I'm 27 years old guy from Ukraine.
So Ukrainian is my native language, but I'm also
free in Russian. My name's Olex.
I'm very interested in Philosophy and
Mythology.
Concerning Ukrainian Mythology I
would like to tell you something. Ancient Ukrainian people avoided to say the
names of wild predatory animals and terrible supernatural creatures. Old people
preferred to use in such cases instead name of creature another circumlocution
or parable, you know. It’s on the human fear that spoken name will
automatically give material form to such supernatural creatures, you know. Just
such typical ancient words-parables you can find in the “Forest Song” by Lesia
Ukrainka in order to identify such creatures: “The one that hiding in the
mountain”, “The one that breaking the dam”. Ukrainka spent most of her life abroad fighting
to recuperate from tuberculosis. Lesia died in 42. Tuberculosis of the bones
had broken her, torn her limb from limb. I hope you never have been quite as
miserable as Lesia was sometimes; but if you have no more tears left in you –
you will know that there comes in the end a sort of quietness. You feel as if
nothing was ever going to happen again.
Even these days in our capital Kyiv
city between Sofijivs’kyj and Myhailivs’kyj Cathedral there is so called
Zbruc’kyj idol and it four faces are directed to the four corners of the earth…
In the old chronicles of Kyiv Rus’
wrote that in 980 prince Vladimir=Volodymyr established cult of such deities as
Perun, Strybog, Dazh’bog, Hors, sacred dog Simargl and goddess Makosh’. Moreover
mention was made about Veles, Svarog, Rod and rozhanitsy, Lada and Lel’.
Catholic Missionaries in Western Slavic lands knew about such names as
Sviatovit, Svarozhich, Jarovit, Deva, Zhiva and Radogost.
There are many more simple names. In
winter to New Year holidays was mentioned about Koliada. This is demon and in
order to invite his people wear so called “liarvy” and “strashila”. There are
also such names as Kutnyi Bog:=Corner God (probably this is brownie or
house-spirit), Jadrei and Obiluha (these spirits carry out the control of
quality and quantity of harvest); Poputnik (maybe one who follows with you
along your way i.e. in Russian poputchik), Lesnoi Bog=Forest god and such
spirits as Sporyn’i and Speh (Russian Uspeh means success my dear, so these
spirits probably helped people to have success in human actions).
Ukrainian surnames form quite
interesting and complex subject my dear. In principle there are such surnames
like Vedmed’=Bear, Vovk=Wolf, Pyrig=Pie, Bilodid=White Old Man, Sirobaba=Grey
Old Woman, Netudyhata=Not There House:=Your House Situated in Another Direction
And You Come To Other's House etc.
Bye. Hugs. Olex
