Witches Haven

Letters to Baba

Dear Baba

My great grandmother told me the story of the Zorya but I can't remember the names of the 3 sisters or what they did. Baba used to tell me we were descendants of the 3 sisters and that as we grew older, we became them.

I remember some of the story but not all of it, including the names and it seems to me that this Triple Goddess aspect of New Age and Neo-Pagan belief is remarkedly similar to the Zorya mythology.

Do you know the story and if so, could you send it to me?

Mary in Markham


Such a nice treat for the old Baba! She gets tired of stupids. The Zorya. The 3 Sisters. They are Morning Star, Evening Star and Midnight Star. All daughters of Great God Dazhbog.

Zorya Utrennyaya is Morning Star. It is Zorya Utrennyaya who open gate of day for her father when he arrives in morning on great chariot of fire, to follow on journey of Sun. Her husband is Perun; great and powerful God. She is also great warrior and goddess of horses and peoples in battle. Zorya Utrennyaya is the young woman. The lover and fighter. Passion and growing is for the Zorya Utrennyaya, the young woman.

Zorya Vechernyaya is the Evening Star. She close gate in the evening. She is the mother, the protector and nurture woman. She is all women.
The Zorya Vechernyaya is watching of children and home. She is the Mama.

Zorya Polunochnaya is the Midnight star. She is the most wise. She is the most one to be careful. She watches over the Undervorld, death but she is also watching for rebirth, magic, wisdom and the all-knowing. Zorya Polunochnaya is the Baba.

The 3 Sisters must watch out for demon hound. He is chained but if he break the chain? He will eat the Little Bear and world will end.

Old country story also says that when no-one is left to make pysanka? The beast will come and eat the vorld. End of all peoples.

All womens are the Zorya and the 3 Sisters are all womens. One day you will be Zorya Polunochnaya. You will be the Baba and you must share old country stories with the ditya. Keep old Ukraine, keep old ancestors living with memory.

Dear Baba

I just found out that my 10 year old son has been stealing from the local convenience store! Nothing big, chocolate bars and comic books so it isn't too serious yet. What do I do? I don't know if I should take him to the store or simply ground him, tell him how wrong it is to steal.

I think bringing him to the store would be too embarrassing for me. So I am leaning toward grounding him for a week. Should I make the grounding longer? What about his computer, should that be part of the grounding as well? It will be a horrible week for me, he will drive me crazy without that computer.

Crazed in Calgary

Sometime the Baba thinking that government put somethink in water. Making stupids. Like old movie, people go to sleep and wake up in seed pod, not same people. Pod people. Baba think maybe country is like that. No pods. Only something in water. People lose smart and turn stupid.

Your kid is stealing? You want to put him in house for week?

Oh Baba..oh Baba..what do I do? Do I take computer away? Can't go back to store with kid and make kid say sorry. Make the mother too embarrass.

What is wrong with you? You take kid to store. You tell store peoples what he did. You pay money to make good on stuff he take with no money. Kid stay in room for 2 weeks. No television. No computers. No fun, no games. You make him feel shame for what he done. So what you get embarrassed? Nobody die from being embarrass. This your kid, this is your mistake, yes? You not make kid understand stealing is bad thing.
Wake up and smell coffee. Kid must learn by seeing, by feeling, by knowing this stealing is wrong. What? You never tell him this before? You think being mother is easy job?

Get head out of pot and teach kid to be good. Punish kid for being bad. This is not being scientist, lady.

Dear Baba

I love my husband Baba but he is driving me crazy. Sometimes, I can tell he is really upset or depressed about something but when I ask him what it is, he won't tell me! He says it is nothing but then wanders around the house like a dark cloud. If I ask too many times, then he gets mad at me!

I don't know what to do.

Clueless in Calgary


Vat? You don't notice difference in mens and womens? Mens don't talk about feelings. That is womens doings. Mens like to solve own problems.

Look at husband's face next time you say you want to talk at him. He vill be looking like rabbit with face to big dog.

Sometimes men is no smarter than turkey in yard. And turkey? Not smartest bird in vorld. You must be pulling out all women tricks. You must be knowing husband. Start to talk of little things and see what is happening. Then watch his face. See when it gets tight like he smells something bad. Then you know you hit bell with hammer.

Is sometimes like dealing with dity. Childrens. Husbands not learning to express feelings. Not a man thing. Help husband to trust you. Help him to learning to talk but not making big deal when he is not wanting to do this.

Mens and women are not the same. Serve womens well to remember this.

Dear Baba

I don't even know where to start! Its my kids. My husband and I have worked day after day trying to bring in enough money to give the kids what they want. They have everything! But it is never enough. They have their own laptops, they have their own cell phones. We bought each of them their own Wii so there wouldn't be any fighting when we're at work. We live in a beautiful house, we had a pool put in so they wouldn't be hanging out in parks and in the malls.

None of this is enough. Now, they are all acting out. We get phone calls from the school because they are behaving badly or just not showing up. They aren't doing their homework. We just don't have time to make sure the homework is being done. After a hard day we are just so tired.

They are rude to us. They disobey instructions that we leave every morning.

I don't know what to do! We are at our wits' end!!

Turmoil in Toronto


How you be at wits' end when you have not wits? You give childrens everything they want. You not givink childrens everything they need. They don't need Wii (had to ask Lillith vat is dis Wii). They not needing cell phones and lappy top computers. They not even needing pool.

They needing parents. They needing the mother and the father, home, lookink after them. Not working in big office with fancy dancy clothes, car and house. They needing PARENTS.

So sad for you. Maybe too late. You don't tell Baba how old are dity. Sometimes no fixing of stupid mistakes. You can not be big shot and parent too. Both need all of you. You make your choice and it was bad choice. Dity suffer for you being stupids.

You try. One quit job and stay with dity. Sell beautiful house with pool. Sell lappy tops and Wii. Throw in garbage cell phones. Get smaller house and make home for dity, not house for dity.

Silly stupids. You vatch too much television Baba is thinink, not understanding fantasy and real livink.

Dear Baba

My boyfriend's mother is coming here from Alberta for a visit. She is Ukrainian and I would really love to make a traditional Ukrainian dish for her. The recipes I found were just too complicated and I am not a very good cook.

Can you help me, please? I am really interested in making borscht.

Diane in Drummondville


Is such good thing you do for visitor. In Ukraine, always food for visiting peoples. Nobody come to door to leave hungry. Bad manner to not feed visiting peoples. Baba give you recipe for borscht. Ask boyfriend mother for pyrohy recipe. All mothers thinkink their recipe is best. She love you forever if askink for pyrohy recipe.

Baba's Borscht

1 kg beef roast, remove fat and cut into chunks.
15 ml salt
15 ml pepper
3 medium size onions chopped
500 ml celery chopped
3 litres cold water
1 litre beef or vegetable broth

10 medium size boiled beets, peeled and sliced
60 ml chopped fresh dill
350 ml canned tomatoes with juice
1000 ml finely shredded cabbage
60 ml lemon juice (fresh)

Combine meat, water, salt, pepper and onions in large soup pot. Bring to a boil over medium heat (covered).

Remove meat leavings from the top of the soup with a freezer cold, slotted spoon. Simmer, covered for 2 to 3 hours
Add beets, celery, cabbage, tomatoes and dill. Simmer again for 1 hour. Add the lemon juice, simmer for ½ an hour.

Dear Baba

I am sending you this e-mail because my daughter is one of those Pagan people. She reads you every weekend.

My daughter married a good Christian boy and now she is pregnant. She left him. He had too much to drink one night and he hit her. She refuses to even speak to him now.

I've tried talking to her, even pleading with her to go back to him. Every baby needs a father. He is sorry. He calls me and begs me to speak to her. I feel so bad for him.

My daughter says she won't ever go back to him. He slapped her once before when she was lippy to him and she says that this shows her that he can't be trusted. That is just silly. It was only a slap.

I don't want my grandchild to grow up without a daddy. That's just wrong.

Please answer this e-mail so my daughter can see how wrong she is.

Crying in Charleston

Baba don't think you like what she going to be sayink. Baba thinkink maybe your babushka is tied too tight, cuttink off air to brain.

Man hits daughter 2 times and you no see problem? So she has baby without Tatko. This is big deal? Baba has children with no Tatko. He is far away when dity were being dytyna. Fighting in big war. War over, man go to Siberia. Gone for many years, come home? Not same Tatko.
Drinkink and having womens. Not time for Baba or dity for long months until he finds brain back. Baba's dity are good peoples. No father but turn out good. One good mother or father better than one bad mother or father. If Baba's cholovik hit the Baba? You believe he would be sleepink in barn with pigs and big bump on head.

How come man is good Christian boy if he is hitting donka? Vat is this lippy? She speak her mind and he hit her? What kind man is this? This is coward. This is not good man. Not good Christian man, not good yevreyskyy man. Is coward. No man hit woman is good man.

Let daughter live life as her life. She is smart girl. Smarter than mother, Baba is thinkink. No father better than bad father. Leave her alone. Let daughter make decisions, she is clever girl.

Dear Baba

I was reading about Voodoo and I decided that I really want to learn it. I went to a store here in California that sells all kinds of Voodoo stuff I asked the lady where I could learn Voodoo and she wouldn't tell me. She told me it isn't for me right away. She didn't even really talk to me or get to know me or anything she just said it wasn't for me. Is it because I am white? That's not fair!!! I want to learn Voodoo where do I have to go, to New Orleans?

Miserable in Malibu

Old Baba had to have shot of wodka for reading this one. Baba think maybe you are having joke on her, tak? Then Baba see you are from California and thinks maybe you not having joke.

Ah little divchynka..why you want to take what is not yours? Why you want to take culture not belongink to you? What is wrong with white peoples? They always want what is not their own to have. Wheat always more golden in other field?

You have family, tak? Where does family come from? The family did not sprout out of ground like redwood tree. What country they from? That is being your culture. Not Voodoo. That is culture of black slaves in New World. Why you want to take this from them?

Old world have many cultures, find your own culture and leave what is other peoples to other peoples. When taking something that is not belongink to us, we is stealing, ni? What is bigger wrong? Black peoples wanting to keep culture or white girl wanting to steal? What is not fair? You wanting what is not yours to have or lady telling you, no?

Dear Baba

I want to learn more about my culture. I am Ukrainian but I don't speak or understand the language. I want to learn about the old gods and how Ukrainian Pagans lived and worshipped.

Anya in Ancaster

Ah, the Baba had to wipe tear from eye. Sad and happy tear. Sad that you not knowink language of Ukraine and happy you are lookink to know heart of Ukraine.

Is very old country. Long history. Long blood and struggle for country over years. Tradition always most important to Ukrainian peoples. The Christians not all that long in Ukraine. The heart of land beat strong in all sons and daughters. But before Ukraine was all one land and many peoples; Kiev-Rus

Too much to say in letter. Many Ukrainians now looking back to roots. Roots of the old Gods. Here is story of first Witch in Slavic believink.

Long ago, when the world was still fairly new, a young woman ventured into the woods to pick mushrooms. In no time at all, the skies opened up upon her and narrowly escaping the rain, she ran beneath a tree, removed all of her clothing, and bundled them up in her bag so they would not get wet. After some time, the rain stopped and the woman resumed her mushroom picking. Weles, Horned God of the forest happened upon her, and asked her what great magick she knew in order to have kept dry during the storm.

"If you show me the secret to your magick, I will show you how I kept dry." she said. Being somewhat easily tempted by a pretty face, Weles proceeded to teach her all of his magickal secrets. After he was done, she told him how she had removed her clothing and hid under a tree.

Knowing that he had been tricked, but had no one but himself to blame, Weles ran off in a rage, and thus, the first Witch came into being.

There is much of learning for you. You start at beginning. Look for books talking of Czernobog and Bielobog. Blessing to you, kokhanyy.