Ukrainian Rushnyky: Binding Amulets and Magical Talismans in the Modern Period

Abstract

The traditional ritual use of rushnyky among the Eastern Slavs continued to flourish throughout the Soviet period, despite the Communist Party's efforts to curtail what was dismissed as superstitious folkloric survivals in village life. The paper briefly examines use of the rushnyk in the traditional Ukrainian village setting, followed by close readings of a number of towels from the author's collection. These include careful analysis of a funeral/memorial rushnyk from the mid-20 th c. that functioned as a mimetic grave for a soldier lost on the front. Attention is paid to the curious politicization of the ritual towel in Ukraine not only in the Soviet period, but subsequently in independent Ukraine, particularly in the recent country-wide creation of a "Rushnyk of National Unity"-the stitching of an oversized towel as a means to symbolize the binding of the disparate (and often combative) regions of the newly independent nation. This and other examples cited demonstrate innovation in the use of ritual towels and how they are being employed in new contexts where they can play a symbolic (if no longer fully understood ritual/magic) role.

Pandemic, but Make It Fashion: Ukrainian Embroidered PPE in the Time of COVID-19

“…Due to the novelty of face masks as a fashion accessory, there is little prior research available regarding their stylization or their cultural trends. Jus, we must turn to other relevant areas of research that can aide in understanding this new fashion, such as the function of embroidery as a talisman or amulet [Odarchenko and Tsarynnyk 1991;Sciacca 2013;Khlystun 2015]. Similar to the Anglo-Saxon context, dating between 450-1100 AD, where embroidery was utilized as a means to "ward off evil and provide protection against unknown threats" [Lester-Makin 2019: 99], Ukrainian embroidery patterns have been traditionally "regarded with mystical awe and in many circumstances as magical and protective talismans" [Sciacca 2013: 2].…”