12 Ukraine Symbols

Translated by: Christine Chraibi – How very colorful and varied the vyshyvanka! It can be one color or many-colored, richly or delicately patterned, embroidered with flowers or geometric forms… But, do we actually know what are these intricate patterns adorning our traditional clothing means, how ancient their origins are, what they symbolize and why they are the […]

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Waxing Like the Moon: Women Folk Healers in Rural Western Ukraine

By Sarah D. Phillips, University of Indiana – Once a woman came to see me… she says to me, “I can’t sleep, and I’m so weak.” I asked her, “Did something frighten you?” “No,” she didn’t want to tell me. I began to pour the wax, I said, “Something has frightened you—either a man, or […]

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Ukraine Vinok (вінок) Seasonal Crown Wreaths and their Symbolism

All Slavic traditions and folk traditions include flowers especially during Kupala and Noc Kupala, but Ukraine exceeds them all in the abundant uses of flowers and symbolic flowers. The Ukrainian Wreath Vinok (вінок) is a crown made of wild flowers and herbs which is collected in the traditional ways. There are different types of wreaths: […]

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Romanian Folk Magic at Midnight

By Phoenix of Elder Mountain (compilations) – Magical practice at the stroke of Midnight are symbolic practices and are the gifts of our ancient ancestors of the distant worlds and Romanian women have always kept these traditions alive. The older pagan cultures of the Slavic peoples celebrate the New Year on the Spring Equinox (and […]

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Ukraine Ancient Traditions of the Spring Equinox Rites of Vorotar (Gatekeeping)

This article is from www.encyclopediaofukraine.com with my additions, from my Shaman’s perspective and experiences – The Ukrainian Spring Equinox is one of the earth’s oldest ceremonies and it honors the ancestors as a ritual of the beginning of the new year Velykden, when the “Day” (Spring & Summer seasons were called Fire) overcomes the “Night” […]

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Lemko Folk

Lemko (Лемківщина; Lemkivshchyna) and Lemko region is a large territory traditionally inhabited by the Lemko peoples of Poland, Ukraine and Slovak territory since stone age times. After the deportation of Lemkos from the northern part in 1946, only the southern part, southwest of the Carpathian Mountains do these people remain, which is known as the […]

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Thunderstorms in the Twilight – Pleiades, the Sisters of Plenty

By Phoenix of Elder Mountain – The Seven Sisters who science called the Pleiades, sit in a cluster inside the belly of Taurus the Bull, one of the four  cardinal points. They are associated with the Bull cultures like the Hindus and the Minoans. The Bull is feminine and so are her cultures, its symbolic […]

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Ukraine’s Night on Bare Mountain

Lysa Hora was the Legend of darkness of the rising powers of men, both pagan and christian, both politician and military at Bare (Bald) Mountain in Kyiv, Ukraine. People tend to think one is good and the other evil, but when you look at the destruction of white, red, black, yellow and brown indigenous cultures, […]

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Alatyr – Slavic Magical Legends

By Phoenix of Elder Mountain Dreaming – The Russian Alatyr Stone, sometimes called the World Mother (Алатырь каменьям – мире мати) is a search for purity and truth and as a legend lost long ago on earth. The Russian myth explains it as a Mystical Stone of folktale and epic proportions, as the Russians prefer […]

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