SCIENTIFIC RECONSTRUCTION OF THE HEATHEN CALENDAR BASED ON THE BELIEFS OF THE POLISHCHUKS: SUMMER CYCLE


DOI: https://doi.org/10.17721/2520-2626/2025.37.15

Halyna LOZKO

Abstract


This article is the second part in a series on the reconstruction of the heathen calendar (the first part was dedicated to spring holidays), and this second part is dedicated to summer holidays. These articles initiate a new level of understanding and ethnocultural interpretations of the rich empirical material of the ethno-religious culture of the Ukrainian Polissia region, which was acquired by several generations of Ukrainian researchers. An analysis, synthesis, and reconstruction of the heathen festive calendar of the summer cycle have been carried out. The system of pre-Christian summer holidays and their semantics and symbolism are considered. For the first time, the summer holiday of Svitovyt is examined, which was reconstructed on the basis of written (mediaeval chronicles and church sources) and folk evidence. The dating of the Kupala holiday according to the summer solstice has been clarified; methods of comparative religious studies have been used to explain its theological significance as the culmination of summer, legends about the “fern flower” are presented, assumptions are made about the theistic features of Kupaila as a deity, identical to the Greek Apollo and Roman Janus, and Kupala (feminine gender) as the Asia Minor Cybele. The dating of the festive periods of Vodianyk and Simargl is proposed. It has been established that the Christian cults of Kuzma and Demyan (folk Kuzmodemyan) could have been an ideological superstructure over the ancient worship of Svarog (as the god of blacksmiths). A number of summer rituals are considered: Zazhynky, Obzhynyky, Spasivka, which are associated with the ancient folk custom of festive celebration of the end of the harvest and the gathering of crops, and giving thanks to the gods for the harvest. The extensive ethnographic material from the Ukrainian Polissia region demonstrates the attitude of the people themselves towards the preservation of sacred traditions.
The results of the study can be used in further scientific research, in teaching special courses on folk spiritual culture to students and graduate students studying Ukrainian studies, in recreating the spiritual and ritual practices of ancestors in rural and urban communities, communities of native faiths, youth groups, ethnic festivals, tourist routes, in the restoration of traditions by folk craftsmen, and in the reconstruction of sacred objects, which will rely mainly on local groups of the indigenous population, namely the Polissia people themselves. The restoration of the local culture of Polissia is of national importance and a matter of state significance.


Keywords


pre-Christian calendar; Ukrainian Polissia; Vydiv holiday; Kupailo; Perun's week; Spasivka; Strybog’s days

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