Re Vasilisa Myth and the various challenges portrayed:
First of all, this story reminds me of Cinderella. I imagine Cinderella is a more recent variation on Vasalisa. Or maybe the story of Cinderella is the older story? Either way, there is at least one significant difference: Cinderella's Fairy Godmother has a very different character compared to Vasilisa's Baba Yaga! The version of Cinderella I grew up w/ portrayed the Fairy Godmother as maybe old enough to be Cinderella's mother or a very young grandmother, but certainly not ancient, and she was very very beautiful and attractive. In every version of Vasilisa, Baba Yaga is portrayed as an ugly, frightening, old hag!
While both have special powers, Fairy Godmother is portrayed as all-good, but Baba Yaga is a terrible mixture of good and bad, helpful and dangerous. It's true that Fairy Godmother gives Cinderella a warning about negative consequences if she doesn't follow her instructions, which is a prominent facet of Vasilisa and Baba Yaga's relationship, but Fairy Godmother OFFERS Cinderella help and advice and gives it w/ encouragement toward success, whereas Vasilisa must seek out Baba Yaga, and Baba Yaga's instructions and warnings bear the character of tests w/ Baba Yaga seeming to cheer for Vasilisa's failure!
In both stories, the young woman has lost her mother to death. She no longer has her mother's companionship, protection, guidance, and wisdom. In both stories, the step-mother is unkind, offering none of a mother's blessings. Cinderella and Vasilisa, once cherished children, become servants or slaves. This is the opposite progression of relationship as compared to redemption stories from Jewish and Christian Scriptures. In redemption stories, the main characters progress from a position of alienation from God toward favor w/ God, or from actual slavery to freedom, or from outcast of society to belonging in a holy family. (Consider the stories of Ruth, Hagar, and Mary Magdalene.)
...to be continued in my next post...
First of all, this story reminds me of Cinderella. I imagine Cinderella is a more recent variation on Vasalisa. Or maybe the story of Cinderella is the older story? Either way, there is at least one significant difference: Cinderella's Fairy Godmother has a very different character compared to Vasilisa's Baba Yaga! The version of Cinderella I grew up w/ portrayed the Fairy Godmother as maybe old enough to be Cinderella's mother or a very young grandmother, but certainly not ancient, and she was very very beautiful and attractive. In every version of Vasilisa, Baba Yaga is portrayed as an ugly, frightening, old hag!
While both have special powers, Fairy Godmother is portrayed as all-good, but Baba Yaga is a terrible mixture of good and bad, helpful and dangerous. It's true that Fairy Godmother gives Cinderella a warning about negative consequences if she doesn't follow her instructions, which is a prominent facet of Vasilisa and Baba Yaga's relationship, but Fairy Godmother OFFERS Cinderella help and advice and gives it w/ encouragement toward success, whereas Vasilisa must seek out Baba Yaga, and Baba Yaga's instructions and warnings bear the character of tests w/ Baba Yaga seeming to cheer for Vasilisa's failure!
In both stories, the young woman has lost her mother to death. She no longer has her mother's companionship, protection, guidance, and wisdom. In both stories, the step-mother is unkind, offering none of a mother's blessings. Cinderella and Vasilisa, once cherished children, become servants or slaves. This is the opposite progression of relationship as compared to redemption stories from Jewish and Christian Scriptures. In redemption stories, the main characters progress from a position of alienation from God toward favor w/ God, or from actual slavery to freedom, or from outcast of society to belonging in a holy family. (Consider the stories of Ruth, Hagar, and Mary Magdalene.)
...to be continued in my next post...
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