Didukh is a pre-Christian symbol of winter holidays.
Frost has frozen the river, the currant bushes, and the forgotten fallen bench under the fence. The nights are getting longer, the field is sleeping under a white fluffy blanket, and the cold is so cramping that it's scary to even look outside. In the house, everything is different: the fire in the stove is burning cheerfully, fresh bread smells, children's laughter is heard, the hostess is preparing a festive dinner, and the owner is looking for Didukh in the storeroom to solemnly enter the house with him and start the Christmas Eve.
Long before Christian Christmas, our ancestors celebrated the Winter Solstice as an important point in their calendar and ritual holidays, which corresponded to the natural cycles of farmers. The name of the holiday varied depending on the region - Koliada, Korochun, Kalyta, etc. But all over Ukraine, our ancestors believed that during the darkest time of the year, they should honor their ancestors and protect themselves from evil spirits, thank the gods for the harvest and ask for an even better one in the coming year. It's a bit like the modern tradition of writing gratitude lists and wish lists.
A peculiarly Ukrainian symbol of the winter holidays was Didukh, a ritual decoration made of wheat, rye, oats, or flax. At a certain period of our history, it was an ordinary sheaf of cereals, and later it was decorated with dried flowers, herbs, and ribbons, as Ukrainians have always been distinguished by a special aesthetic in creating everyday and festive things. Didukh existed in different parts of our country and, depending on the region, had its own peculiarities in meaning, creation, and further use.
The creation and sacred significance of Didukh.
It was harvested during the harvest and waited for its time in a barn, a barn or tied to a tree somewhere so that mice could not get it, because this sheaf was not threshed, leaving its ears full of grain as a sign of prosperity in the family. It was the first or last sheaf of rye, depending on the region.
We have a wide range of meanings of the word “didukh”: the oldest, ancestor, grandfather, sheaf, sheaf-paradise, king, kolidnyk, koliadnyk, dido, koliada. Hence the various variations of what this festive symbol represents. The ears resembled a beard, and in ancient times Didukh was the personification of the god Veles, the patron saint of nature, domestic animals, prosperity, harvest, and the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead. Didukh also represents the oldest, first ancestor, the founder of the family. Sometimes he is identified with the eternal symbol of Ukrainians, the Tree of the Family. There are also interpretations of the sheaf of ears as the goddess Koliada, who gives birth to a new god, the Sun, on the longest night of the year. In any meaning, this ancient symbol spoke of respect for the gods and ancestors, of the desire to live in prosperity and health, of peace and harmony in the home. And of course, it had a protective function against diseases and evil spirits.
Later, dried field herbs and flowers were woven into the ears, each of them also adding a certain power to the amulet. Thistle protected from evil spirits, St. John's wort from 99 diseases, and oregano was added to keep children healthy. The herbs endowed Didukh with strength, power, and love, and everyone put into it what they expected in the new year. You can see Didukhs decorated with straw stars, paper flowers, and other symbols - this is a tradition that our ancestors also had. However, since it dates back to the ancient beliefs of the Slavs, it is not decorated with Christian symbols.
As we mentioned at the beginning of the article, Didukh was brought into the house by the owner himself or with his son or sons. Ukrainians believed that male energy was always about well-being and prosperity in the home, so this task was entrusted to a man. It was installed on the kutia, that is, in the corner of the house that was diagonally away from the stove. This was considered the most solemn corner of the house where ancestral spirits were honored, where the family gathered at the festive table, and later, with the adoption of Christianity, the images were placed there.
“Farewell” to Didukh.
Didukh is a “temporary” amulet, its “power” extended to the winter holidays and, in most regions of Ukraine, it was said goodbye on January 1 on St. Basil's Day or January 6 on Epiphany. There is evidence from ethnographers that Didukh was kept in the house until the Spring Equinox, but this tradition was not widely known. So, how should you say goodbye to Didukh? The first and most important rule, which was in effect throughout Ukraine, is to thresh the grain. Then there were variations on what to do with it. Part of the grain was left to be sown in the field in the spring, which was done symbolically to bless the future harvest. Some of the grain was added to the cattle's feed to keep them healthy all year round. Also, the grain from Didukh was given to the boys who went to sow with their relatives and neighbors. The stems and dried flowers were burned, thus releasing the souls of deceased relatives who “came” to the family table for the celebration. Sometimes the smoke from the burned Didukh was used to smoke the house and livestock to protect them from evil spirits. There were villages in which the stems left over from Didukh were divided into parts and tied to the trunks of fruit trees for a good harvest in the future. In the modern world, we can make this “farewell” purely symbolic, because we cannot strictly follow all traditions. It is unlikely that our furry pets will want to taste the grain. So shake out Didukh, or rub the ears between your hands to separate the grains, and then give them to the birds in the park or forest. You can burn the stems and flowers in the spring or just leave them somewhere in nature to avoid throwing them in the trash.
Some of us learned about Didukh and the traditions of celebrating Christmas from our older relatives, while others are only now discovering this page of the history of their native land. Do it boldly, don't be afraid to experiment, buy a ready-made Didukh from craftsmen, or sign up for a master class in your city or village. Let your imagination run wild and create your own symbol of prosperity and good luck. There are no canons about how many ears of grain there should be, or what color the ribbon should be, what height and volume the Didukh should be - it's all about your inner feelings and faith in magic.
The Straw Spider is an aesthetic decoration that personifies the Universe.
Our ancestors have always been respectful of spiders. Modern cinema and literature turn them into monsters, but back then, in pre-Christian Rus-Ukraine, it was spiders that wove the universe. They were symbols of patience, hard work, and creativity, and the web symbolized the infinity and cyclical nature of the universe. Killing a spider was considered a bad omen that could bring misfortune and despair to the house. Therefore, when the housewife was cleaning, she would warn the spiders about it, and collect the web carefully and take it outside.
The spider became one of the symbols of winter holidays and Christmas. The earliest references to straw spiders are found in Polissia, where they were called “solomianyky”. This is not surprising, because such decorations are quite common in the northern countries of Europe - Sweden, Norway, Finland and the Baltic States. In the north, they are called “himmeli” or “gimmeli” and are given as a symbol of well-being, harmony, world balance and good health not only in winter but also on other holidays, such as weddings, family reunions, christenings, etc.
What is the Spider Christmas decoration?
The spider design attracts attention with its lightness, transparency and amazing symmetry. This is a real “timeless” decoration. It is easy to imagine it in a Ukrainian wooden house in Polissya, or in a white mazanka of Poltava region, and at the same time, it fits perfectly into our urban interiors today. The Spider is made of straws by stringing them on a thread and tying them into diamonds of different sizes. Then these rhombuses are tied together. The finished decoration resembles a 3D web with “spiders” hanging from it - diamonds or smaller stars.
Due to its weightlessness, the design sways from the slightest puff of air. The spider was suspended from a long and strong hair from a horse's tail to the central rafter of the hut. Thanks to the circulation of cold air from the yard and hot air from the burning stove, it turned in different directions, giving the impression of being alive. Children were especially fascinated by such decorations.
The sacred significance of the Christmas Spider.
We already know that the universe of our ancestors was “founded” by tireless spiders. Accordingly, the straw construction represented the Universe, our being, universal balance and harmony. And harmony is not possible in the midst of negative energy, so Ukrainians believed that this Spider absorbed all kinds of negative manifestations from the house and from the life of the family in general.
At the end of the cycle of winter holidays, the Spider was solemnly taken out of the house and burned, thereby burning the negative energy it had collected. It was important not to get under the smoke from that fire, so as not to touch the remnants of dirty energy.
Straw Spider today.
It is quite easy to create a “spider” yourself. Today, there is a good selection of DIY kits with everything from straws to needles for stringing them. And masters also offer online and offline master classes. Weave your own “cobwebs” that will decorate your home and balance its energies, or order them from craftsmen who make fantastic compositions for any interior.
It doesn't matter whether you collected Didukh and Spider yourself, received them as a gift, or bought them at a fair, what matters is that you are continuing the traditions of your ancestors. Our strength is in such authentic yet stylish decorative elements, songs, traditional dishes and family memories.
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Prepared by Olena Koval
