THE HAG AS TRICKSTER

A life-changing piece of inner work

Yesterday I was talking to a dear friend about entering Old Age (early old age in our cases) and how one of the roles of a Hag (or Crone) is to be a Trickster and to disrupt dysfunctional patterns and narratives in society. This insight is so important that I want to explore and present it in an essay.

Let’s start by defining both concepts: Hag and Trickster.

The Hag appears at regular intervals in my writing. Here are some recent examples:

WHAT SHE SHEDS (The must-have Hag Shack, Grandma Cabin or Baba Yaga Hut)

BABA YAGA (Stone Age broth for the Human Soul)

THE HOODED HAG

There is a current trend for women to reclaim terms, that have been used pejoratively, and wear them proudly as epithets of power. This process is known as reappropriation. Examples of such words are Crone or Hag (and even Witch, but that word brings professional connotations and dilemmas). Some feminists argue that even “bitch”, “cunt” or “slut” should be included on the list. Make of that whatever you will.

THE PREGNANT HAG, pen-and-ink drawing by the author

According to the dictionary a hag is “an ugly old woman”, or even an “ugly, slatternly or evil-looking woman” (WOAH!), often associated with witchcraft, in European folklore. To me the Hag is the Queen of Wise Women, the indwelling spirit of the Hagal Rune (signifying unexpected cataclysmic change in the rune set). She is The Pregnant Hag (I have named my online school for her!) She knows how to rebirth herself. She teaches that Death feeds Life and that Endings create space for New Beginnings. She has been demonized and marginalised in our age-phobic and youth-obsessed (Western) culture. Old people (especially older women) often feel invisible, superfluous (or worse) in our society. Regrettably, ageism is going strong!

The best-known example of a Hag in her full glory is (arguably) the Russian Baba Yaga.” Last year I wrote an entire essay dedicated to her: BABA YAGA and it is one of the most-read pieces on my site (I am pleased to report!) Here are two paragraphs from that essay:

Baba Yaga is a Grandmother Witch from Slavic folklore. She stands accused of “eating children” and I will get to that. She lives in a hut in the forest. Her house walks around on chicken legs, as my son knows very well. She also flies over the treetops in a huge mortar and pestle. In some versions of the story the fence around her hut is made of human bones (often shown with human skulls perched on top, in popular illustrations). One of her (many) epithets is “The Bony One”. In Western culture she is sometimes called a Crone Goddess. Source

We have to remember that all Slavic languages are related but also different and unique, just like Scandinavian languages (or indeed the larger family of Germanic languages). Baba means “old woman” or “grandmother”, not unlike Edda in Old Norse. The difference is that Baba is also used in a pejorative way, meaning old, dirty or foolish (but the word Edda was not). Also think of the related word бабушка (babushka), a fond word for grandmother.

THE REALM OF BABA YAGA, painting by the author

Next let’s define the word “trickster”. In world mythology, also in the study of folklore and religion, the Trickster is a character appearing in many stories. It can be a deity, such as Norse Loki, but also a powerful spirit or even animal (in some Native American stories it is Coyote, in Europe Mr Fox and for the Inuit it is Raven, and so forth). The Trickster is clever but also has access to secret spiritual knowledge (esoteric skills and insights, the higher perspective on events in a human life and even world events). The Trickster often plays tricks on others (or their entire community).

The Trickster violates principles of social and natural order, playfully disrupting normal life and then re-establishing it on a new basis. Trickers disobey normal rules and defy conventional behaviour.

So here the archetype of the Trickster meets the Hag: both bring renewal by means of destruction (destroying what came before, the established order or reality, the existing paradigm)!

I retreated from the world for a month and descended into my inner world. I reflected on some things that had played out in the year just gone and realised that I had yet more childhood programming to unravel. It is a never-ending story!! I realised that growing up in a narcissistic family system where I was SCAPEGOATED and severely abused had left me with a tendency to over-apologise and engage (at times) in excessive people-pleasing: read STOP BEING A SHADOW-SHERPA! I now faced the music: this was because of the fear of abandonment I lived with as an infant and very young child. The story is told in THE CHANGELING.

Living my dream life as a Hag and Forest Witch here in a snowy forest here in Sweden (not teaching and not seeing clients for some weeks) allowed me to soul travel to the very root of this issue. To retrieve the child, still living with an existential fear of abandonment or not surviving, and to reassure her that I am a competent adult now and well capable of looking after my everyday self and “younger selves” or “inner selves (who are shaped by those life experiences and memories).

THE HAG IN THE HAILSTORM (ALSO THE MOTHER OF WOLVES)

I realised that, for years, I had “projected out” the Hag: I was drawn into friendships with older women who appeared to be carriers of spiritual wisdom. And, without taking anything away from those amazing women and their important work in the world, I now realised that I need to “be the Hag” (as opposed to finding or befriending a Hag). This piece of work has brought an immense level of serenity and purpose. It no longer has a external locus. There is an bottomless well I can tap into, right within myself. There is also a long lineage of Witch Ancestors I can tap into for inspiration and guidance. And of course I will always LOVE connecting with other Wise Women - but will now consider myself one of them, not an aspiring Elder (as I did up to now).

For about 15 years now people have called me a Wise Woman or an Elder, and I have always protested and swept this off the table: I am too young, I am not there yet, I still have children living at home etc. (Plenty of excuses!) Suddenly the matter is much clearer: our world is moving through times of danger and upheaval. My unique Hag Medicine is needed NOW, not maybe twenty years from now. (I might not even be alive by then!)

57 years (of ever-decreasing!) people-pleasing ends right here. I now commit to living my truth and speaking my inner wisdom. I commit to disrupting whatever I feel needs disruption, followed by a rebirth. Don’t worry, I will not commit crimes and end up in prison (though prisons undoubtedly need a serious dose of Hag Medicine too, but that is not my calling!)

Remember the essay about “What She Sheds”? I now SHED my fear of abandonment and along with that I gain my voice. A loud voice with a Dutch accent. Press unsubscribe if you don’t like it! Press subscribe if you want to join me on this empowering journey!

Not only that, I also invite all of you to connect to your Inner Hag or Inner Trickster (call this figure whatever you prefer, no need to adopt my words!) too and ask yourself: is there any Hag Medicine, Crone Medicine, Witch Medicine or Trickster Medicine I need to embody in our world of immense paradigm shifts and real geo-political danger?

Maybe you cannot change the world, but you can change your inner settings and cause minor disruptions to established patterns and narratives. By doing something unexpected, something unheard of, something brave or uncomfortable. Small trains can set big changes in motion. And you may just inspire someone else!

And now I am going to take my skulls for a walk in the Forest…

Please share your discoveries (as an intrepid “psychonaut” or explorer of the more shadowy and risky territories of your own mind) in the comments!

I try (but sometimes fail) to get out at least one essay a week (sometimes more), due to travel, international teaching commitments and family care responsibilities (our family lives with Alzheimer’s and I have written several posts about that). If you would like to see regular posts about about Nordic spirituality and my life as a Forest Witch (and of course short videos of all the wildlife here!), please follow me on Instagram or Facebook, thank you!

Imelda Almqvist, Forest House and Forest School, Sweden

WILD WOMAN BIO

Imelda is happiest in the Far North (especially places where polar bears roam!) She was born in the Netherlands but Sweden and Greenland are the places her soul calls home. She loves playing her cello in the forest and her swan bone flute by the Baltic Sea. One of her more unusual spiritual practices is taking her skulls for a walk.

She has taught on nearly all continents (but is still waiting for invitations from Australia and Antarctica!) She has performed ceremonies with groups under the Dark Sky in Chaco Canyon (New Mexico), under the Northern Lights in Greenland and on grave mounds in Sweden. Her groups have spent time with rock art in Spain and been sent on pilgrimages in London and Switzerland. Imelda has also taught slum children in Lima (Peru) and worked in a field hospital in Bangladesh.

Imelda is obsessed with languages and dips in and out of 23 languages when she does research and writes her books. She likes reading dictionaries before she falls asleep.

Imelda is a Daughter of Baba Yaga. She is a Pregnant Hag, who roams the Forest at night and lives in a Gingerbread House by day. She writes a dream diary every morning, makes a daily painting (or drawing) and always writes a poem before she falls asleep. She recently took up wild swimming (and enjoyed swimming with wild swans!) but fell off a cliff because she is a little accident-prone. Imelda’s life is never boring!

Website:

http://www.shaman-healer-painter.co.uk/

YouTube Channel: youtube.com/user/imeldaalmqvist

Online School: https://pregnant-hag-teachings.teachable.com/courses/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/imelda.almqvist/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/almqvistimelda/