Mama Baba Yaga

What grows within that fence of bones? Motherwort, with its thorny flowers towering above Jack-in-the-pulpit’s striped hood. Perhaps she has Poison ivy in the window box and thistle lining the walk.  I imagine her garden full of plants that enforce their sovereignty, without fail. Like Baba herself. 

This is now my 38th trip round the sun I appreciate how important it is to have healthy boundaries, and how being a mom will test every last one. It is hard not to disappear into the needs and wants of those in my charge, but my little house guides me. 

Motherhood isn’t about losing myself in the demands of others, rather it’s demonstrating how to maintain my center while in that storm.  I hope my daughter learns from me how to make her way through the woods. May her garden be one of powerful medicines, like the Baba Yaga’s. 

She calls my necklace my “monster house,” and we are both in love with it. Thank you to Freya Jewels for this epic talisman, it’s one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever owned.