Mythological images in ukrainian spring play folklore
Authors: Syvachuk Nataliia 
Published: July 2024

Ukrainian mythology is an important component of the all-Slavic cultural heritage. Over the centuries, it was destroyed, it was considered forbidden, so it is impossible to restore it completely, however, valuable material is preserved in folklore texts, which makes it possible to reconstruct some images. Such valuable material is legends, tales, fairy tales, Christmas carols, Kupala songs, freckles, etc. We paid attention to such mythical images of spring ritual folklore, such as: Jaschur, Podolyanochka, Belodanchik, «willow board», « crooked dance», «rosary», «bunny», etc.
The freckle game «Podolyanochka» is dedicated to the goddess of the earth, her awakening in the spring, it is a relic of ritual actions of an initial nature. At the heart of the freckle game «Korovai» is the ancient custom of changing the initiator's childhood name to an adult one. The ancient game «Jaschur «contains a mysterious image of the lord of the underground and underwater elements, to whom young girls were once sacrificed. In the spring game «Bilodanchyk» there is a real custom of giving girls and women as wives to a water spirit. Theonym indicates that this image belongs to white, bright spirits. Over time, the game acquired a different meaning, related to marriage, as evidenced by the expression «wash your face», «put on a shirt», «pat your head». Scientists believe that this image is the personification of the sacred principle, which related to the love and marriage sphere of being.
In ancient times, spring ritual actions began and ended with the freckle game «Crooked Dance». The dance had a talismanic purpose: to clean the environment, to restore order, to establish harmony. This is a syncretic game, a key round-robin, in which preference is given to sinusoidal movement, which symbolizes the trajectory of the sun in a circle, the eternity of life. The choreographic pattern of the dance symbolizes the trinity of generations, order, harmony: everything flows and changes.
At the heart of the freckles «Shum», «Pletenytsia», «Zhuchok» – the idea of weaving, swirling energy flows. The participants of the game do not move in a straight line, but in a winding way, because «howling» (twisting) means in the folk worldview the beginning, the birth of life. With his singing and movements, man stimulated the activation of the forest's vital forces, that mysterious forest spirit of Shum. These freckle games are a manifestation of the celebration of life.
The game «Willow board» is of ancient origin. A board, a bridge in folk symbolism marks marriage, the transition from virginity to married status. In the folk dream book, the bridge also predicts marriage. Images of water and fire as the embodiment of female and male energy are symbolic. Extinguishing fire (masculine energy) with water (feminine energy) is a remnant of an ancient pagan ritual.
The freckle-game «Bunny» is part of the ancient marriage liturgy, which is based on the idea of mating.
The freckle-game «Zhelman» has several hypotheses regarding the origin and meaning of the mythical characters we are talking about.