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Baba Yaga's Horsemen of the Apocalypse

 For NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) my teen started working on a queer YA retelling of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.  We did some YouTube research about the Four Horsemen and the Book of Revelations, also getting sucked in to the History Channel's Secrets of the Bible - surprisingly well done.  The sequence of videos skewed our next sets of YouTube recommendations somewhat, and we ended up watching a PBS video about Baba Yaga...and her Horsemen.  Whoa.

In Revelations Chapter 6, the lamb opens seven seals on a special scroll.  When the first seal is opened, a white horse and rider appear.  2nd seal:  Red horse and rider.  3rd seal:  Black horse and rider.  4th seal:  Death with a pale-green horse

In the popular Russian folk tale of Baba Yaga and Vasilisa, on her journey to get fire from Baba Yaga, Vasilisa first encounters Baba Yaga's white horseman, then her red horseman, then her black horseman, and finally, Baba Yaga herself - the folk tale - ified Great Goddess, mistress of birth, life, and, especially, Death.  Baba Yaga's house is surrounded by a fence made of human skulls.  In the story, Vasilisa completes her quest by returning home with a lantern from Baba Yaga made from a human skull.

Sequence of Events in Revelations Chapter 6 vs. the story of Baba Yaga and Vasilisa

How do we know this witch in the woods is a Great Goddess?  We are told that her riders are Dawn, Day, and Night, all controlled by Baba Yaga.  She is Mother Nature, Grandmother Earth.  

Baba Yaga's Horsemen of the Apocalypse, original painting by Echoing Multiverse.  Availabe via Saatchi Art, or as stickers or other merch through RedBubble or Fine Art America.

The first written mention of Baba Yaga is in a 1755 book comparing Slavic deities with their Roman counterparts.  She has no Roman equal...but was considered a deity.  Before being written about, she had a strong oral tradition, being in literally thousands of stories.

In Old Russian, the word Baba was used for midwives, fortune tellers, and sorceresses.  In modern usage, baba is a derogatory term designating a difficult old woman.  In a few indigenous Eastern European languages, Baba is the also the name for the pelican.  One theory on the etymology of Yaga is that it may be related to the Latin word for snake.  Which reminds of the naga, snake women, including Nuwa, a naga and creation Goddess of eastern Asia.  Often the names of deities were too powerful to say aloud, so Baba Yaga's real name may be lost to history.

She certainly sounds like a classic Marija Gimbutas Great Mother Goddess.  Marija Gimbutas was an archaeologist studying Old European cultures.  In The Living Goddess, Marija Gimbutas writes, "In the cycle of life, the feminine force -- the goddess -- not only manifested in birth, fertility, and life sustenance, she also embodied death, decay, and regeneration.  As death wielder, she loomed as a terrifying raptor, a poisonous snake, or the stiff white nude.  For Old European cultures, death did not portend the ultimate end but remained part of nature's cycle.  In Old Europe religious imagery, death was immediately coupled with regeneration. 

"An understanding of the practice of excarnation helps us to clarify the role of the bird of prey in Neolithic religion; it particularly explains its role in the death process.  In this burial practice, people did not bury their dead immediately, but exposed them outdoors on platforms.  There, birds of prey would strip the body of its flesh, leaving only the bones.  The removal of flesh was considered necessary to complete the death process.  When only the bones remained, the individual could be buried and the next segment of the cycle could begin.  Two different raptors predominated in Old European mortuary symbolism, each in a different region:  the vulture dwells only in the Near East and southern Europe, while the owl lives in most of Europe.  Although excarnation was not universally practiced, through Europe and the Near East vulture and/or owl symbols represented the goddess who brought death, yet ruled life and assured birth."

The pelican is an opportunistic carnivore.  It will try to eat people.  Evidence can be quickly found via YouTube.  According to a quick Google search, pelicans will also eat carrion.

Pelicans try to eat a baby

Pelicans try to eat a full grown adult


PBS Video:  The Ancient Origins of Baba Yaga

PBS on Baba Yaga


And, Baba Yaga is in the book of Revelations.  She will have to be defeated for the rapture to occur, I guess.  I'm not entirely interested in being Raptured.  If I was in the 100 (Excellent TV series), I would have said no thanks at the series finale.


Revelations 6 - for reference

Disciples' Literal New Testament

The Lamb Opens The First Six Seals

6 And I saw when the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living-creatures saying like a voice of [a] thunder, “Come[b]”. 2 And I saw, and behold— there was a white horse, and the one sitting on it having a bow. And a crown was given to him. And he went out conquering, and[c] in order that he might conquer.

3 And when He opened the second seal, I heard the second living-creature saying, “Come”. 4 And another horse— a fire-red one— went out. And to the one sitting on it, authority was given to him to take the peace[d] from the earth, and[e] that they will slay one another. And a great sword was given to him.

5 And when He opened the third seal, I heard the third living-creature saying, “Come”. And I saw, and behold— there was a black horse, and the one sitting on it holding a balance-scale in his hand. 6 And I heard something like a voice in the midst of the four living-creatures, saying “A quart[f] of wheat for a denarius[g], and three quarts of barley for a denarius. And do not harm the olive-oil and the wine”.

7 And when He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living-creature saying, “Come”. 8 And I saw, and behold— there was a pale-green horse, and the one sitting on it. Death was the name for him. And Hades was following with him. And authority[h] was given to them over a fourth of the earth[i], to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild-beasts of the earth.


And, a highly entertaining overview of the rest of Revelations:

Survival Guide to the Apocalypse


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