Phytosymbols and zoosymbols in ukrainian raditional peasant house building

Abstract

Problem  statement . Like any   phenomenon of material culture, housing is not only an object of pure practical features, it also has a symbolic on the level of ideology and worldview. House was the first place where the  religious rituals were carried out. House was a model of the cosmos, in the minds of our ancestors, therefore almost all its elements, excepting  domestic and pragmatic, were also symbolic  in ancient time. The deep symbolic meaning were also ritual actions  associated with the process    of peasant house building  at all  stages.  Peasant  house  should  organically  fit  into  the  environment.  It  was an  artificial element  that  "was  built"  by person in the environment.  Our ancestors felt inspired, endowed with animalistic or anthropomorphic characteristics, everything that one way or another  has  been associated with the natural elements,  so it was important to "appease" nature,  providing  the reliability and durability of  the new house. These ideas also  reflected  in  deeply archaic customs and rituals having  accompanied the building. Some of them were peculiar kind of tribute to the spirits of nature, so they were the  form of compensation and directed to reproduce the natural balance that was interrupted by   the intervention of the builders. There were rituals of a  pragmatic type, they are used to verify the purity  of the sacred chosen places for housing and so  on.  Analysis of publications. A  complex system of rituals and symbols  accompanying the building of housing, has been the subject of scientific research since the middle of    nineteenth century. This  complex  ritual  attention  was  paid  to  the  works  of  the  famous  historian  and  ethnographer  M.F.Sumtsova.  More  recent ethnographic  research  (S.  Kylymnyk,  L.  Musykhyna,  D  Lozko  V.  Voitovych,  M.  Lanovyk,  S.  Lanovyk,  V.Skliarenko,  A.S. Shuklynova,  V.V.  Siadro  and  others)  also  include a  study  of  the  abovementioned  topics  but  both in  classical  and  contemporary scientific studies, information  wasn’t represented  about tradition, ritual  and magic acts and system of symbols associated with the process of peasant house building doesn’t represented systematically and comprehensively, and in covering other aspects of material and spiritual culture of Ukrainian  occasionally  were considered  .The purpose of the article to explain the symbolism of plants and animals, being used in Ukrainian folk housing. Conclusions. As we can see, the symbolism is rich and varied, used by our ancestors during the construction and improvement of housing. In the  system of traditional symbols of this type can be identified signs proslavic origin,  ancient symbols, reinterpreted with the influence of  Christianity, ets.  There are different symbols  and their magical properties and functionality:  features  of  its own talisman,  as  cleansing  amulet, therapeutic, diagnostic, etc. The described  system of symbols of Prydniprovsyi region fits in a national context.