Have you heard the tale, Vasalisa the Beautiful? A young woman, ripe for initiation, is sent by her mean-spirited step-family to retrieve Light from the Baba Yaga's hut, deep in the forest. They're hoping she'll be killed, since no one ever returns from old Yaga's house.💀

And it's true that the Baba Yaga is fearsome and not even joking when she says she'll have Vasalisa for dinner if she doesn’t complete certain impossible tasks and if she doesn’t ask the right questions or answer questions wisely.

BUT if she does, she’ll be given the Skull Lantern, which will do a hell of a lot more for her than light the pathway home (as if that's not enough).

Vasalisa passes all the tests: She avoids being "rescued" by the knights in her path. She heeds her intuition (by way of a "magical" doll). She cleans the Yaga's hut & prepares a feast. She feeds the Doll & Baba Yaga. She completes impossible tasks. She asks wise questions and gives soul-infused answers.

And so, she's given the 𝒮𝓀𝓊𝓁𝓁 ℒ𝒶𝓃𝓉ℯ𝓇𝓃, which burns up all that's kept her small. She's finally learned that trying to please others and fit in risks the sanctity of her soul-self. She's learned that hiding who she is or what she truly needs won't resolve her problems. She remembers that she's not only Vasalisa the Beautiful, but 𝒱𝒶𝓈𝒶𝓁𝒾𝓈𝒶 𝒯𝒽ℯ 𝒲𝒾𝓈ℯ.

HOW DID SHE DO IT!? How did she make it through such trials to inherit her own, well-deserved joy and power?👉🏼Hint: it wasn't through being especially skilled at impossible tasks, having the right degree, or being cunning or even particularly brave...

She succeeds because she knows that she is worthy of love, help and companionship- just for being. She succeeds because she knows she's never alone. Her mother gave her these gifts before she died. She just needed to remember. That + a little suffer-no-fool "Yaga Sense" to seal the deal.

Knowing we are fundamentally worthy 𝒾𝓈 𝒸𝓇𝓊𝒸𝒾𝒶𝓁 on the initiatory adventure of following our calling. If we've not received it, we must gift it to ourselves.