Ukrainian Mythology: Customs, Gods, Creatures +15 Legends

Ukrainian mythology is full of powerful gods and mystical creatures or beings, surrounded by mystery, magic and legends.

Ukrainian Mythology

The Ukrainians were a free population with beliefs in mystical beings and creatures since their origins. It was not until the arrival of Byzantine missionaries that the Christian faith was introduced into the Ukrainian religion.

Their religion and the different churches built with the arrival of the Christian faith were very especially connected with the “Patriarchate of Constantinople”. However, it was in 988 that the Christian religion was proclaimed by Vladimir Sviatoslavych, prince of Kiev, as the official religion covering the whole territory of Ukraine.

Ukrainian mythology is full of powerful gods and mystical creatures or beings, full of mystery and magic. Where the magical and unknown invade the imagination with evil beings but with others also kind and protective.

Cosmology of Ukrainian mythology

Ukrainian cosmology could be classified into three worlds: Prav, Nav and Yav. Long before the advent of Christianity, in the ancient Slavic tribes had a strong belief that creation was divided into these three worlds.

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Ukrainians believe in the existence of the “multiverse”; and this was the function of these three existing worlds. As well as the existence of infinities of universes coexisting parallel to our own universe.

For this reason it is considered that “dreams”, are the method of travel to cross all that infinity of invisible worlds parallel to ours. And even have visions of this or other lives in different dimensions.

Yav

In this world live the gods, humans and the solar system. The world of Yav is within the world of Nav. The name Yav, comes from the word “jawa”; within Ukrainian mythology this word means “not a dream, something real”.

Yav is a world that exists in 4 dimensions, and represents the border between the Nav and Prav worlds. It is also believed that in the world of Yav exist celestial beings that are invisible to our sight.

Nav

Also known as Navi; presented as the world of the immaterial, because in Nav is where the dead and their souls exist and are represented by the stars.

Unlike the world of Yav which has four dimensions, the width, length, height of things and time as the fourth dimension. Nav has a greater number of realities and dimensions.

Prav

The world of Prav has its origin of formation by the diversity of existing realities and dimensions. Prav is the oldest of all worlds, the first to be created.

Customs of Ukrainian mythology

In ancient times in the Slavic community it was a custom for women to go to the village waters to throw hemp, in order to please the goddess Makosh; it could be from a well to lakes or rivers and they asked her to grant them fertility.

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The kings or chiefs of the tribes, had the custom of touching the statue of the goddess Makosh; to obtain the necessary protection for their people. When they closed a deal they had to place the head on the earth. The sins of the men had to be confessed in a hole made in the ground.

In marriage ceremonies, it was a very strong custom to give each other a handful of earth and treasure it all their lives. Another very strong custom was the traditional celebration of the spring equinox every March 21, which brings the winter season to an end.

It is a ritual where they make a doll made of Marzanna; they make a procession to the nearest water source where men, women and children of the region participate. This is in honor of the goddess Mara, to say goodbye to her who represents winter and death.

Back from throwing the doll into the water, Ukrainians celebrate a feast in the village to welcome spring. Depending on the region the ritual may vary a bit; even today this holiday is still a great tradition in some Ukrainian villages.

Legend of Iianopomb

Iianopomb is the fern flower, also called the flower of happiness. According to Ukrainian mythology, this flower comes out once a year; just on the night of “Ivan Kupala”. Its color is a deep red, and when it opens at exactly midnight that night, it only lasts for a few minutes and then disappears in a blue flame.

Ferns are not “gymnosperms”, this means that they are capable of flowering; they do not produce reproductive organs like flowers, on the contrary, they only produce spores on the back of their leaves called “sori”. It is for this reason that this particular fern is considered magical, because of the flower that emerges from it.

The legend tells us that the person who manages to find and get hold of the fern flower will obtain universal knowledge; he will even be able to understand and speak the language of animals and plants, thus becoming a clairvoyant.

By placing the flower in his hand, using it as a vase, the fern flower will become one with the person and will grant him unimaginable magical powers. He will also become the possessor of incredible wealth by finding a great treasure in the place where the fern was buried.

Finding the fern flower is a very difficult task, because due to the great secrets and powers it grants, the demon and his helpers do everything possible to prevent anyone from finding it.

Gods of Ukrainian mythology

Mokosh

Also known as Makosh, she is the goddess of fertility, weaving and women. She manages the destiny of human beings and gives advice through dreams. She is in charge of protecting livestock, and women at the time of childbirth.

The name Mokosh comes from the union of the words “ma” and “kosh”, which means “mother” and “destiny”, for that reason she is called the mother of destiny. Her day of celebration from October 25th to November 1st of each year, where they make a festival in her honor.

There are textile companies named after her in her honor, through the yarn she is dedicated to “spinning destiny”. Mokosh had two children, Marena and Jarilo; and was the wife of the god Perun. To whom she was unfaithful with the god Veles, causing this betrayal the separation and fight between these two gods; reflected in storms and natural disasters.

Mokosh represents in the vyshyvanky and rushnyky, which are embroidered cloth canvases as a female figure that has both arms raised and has two horses at her side. Some peoples even associate it with representing the sun. These canvases are portals between the worlds of creation.

As the goddess in charge of weaving the threads of each person’s destiny, she is also in charge of placing them in the world that corresponds to them to live, and even if a person dies before reaching their goal, she knows to which world to redirect them to fulfill their life purpose.

Despite being the only deity that survived the arrival of Christianity, the worship practices of the goddess Mokosh were forbidden. Thus remaining in history not as a goddess, but rather as a protective spirit that dwells in every home.

Marena

Depending on each region, this goddess has different names within Ukrainian mythology; among them we have: Mara, Marzanna, Moré, Morana, Morena, Morena, Marzena, Mora and Marmora. She is the goddess of evil, associated with winter, death, diseases, nightmares, among others.

History of Marena

Her birth was on the great night, known as New Year’s Eve; she was the wife of her brother Jarilo. This happens because the god Veles, abducts Jarilo the day of his birth and takes him to the underworld to raise him as his own son.

One day when Marzanna is on earth for the celebration of the spring equinox, Jarilo returns to the world and courts Marzanna. They marry on the day of the feast of Ivan Kupula, which is celebrated on the summer solstice. When this occurs Jarilo as god of vegetation brings greenery to the world from the underworld and Marzanna leaves behind her powers of death and destruction.

After the wedding between the brothers sons of the god Perun, fertility and abundance come to the world; since the god Veles being the adoptive father of Jarilo and the god Perun father of Marzanna now become in-laws, the storms of the god Veles cease on earth.

However, Jarilo later becomes unfaithful to Marzanna; for this reason she leaves him and Jarilo goes back to the underworld. Angered by Jarilo’s betrayal, Marzanna goes with Cmiñ; she is a kind of serpent-dragon with whom she ends up having 13 daughters.

The separation causes the gods Veles and Perun to become enemies again and the storms return to destroy the crops in the land. Already without the presence of fertility and vegetation in the world due to the separation of Marzanna and Jarilo, Mara becomes a dangerous and old goddess.

Thus Mara brings with more force against the world the winter, freezing everything and becomes the goddess of death and darkness. So she went around the world from house to house, calling everyone by name and whoever answered her would be death for her.

Daughters of Marena

1. Triaseya: her name means “to tremble”; her powers provoke in human beings strong convulsions accompanied by fever until they cause death.
2. Vogneya: her name indicates “fire”; she is a woman with a bony body and her eyes are full of fire. She brings tufus or the so-called “inner fever” to all mankind.
3. Lodeya: means “to freeze”. When she touches a person she causes them to freeze, starting with the fingers, then the limbs and so on to the organs. She is a woman with eyes full of ice.
4. Hneteya: they call her stomach, she makes people vomit non-stop and lose their appetite when she puts pressure on their stomach. It is also responsible for the appearance of ulcers and all kinds of gastrointestinal diseases.
5. Hrynusha: her name means “to cough”, she is described as a woman with blue lips and very sharp teeth, she is responsible for causing all kinds of heart diseases.
6. Hluheya: she is also called “Hlukhanya”, it means “to become deaf”. She is a woman who looks like a monster without ears, when she touches people they become deaf, and also creates discord among humans.
7. Puhneya: called “nabujaty” means “to swell”; she is the cause of edema.
8. Zhovteya: her other name is “Zhovtyanytsya”, it means “to turn yellow”. She has the appearance of a very old and weak old woman who has yellow eyes; and she is the cause of people getting jaundice.
9. Korkusha: she is a horrible woman whose body is totally full of shells and scabs and who infects human beings with all kinds of diseases that produce shells and scabs such as measles, rubella, among others. Its name means “scabies”.
10. Hlyadeia: commonly known as “Kikimopa”, her name means “to observe”. It is a woman that causes insomnia in people, she lives in all the constructions where humans live. She creates economic and family problems for them.
11. Lomeya: she is a woman with a deformed body, upside down head and full of bones. Her name is associated with the word “break”. It causes diseases that have to do with bones and joints. Such as arthritis and others.
12. Sukheya: its name means “to dry up”. It touches people to make them timid and full of fear for any reason.
13. Neveya-Pliasanytsia: when a person is touched by this woman, he/she has no salvation and falls into madness, always laughing frantically.

Mythical creatures and beings in Ukrainian mythology

Skarbnyk

It is an impure spirit that guards treasures, also known as Karzelek. He helps his master and protects his treasures from thieves who try to seize it. When Skarbnyk dies, he returns in the form of crows and takes away anyone who is a great sinner.

Anyone who tries to take a treasure that is not the owner, Skarbnyk turns it to ashes. Another function of the Skarbnyk, was to protect the kind miners and help them to find the exits when they are lost in the labyrinths of the mines. On the contrary, the miners who insult him, he guides them into the mines until they get totally lost.

Perelesnyk

In Ukrainian mythology the Perelesnyk is a creature of demonic origin. It falls from the sky like a shooting star on the houses of widowed women, when they land they become the loved one they lost.

Thus impersonating the loved ones they begin a relationship with the women, even having children. The Perelesnyk are discovered through their children, since they never develop and are always hungry. They are called “odminky”, which means “a child replaced by a demon”.

Once a Perelesnyk has decided to stay in a home, it is very difficult to remove it. Attempting to do so can make them angry and burn the house to the ground. He gives very expensive gifts to his wives and has a very passionate love. However, he feeds on his victim by drinking his blood until he strangles him to death.

Odminky

So called to the children who are replaced at birth, they can be changed by a fairy or a demon. Usually this action is performed by the Perelesnyk, and it is believed that this is because the true children of the Perelesnyk need mother’s milk to survive.

The monster of Lake Somin

Lake Somin is located in Western Ukraine, very close to the village Lukiv. There lives a monster that for more than a century has been the source of terror among the inhabitants of this village.

It is described as a crocodile of gigantic size but with a head like that of a snake. It lives in the cave system below Lake Somin and comes out at night to hunt. Its prey are animals including: horses, sheep, dogs, among others.

However, some locals say that from time to time if a human being is distracted by the lake at night, he is devoured by the monster; some children have even been victims of this creature.

Chemer’s monster

Chemer is a village, where a monster appears that has an appearance similar to a mixture of a fox, a dog and a kangaroo; it is orange in color and has no hair. It feeds on domestic animals, such as dogs, rabbits, chickens, among others.

The Ukrainian population was shocked when , in 2007, one of these creatures was captured. Veterinarians were totally shocked when they analyzed the creature’s carcass. It was sent to the zoological museum of the University of Zaporizhia. They were never able to identify what kind of animal it was.

Other creatures of Ukrainian Mythology

• Duo Anna Maria: is a Vazhayetsya or weaving that represents the destiny of man at birth, happiness or unhappiness.
• Ivan Kupula: is one of the main characters of Ukrainian mythology, he is described as a kind and always cheerful being.
• Witch: it was a mysterious women of great beauty.
• The devil: is a characteristic creature of Ukrainian mythology, it is usually present in most Ukrainian tales and legends. The most famous of them was Hutsul.
• Bereginya: he is a protector of ancestors, who keeps diseases away from children and protects homes from evil.
• Molfar: so called magicians with supernatural powers over humans.
• Mermaid: were beautiful creatures that seduced men.
• Polevik: was the owner of the fields and was a very common character in the tales of Ukrainian mythology.

Conclusion of Ukrainian Mythology

Ukrainian mythology since ancient times before the advent of Christianity, was characterized by the belief in the multiverse. The existence of different universes that are parallel to each other.

The presence of a variety of mystical creatures, demons and supernatural beings that influence the life and nature of Ukrainians. These beings that represent good and evil, where they are evil and create calamities as well as others are in charge of protecting them.

Ukraine is still a mystery that has many mystical secrets to describe and even today they have strong beliefs in various spirits and creatures of the forests. They have strong customs from their origins and even in some villages they are still practiced.