Cult of ancestors
The oldest meaning of Christmas is the connection with the “ancestral times,” that is, with the ancestors. For them, kutia and 12 dishes from the new harvest are cooked, ritual bread is baked, didukh (Ukrainian Christmas decoration) is put up, and straw and fragrant hay are laid on the floor – there, they say, the souls of the ancestors will stay for the time of the visit.
Folk types from Malyn, 1912. Photo from Ivan Honchar's historical and ethnographic album "Ukraine and Ukrainians". Archive of the Ivan Honchar Museum.
Photo from Ivan Honchar's historical and ethnographic album "Ukraine and Ukrainians"
According to ancient beliefs, ancestors should be generously treated on Christmas and asked to send a bountiful harvest and a worthy continuation of the family in the new year. On the Holy Night, a candle or bread and a mug of water are put on the window for the ancestors, and a separate bowl and spoon are placed on the table.
Embroidered towel, Cherkasy region, Chornobayiv district, the village of Skorodystyk. The end of the 19th century. 296x45 cm. Collection of the Ivan Honchar Museum
The family of Oksentiy and Maria Kob, 1916. Photo from Ivan Honchar's historical and ethnographic album "Ukraine and Ukrainians"
The carolers voice out requests to the ancestors. In ancient times, they wore strange masks, turned outward mantels, and played the role of “grandfathers” who come “from the other world” to their descendants and wish them all the best. “Grandfathers” went around all the houses in the village or town, uniting the community with an invisible thread of common roots.
The souls of the ancestors were seen off to Vyriy (paradise) on the feast of Epiphany. Then the threshed didukh and straw from the floor, where ancestors “rested”, were buried.
Two sisters - a girl and a young man in the local folk costume of the 20s of the 20th century from the village of Knyazhychi. Photo from the 20s of the 20th century. Photo from Ivan Honchar's historical and ethnographic album "Ukraine and Ukrainians".
Photo from the 20s of the 20th century. Photo from Ivan Honchar's historical and ethnographic album "Ukraine and Ukrainians".
Hutsul family. All family in local national dress. The village of Babyn, Kosivsky district, Ivano-Frankivsk region. Photo from Ivan Honchar's historical and ethnographic album "Ukraine and Ukrainians".
A fragment of the "Tree of Life" carpet. The author of the drawing is Ivan Honchar. Drawing from Ivan Honchar's historical and ethnographic album "Ukraine and Ukrainians".
Folk types and costumes of the outskirts of Kyiv (Mykilʹsʹka Slobidka), beginning of the 20th century. The family of Ivan Yakovych Lobko. Photo of 1909. Photo from Ivan Honchar's historical and ethnographic album "Ukraine and Ukrainians".
Peasants of the village of Chotivets, Kolomiysky district, Ivano-Frankivsk region, mid-19th century. Photo from Ivan Honchar's historical and ethnographic album "Ukraine and Ukrainians".
The Kuzyv family is Dmitry and Nagna. From left to right are daughters Maria and Yustyna, and sons Mykhaylo i Vasyl. All in local national dress, the village of Banyliv, Chernivtsi region, 1932. Photo from Ivan Honchar's historical and ethnographic album "Ukraine and Ukrainians".