Horse Magick: Spells and Rituals for Self-Empowerment, Protection, and Prosperity - Lawren Leo 2020
The Folkloric Horse
Sometimes the most vivid people and creatures live only in legend. But who is to say that the stories passed down for generations about reclusive witches, mischievous pixies, brownies, imps, and rarely seen monstrous creatures are not true? Even the most erudite scholars have found over time that the most preposterous myths may have some basis in fact. Indeed, they have even solved mysteries this way.
The folklore of horses is no exception to this rule, and there are equine stories that originated among agrarian, so-called “simple” or “peasant” peoples that have captivated minds around the world. Never discount the power of a bedtime story that can entertain a child and also empower an adult. One such story is the tale of Baba Yaga.
BabaYaga
Deep in the darkest recesses of a vast, thorn-choked forest lies a small tract of emerald green land where the sun magickally shines, the rain is plentiful, and the crops thrive. No road leads in or out, but that does not seem to bother its resident. Her hut appears tiny from the exterior, but appearances are deceiving. It is slightly crooked, with a thatched roof, and stands on chicken legs. It has been known to move. Although she lives alone—though some say she has two sisters—this reclusive figure's barns and stables are meticulously tended. A fence of human bones capped with skulls surrounds the dwelling. This is the home of the witch Baba Yaga.
Legend claims that the dark forest home of Baba Yaga holds untold riches, and many have therefore sought her out. “You'll recognize her easily,” say the unwitting mothers who send their children on quests to obtain money and wishes. “She is old beyond reckoning, with warts on her wrinkled face, a long pointy nose, sharp yellow teeth in a crooked smile, and long gray hair that sticks out in unkempt clumps from under a bright pink-and-blue polka-dotted head scarf. Her cloak is ill-woven and covered with patches, and her dress is torn to shreds. But take care not to stare at her drooping dugs or bony legs!”
Baba Yaga's mode of transport sets her apart from the other equestrian figures in this book—she rides a giant mortar that she guides with a pestle. Any tracks she leaves behind she quickly erases with a besom (broom). But horses she has in plenty. You just need to know how to find them—and how to find her. Baba Yaga is fickle. Sometimes she takes on the appearance of an alluring maiden to draw in a feckless youth. (Whether she eats the unfortunate lad or uses him for other purposes is unclear). At other times, she retains her hag form and, it is reputed, rewards even the dullest oaf with wealth beyond reckoning when he answers her questions in a manner that pleases her.
Perhaps Baba Yaga's least-appreciated possessions are her horses. We meet the horses in the old Russian folktale Vasilisa the Fair, in which the witch possesses three horses ridden by three knights who are her faithful servants.1 One is brilliant white and heralds the dawn; another is blood red and brings the full light of day; the last is pitch black and cloaks the earth in night as it retires mysteriously into her hut.
The three horses and the knights who ride them represent the three aspects of the Triple Goddess—maiden, mother, and crone—with Baba Yaga representing the last. The colors, as I have discussed in my publication Dragonflame, symbolize the three stages of the Triple Goddess and of the moon: white for virginity; red for menstruation; and black for menopause or old age.2 The three horses and knights also represent the passage of time and create a narrative of progression through time—from dawn, to day, to nightfall, or from childhood, through adulthood, to old age.
On the most direct level, horses, in a pre-Industrial era, were the prized possessions of those with wealth. And indeed, Baba Yaga has all the trappings of wealth: land, treasure, and—most important—knowledge. Her horses and knights act as heralds who disturb the time-space continuum by creating an opening at Baba Yaga's behest at three key moments in her daily life: prior to her return from the unknown; prior to her sleep; and prior to her departure once again into the unknown. They are like the squires who accompanied kings and queens, making her magickal royalty with the ability to control time.
Baba Yaga is seen as an archetype by witches and magicians alike who have studied her. She has become a living force in the subconscious minds of magickal practitioners and, like the horses and knights that serve her, she may show up unbidden. If you encounter her in a dream state or on the astral plane, the best plan is to listen, and acquiesce. Try to think of a knight dressed in white and riding a white steed; this will lead you to thoughts of the rising sun and dawn, symbols of enlightenment and waking on the earth plane.
Baba Yaga's energy is that of a crone. Simply stated, it's dark. She has wisdom; she is a magickal adept; she has complete leverage over anyone who is without magickal protection or, as she makes clear in the Russian folktale, “blessed.” If you seek the help of this wise woman who lives alone deep in the forest, she will either give you a nearly unsurmountable task and then share her wisdom, or she will simply devour you. She is given to merciless whims that can change your life for the better—but at a huge price.
In the Russian folktale, the peasant maiden Vasilisa could never have anticipated becoming czarina, let alone known how to strategize something so unpredictable. But she ends up at Baba Yaga's house and stables by pure chance, receives a gift from the witch, and, after paying a tragic price (the loss of her family and house), becomes the wife of the czar. Ultimately, she lives happily ever after.
So if you choose to ask Baba Yaga for help or advice, it better be for something on a monumental scale and something that will alter your destiny for the better, because her magick has an inherent finality to it that is quite severe. Be prepared for the consequences.
SPELL TO ENHANCE FORESIGHT
This spell is designed to bring you the wisdom and understanding necessary to obtain your dearest wish. You can even ask for “that which I need, but don't even know to ask for.”
What you need:
Wisteria, lady's mantle, a large handful of jet chips or small tumbled jet, a besom and dustpan (you can use a broom instead), a mortar and pestle, and a small bowl.
Instructions:
Center and calm yourself. Be at peace. Say:
Great Baba Yaga, help me anticipate what's coming before
anyone else does.
Now, as you ponder the circumstance or question at hand (e.g., the outcome of a relationship, the performance of a particular stock, the best way to obtain a job/position/raise/etc.), begin mixing the wisteria and lady's mantle in the mortar using the pestle; continue for approximately three to five minutes. When finished, pour the mixture into the small bowl along with the jet. Use your hands to mix the jet, wisteria, and lady's mantle a bit more. This will help accustom you to its energies.
Beginning at the east and moving clockwise (deasil), sprinkle the mixture from the small bowl on the floor (the kitchen floor is best, but the floor in any room will work). Create a circle large enough so that you are able to stand in its center. Then take your besom and dustpan and step into the middle of the circle. Put the dustpan on the floor in front of you, inside the circle. Hold the besom in your right hand, bristles up, with the handle resting on the floor. Think of the circumstance or question you are considering once more and say this spell three times:
Circling round and round again,
Like the earth orbiting the sun;
First morning, then night, then morning again,
I anticipate what's to come.
When you are finished, beginning at the same point from which you started to create the circle in the east, use the besom to sweep the mixture into the dustpan, this time using a counterclockwise (widdershins) motion. Throw the mixture to Mother Earth and thank Baba Yaga. You are finished.
Why did I choose wisteria? Wisteria is associated with the element of air and of the mind. It is used to enhance the memory and intellect, and to gain insight.
Why did I choose jet? Jet is used to remove negativity and obstacles blocking insight. It is also used for protection. It is especially powerful when used in conjunction with wisteria to promote understanding and insight. It is powerful enough to banish any confusion that has settled in your subconscious that may be blocking the answer to your question(s).
Why did I choose lady's mantle? Lady's mantle connects you to Mother Earth during this spell. Its energies are protective and angelic, and enable you to better understand planet Earth's rotation and orbit around the sun, a necessity for this spell to work properly. It also makes the spell more effective.
What do the mortar and pestle represent? Other than being staple magickal tools, the mortar and pestle mirror Baba Yaga's mode of transportation.
What does the besom, or broom, represent? The besom mirrors Baba Yaga's infamous method of remaining invisible—by sweeping away her tracks!
What does the circle represent and why do I have you stand in the center of it to cast the spell? In this case, the circle is a symbol of the Earth's twenty-four-hour orbit around the sun—from dawn to sunset, and once again to dawn. You transform the circle into an astrological glyph of the sun by standing in the center. A circle with a dot in the center represents illumination.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Two important areas of equine European folklore and traditional witchcraft remain outside the scope of this study: the otherworldly pranksters responsible for tangling and braiding horses' manes, and the Gypsy use of the horse skull. On the former, see Claude Lecouteux, The Tradition of Household Spirits: Ancestral Lore and Practices, trans. Jon E. Graham (Rochester, VT: Inner Traditions, 2013), pp. 139—141; on the latter, see Claude Lecouteux, Dictionary of Gypsy Mythology: Charms, Rites, and Magical Traditions of the Roma, trans. Jon E. Graham (Rochester, VT: Inner Traditions, 2018), pp. 69—71.
Secondary sources
Afanas'ev, A. N. Russian Folk-Tales, trans. Leonard A. Magnus (New York: E. P. Dutton & Company, 1916). Retrieved from https://archive.org (accessed 11/21/2018).
Illes, Judika. Encyclopedia of Witchcraft: The Complete A-Z for the Entire Magical World (London: HarperCollins, 2005).
Johns, Andreas. Baba Yaga: The Ambiguous Mother and Witch of the Russian Folktale (New York: Peter Lang, Inc., International Academic Publishers; First Edition edition, 2004).
NOTES
1 Afanas'ev, 1916, p. 115.
2 Leo, 2014, p. 32.