You cannot believe how cold it can become in the Ukraine. It is not simply the temperature, it is the wind and the way it blows, fast and sharp. A cold snap is usually accompanied by high winds, winds that will whip your body ragged.
My name is Ekaterina. When I was a girl, my mother told me about the Hali or Ale, the spirits of bad weather, the demons of dark clouds, who would gobble up children if they were bad. Needless to say, I had many nightmares of the Hali.
When I grew up, my belief in the Hali dissipated and my mind grew occupied with other things. I grew up in a harsh world and after the collapse of the Soviet Union, it became even harsher. Though the place where I grew up was free, it was still poor, filled with those who had been stepped on my history.
It was there, before I moved to the US, that I met one of the Hali. In my studies, I have seen mention of many names for her, the Woman, but the one I knew best was Baba Yaga.
I should first explain what the name Baba Yaga means or at least what it means to me. Baba is short for babusia, meaning grandmother. And yaga means a feeling of revulsion and horror, shuddering.
Baba Yaga then is the Grandmother of Shudders.
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