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Ukrainian Folk Magic - Blog Posts
“People believed clay to be an embodiment of the primordial cosmic matter and honoured it as such - like a life-giving substance of the world with wonderful properties and abilities. Only clay of all natural materials gives people the fullest creative ability to materialise the products of their imagination. Thus, temples, houses, dishes, ritualistic and decorative objects were made of it; it was used in folk medicine, magic, astrology and rituals. They believed that people who work with clay, potters, are also special, knowing more than others.”
— Folk Medicine and Magic of Ukrainians, by Iryna Ihnatenko.
“Interestingly, travellers, nomads, and foreigners also were thought to have a special status and possess secret knowledge. They were often imagined as soldiers, beggars, hermits, old men, and so on. Seeing most of them as intermediaries between the worlds, as possessing magic knowledge, is not accidental, as, in Ukrainian folk imagination, occult powers are connected to paths and the other side. Foreigners and visitors had powers ascribed to them as they come from “the outside” (unlike people of settled lifestyle), and that is where they go, as well.”
— Ritual and Magic in Ukrainian Cultural Tradition, by Iryna Ihnatenko
Рута - Rue
In Carpatho-Ukraine and Hutsul belief, the common rue (ruta graveolens), which normally blooms yellow, will bloom red every ten years. The red ruta, featured in literature and folk songs, can be used to charm a person of your desire.
It is also believed that during storms the devil can find shelter in the rue plant.
(translated by me from Магія Українців - Лілія Мусіхіна; Ukrainian Magic by Lilia Musikhina)
Hello, do you know anything on black salt in Ukrainian folk magic? I'm asking because i found this supposedly traditional Ukrainian recipe for black salt, but i never heard about black salt in folk magic, always thought about it as a kind of new age thing. This recipe says to mix salt, ashes from herbs, rye flour and water and make dough, and then burn it on charcoals, and specifically make it on Holy Thursday. What do you think?
Variations on Thursday salt, as it tends to be known here, are quite well-known, indeed. Burned on charcoal, or in a cast iron vessel should only a stove be available, with herbs, or flour, depending on the region and availability - one traditional manner would be to attach it to a wall of a wood oven and allow the concoction to burn through.
Perhaps the simplest recipe involves cooking it on a dry cast iron skillet with a bit of rye flour and prayer till it blackens.
Not an anon, but still curious: what are your thoughts on braids and binding one's hair, particularly in the context of Ukrainian folklore? What is its use and meaning? I believe we have discussed this before but it has been on my mind lately, so I would be interested in any thoughts you might have.
There is, of course, the practical part to it - in a historically largely farming area, it makes sense to put your hair away from your face. And thus a long, thick, preferably black braid becomes an indicator of someone’s well-being and an important part of the folk beauty ideal, alongside dark, arched eyebrows, red cheeks, and a strong yet slender figure. It also signifies a woman’s neatness and modesty. In Ukrainian, when someone is described as простоволоса, it not only speaks of their unbound hair, but also implies, in the best case scenario, the individual’s distress or mental illness, or their existence outside of society and its norms, often through strange or immoral behaviour. In that sense a braid is as much of a mark of civilisation as a belt is.
The perspective on hair can be traced not only through a belief that is straightforwardly about it, but also through rituals and superstition that involve it. We see the obligation for married women to put their hair up and thoroughly cover it, otherwise she may be the cause of illness and misfortune upon her household or even entire village - it would have been easy to dismiss it as a mechanism of societal control, if unbound hair was not featured in rituals with a clear magical purpose, or during childbirth, with aim being to help the newborn pass through into this world, to untie everything that may hold it back. Hair becomes, pardon my unintentional pun, thoroughly entangled with the notion of a life path, of experience and personal, even magical power.
We see a similar sentiment in certain marriage rituals, in which the bride’s hair is braided into one strand and even cut off. The former was more common in the past: the hair is let down the morning of the wedding, and into it braided coins or items symbolising protection and prosperity. It after can be cut off to regrow in the marriage, by her older brother or the husband, and the woman’s head is immediately after covered never to be shown bare to anyone outside of her immediate household. That is the moment she becomes a wife. In the modern day, the ritual, still widely practiced in West Ukraine, usually looks like putting some money into the bride’s hairstyle or, more traditionally, a single braid, and letting a younger brother comb it out before putting a bridal veil on.
Magically, hair can be used to represent an individual for potentially malicious spells, and it is believed that if a bird takes the hairs someone loses to build a nest, they shall suffer from headaches.
And so, hair put up traditionally shows personal decency and reproductive and societal role, the hairstyle serves a protective function for a part that signifies someone’s life, power, and the very person - but also, even though it is not so frequently talked about, it serves to divide time and space. It is acceptable not to cover your (still braided once the person leaves childhood) hair when unmarried, and so it separates single and paired life. It is acceptable not to be covered in the presence of your husband, and so it separates home and intimacy from the outdoors and more practical relationships. It is acceptable to let your hair loose for a ritual, often performed at night in solitude or in the company of other women, and so it separates a magical action from a mundane one.
The principle is expressed in my own practice, even though I shall be the first to admit not to have given it that much thought: I myself cover my head for formal prayer, put my hair up when I expect to be in front of strangers, and last I cut it was very much in the first couple of weeks of speaking to my beloved. I am starting to suspect ancestors were involved in the last decision. Dead people, I swear.
Hi! May I ask for some folk magic that you know?
That is a very broad topic! But I will share a tidbit or two from my arsenal of Ukrainian Folk magic.
A very easy and effective protection against the Evil Eye (оберіг від вроків) is to form the fig-sign (дуля, pronounced dulya ) in your pocket. If you’re not sure what a fig sign is, it looks like this:
Another very common protection is to hide a safety pin under one of your garments of clothing. Unlike the common red thread protection found in many cultures, including Slavic cultures, the importance of discreetness is stressed when it comes to the safety pin and fig-sign.
Other ways to protect yourself from the Evil Eye is to carry Blessed Salt or even a Blessed Cross around your neck.
And finally, if you do or say something taboo that may bring the Evil Eye upon you, spit (not with full on saliva but more gently, like with air) over your left shoulder three times. This method will not lift the effect of Evil Eye from you in the more extreme cases. In more extreme cases going to your local knower (той хто знає) to have them lift it from you.
This is in no way a complete list, but some my personal favorites.
May the Most Holy God-bearer cover you with Her wings!
"A Ukrainian ceremony in which an egg was used to cure fever has been documented. A Babka rolled an egg over a patients body and then broke it into water. The cure was said to be guaranteed if the healer was able to discern the cause of a fear by interpreting the egg-white formations (Podolinskii 1879, 186). In other descriptions, an egg was rolled over an inflicted person and thrown to dogs to eat (Chubinskii 1872, 42, 131)."
The Word And Wax: A Medical Folk Ritual Among Ukrainians in Alberta by Rena Jeanne Hanchuk
The Amber Tears of Mokosh Ritual Necklace ~ #Mokosh is the protector of women’s work & destiny, she is a #goddess of #fertility, water, & women. According to folk belief she shears sheep & spins thread. Her name itself is derived from the word combo maty kota‘mother of the cat,’ ‘mother of good #fortune.’ In the 14th century her #cult was transformed into that of Saint Parasceve.
Obtain at #TheWitchery via https://www.thewitchery.ca/product/the-baltic-amber-tears-of-mokosh-ritual-necklace/
This necklace is strung like a Ukrainian korali necklace. Beaded necklaces (namysto) are one of the oldest forms of women’s ornaments in #Ukraine. They carried deep symbolic significance. They were #protective & informative, & could tell how wealthy the family was as since 6 strings could cost as much as a pair of oxen). The colour red symbolizes protection, beauty, vitality, fertility & #strength in old Slavic traditions.
Warm to the touch & often containing insect fragments it was believed to contain the very essence of life itself. It has associations with time, cycles & longevity. As it once was a living substance, it is related to spirit. Some thought #amber was the petrified tears of #gods.
Amber #amulets were worn as protection from diseases & against being killed in a battle. People believed it “pulled out” disease from the body & “attracted” #goodluck – in the same way as it attracts small objects if you slightly rub it. It was believed to avert misfortune, kept its owner safe from black magic, cast out devils, guarded one from the #evileye, brought luck in love, & made it’s owner stronger & cleverer.
Alleged to relieve depression, anxiety, & promotes joy. In Latvia, bands of amber rings were used in wedding ceremonies to ensure an eternal bond. Today, amber represents renewed fidelity in marriage.
This beautiful set is comprised of four 9″ Faceted Dark Cognac Amber strands all connected with a beautiful amber clasp
Only 1 was birthed into existence ~ When it’s gone it is gone. https://www.instagram.com/p/CpIgNLup9vV/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
Ukrainian folk healers, known “as a babka, or babka-sheptukha (granny or granny-whisperer) are elderly women who perform magico-religious rituals such as the ‘pouring forth of wax’ (vylyvaty visk sometimes called strakh vylyvaty, ‘to pour fear’) to treat a variety of maladies. They are usually respected figures in their communities, and are seen by many to possess a valuable form of wisdom that cannot be learned in books. Though some babky are rumoured to be witches who practise both white and black magic, and their practices are derided by some as superstitions their fellow villagers usually respect them, seeing them as God’s chosen healers. The babky see themselves (and are seen by most villagers) in terms of what Faith Wigzell has described as the role of the Russian znakharki (knowing ones). Historically, she writes, znakharki were folk healers who (in contrast to witches and sorcerers), did not embody supernatural powers, but acted as mediators with the unclean force [1998:49].
…In the villages I visited, people frequently utilised the services of babky. Most babky indicated that they had patients every day, and people came from distant villages and cities to seek the services of several of the better-known babky. In addition to performing the wax ritual, many babky were also skilled in administering herbal remedies, conducting rituals to remove the evil eye, throwing (reading) cards, and performing healing massage. While babky treated people of any age, they indicated that frequently their patients were young children suffering from fear sickness, stuttering, irritability, difficulty sleeping, and similar ailments. For their services the babky usually received a small amount of money (2-5 hryvni) or barter in the form of eggs, sugar, flour, butter, hrechka (buckwheat groats) or moonshine.
…The moon held special significance in the beliefs and practices of several babky, and some prayers involved invocations to the new moon. Eva told me, for example, that one must follow this procedure to cure a toothache: when the molodyk appears, that is the new (literally, young) moon, when you can see just a tiny sliver of the moon, then you must stand on a rock and say, ‘Molodyk, molodyk, have you been to the other world?’ ‘I have.’ ‘Do people die there?’ ‘They do.’ ‘Do teeth hurt there?’’They don’t.’ ‘Then don’t let ours hurt either.’ Similarly, Paraskovia Moroz told me the following prayer: Clear moon, young prince, don’t let anyone have them [dry patches from eczema or psoriasis] not Oksana. Take it away, you are young, you see everything at night on the earth.’ Babky often told patients to time their rituals and prayers to the appearance of the new moon. In some cases, the new moon was seen to have powers to renew a spell, if a particular incantation was repeated with each new moon.
…In general, the babky said they felt freer to practice their craft since the fall of Soviet rule in Ukraine. Paraskovia Moroz, who was born in 1930, had wanted to study to become a doctor or veterinarian. Her parents, who warned her that all students were forced into the Komsomol (Communist Youth League), dissuaded her. Komsomol members during the turbulent war years in Western Ukraine were oftentimes tossed into the river, she reported. Paraskovia said that when she began to heal people in 1964 (she was then thirty four years old) she had to practice in secret. Folk healing was actively repressed by the Soviet regime, and anyone practising it could have been arrested, she said.
…Earlier Paraskovia had always pleaded with patients to keep her healing a secret, but now she felt free to heal and everyone knew of her abilities. The fact that women like Paraskovia Moroz had protected knowledge of these prayers, rituals, and folk remedies is evidence both of their strong character, and the tenacity of these beliefs and practices.
…Anthropologists who have studied ritual and shamanism note that, across cultures, ritual practice becomes more prevalent in times of social upheaval [Turner 1967, 1969, 1974].
In the context of a significant decline in living standards, widespread impoverishment, and uncertainty about the future in Ukraine, it is not surprising that villagers (and frequently, urban dwellers) would seek the services of a diviner-healer.
As Wigzell [1998: 191] notes for contemporary Russia, fortune-telling (in our case, represented by divinatory practices associated with the wax ritual) has an important role to play in helping individuals cope with their lives. This insight, I think, can be extended to the entire range of healing practices espoused by babky in Ukrainian villages. Coping mechanisms, and, especially, attempts to restore and maintain harmony, are encoded in all the roles fulfilled by the babky. In today’s trying times, I would argue, Ukrainian babky carry out gendered performances that accord them a measure of prestige and power; complement and replace the system of state medicine; act as psychotherapists; and specialise in psychosocial ailments to simultaneously heal persons and communities.
…As previously stated, babky are generally held in high esteem as wise women. They are believed to have special knowledge of prayers and ritual practices, and to possess a unique connection to God, Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary and the saints. The concomitant suspicion that babky may also dabble in black magic may diminish the esteem with which some villagers regard these women, but also garners them additional respect (out of fear). In general, however, most villagers associate babky very positively with pious religious belief and practice. For many, they embody the nurturing mother figure.”
Excerpts from the article: Waxing Like the Moon: Women Folk Healers in Rural Western Ukraine by Sarah D. Phillips ; University of Indiana
For full article (it includes details of the pouring of wax and other details, as well as a bibliography):
https://journals.ku.edu/…/article/download/3744/3583/4458
Photo source: Ірина Шараневич
“Babusya z poliovymy kvitamy, Ukraine, from Iryna with love”
"Many cultures have shared the belief that it is possible to transfer illness to other people or to animals. Before the understanding of germs became widespread, the transference of illness was perceived as an unnatural event. Pain and illness, for example, were often seen as being cast by an evil glance. Among Ukrainians in Alberta, the wax ceremony has been a culturally significant way of getting rid of evil eye, which is still feared by many people, especially the older generations.
During the wax ceremony, the pain is removed or flushed out from the body. It is transferred to an inanimate intermediary, water or wax. This is most clear in those cases where the water is discarded in some place where nobody will ever walk. This practice reduces the chances of illness being transferred to some unfortunate person."
The Word And Wax: A Medical Folk Ritual Among Ukrainians in Alberta by Rena Jeanne Hanchuk
Ukrainian pin magic
Attach a safety pin to clothing to protect the wearer from bad energy.
Mostly done by parents for their children, but adults have been known to attach pins for themselves.
📍📍📍
Altar placement by Ukrainian tradition
The information I will share in the post is mainly about the Christian home altar, but it may provide some ideas for individuals interested in Slavic paganism, as well.
The altar is called “червоний кут”, which translated to “red corner” (here is another post on red colour in the Slavic tradition that I made). It used to be the most important part of the house that usually contained items valuable from cultural and religious point of view: icons, the Bible, books of prayers, candles, pictures of deceased relatives, all decorated with beautifully embroidered cloths. The table was placed in that corner, too. As a general rule, it was across the room from the oven, well-lit, which would make it South or East.
The person to sit in that corner was the master of the house or the most important guest; in times of death, forty days after, the person who passed away - they also get a plate and a cup of their own, of course. Due to the importance associated with the red corner, it was said that if you hear cracking in the walls on that side, the master may soon die.
Ukrainians say, “у своїй хаті й кути помагають” - “at home even corners help”, which was true in the more literal sense for women giving birth back when doing it at home was the usual practice for most. People believed that, should the process be especially difficult, the woman should be led around that very table every now and then.
Evil Eye
The belief in evil eye, intentional or not, is rather prevalent in Slavic lands in general and in Ukraine in particular. Perhaps the most notable example is the tradition of not showing newborn babies to anyone but the closest relatives - hence why many a young mother can be seen avoiding public spaces and covering the baby carriage so that the child is not visible when it can not be avoided.
Naturally, such a belief produces many a way to protect oneself from ills brought by tempting the fate and glances filled with envy. An obvious example would be a cross, or any other symbol that signifies divine protection. A red string, preferably woolen, tied with seven knots around a person’s left wrist is worn for the same purpose; it is believed that when the string is torn or lost, it has completed its purpose, perhaps due to the number or the strength of the attacks, and is no longer of use - so a new one should be tied. A safety pin can be worn pinned to the wrong side of clothes near chest area - interestingly, knives or needles by doors or windows similarly protect homes and vehicles. A piece of clothing worn inside out protects both from evil eye and from malicious or overly playful spirits. It is believed that when a Lisovyk leads you away from your path in the forest, putting something on inside out, boots on the wrong feet, or looking around upside down between your legs - making something one way or another wrong, not-you or not-human about your appearance or perception, - should help you see through the spirit’s tricks.
Certain protective elements are imbedded in the traditional costume itself - vibrant colours and reflective surfaces distract the malicious eye from the individual, which is considered especially important for young, attractive people. You can have a mirror on your person for that purpose - or, once again, put one in your window, facing the street.
One, of course, could benefit from the knowledge that a person with a strong will and mind is harder to influence, so a positive outlook is a useful and inexpensive tool to have in your kit along with sharp objects and colourful accessories.
The Six-Petal Rosette
The six-petal rosette, the flower-like symbol created by overlapping seven circles, as well as the expanded variants with 7 interlocking rosettes and 19 interlocking rosettes (the latter is called the “Flower of Life” in the New Age movement), is an ancient symbol that has been used across cultures and religions for millennia.
The rosette is a solar symbol in many cultures and many peoples believed it to be magical. It was commonly used as a decorative motif to adorn doors, ceiling beams, crosses, cornices, coats of arms, everyday objects, furniture, musical instruments, ritual items, graves.
In ancient Slavic tradition, the rosette was associated with the chief pagan god Perun, the god of thunder and lightning, and was supposed to protect against lightning and generally ensure the favor of the Thunderer. Appropriately, the symbol is also called the “symbol of Perun” and a “thunder mark” in Ukrainian.
The Rosette on Crossbeams
Supporting a ceiling with large wooden crossbeams (“svolok” in Ukrainian and “sosręb” in Polish) was once a common construction practice, found in noble residences as well as in burgher homes, and through the early twentieth century in regional construction, especially in the Carpathians.
The crossbeam was not only an important structural element of the home, but also a symbolic and decorative one: it was in the center of this beam that the rosette was engraved to protect the house against misfortune and especially against fire. Additionally, the date of construction, decorative motifs, the name of the owner, the name of the carpenter, mottos, or religious symbols could be engraved on the beam, turning the crossbeam into a vital record of the house.
Detailed information about the use of crossbeams and the rosette in the architecture of the peoples of Galicia can be found in excellent works of research from the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries by Władysław Matlakowski and Kazimierz Mokłowski. Władysław Matlakowski, a surgeon, ethnographer, and researcher of Podhale architecture and folk art, published Budownictwo ludowe na podhalu (Folk Buildings in Podhale) in 1892 and Zdobienie i sprzęt ludu polskiego na Podhalu (Decoration and Domestic Utensils of the Polish People in Podhale) in 1901, while Kazimierz Mokłowski, a Polish architect and art historian, who later lived and worked in Lviv, published Sztuka Ludowa w Polsce (Folk Art in Poland) in 1903. These three works include thorough descriptions as well as a plenty of illustrations of various elements of the architecture and applied art of the region.
Crossbeams in the Folk Architecture of Galician Highlanders
Though historically used across much of Ukraine and Poland, today the rosette is most associated with and best preserved in the culture of the Carpathian highlanders of Galicia, in particular in Hutsul, Boyko, Lemko, and Goral folk architecture, woodwork, and household objects. Accordingly, in Ukrainian it also has such names as “hutsulska rozetka” (Hutsul rosette), “boykivska rozetka” (Boyko rosette) and in Polish “rozeta karpacka” (Carpathian rosette), “rozeta podhalańska” (Podhale rosette), “rozeta góralska” (Goral rosette).
Goral Cottages
Podhale is a region in the Polish Tatra Mountains inhabited by highlanders known as Gorals. Władysław Matlakowski writes in his book Zdobienie i sprzęt ludu polskiego na Podhalu that the “gwiazda” (meaning “star”—another name for the rosette in Polish) is “the most common and the most characteristic ornament in Podhale: it is found everywhere, but mostly on every crossbeam.” Indeed, throughout this book as well as his other book Budownictwo Ludowe na Podhalu, the gwiazda appears in illustrations of such items as spoon racks, chairs, distaffs, and lintels, but most notably on crossbeams.
Examples of old crossbeams with rosettes from the Podhale region can still be found in Poland, especially in open air museums which have preserved the local folk architecture.
Hutsul, Boyko & Lemko Cottages
The Hutsuls, Boykos and Lemkos inhabit what is today the Ukrainian and eastern Polish Carpathian Mountains. Just as among the Gorals, the rosette is found in the architecture and folk crafts of these highlanders.
A testament to the ubiquity of the rosette in the folk architecture of the Carpathian highlanders is Lviv’s Museum of Folk Architecture and Rural Life, which features examples of the architecture of the Hutsuls, Boykos, and Lemkos. The rosette can be seen all over the open air museum, including on several crossbeams inside the homes. It is no wonder the museum uses the rosette as its logo.
Crossbeams in Renaissance Buildings in Lviv
In addition to examples from the Carpathian Mountains, Kazimierz Mokłowski’s book Sztuka Ludowa w Polsce includes illustrations of crossbeams from buildings in Lviv which include the rosette, as well as other solar symbols, often along with the year of construction and religious symbols.
Fortunately, not only do these original engraved Renaissance-era crossbeams, as documented by Kazimierz Mokłowski, still support the ceilings of the buildings in Lviv’s historic center, but many of them are open to public viewing as they are generally located in shops, restaurants, and museums.
Crossbeams in Zakopane Style Villas
A widespread symbol among the Gorals, the rosette was a popular symbol in the architecture and interior decor of Zakopane Style villas. Zakopane Style architecture emerged at the end of the nineteenth century when architect Stanislaw Witkiewicz, rejecting foreign building styles that had started to appear in the booming ski resort of Zakopane, chose to embrace traditional Podhale-style architecture, enriching it with elements of Art Nouveau. The new Zakopane Style villas included large intricately engraved crossbeams prominently featuring the rosette, such as can be found in Villa Oksza (built in 1894 by Witkiewicz, today an art gallery) and in the guest house Villa Orla (built 1901). Though by this time the symbol likely lost its meaning as a “thunder mark” and was used purely as a decorative element cherishing the local culture.
A Sign from the Past
Today, the rosette has found new places to thrive across Galicia—for example, it is used as logos for museums and a microbrewery, and found on folk-inspired accessories. Although its history, meaning, and usage may have been forgotten, the “Carpathian” rosette is in fact still alive and well today.
So don’t forget—next time you enter a Carpathian highlander’s cottage, a Renaissance building in Lviv, or a Zakopane Style villa, look up! If you are lucky, you will find an authentic example of this ancient and mystic symbol.
Written by Areta Kovalska
(Wonderful photos on the page)