As I have sat down to write this, I have found myself shocked that I can’t remember exactly where or when I first became of Ask Baba Yaga. I know I have followed Taisia Kitaiskaia on Instagram for as long as I can remember, and she has posted individual pieces of Baba Yaga’s advice there.

I know I was already aware of Taisia Kitaiskaia and Ask Baba Yaga when she appeared as a guest on The Witch Wave podcast.

I know I had Ask Baba Yaga on my Christmas list in 2019 and got a copy in the family Secret Santa.

Well… who am I to look for precision when Baba Yaga works in such mysterious ways?

Aside from the book, I have been aware of Baba Yaga for a long time. She may be having a renaissance as a figure now, but as a kid with Ukrainian ancestry and a Baba of my own, I have been aware of Baba Yaga and the frankness of elderly Slavic advice for as long as I can remember.

Baba Yaga as imagined by Taisia Kitaiskaia immediately made sense to me in her imagery, darkness, death positivity, and low tolerance for bullshit. And after a year as part of the Womb of the Crone Fellowship, I only came to love the figure and archetype of Baba Yaga even more. Even though that fellowship was focused on Celtic ancestral animism, talking about Baba Yaga was unavoidable when talking about crone energy.

So how can I do anything else but share Baba Yaga’s advice with anyone who might need it?