Goddess of the Week: Baba Yaga

Image via WikipediaDaisy wonders if there is a goddess "for those of us who are getting all wrinkly and saggy of body." Hmm. I guess my profile photo fools no one. I hear you Daisy! I'm giving us Baba Yaga, the slavic goddess of death and regeneration.

Baba Yaga, whose name means grandmother death, is definitely wrinkly and saggy of body. She lives deep in the woods in a house standing on giant chicken legs surrounded by a fence made of human bones and topped with skulls. She flies around in a giant mortar, which is convenient because her head doubles as a pestle! In the days of Christianity, poor Baba Gaga was reduced to a scary witch. (Think Hansel and Gretel.)

In our youth-worshipping culture, it is sometimes hard to see older women as anything but witches. Indeed, in our youth-obsessed popular culture it is sometimes hard to see older women at all, and even when you see them they have the lips of halibut, as if somehow that's supposed to make us think they are mere guppies. I mean, have you seen Goldie Hawn lately?

Baba Gaga reminds us that sags and wrinkles are the victory marks of hard-fought lives. And believe me, if you've made it past 40, your life has been hard fought. You have worked hard, you have made sacrifices, you have learned that you can't help everyone, you can't even always help yourself. You've lost some battles, and you've won some, but -- like Gloria Gaynor -- you have survived. You've kept going, and you are stronger for it. You are wiser for it. You have learned things that 20-year-old you just couldn't know. Thank God! Do you really want to spend all your money on skinny jeans again? Do you really want to spend all your lunches eating low-fat yogurt.

No way. You have worked hard for those wrinkles, and -- damn it -- you deserve a house on chicken legs. You've earned the right to grind and grind and grind away at your old doubts and insecurities. Enough of them! Pound them into dust! Likewise, you have every right to grind and grind and grind away at your son until he gets a hair cut. He looks better with short hair. Everyone knows that. You're only trying to help.

Oops. Recent evidence suggests that the pounding away about hair cuts may not be in your best interest. Baba Gagas must use their mortars and pestles wisely. But see, you knew that didn't you? Time already taught you.

Channel this goddess: When you're feeling old, when your ass is flatter than your stomach and you feel like your neck is your best feature. If you do it right, wrinkles mean wisdom and the nerve to stare down uppity salesclerks. No shame, ladies. No shame.

Need a goddess? Let me help! Post a comment telling me what you need and I'll see what I can find.