Ukrainian Mythology - Blog Posts

[УКР] Так раптом сталося, що Стефанія та Валеріан опинилися у світі казок!

Та й не тільки це... Волею долі вони зустріли інших казкових персонажів, і навіть потрапили у невеличку пригоду. Яку саме? Раджу завітати до АСКу і побачити це на власні очі 👀

[ENG]

It suddenly happened that Stefania and Valerian found themselves in the world full of fairy tales!

Not only that... By the will of fate, they met other fairy tale characters, and even got involved in a small... situation, to say. What kind of situation? Well, you might find out soon 👀

Illustrations in collaboration with @fate221 for an artbook Ukrainian Bestiary that focuses on creatures of Ukrainian mythology. We were working on Upyr (укр. упир), it's something in between ghouls and vampires.

Yaaaay oc spam

ENG: Ehe-he...

Here's Blud but human forms

In my headcanon Yerem and Yeremiya were twins who died in the Forest. Than Blud found their bodies in and took their appearance. The entity, back in the days when they were allowed to leave the Forest, had enjoyed watching the strange twin since their childhood...

UA: хіх

Людські подоби Блуда

У моєму гедканоні Єрем та Єремія були двійнятами, які загинули у Лісі. Блуд знаходить їх тіла і бере їх подобу. Сутності ще за часів, коли було дозволено покидати Ліс, подобалося спостерігати за дивакуватою двійнею з їх дитинства...

ENG:

"He grabs your barely perceptible shoulders and breathes hard, looking into the face, as if he didn't expect to see you among the living.

Y: Yulian... Are you...

Vodyanyk doesn't let you finish and hugs you close. His lips cover yours and at that moment the world around dissolves..."

This fragment still makes me cry. This made me so emotional...

And the drawing took a long time (for me). If it weren't for the ref (I don't know who the author is, let me know if you know, please), everything would have gone to hell ;-;

Save me from squama!

UA:

«Він хапає за ледь відчутні плечі і важко дихає, вдивляючись в обличчя, ніби й не сподівався вже побачити серед живих.

Є: Юліане... ти...

Водяник не дає закінчити і пригортає до себе. Його губи накривають твої і цієї миті світ навколо розчиняється...»

Цей фрагмент досі змушує волати. Я буквально випала, коли це відбублося..

А малюнок — було довго (для мене). Якби не реф (не знаю, хто автор, підкажіть, якщо вам відомо, пліз), все попливло б до біса ;-;

Рятуйте від луски!

ENG:

"He grabs your barely perceptible shoulders and breathes hard, looking into the face, as if he didn't expect to see you among the living.

Y: Yulian... Are you...

Vodyanyk doesn't let you finish and hugs you close. His lips cover yours and at that moment the world around dissolves..."

This fragment still makes me cry. This made me so emotional...

And the drawing took a long time (for me). If it weren't for the ref (I don't know who the author is, let me know if you know, please), everything would have gone to hell ;-;

Save me from squama!

UA:

«Він хапає за ледь відчутні плечі і важко дихає, вдивляючись в обличчя, ніби й не сподівався вже побачити серед живих.

Є: Юліане... ти...

Водяник не дає закінчити і пригортає до себе. Його губи накривають твої і цієї миті світ навколо розчиняється...»

Цей фрагмент досі змушує волати. Я буквально випала, коли це відбублося..

А малюнок — було довго (для мене). Якби не реф (не знаю, хто автор, підкажіть, якщо вам відомо, пліз), все попливло б до біса ;-;

Рятуйте від луски!

rusalki are not mermaids. stop translating the word "rusalka" as "mermaid" and stop calling rusalki "slavic mermaids". it's confusing, it's misleading, and it's simply isn't true. the association of rusalka with a western mermaid and undine began in 19th century, when russian empire poets wanted to adapt a popular western motif of a sorrowful water maid that is unrequitedly in love with a mortal man. this literature character of rusalka has nothing to do with actual rusalki folklore and cult.

rusalki are natural undead spirits that are connected to slavic ancestral worship. they don't have tails. they are not in any way connected to the sea: only lakes, ponds, and rivers. often, they're not even connected to water at all: there are forest rusalki, field rusalki, meadow rusalki, etc. they are in close relationships with their human kin: during the spring and summer, they are used in agricultural rites and are believed to help with farming and raising crops. rusalki were sacred to slavic people. the "week of the rusalki" festival, when rusalki are believed to walk on earth and visit their relatives, is celebrated to this day. to call them "slavic mermaids" is very diminutive of their actual role in slavic cultures.

“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

Ukrainian Night Tarot

I’ve been searching for a Ukrainian Deck since I started reading cards, so you have no idea how excited I was when I saw Mariya Tobischek (dvodushnyk // oldgodstemple on ig) doing art for the cards. But now the kickstarter for the whole deck is live.

In honour of that here are some of my favourite cards so far

And a bonus card

The Zoryas✨

What follows is a few insights from years of research and practice within my own culture, as I am entering a Filianic space. Due to the nature of this format and the largely educational goal, it would be impossible to reflect the full image of these folkloric figures as seen by the original peoples; on the other hand, quite obviously, none of the information below was initially intended to be viewed from this perspective, and as such is to be taken as a partial and personal impression of an lived culture that is to be respected in its own right.

The Zoryas are a Slavic folkloric figure group associated with largely love and healing. The most common contexts for invoking them are magical incantations and folk songs.

The name, which is plural, literally means "stars", which is, of course, a potent symbol of hope and reassurance in the Filianic faith. They may be encountered as a group of three, calling to the trinitarian nature of the practice, the Evening, Midnight, and the Morning Star, each assigned a somewhat different character (usually sorrowful, pensive, and joyful), or as a singular being. In many examples there are also parallel texts in active use that either call upon them, or replace them, it seems fully equivalently, with Mother Mary.

Though adorned and certainly involved in what one would assume gentle matters, in many cases they are shown in a knightly form, riding horses across the sky, measuring time and watching over us, sovereign and never paired to a male.

As mentioned before, their presence is welcomed for protection and healing, and love. This once again showcases their general care for universal order, as in a sense healing and safety are just a restoral of harmony to body and life.

Then, of course, young women looking to find love would near universally call the dear sisters to ignite the feeling in another's heart and make themselves irresistibly attractive. Romance being self-explanatory, the love we have in our hearts is a sister to the love that drives particles to motion, spirit to action, and a human being to seek companionship of any kind. Going hand in hand, - and this is where we enter the realm of a personally held belief, - the cultivation of beauty within your own self is a divinely driven desire for joy and pleasure in everything, a way of honouring your person as a divine being. Similarly to this, an artist would generally endeavor to depict a deity or a saint as pleasingly as they can, as as not to idolize but to show respect towards them and grace within them.

Personally, as a Ukrainian and a perennialist, these figures to me speak of the universality of certain principles that reoccur within the human psyche due to experiencing them directly. This is the seed of truth within the image that grows from it.

On the other hand, of course, I am speaking here in a very incomplete manner. Any questions are welcome.

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