Bright and colorful embroidered shirts - vyshyvankas - have transformed from simply beautiful ancient folk clothing into fashionable elements of the wardrobe of almost every Ukrainian in the past few years. They are worn on state holidays, at family celebrations, and in everyday life they can often be found on the streets of cities and villages. However, have you ever wondered what the elements embroidered on shirts mean? Why are poppies or roses embroidered on one shirt, and oak leaves or geometric ornaments on another? Why are birds embroidered on wedding towels, and other plant ornaments on Easter towels? In general, everything is very simple to explain - all individual ornaments and ornamental groups of Ukrainian embroidery have their own meaning and should be used for a specific purpose and on the "right" things. Our ancestors believed that by embroidering one or another ornament, you can improve your life, protect yourself from evil forces, and enlist support in various endeavors.
Today we would like to talk about the most common and famous ornaments of Ukrainian embroidery. We created this small excursion based on a collection of signs of ancient Ukrainian embroidery, which was collected and described by members of the Kyiv circle "Vereteno" in 1993. With the help of this selection, we can vividly illustrate the common origin and complete kinship of ornamental patterns and elements of embroidery throughout Ukraine.
Ukrainian embroidered ornaments are a unique and inimitable phenomenon, which, through such a simple and at the same time ingenious system of signs and their combinations, reveal the understanding and attitude of the people to such important philosophical categories as life, death, birth, the Universe and a meaningful understanding of their place and calling. Of course, in every corner of Ukraine there are certain regional differences in ornaments, color scheme, and sometimes the location of the embroideries, but a common feature of all embroideries is the use of the symbolism of the Sun (solar signs), Water, Earth. And this is not surprising, because for Ukrainians from ancient times these concepts were perhaps the most important. Archaeologists find similar signs on the monuments of the Trypillian culture and the Mizyn site.
Kalina is the personification of the Ukrainian race
Viburnum is one of the most revered and widespread plants of Ukrainians. It grew in almost every yard, its branches and fruits were used for various ceremonial events and eaten. In ancient times, viburnum was associated with the birth of the Universe and the fiery trinity (the Sun, the Moon, and the Stars). According to the explanations of ethnographers, this plant got its name from the ancient name for the Sun - "Kolo".
Of course, perhaps the most valuable element of this plant is its fruits, so it is not surprising that the red berries of viburnum have become a symbol of the immortality of the human race. Wedding towels, girls', and sometimes boys' shirts were decorated with large embroidered chains of viburnum to emphasize and "reinforce" the continuation of the family. In general, viburnum and its fruits personify the main cosmological chain of Ukrainians: a drop of blood-woman-birth-Ukraine-Renaissance.
Oak and viburnum – a combination of strength and beauty
Oak is an important symbol of solar male power, development and life in Ukrainian culture. In pagan times, oak was a sacred tree, the personification of the god Perun. Therefore, its symbolism was used as the strongest amulet for men and young men. The combination of oak and viburnum symbolized the life-giving power of the family and its continuation. The combination of oak and viburnum was most often used on boys' shirts.
Grapes are a symbol of creating a new family.
In general, the semantic meaning of grapes describes the beauty and joy of creating a family. In folk beliefs, the vineyard acts as a vital field, in which a man is a sower, and a woman is the one who nurtures and grows the family tree. Ornaments with grapes can be found on shirts of the central regions of Ukraine, in particular the Kyiv and Poltava regions. In the Chernihiv region, family towels were decorated with vines and bunches of grapes.
Poppies – protection from evil forces and an “oath” to continue one’s lineage
Poppy has long been revered and used by Ukrainians for a variety of household and other needs: it is consumed as food, used in folk medicine and folk rituals. Poppy is consecrated and used as a strong amulet that can protect against all evil. Ukrainians also discovered that poppies bloom on the battlefield, in the spring, personifying in their fragile flowering the indestructible memory of the family. Traditionally, in families where there were dead, girls embroidered shirts with poppies, and their heads were decorated with wreaths containing 7 poppies, thereby making a vow to preserve and multiply their family.
Lily (lily) - a symbol of purity, virginity and girlish charm
In Ukrainian folklore, the lily is a magical flower that hides the secret of life and is a symbol of virginity, purity and girlish charm. To better understand this meaning of the lily flower in folk embroidery, carefully examine the contours of the stylized lily pattern, you can see the silhouette of two birds - symbols of love and mating. In addition, an integral part of lily ornaments is a leaf and a bud (bud), which together form an inseparable composition of the trinity of birth, development and continuity of life.
In ornamental compositions, lilies are usually complemented by signs resembling crosses. These signs have a magical meaning and bless the couple to create a new family. In general, the cross is one of the oldest symbols, which means the union of male (solar) and female (moisture) energies. In addition to cross-shaped signs, dewdrops were often embroidered above these flowers, which, like the symbolism of the cross, mean fertilization and the birth of a new life.
The ambiguity of the symbolic meaning of rouge (roses)
On many ancient and modern embroidery patterns you can see embroidery with lush roses, however, some researchers and ethnographers believe that these ornaments are not ancient, but came to Ukrainian embroidery from factory samples (the so-called Brokariv embroidery). Be that as it may, the rose is one of the most beloved flowers of Ukrainians, it decorated flower beds under the windows of houses and wreaths of girls, because this fragile flower resembles the sun.
Only by saying the word rose can one find in it the ancient name of the Sun - Ra, and perhaps the name of the flower is derived from the old Ukrainian name for blood - ruda. In general, patterns using roses were arranged according to the rules and laws of plant ornaments, which meant the continuity of the movement of the sun and eternal renewal. In some regions, one can find variations of patterns using roses in the form of a system of geometric patterns. In this case, the flowers act as stars, the personification of our ancestors about the system of the Universe and being. This law of the inviolability of the united cosmos is especially clearly visible when such flowers-stars are connected to each other by chains.
Hop
Embroidery ornaments resembling hop leaves are attributed to youth symbolism. In general, the semantic meaning of such patterns is close to the symbols of water and grapes and means development, youthful exuberance and love. Hops are considered an important element of wedding symbolism, which is clearly seen in Ukrainian folklore, where the readiness of a young man for marriage is described as nothing other than "to twist".
Marigolds are a symbol of the home
Marigolds, roses, and mallows bloomed near every village house, and lovage and mint were in abundance. Therefore, in the folk imagination, marigolds became the personification of the parental home, mother, and family comfort.
Strawberry – a sunny berry
It was most often embroidered on the shirts of little girls. The berry symbolized health and the life-giving power of the sun. After all, the name of the berry comes from the ancient word "Polel" - that's how our ancestors once called the sun.
The image of Berehynia in folk embroidery
The symbol of the beregyny is the most important and widespread in Ukraine. It personifies both the life-giving Mother Nature, and the woman-Mother, who gives the world new lives, and the Tree of Life, which from the cosmic darkness formed a clear and understandable system of the Universe. Oddly enough, but with all its power and importance, this symbol took root in a modest earthly cup, as if reminding once again that every living creature is an indivisible and inseparable part of the general system of being.
So how is Berehynia depicted in embroidery? This motif is so multifaceted and powerful that it can also appear in the form of a flower that has absorbed all the maternal power. A flower that personifies the seed of spirit, blood, and earth-flesh, ready at this very moment to scatter (explode) into space to give birth to a new life.
Birds
Most often, bird motifs were used to decorate towels of the Middle Dnieper region. Here, each bird had its own important meaning and was used depending on the purpose of the towel. Starlings and nightingales decorated girls' towels, and were usually embroidered without a pair, as a sign that everything is still ahead, because as the folk song says, "... the nightingale chirps, calling for a mate!" These birds were depicted on a branch of viburnum, as a symbol of procreation.
Another common bird motif is peacocks, which were depicted on wedding towels and complemented with a crown or wreath, as a sign of God's blessing on the young couple. This choice is due to the fact that the peacock is identified with the mystical firebird, a symbol of solar energy of development, which is why peacocks are birds-symbols of family happiness and well-being. In addition to the image of peacocks on towels, in some regions (for example, in Poltava) peacock feathers were used to weave wedding wreaths.
In addition to peacocks, on wedding towels you can see pairs of doves, falcons, or roosters, which are located with their heads facing each other and can hold viburnum berries in their beaks or sit at the base of a tree - a symbol of a newly created family.
However, birds were embroidered not only on girls' or wedding towels, family towels were also decorated with images of birds and most often swallows were used for this. Among the people, swallows are perceived as a companion of the home, as a bird that brings good news and reminds of the right time to create a new family and strengthen the household. In Ukrainian culture, birds symbolize human souls, so they were depicted on family towels, placing them together with the Tree of Life, emphasizing the strength and indestructibility of the human race.
Signs of the Sun, Fire, Earth and Water in Ukrainian ornaments
If we consider all Ukrainian embroidery as a whole, we can trace the centuries-old use of symbols of the main energies - the Sun and Water, which are fundamental for the emergence of life. The combination of these energies is found in various elements of ornaments, for example, in the semantics of crosses or the lily flower. In general, on embroidered canvases, the Sun was depicted in the form of an eight-petal rosette or flower, and Water - a sign resembling a coiled snake.
From the depths of antiquity, Ukrainian ornaments have also preserved combinations of symbols of Earth, Sun, and Water, which, in their unity, depict the life-giving trinity, describing the knowledge and beliefs of our ancestors. Such compositions were depicted for a reason; without them, life itself and its continuity are impossible.
Another important group of symbols are rhombic signs, which symbolize the fertility of the Earth, sown and warmed by the Sun. However, the Earth itself is an integral and important component of the Universe, with its countless star systems and the Sun.
Stars - a description of the structure of the Universe
The symbolic image of stars gathered in a dynamic and ordered geometric pattern describes ancient ideas about the structure and construction of the Universe, its harmony and orderliness.
Broken branch
The popular ornament "broken branch" describes the creation of a coherent and structured life-giving system, our Galaxy, from the chaotic cosmos and stars. This is confirmed by the elements of the ornament in the form of squares - signs of the fruit, laid down by the Universe in the centuries-old memory of star-flowers.
As you can see, every symbol and ornament embroidered on a shirt or towel has its own ancient and deep meaning. Of course, we have described only a small number of the most common ornamental elements of Ukrainian embroidery, but we hope that we were able to clarify at least a little the ancient meanings and knowledge that our ancestors put into each stitch embroidered on the canvas.
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