It has become the custom that the mere mention of Ukrainian fairy tales conjures up in the mind of the average Ukrainian childhood images of the Speckled Hen, strongman Kotyhoroshko, Kyrylo “the Tanner” Kozhumiaka, and the remaining fairy tale brethren who have come to dominate the popular imagination and have turned into virtual literary monopolists with their moralizing attitude and boringly pacifist adventures. Perhaps this makes Freddie Krueger or Count Dracula so appealing to children, whereas the anthology of Ukrainian fairy tales is reduced to no more than required reading in kindergarten or primary school. Yet one day these children will grow up to study history. They will learn about the 988 baptism of Kyivan Rus’ and will be amazed at this attempt to convert pagan Ukrainians to a new faith.
CHRISTIANITY AND PAGANISM: A BATTLE THROUGHOUT THE CENTURIES
Without condemning or justifying Christianity, as this is not the point here, we must open our eyes to the fact that we are being idealistic if we think that paganism was eradicated in our land and that Ukrainians now perceive the world exclusively through the prism of the imposed faith. Christianity attempted to dismantle the old system of beliefs, but in fact the new notions only partially ousted the old ones. As a result, we practice a dual religion. Our culture has retained much of what is beyond normal explanation: we still do things that confirm our faith in vampires, witches, or water nymphs. For example, our forebears considered the so-called Easter of the Forest Nymph — the Thursday of Water Nymph Week — especially dangerous. On that day neither girls nor women worked, lest they incur the nymphs’ wrath. To this day many people consider it reckless to swim in the river on this day. Still common in the countryside is the observance of so-called Pure Thursday and abstinence from any kind of work that involves contact with water. Authentic traditions are still very much alive in the Hutsul region, Polissia, and the land of the Boikos. In the non-pagan 17th- 19th centuries, ethnographers and literati pieced together the characters of Ukrainian demonology through word of mouth. This is how Lesia Ukrayinka wrote her Forest Song, Gogol his A May Night or the Drowned Maiden, Shevchenko his The Bewitched Girl, and Yavornytsky his Water Nymph’s Lake. Moreover, we often behave like heathens, believing in our own demons.
To illustrate, Christian canons have drawn a clear line between the soul and the body, which perishes after death, while the human self continues to exist in the form of a soul. However, Ukrainians still do not dare walk through a cemetery by night, even though they understand that dead bodies can do no harm. This happens because Ukrainians have deeply ingrained folk beliefs, according to which a person’s existence continues in the form of both a soul and a spirit. In the folk imagination a spirit can reincarnate and move in space. Therefore, creatures connected with the cult of the dead have the greatest mystical power in Ukrainian mythology. Put plainly, this folk imagination has created an unmatched world of demonic and mystical images. Hair-raising, dark tales and legends can give Ukrainian readers the creeps as an alternative to stereotyped, poetic fairy tales about good versus evil. Whereas no one believed in tales like the Little Straw Bull with the Tarred Back, Ukrainians were truly preoccupied with the world of spirits. Therefore, dear children, be afraid of Ukrainian demons because our forebears, who invented them, did a good job.
THERE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN UKRAINIAN DEMONS — AND THEY’LL ALWAYS BE AROUND
Ukrainian folklore has its own unique story of how the evil spirit came to be. A Volhynian legend tells about a lone Lucifer, who had no one to assist him in his evil deeds. He grew tired of his loneliness and asked Biloboh the White God to create him a brother. The White God allowed Lucifer to wet the tip of his finger in the life-giving water and fling a drop behind his back, from which his true friend would appear. But the greedy Lucifer plunged his arm into the water up to his elbow. Shaking off the drops, he created an army of demons, whom the White God threw out of heaven together with their creator. The evil spirits fell for forty days, and when the White God said “Amen,” the demons remained forever where they were hiding at that instant: some in the water, others in the woods or mountains, and still others in people’s dwellings. Therefore, the Ukrainian pantheon of demons is clearly divided into demons of the wilderness (water sprites, wood goblins, water nymphs), household demons (brownies), human chimeras (vampires, werewolves, witches, devils), and phantoms (spirits, plagues, privations, etc.).
Incidentally, the image of the devil has arguably the largest number of contradictions in our demonology. First of all, only we Ukrainians portray the devil as a funny creature. He represents the lowest ranks of the forces of evil. Unlike the devil in the demonology of other countries, which consider him one of the most powerful evil demons, our devil is a parody of a human being that closely resembles a person in his evil deeds. The devil’s function in legends and tales is easy to explain: he personifies all the vices: cunningness, stubbornness, greed, treachery, and sometimes stupidity — the very antithesis of human virtues. After all, this is why the devil is pictured as being so powerless when faced with man, whose wisdom and good deeds can defeat evil. Given the regional differences in folklore, the Ukrainian devil is known by many names. The oldest of them are beess [demon], chudesnyk [warlock], and charivnyk [sorcerer]. In the Christian era he became known as the devil and Satan. Ukrainians also have names for the devil that characterize his traits in a specific setting, say, pekelnyk [hell master] or koutsyi [short-tailed], as well as perelesnyk [seducer], loukavy [cunning], nechysty [foul], and didko [fiend].
THE WOMAN IN UKRAINIAN DEMONOLOGY
Since pagans practiced matriarchy, the woman occupies a special place in Ukrainian traditions. As a result, Ukrainian demonology has a large number of female characters: witches, water nymphs, forest nymphs, potvora [hideous female creature], povitrulia [wind spirit], etc.
The water nymph is considered the most striking and colorful female character, which in fact symbolizes Ukrainian demonology. In the classic definition, the water nymph is the goddess of flora and fauna, but the Ukrainians’ imagination was especially vivid when they created this character. There are twenty-seven kinds of nymphs, each of whom has her own name, habitat, and purpose. Every one of these nymphs is linked with a special type of flora or natural phenomenon associated with water. For simplicity’s sake, all of them have been divided into field, water, and forest nymphs. So-called Hutsul mavkas — mountain nymphs — form a special group.
It is commonly held that water nymphs live in groups. They are vivacious, like to dance in a circle, and have a beautiful, reedy voice. With their singing they lure their victims — handsome lads — into the woods or rivers. The mountain nymphs differ from the rest in that they have bare backs.
According to folk belief, girls who died an unnatural death, such as by drowning, hanging, or in childbirth, became nymphs. The appearance of nymphs in demonology had a practical reason, too. For example, a nymph by the name of Poludenytsia [noontime nymph] roamed the fields with a scythe, looking for lone reapers. At noon, when the sun is at its highest, it was a popular custom to rest from work in the shade. Those who ignored it encountered Poludenytsia, who quizzed the reaper about how one should reap, process flax, and make shirts. Knowing that she would disappear shortly after noonday, the reaper had to explain everything slowly and in great detail so that she wouldn’t kill him for his curtness. Thus, the belief in Poludenytsia was a stimulus to work properly and plan work wisely.
Traditionally, demonology singles out sorcerers. Not believed to be demons, they used the help of evil forces to predict the future, and cause or cure disease. Because sorcerers entered a pact with evil forces in return for their special gift, they did not always help people. The witch is classed among such negative demonic characters. Witches were suspected of spoiling crops and stealing milk from cows by night, and were believed to be able to turn into dogs, mice, frogs, or cats. People also feared their love spells, which caused frantic, deadly love.
DEMONS AND LITERATURE
The moral of this story is simple: Ukrainian tales must be scary, colorful, and authentic. It is no accident that Ukrainian publishers have released An Anthology of Ukrainian Horror Stories, reading which is a greater pleasure than watching American horror flicks devoid of any historical background. After all, if you want to teach your children to appreciate Ukrainian literature, now you have an opportunity. But it is not necessary to cram their brains with good, traditional fairy tales. For if you dig deeper, you will find traditions beyond the bounds of happy endings, standard dialogs, or clichОd plots. You may occasionally come across reprints or new editions of Hutsul and Volhynian tales in which every other neighbor is a fiend, every third woman is a witch, while all of the characters live near a cemetery or wage fights for land with wood goblins or other evil spirits. These tales — of authentically Ukrainian origin, mind you — will have a good, scary element, but will not forego virtue, wisdom, and upbringing. Those who remain unconvinced by these facts should recall how the classics of Ukrainian literature tapped the sources of national demonology. Lesia Ukrayinka’s Forest Song is an ode to the demons of Polissia. Ivan Nechui-Levytsky created the most vivid image of the witch in his works, while the works of Ivan Franko, Volodymyr Shukhevych, and Borys Hrinchenko extensively explored vampires. Without demons there would have been no Fisherman by Petro Hulak-Artemovsky, Water Nymph by Hanna Barvinok, The Drowned Maiden or Water Nymph’s Night by Mykola Starytsky, or The Viy by Gogol. Meanwhile, if we have really forgotten Ukrainian demonology, as we believe we have, we wouldn’t be the way we are now: full of pagan superstitions, pet sayings, and colorful symbols in our households. So why don’t we revive all of this and marvel at the force of our imagination again?
