried doing it myself last year, and my tendonitis was Not Happy). He explained to me this morning that when he was staining the side deck earlier this week while I was at work, he had to reach the top bits by standing in my wheelbarrow. (WTF?) It turned out he had a good reason not to use the ladder. (Don't worry; I showed him where the step stool lives.)

 Yes, some bird built a nest on top. Silly bird. (No, we didn't touch it.)

Of course, cats REALLY know how to spend the long summer days.
Reading:

And relaxing, preferably in a patch of sun:

Mystic. No, the window isn't small. The cat is just very large.

Minerva, enjoying the patch of sun on the couch

Mystic and Magic, napping on the bed. More sun.

Magic wanted to know why I was disturbing her nap.

Of course, at night, they have to supervise my writing. It's not as though I could do it without them.

I hope your summer is going well, and that you are finding time to read and relax, with or without cats. Are you doing anything fun this summer? The cats wanted me to ask you. So, are you?

WICKEDLY MAGICAL--It's Novella Release Day!

It has been a long, long wait but today is the day—WICKEDLY MAGICAL is finally here!

WICKEDLY MAGICAL is the prequel novella for the Baba Yaga series, which means it tells a little bit of the “story before the story starts.” You don’t need to read it in order to enjoy the novels, but it does give you that first glimpse into the world of Barbara Yager (the first Baba Yaga) and her sisters.

Known as the wicked witch of Russian fairy tales, Baba Yaga is not one woman, but rather a title carried by a chosen few. They keep the balance of nature and guard the borders of our world, but don’t make the mistake of crossing one…

Barbara Yager loves being one of the most powerful witches in the world, but sometimes she’d rather kick back in her enchanted Airstream with a beer in her hand than work out how to grant the requests of the worthy few who seek her out.

But when a man appears with the token of a family debt of honor, Barbara must drop everything to satisfy the promise owed by her predecessor—and she isn’t above being a little wicked to make sure the debt is paid in full…

Here are a few links, in case you are in the mood to take a look (and don't worry if you don't have an eReader; you can get a free and easy Kindle app that will let you read on your computer). 

 PENGUIN

 AMAZON

 B&N

 iBooks

And don’t forget, WICKEDLY DANGEROUS (Baba Yaga novel #1) is out on September 2^nd and it’s up for pre-order now! And if you get a copy of WICKEDLY MAGICAL, be sure to come tell me (on the blog, or Twitter, or Facebook) what you thought. Spread the word, if you are so inclined--you know I appreciate it! In fact, I'm giving away a Big Bundle of Baba Yaga Swag to one random fan. You can enter the contest here AND/or on Facebook. (But it only runs until the end of Wednesday, so don't wait.)
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Welcome to the world of the Baba Yagas!

Here's an excerpt to tempt you....

Barbara Yager glided her classic BMW motorcycle to a halt in front of the silver Airstream trailer that she lived in whenever she was on the road. It was currently parked in a lot on the campus of the Northern Illinois University where she was presenting a series of guest lectures on wild crafting herbs. Traveling botanist and college professor made for a useful cover for her other activities, which tended to be a little less conventional. To say the least.

As she swung one lean, leather-clad leg over the saddle of the bike, she caught a glimpse of something curious, reflected in the shiny royal blue paint. The reflection should have been impossible, given the angle, but like everything else about Barbara Yager, the motorcycle was not quite what it seemed.

“Hmph,” she said, not very loudly, and strolled over to the front door of the Airstream without looking back.

“We have company,” she said as she closed the door behind her. “Again.”

She removed her helmet, releasing a cloud of dark hair that flowed over her shoulders like silk. The helmet and black leather jacket were hung on branch-like pegs that sprouted out of the wall as she snapped her fingers, leaving her clad in matching black leather pants and a crimson tee. Not what the university administrators had been expecting, she suspected, but she didn’t much care. Following the rules had never been her strong suit.

A blunt black-nosed snout pushed aside the velvet curtain covering the window, as Chudo-Yudo looked for himself. He gave a barking laugh, one that went well with his current guise as a huge white pit pull; not exactly subtle, but a lot easier to explain than his true form of a ten-foot dragon. They’d been companions since she’d been a child…which was a lot longer ago than one would suppose based on appearances.

“Not very smart,” Chudo-Yudo growled. “Stalking a Baba Yaga.” He showed a set of sharp white teeth. “Maybe he has a death wish. I could help with that. You want me to eat him?”

Barbara rolled her eyes. “I don’t think that will be necessary. It is not as though he is a threat.”

As if an ordinary mortal could harm a Baba Yaga in a face-to-face confrontation. Barbara was one of the three Babas currently living in—and responsible for—the United States. Like the others, she’d been trained in magic by the Baba Yaga who’d preceded her, and like the others, she was tasked with guarding the doorway to the Otherworld, keeping the balance of nature (as much as anyone could in these modern times), and occasionally, helping a worthy seeker. 

That last one was a pain in the butt.

Barbara sighed, peering out the window over Chudo-Yudo’s massive furry shoulder at the rusting blue pickup truck parked under a nearby tree. For three days, it had followed her from the building where her class was held. Each day, it sat there, idling, for about twenty minutes, no doubt while its driver attempted to work up his nerve to confront one of the most powerful witches on the planet. Each day, it drove off again, the man inside only a vague image of ragged hair and bowed shoulders, leaving behind it a miasma of exhaust and sorrow.

Barbara was tired of waiting. In theory, those seeking her assistance were supposed to come to her. She decided that parking within twenty feet of her home was close enough to count. There was a cold beer with her name on it (literally, since a small organic brewery in Utah made a beer called “Baba” that she was quite fond of), and she wasn’t going to be able to relax until she figured out if she was truly needed, or if whoever was out there was just wasting her time and annoying her. It was never a good idea to annoy a Baba Yaga. Particularly not this Baba.

Muttering under her breath, she stomped over to stand in front of the driver’s side door, arms crossed, booted feet planted firmly on the ground. Chudo-Yudo trailed along behind her, probably out of sheer boredom. They tended to spend more time away from civilization than in it, which made it easier for him to be out and about, and a week stuck in the Airstream in the middle of a parking lot had made the dog-dragon even grumpier than usual.

The window lowered slowly, revealing a pale, rugged face under badly cut brown hair. Baba thought the man might have been reasonably attractive when he didn’t look so tired and worried. The lines of strain had carved crevices and valleys onto an otherwise pleasant landscape, and dark brown eyes were ringed by shadows that spoke of many a sleepless night.

Barbara hardened her heart. Just because someone wasn’t sleeping well didn’t mean he merited her assistance. Maybe the guy had a guilty conscience. Or stayed up all night gambling and chasing women.

She hoped he hadn’t come to her in search of some kind of magical treasure to get him out of debt. That might have worked on occasion in the old days, back in the dark green, mysterious forests of Mother Russia, when Baba Yagas were more inclined to play along with the fairy tales people told about them. Not anymore, and definitely not her. He was going to have to really need her help, or she’d turn him into a toad and go drink that beer.

“Hey,” she said, possibly a touch more forcefully than she’d intended to, based on the way the guy flinched. “I’m guessing you wanted to talk to me, since you’ve followed me back here three days in a row. Were you ever planning to get out of that truck?”

The man eyed her dubiously, and looked even less encouraged by the sight of the large canine sitting at her feet, long pink tongue lolling, and just a hint of steam curling out of his nostrils. But after a minute the man shut off the engine and opened the door. For all his hesitation, once he was in front of her, he straightened up and pulled his shoulders back, as if gathering his courage. A couple of inches over her five foot ten, he wore a clean blue shirt over jeans that actually looked like they’d been ironed. One hand gripped a small box.

Barbara raised a dark eyebrow, but didn’t say anything. She’d gone as far as she was going to—the next step was up to him.

People are Talking About Me (and Feline Friday)

People have been talking about me this week. Well, at least, they've been talking about my books, and that's a good thing!

Author Jim C. Hines had a great review of WICKEDLY DANGEROUS on his blog HERE (Spoiler: He liked it!)

Author Lisa Shearin was kind enough to spread the word at her blog HERE

(These are both amazing authors--two of my favorite writers AND people. If you're not reading them yet, you should definitely check them out.)

Rebecca Elson talked about The Witches Broom on her blog, The Magical Buffet

You should go check these things out and say hi--tell 'em Deborah sent you :-)

Maybe the most exciting of all was a review in one of the major romance publications, RT Book Reviews. They gave WICKEDLY DANGEROUS four stars (they only go up to 4 1/2, so 4 is great) and a really glowing review. (I'm not sure if you can read the review if you don't have a subscription, but here is the link in case you can.) RT BOOK REVIEWS

My wonderful publisher, Berkley, is giving away twenty copies of WICKEDLY DANGEROUS on GOODREADS -- go see if you can snag a copy!

It is hard to believe that the novella will be out on August 5th! That's next week! *faints* Wickedly Magical

And the lovely folks at Berkley sent me the first print copy of WICKEDLY DANGEROUS, hot off the presses. Magic the Cat was very impressed. Isn't it bee-oo-tiful?

Your Feline Friday picture

She doesn't look like she wants to give that one up, but pretty soon I should get my box of author copies, and then I suspect we'll be having some giveaways... In fact, I will probably do something next Tuesday, to celebrate the release of the novella, so stay tuned. (If you're not signed up for the newsletter, you might want to be...just saying.) I know I'm going to do an ARC giveaway on my Facebook Author Page (they don't let you do giveaways on your personal page, silly people), so if you want in on that, you should go like me.

 As you might expect, the next month or so is going to be a lot of "OMG THE BOOKS" around here, but I'll try to keep it interesting. Next up is a blog post on the origins of the Baba Yaga (the original stories, not my updated take on  it). I hope to have exciting news to announce soon about the Super Sekrit Project too.

Nothing but good times ahead! So are you as excited as Magic is about the book?