Today in any city in Russia you can meet a girl whose head is decorated with a wreath. Fashionable people liked the Ukrainian national symbol. Only few people know that this bright decoration is not just a beautiful accessory. A wreath is a whole story about your marital status, mood, feelings.
A few words from the story
Ukraine has always been famous for flowers. They were everywhere: in the open steppes, on the windows of the huts, in the front gardens and vegetable gardens. The hostess, in the courtyard of which there weren’t a variety of bright colors, was considered lazy and not adapted to family life.
From time immemorial, Ukrainians believed that flowers help drive away evil spirits, give a person health, a sharp mind. Nature could give happiness, or it could cause serious harm. Each flower had not only its name, but also its mystical properties. So, poppy has always been a symbol of sensual love, the immortelle gave health, cornflower denoted the beauty of a young girl.
Flowers were embroidered on clothes, they painted walls and utensils.
By weaving a Ukrainian wreath with their own hands, girls and women created a talisman. He could protect them from the evil eye, talk about marital status.
And a wreath helped to hide hair. The Slavs had an old belief that hair carries the energy of a person. In order for the “vorog” (the so-called dark forces) not to deprive a person of strength, his hair should be covered.
So women came up with a wreath. The Ukrainian symbol has always been decorated with ribbons, the length of which was equal to the natural braid of the beauty.
There was another property of wreaths, practical. Mint, wormwood, chamomile and other herbs, even when dry, retained an aroma that insects (like lice) were very afraid of.
How to read a wreath
Ukrainian folklore is rich in symbolism and folk traditions. One of them is weaving a wreath. It was believed that if a girl lost this head ornament, then she lost her virginity. Giving the guy a wreath, the girl confessed his love to him. There is a legend about how a girl met a handsome guy. Fascinated by her beauty, the young man begged to give him a wreath so that he could show his parents and get permission for marriage. Having fallen in love with a handsome man, the young woman gave him a wreath. Grabbing him, the guy turned into a devil and dragged the girl behind him to hell.
A very beautiful custom is associated with this headdress. On the night of Ivan Kupala, the girl wove a Ukrainian wreath with her own hands, and then, removing it from her head, lowered it into the river. If the wreath moored, it means that the beauty was waiting for an ambulance. A flowing wreath showed that the bridegroom would be from distant lands. A drowned jewelry warned of imminent death.
Weaving a wreath was a serious matter, on which, Ukrainians believed, their life depends.
How to weave a wreath
Ukrainian amulet required careful observance of the rules when creating it.
Weaving began with a foundation. The first to be woven into it was a brown ribbon. This symbol of the breadwinner was important both for unmarried girls and for the mothers of the family.
The ribbon was woven in the middle and was considered the basis of the wreath, as the earth is considered the basis of life.
On two sides of the brown ribbon were placed yellow - a symbol of the sun, happiness, prosperity.
Further, everything depended on the needlewoman herself, who created the wreath. Ukrainian folklore endowed each color with its quality. Therefore, the color of the ribbon of the girl was chosen, focusing on what exactly they wanted to get, what they wanted to talk about.
- Green ribbons after yellow ones said that the owners of the wreath are young and very beautiful.
- Blue and blue ribbons symbolizing the sky and water attracted health and strength.
- The Ukrainian wreath was necessarily decorated with an orange ribbon; it was a symbol of bread.
- Violet color signified wisdom. It was more common in wreaths of married women, just like a poppy flower.
- A white ribbon embroidered with golden sun and moon spoke of the innocence of a young beauty.
How to choose flowers
Ukrainian wreath on the head always had a strictly specified number of flowers. Herbs were necessarily woven into it. Each region of Ukraine had its own rules. Today we got about this list. The wreath must have 12 flowers:
- Chamomile as a symbol of tenderness, kindness, purity.
- Cornflower designating beauty.
- Hops (especially for adult women), symbolizing flexibility of mind and quick wits.
- Periwinkles that save the soul from dirt and prolong earthly life.
- Forget-me-not, talking about constancy.
- Peony, mallow and rouge as equal symbols of Faith, Hope, Love.
- Married women wove poppies into a wreath, which testified to love and symbolized sadness.
The remaining inflorescences girls and women could choose at their discretion. Often mint, yarrow, and other aromatic herbs were woven into the Ukrainian wreath on the head. In addition to mystical symbolism, they carried a different burden: they replaced spirits and aphrodisiacs.
Age wreaths
The mother wove the very first wreath of a three-year-old girl. Marigolds necessarily entered it, so that the baby would not have a headache, developing vision of periwinkles and forget-me-nots, a soothing chamomile. Every year a new wreath was woven, in which became more and more herbs and flowers. From the age of 13 until marriage, the girls wore a “wreath of love” made of viburnum and daisies.