Witchcraft In Russia Research Paper

Russian Witchcraft Witchcraft has a place in every culture in some way or another, however in Russia it is utilized in multiple ways. Witchcraft in Russia has been around for a long time and consists of spells, rituals, and witch trials. The belief of witchcraft has been around since the seventeenth century when there was a witch hysteria that was the start of the witch trials in Russia and the rest of Europe. Witchcraft is still around now with the use of everyday spells and the rituals such as The Baga Yaga ritual. The Russians have a word for witch, ved’ma that translates into “one who knows”, witches are supposedly very knowledgeable in natural phenomena and in casting spells. Witches have appeared in almost every culture at sometime or …show more content…
Like most witches, Baba Yaga can fly but she does not use a broomstick. She sits in a giant bowl always with her knees almost touching her chin. She sweeps away her tracks with a broom made out of silver birch held in her left hand. It seems like when ever she appears a wild wing starts to blow. Her home is a hut deep in a birch forest; it is hard to find out without the help of some magical creature. The hut stands on a set of large chicken legs and can move on its own. Its windows act as eyes and the lock is full of teeth. It is surrounded by a fence whose post is made of human bones and topped with skulls whose blazing eye sockets light up the forest. Usually the hut is guarded by hungry dogs, evil geese, swans or a black cat. Most of those who go in never leave, as Baba Yaga washes them, feeds them and then sits them on a giant spatula, before putting them in her oven. In many stories, the fate of those entering her hut is in their own hands. A guest may, or may not, fit into the oven, depending on how they sit on the spatula. Although she eats as much as 10 men, Baba Yaga is very skinny and bony, like a