Mythology of Slavs: Demons #1

Baba Jaga is one of the most popular demons of Slavic mythology. She has survived to the present day in various forms, inter alia, in films or fairy tales.

Characteristic

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She appears there as an old, repulsive witch (saggy breasts, one bone leg, blind or visually impaired), living in a hut on a chicken foot in the depths of the forest . Baba Yaga was often accompanied by a black cat, a raven, an owl or a snake.

Baba Yaga has been kidnapping people (especially children) wandering in the forest, and then they murdered and ate them. She was also attributed the sending of diseases and other ailments.

Scientific interpretation

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Researchers are trying to reconstruct the original function of Baba Jaga as the ruler of forest animals and a figure associated with the world of the dead, perhaps a degraded female deity or demon. The primary function of Baba Jaga as a priestess responsible for the ritual initiation of young people is also possible (hence the theme of devouring children).

There's a horror movie about her ,,Don't knock twice''.
In addition, it occurs in many other non-Slavic countries, among others in Germany under the name ,,Frau Holle''