Author Archives: eliseeva

Baba Yaga

Context:

The informant is a Russian-American-Bulgarian woman who spent the first half of her life in Russia. She currently resides in Boston, MA and the interview took place over zoom in which I interviewed her about the Russian folklore that she grew up with and that she feels represents the Russian people and culture.

Transcribed and translated from an interview held in Russian

Baba Yaga is this old mean witch that lives on the edge of the forest in a hut that stands on chicken legs. This hut can turn in different directions, so the hero comes to it and says “Hut, hut. turn your back to the forest and your front to me” So it turns and allows the hero to enter and speak with Baba Yaga. She’s evil so she can mess with you, lie to you, send you in the wrong direction. She flies in a mortar, holding a broom. 

Analysis:

The figure of the older, evil woman/witch is one that pops up a lot, especially in European folklore. Be that the evil stepmother or an evil witch, the purpose of this archetype remains largely the same: to impede the hero in their journey or to somehow cause them harm. This probably mirrors society’s general disapproval of an older, unmarried, childless woman by portraying them as “evil hags”. Even in the case of a stepmother, she almost always made out to be malicious, possibly because she is not the hero’s biological mother and usually has hers or her own children’s interest at heart rather than the hero’s.

Haunted Tunnel in Japan

Context:

The informant is a 23 year old Japanese male. He was born in Nagoya, Japan where he spent the first half of his life. When he was 13, he came to the United States to attend high school and has been living in California ever since. The informant currently resides in Inglewood, CA and works in animation.

There is a certain tunnel in Japan, I forget where it is, but it goes through a mountain and it’s haunted. There is a story that gets told a lot of a man driving his car and on his way to the tunnel. And he know about the tunnel, he knows that people say that it’s haunted. He’s not someone who really believes in ghost stories and therefore he proceeds. He’s halfway in and nothing has happened. 

So he thinks to himself:

Of course, all those ghost stories were fake. There’s no such thing as spirits.

And as soon as he thinks that, he hears a lot of banging on the side of his car! And he’s terrified. And his car stops. The thumping stops as well. He tries to start his car and turn it around for about 10 minutes, and there is nothing. He is absolutely terrified. But after 10 minutes, his car starts again and he is able to keep going. Later on, he goes to a gas station, and in Japan, gas station attendants fill up your car. The gas station attendant is wiping down the body of the car (they also clean your car), and he tells the man: 

Sir, you have a lot of handprints on your car.

The guy gets out himself and he notices that there are millions of handprints all around his car, and is shaken. The attendant is cleaning, and wants to make sure that it’s spotless, says to the man.

You have one handprint that I cannot get to, because it is inside your car…

And that’s the end of the story.

Analysis:

This is your typical ghost story; they can be found in nearly every culture. Some of them revolve around a certain person, specific time, and/or place. This ghost story is very location specific. They can be based on real life events, for example the informant said that they think that the tunnel was once surrounded by a city, but the citizens may have died in some tragic way, though they weren’t sure themselves. It is difficult to find the root of truth in a ghost story, because they are so eagerly shared, be that around campfires, sleepovers, power outages, etc., that people change the story every time they tell it to make it even scarier. The informant did not remember where exactly this tunnel is located, possibly because over time, that detail was omitted so that the story would be applied to multiple tunnels, therefore more easily frightening the listeners.

Don’t Breathe When You See Ghosts

Context:

The informant is a 23 year old Japanese male. He was born in Nagoya, Japan where he spent the first half of his life. When he was 13, he came to the United States to attend high school and has been living in California ever since. The informant currently resides in Inglewood, CA and works in animation.

This story was told to me by my nanny.

She was quite superstitious, she went to see psychics, and was told by the psychic that when you encounter a ghost, you are not supposed to breathe. You should just keep walking until you pass them, because when you breathe in, the spirit and sometimes they are good, other times they are bad, can enter your body. 

Analysis:

Superstition remains prominent in many cultures, particularly among older generations. This is example demonstrates the Japanese belief in superstitions, particularly more spiritual ones, while also living in a very technologically advanced and science driven society.

Itadakimasu

Context:

The informant is a 23 year old Japanese male. He was born in Nagoya, Japan where he spent the first half of his life. When he was 13, he came to the United States to attend high school and has been living in California ever since. The informant currently resides in Inglewood, CA and works in animation.

Itadakimasu is something we say before we eat. This translates to “I will be having this” in a very polite way. But what you’re really doing is giving thanks to everyone that has put this meal in front of you. You are not only comparing this to Christianity when you are saying Grace, you are saying thank you to everything that you are grateful for. When saying Itadakimasu, you are saying “thank you” to the people that made your food, everyone who brought out your food, the animal that gave its life to provide nourishment for you, the people that caught and collected the food, your mother or father who has bought this food, it encompasses everything. 

Analysis:

Japanese folklore is very centered on making sure that food and things in general are being treated well and appreciated. A lot of that is reflected in the Japanese mindset. Being mindful about other things around you. The whole concept of mindfulness is very important.

Koshei the Deathless


Context:

The informant is a Russian-American-Bulgarian woman who spent the first half of her life in Russia. She currently resides in Boston, MA and the interview took place over zoom in which I interviewed her about the Russian folklore that she grew up with and that she feels represents the Russian people and culture.

Dark wizard who was able to separate his mortality from himself and hide it away. Usually it is hidden in a needle, which is located in an egg, which is hidden in a duck, the duck was hidden somewhere else, and so on and so forth. Similar to the Matreshka system. When you wanted to defeat Koshei, you had to find his mortality – his death.

Analysis:

The description of Koshei the Deathless separating his mortality, is one that is very reminiscent of the horcruxes from Harry Potter. I do not know if folklore in other cultures has a similar motif of hiding your mortality in physical objects, but given how prominent a theme death is in all walks of life, it is very likely. 

I do not know if JK Rowling intentionally drew from Russian folklore for her books, but I doubt that it was a coincidence. This brings up themes of copyrighted work drawing from folklore, and due to the uncopyrighted nature of folklore, not feeling the need to give credit to or acknowledge what the ideas were inspired by

For another version, read: https://www.ancient-origins.net/myths-legends-europe/slavic-legend-immortality-koschei-deathless-002717