THE THINGS WE DO...: Vinok, vinochok (08/01/99)

THE THINGS WE DO...

by Orysia Paszczak Tracz

Vinok, vinochok

... My father doesn't have to bother,
He doesn't have to buy his daughter
a wreath [i.e., for the wedding].
I lost my wreath in the green orchard...
In the green orchard with my young man...

[translation of a folk song]

Talk about truth in advertising! Well into the late 19th century (and in some areas, until the beginning of this century), traditional folk costumes were still being worn by Ukrainian peasants. Rich in color and ornamentation, the costumes differed not only regionally, but by county (povit) and even by village.

The pieces of clothing and the accompanying accessories had more than a strictly utilitarian purpose. There was much symbolism attached to particular items, such as the embroidered shirt and the coral necklace. The ornamentation that was woven in, embroidered or appliqued onto the various pieces also contained much ancient pre-Christian symbolism.

But the one thing that had real cut-and-dry meaning was the unmarried young woman's headdress, the vinok (wreath or garland) of natural or artificial flowers, with many regional variations.

The vinok was worn by maidens (divky, divchata), i.e., virgins, eligible for marriage. In pre-Christian times, it was believed that a vinok protected girls from the "nechysta syla" (the unclean, i.e., evil, spirit) and the evil eye. Khvedir Vovk mentions that the custom of plaiting and wearing wreath was common among all Aryan cultures, as well as among the Semitic peoples. The ancient Greeks believed that the wreath was a messenger of success, carrying its message ahead to the gods.

Vovk also states that during prehistoric times in Ukraine, wreaths were an attribute of the cult of the sun, which can be seen in their important role during the rituals of Ivana Kupala (Midsummer's Night), and in wedding customs.

In all parts of the world, the wedding headdresses are really something else, quite different from the ordinary ones. But then, the wedding attire is special and is meant to have the bridal couple stand out from the crowd. Whether it is a veil, a hat, or a wreath, the bride's headdress is the largest and the fanciest.

A few years ago I happened to look at an open book that the Icelandic Collection librarian was cataloguing at the University of Manitoba Dafoe Library. The illustration showed a Norwegian couple in costume. I observed that this must be a bridal couple. She wondered how I would know this, because the text was Norwegian. "You can tell by the bride's headdress," I replied. The bride was wearing an enormous headpiece. The Ukrainian wedding headdresses are just as large and as elaborate. Among the Hutsuls, there is even a separate headdress worn by an engaged maiden.

In his study on pre-Christian beliefs of the Ukrainian people, Ivan Ohienko (Metropolitan Ilarion) describes some of the Kupalo celebrations in which young women placed their vinky (plural of vinok) bearing a candle in the water, foretelling their romantic future by how the vinok flowed down the river or lake.

From the vinok's direction, the girl could tell whom she would marry; if the vinok stayed in one spot and did not float down the water, she would not marry; if it went under, she would die; if the candle went out, misfortune would follow. The young men would dive into the water, trying to retrieve the vinok of the girl each loved. One of the ritual Kupalo songs says, "Who will catch the vinok will catch the girl, who will get the vinok will become mine."

The vinok was an ancient symbol of marriage. This is very clear in the old Ukrainian word for marriage, vinchannia (having wreaths placed on the head, from the word "vinok"). Even now, one of the durable ancient customs still practiced everywhere Ukrainians live is that of having wreaths of fresh barvinok (periwinkle) or mirt (myrtle) placed on the heads of the couple during the marriage ceremony right after the vows. Myrtle is more Mediterreanean, and is a houseplant in Ukraine, while barvinok is native. The tradition of gold crowns instead of periwinkle wreaths most probably began during medieval times. The barvinok is an evergreen symbol of eternal love.

In previous centuries, when the bride and her entourage went door to door in the village inviting guests to the vesillia (wedding), they carried wreaths on their arms as a sign of the forthcoming celebration. These wreaths, along with the ones to be worn at the wedding, were made during a special ritual evening called vinkopletyny (wreath plaiting), which only females attended. The vinky were prepared while the women sang special ritual songs describing the bride's beauty, her family's pride in her virginity and her future happiness in marriage. One song even reminds the future bride that this will be the last vinok she will wear (because once she is married, she will lose the floral wreath as well as the other one).

The vinok worn by a young woman was floral, but the one sung about in the ritual and folk songs was not. The word vinok and the headdress symbolised a girl's virginity. To lose this vinok was not only a personal, but a communal disgrace. One could hide it if no pregnancy resulted, but if the signs became obvious, such a young woman no longer had the right to wear a floral vinok, because she had lost the other, physical one.

A girl who became pregnant and bore a baby out of wedlock was called a pokrytka, meaning someone who has her head covered, no longer with a wreath, but with a khustyna (kerchief) or other type of married woman's headcovering. Yevhen Onatskyi describes how two older married women would visit a pregnant young woman, would dress her head in a kerchief or whimple (these were ornately draped or tied). In the Hutsul region, the pregnant girl herself would visit an older pokrytka, and ask to be "covered" by her. The older one would say, "Forgive me for covering your virginity, and for cutting your braids" (usually the braids were cut after marriage, as a symbol of passing into the next stage of life).

Wreaths were not worn every day, but for festive occasions and on holy days. The flowers were fresh, paper or waxen (the latter two especially in winter), and were attached onto a band of stiff paper backing covered with a ribbon. In central and eastern Ukraine, the band of flowers was slightly raised in the center front. At the back, multicolored ribbons were attached and cascaded down to below the hips. The ribbons were often embroidered, multicolored or were imported floral woven silk French ribbons.

In other regions, young women wore various headdresses of yarn, ribbon, coins, feathers and grasses, but these all had the same symbolic meaning. A new style in the last decade has young women wearing harasivky (multicolored fairly narrow bands) across the forehead ("Indian-style," if you will) with simpler costumes.

* * *

One book that covers this subject is: "Tradytsiini Holovni Ubory Ukraintsiv" [Traditional Headdresses of Ukrainians] by H. H. Stelmashchuk; (Kyiv: Naukova Dumka, 1993).

"Ukrainian Folk Costume" (Toronto-Philadelphia: World Federation of Ukrainian Women's Organizations, 1992), also has many illustrations of headdresses.

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