Symbology
What distinguishes rushnyky as ritualistic-ornamental objects are the embroidered symbols, stitched in a wide variety of complex patterns and colour schemes. Although the variety seems endless, similar to the colourful designs used in pysanky (Ukrainian "easter eggs"), there are some central motifs that are used most often which date back to pre-christian times (Nykorak, n.d.). These motifs held profound meaning that was common-place and well understood by all members of their respective communities prior to the modern era. While some of this ritual significance has been lost, the visual language remains deeply embedded and ubiquitous in various aspects of East Slavic culture, and has a history of being preserved through its integration into Eastern Orthodox religious practices and objects (Sciacca, 2014). Even if the meaning behind each symbol may not hold the same power for modern Ukrainian society as it once did, its place in the present is a strong connection to the past. Despite modernization, this ancient visual system persists and can be seen in the revivalism of folk crafts including rushnyky and psyanky in Ukraine as well as the diaspora.
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A variety of psyanky displaying a range of traditional motifs.
Image from: http://lauramorelli.com/5-things-to-know-about-pysanky-traditional-easter-eggs-of-eastern-europe-2/
Assortment of rushnyky.
Image from :https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukraine
Motifs
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All motifs used on rushnyky ultimately communicate a positive, life-affirming message; a faithful assurance in the eternal, regenerative and restorative power of the life-force (Sciacca, 2014). Although motifs vary substantially depending on region, style, aesthetic, time period, and the artist creating each piece, the most prominent symbol is the Tree of Life (Kononenko, 2018).
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The Tree of Life is the axis mundi, the centre around which all other symbols on the cloth revolve, the life-giving and sustaining force (Sciacca, 2014). It has its roots in the earth extending to the underworld; grows upwards with its branches reaching out to all things and towards the cosmos. It symbolizes the balance and connection between the earthly and the heavenly, as above so below. The figure of the Slavic Goddess Berehnyia once functioned as the Tree of Life on ancient rushnyky, her feet the roots, her torso the pillar, her arms and hands the branches, and her head as flowering consciousness (Sciacca, 2014). However, Berehnyia doesn't feature as often as she once did, perhaps indicative of the Christian subsumption of pagan beliefs. Over time, her form transmorphed into the image of a flowering plant, a more literal iteration of the Tree of Life, and is now the most common motif used (Kononenko, 2018). The tree of life is believed to bring prosperity and longevity, and features most often on rushnyky in the home. The tree of life takes on many stylistic forms, depending on the region and the artist who makes it. The modern take on the Tree of Life more closely resembles a bouquet, or pot of flowers than an actual tree. Often birds are included in the designs, perching on either side of the plant.
Collection of ruhsnyky at the Pereyaslav-Khmelnitsky Rushnyk Museum in Ukraine
Image from:http://vokrugsveta.com/index.php?option=com_datsogallery&Itemid=98&func=detail&catid=22&id=185
Variations on the Tree of Life motif
As mentioned, there is an impressive variety of embroidery techniques and designs from region to region. Some regions, like Bukovyna, use many bright colours and have developed a very distinct and even sometimes psychedelic (!) but very beautiful style that is recognized across Ukraine. A very similar style is also typical of Podilia. Some other regions prefer to use mostly red on white for colour, such as Kiev and Poltava ((Mushnyka, 1993). Of course embroidery is used in more than just rushnyky, it features on practically all cloth, and folk costumes of Ukraine.
Illustrated map of regional differences in embroidery style across Ukraine.
Map from: http://proudofukraine.com/ukrainian-embroidery-history-regional-features-colors-and-patterns/
Bright, colourful, and wonderfully strange! Embroidery most likely from Bukovyna or Podilia
Image from: http://50watts.com/Ukrainian-Space-Invaders
Bukovyna rushnyk
Image from: http://folkcostume.blogspot.ca/2014/01/
Most likely from Podilia or Bukovyna, and featuring the Goddess Berehnyia with 2 birds
Image from: http://50watts.com/Ukrainian-Space-Invaders
Glossary of Symbols
Through ethnographic collaboration with communities in Ukraine, members in the Ukrainian department of the University of Alberta have compiled a very comprehensive glossary of the meaning behind each symbol as follows:
Flowers and vegetation motifs
Bluebell: fragile beauty, gentleness
Carnation: mature beauty, often used on funeral towels
Cornflower: fertility, fragile beauty
Elderberry blossom: fertility, intoxication, pleasure
Pansy: happiness, often used to represent children
Periwinkle: permanence, eternity, longevity (periwinkle is an evergreen)
Poppy: beauty, love, the intoxication of love
Pumpkin flower: fertility, fecundity, wealth, prosperity
Rose: robust beauty, vigor
Sunflower: fertility, prosperity, abundance
Kalyna: (the rowan tree): longing, healing, often used on towels for soldiers killed in battle and other unquiet dead
Oak: strength, vigor, permanence (the oak is often struck by lightening and is thus associated with the world tree, the tree that connects the underworld, this world, and heaven)
Tree of life: continuity, eternity
Wheat: prosperity, fertility, the strength of the soil
Cherries: fertility, fecundity (cherries are a motif characteritic of the Cherkasy region)
Grapes: fertility, good harvest, growth
Strawberries: fertility, good harvest, growth
Birds, animals, insects
Cuckoo: sorrow, especially a woman lamenting the death of a family member
Eagle: masculine strength and vigor
Lark: youth, joy, vigor; often used in pairs to represent the young couple
Nightingale: beauty, longing
Peacock: beauty, prosperity
Rooster: vigor, fertility
Swan: beauty, grace, strength
Butterfly: the departure of the soul
Deer: wealth, feminine protection
Abstract motifs
Band: continuity, eternity
Dispel: this is the term we are using for the many motifs that are at the bottom edges of towels. They are supposed to point down to the ground and take all of the evil out of the household and transfer it into the soil. The earth, it is believed, has the power to absorb evil and disperse it.
Meander: continuity; also associated with water and thus representative of fertility
Rhombus: feminine strength and vigor; birth
Three: totality, unity. The number three is associated with the Christian Trinity and with pre-Christian ideas. Almost any motif can appear in groups of three: flowers, especially roses, bands, trees of life, birds, and so forth.
Wreath-open: wedding; the future of the couple is open and their life is ahead of them
Wreath-closed: funeral; the life of the person is complete and has come full circle
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Geometric motifs
(from: http://proudofukraine.com/ukrainian-embroidery-history-regional-features-colors-and-patterns/)
Cross is the sign of the sun and light, which both resist the darkness;
Circle (wheel) belongs to solar signs;
Rectangle is the symbol of fertile field;
Wavy line (infinity sign) is the symbol of water, the source of people’s life power. The rain is depicted with vertical lines, rivers and subterranean waters – with horizontal lines;
Perun’s sign (six-pointed cross in a circle or hexagon) was used as the lightning protection, amulet;
Square or rhomb, divided into four parts (plowed field) is the sign of the earth and fertility;
Spiral symbolizes the wisdom; if the color is blue-purple, it is the symbol of secret knowledge.