It is best to start with the color white as the one that unites all other colors. This is what causes the greatest respect for it. Our spiritual centers, the so-called chakras, each have their own color, but white reigns over them all, over our heads. Accordingly, black is at the other pole - below. And between these two polar colors is the entire range of others.
Even our ancestors, the Aryans, the sons of the Light, embroidered white on white. The use of white and certain symbols indicated their light side, that they were part of the Light. Everything was white – their clothes, their houses outside and inside. This, in their opinion, made them closer to the Light of the Father. Thus, embroidery in white on white is more perceived by spiritual people, who are guided by high ideals and goals. Such embroidery is intended for viewing the spiritual, calm, meditative. And it uses complex, subtle techniques that only true connoisseurs can fully appreciate.
White color helps restore a person's energy reserves. Therefore, it is not recommended to paint a home in dark colors. There are countries that use white as a sign of mourning and mourning. For example, India - women in mourning wear a white sari there and take off all jewelry, out of respect for the deceased and as a sign of grief.
When accompanying the deceased on their final journey, the people who serve as the "requiem" are also dressed in white. In this case, the white color plays the role of a symbol of the path, the radiance that surrounds the soul of the deceased.
White reflects other colors and shades. If you know that you will be in an unfamiliar situation, company, it is best to wear white clothes that will protect you from other people's energy, reflect the negativity that may be directed at you, preserve your peace and feelings. This is what our ancestors did, around whom there was a lot of risk of falling into an energy trap or the risk of exhaustion. Today, the most white embroidery can be seen in such regions as Poltava, Podillia, Chernihiv, Kyiv, Polissya, and the Southern regions. In the West of the country, white is worn by Hutsuls, Boykos, and Lemkos.
Black can be useful, but it can also be dangerous.
Black is a sign of absolute darkness, indicating the depth of the Divine Mystery. Monks wear black as a sign of complete renunciation of everything worldly, detachment from the world, and intention to delve into the study of the divine, to partake of it.
When we see black clothes, we understand that a person wants to be alone, that unnecessary touches, physical and emotional, are inappropriate now, that they are cutting off contacts. The color black tells others about the depth of a person's regret, their experiences, the heavy burden of loss. A person in black closes their inner world to others, they must experience this time alone with their feelings, go through this path alone.
Black is now very popular in society, especially among young people. This is how they show their dissatisfaction with the outside world, they protest. Stores take this tendency into account, so many clothes for different ages can be seen in this range. Sometimes even at events where we are not used to seeing black, it still appears - even at a wedding, this is possible today.
If you wear black clothes for a long time and everywhere, sooner or later it will affect the physical and emotional state of a person who is so prone to this color. Black absorbs everything, even the energy of the wearer. Therefore, it is safe for those people who are very strong and protected, energetically stable in themselves or those who are nourished by someone else's energy. It is generally not recommended for children to wear black clothes - it can inhibit the child's development, delaying the access of light, bright colors that create the child's young world.
Black is not a simple color, it can be useful, but it can be dangerous. An example of such an ambiguous existence of this color, its versatility and deep symbolism is that black embroideries are used in Ukraine in various situations, not only with a minus sign, but also vice versa. In some regions, even wedding shirts are embroidered in black - Sokal embroideries. Black is also the color of the earth, wealth (it is not for nothing that it absorbs everything around), it can be solemn in evening dresses, tuxedos, tailcoats.
Towels are not embroidered in black only today, but there is a version that there were black-and-white towels that were used in funeral and memorial rites, and later, along with the tradition itself, were lost and replaced with other towels.
Symbolism of the color red
Red is a traditionally favorite color in every corner of Ukraine. It is used in household items, jewelry, clothing, and especially in towels. A lot of this bright and symbolic color can be found in Poltava region among embroidered towels, and if you are interested in fabrics, you can find a lot of different towels in Krolevychyna.
Red takes first place in the color palette. The root, lower chakra is of this color, the chakra of life, its beating, pulsation. It is the color of activity, aggression, dynamics, an exciting, nourishing color. It affirms life, which is why the protective, protective function is inherent in it like no other. It is a symbol of male energy in nature, the element of fire, it protects and warms.
Perhaps that is why it is most active on wedding towels, it speaks of the indissoluble bond of family, the blood bond. This color is found in all symbols whose power is aimed at strengthening the family and creating a happy family life: the heart, viburnum in a bunch.
The drops of blood shed for the land of the homeland are also red.
If we consider by region, black is most often used in Podillia, white in Poltava region, red is characteristic of Polissya. Shirts embroidered only in red, or slightly outlined with a black or blue outline, were the richest. Incomparable red skirts made of wool, the so-called litnyki, were also produced there. Red is also used by Hutsuls, in Transcarpathia they wear shirts where the embroidery is made only in red.
In terms of price, red threads were also in first place - due to the expensiveness of the dyeing method: to produce a high-quality bright color, a lot of pigment from worms or cochineal was needed. During the time of the princes, even the tax included collecting a spoonful of worms as a coloring agent, along with familiar products, for example, honey. Such a high cost of producing color contributed to the fact that it could be used mostly by the wealthy population or nobles. For ordinary people, it was almost inaccessible, so cheaper substitutes were sought from plant raw materials. Madder, St. John's wort, and coltsfoot provided an opportunity to experiment with shades and tones.
Blue is a symbol of femininity
The blue color in Ukrainian embroidery can be seen mostly as a contour color. Along with red, it manifests itself as an antipode. Red is strong, hot, active. Blue is cold, passive, flowing. It is a symbol of the element of water, feminine energy, power, opposite to the masculine element of fire. The combination of red and blue is the unity and conflict of two forces, two elements, the dialectical basis of the Universe, the basis of vital movement. In the case when there is more red, and blue as an addition, we see the harmony of the combination. So in life, Fire prevails over Water, the active basis of life dominates over passive soft energy. Fire pushes life forward, and it is this advantage that encourages all living things to develop. Balancing the two elements would lead to entropy, the balance of energies, the nullification of all processes.
Blue color speaks of the aspiration to infinity, to pure experience. It gives direction, but does not give an end point. Among the chakras, it is characteristic of the throat chakra, which is responsible for spiritual growth and development of a person.
One of the little-known authors of the 19th century, K. Kestlin, points out that the blue color is a cooling contrast to the bright, restless, tiring, and gives a feeling of peace, tenderness, and freshness. It is a fragile sign in the world of materially significant things.
Blue absorbs energy, it creates a concentric movement like a snail's shell, spiraling in and out of energy. It is a color in which you can choke, drown, and disappear.
Yellow is a symbol of boundless happiness.
Yellow and gold - these colors in the Kyiv region and the Middle Dnieper are added to the red-black colors in embroidery. In the west of Ukraine, it looks very harmonious in polychrome embroidery. The embroidery of this area is interesting in that colors from yellow to red and brown are selected for embroidery, in shades and stretches. As a result of this idea, the entire embroidery seems to glow and burn with its inner glow, comes to life and shimmers. In Podillia, yellow is taken for embroidery, yellow can be the main color in the ornament of the shirt, along the edge of the cuff.
In women's shirts, yellow can take on the main focus in color. In the same Podillia, they take yellow with a slightly apricot tint for embroidery on shirts, and in this shirt, embroidered monochrome only in this color, the bride appeared in public on the second day of the wedding. This shade was produced at home, using straw or buckwheat chaff. On the first day, the bride was usually dressed in a white-on-white shirt, according to an ancient tradition. Similar shades of yellow are found in Klembiv embroidery. Some shirts were embroidered with layers of yellow and black, and were later worn by widows. These colors in combination were very noble, but did not convey a cheerful state.
The color of yellow, inherent in folk embroidery, must be thick, corn-colored. No fluorescent colors, lemon or greenish - it must be exclusively noble and genuine. This is how it can enter the red-black or red-blue range, otherwise harmony cannot be achieved. Only a combination of shades of blue, indigo color, with rich corn-yellow shades will look dignified and noble. Delicate natural shades are obtained due to vegetable dyes, which are extracted from many plants around.
Yellow is a light and warming color, it is identified by us with the sun, bright and warm, radiant and exciting. This color reflects light well, almost like white. Therefore, it seems as if the light does not penetrate into the depths, only slightly touches the surface and floats on. The bright yellow itself and the smooth surface of the embroidery together create the effect of golden shine, the richness of the embroidery, its nobility.
Yellow does not let in, it is the color of the surface, simple and natural. But at the same time it has the property of filling the entire space, sometimes even too much, almost becoming obsessive in large quantities or in rich and deep shades. Yellow tends to easily overcome all walls and obstacles, can disperse. Because of this, it is a symbol of wealth.
Yellow speaks of the need to open up, contains hope, the desire for happiness, joy. It is also the color of ending tension, relieving stress, a color symbolizing the achievement of a set goal.
In folk embroidery, yellow is a substitute for gold. Having the meaning of freedom, happiness, its function as gold is enhanced by the shine of the surface. Regardless of how much it costs, gold symbolizes happiness without limits.
Once upon a time, kings and queens wore a lot of gold not to show their greatness and wealth, but to more effectively perform their main function - priests. Gold helped them receive more information and be able to do more for people. Now the same applies to ministers of the church, who must be in constant contact with divine matters and energies. The symbol and means of this connection are the crowns and diadems of kings, the mitres and tiaras of churchmen - they are like antennas that catch the waves of the higher, spiritual world.
Unfortunately, these symbols have now been replaced with artificial ones, which means they have lost their natural meaning and have become accessories, nothing more. Only real gold, woven with real stones, has the same real power.
Green color – a combination of water and solar energies
One of the favorite colors of Ukrainians is green. It was very common in clothing: corsets, skirts, cloaks, men's trousers, belts, hats, jewelry, etc. In general, it is used in polychrome embroidery or weaving.
Green is formed by combining blue and yellow. This combination also lays the meaning of color: it is nature, the kingdom of plants, which exists on the border of the sky - yellow sunny color, and water - blue color. Active exciting yellow and calming harmonious blue neutralize each other and complement each other, together intertwine into green. The advancing action of yellow and the retreating movement of blue leave green in place, in statics, it is a passive color. It holds pleasure, peace, endurance. It is not the color of movement and dynamics, it is the color of potential energy, accumulated but not acting, it indicates internal potential, but does not give it an outlet. Green is the color of awakening, the color of life, youth, growth and strength.
Brown is the color of farmers
Brown consists of darkened yellow-red. The red color with its active, impulsive power darkens, restrains, quiets down and freezes. Therefore, brown is not an aggressive color, without expansion, without impact force, but has a hidden power that has fallen asleep, but exists, and in the future will sprout, like a grain in the spring. Due to this meaning, brown is a favorite among farmers - the color of the earth, which has just been plowed in the spring, sown and prompts thoughts about the future harvest and prosperity.
For embroidery, brown is typical in Bukovina, and is also found in polychrome embroidery in Western Ukraine. Like green, it is used in felted and woven products, used in outerwear and household items. First of all, the variety of brown can be found on wooden furniture.
The color of diplomacy is gray.
Gray is an achromatic color, like white and black. And just as green contains the properties of yellow and blue, gray contains the opposites of white and black. Gray is neutral, it does not belong to any of the sides: darkness or light, outside or inside, tension or relaxation. Gray is a contour, a boundary. It increases the intensity of the chromatic color it is next to.
Light gray reflects a slight excitement, elation, which makes it similar to red. It promotes pure emotions, indicates a readiness for contact.
Dark gray is the color of harmonious balance, peace, and fullness of being. It carries with it satisfaction and the fulfillment of desires.
Gray has long been an official color, the color of diplomats. Clothing of this color is not distracting, does not attract unnecessary attention, and emphasizes the charms of a person.
Embroidery, which has different colors, gives energy and saturation to all human chakras. Each person has their own peculiarities of revealing a particular chakra, which means that they perceive more of one or another color, which is insufficient for the development of the internal state. So, green is more needed by people with cancer. Not all people perceive the white color and white embroidery in general - some do not see them. White embroidery is intended for spiritual observation, carries pure subtle energy, directed towards a high spiritual plane. For many people, life is characterized mostly by the lower chakras - natural needs, instincts: sleep, food, drink. For such people, polychrome embroidery is more attractive, with a wealth of colors, bright contrasts, simple and understandable symbols. And there are people who, at the genetic level, need polychrome, also do not perceive white embroidery. That is why Carpathian embroidery, for example, is so bright.
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