Hi guys! Wednesday is here! For those whose weekend starts Friday afternoon - yay, it's coming! For those who work even during the weekend (that's me) - yay, it's Wednesday )) So prejudice. I bet you hear this word pretty often on those crazy days of our lives. And I'm more than sure when you hear the word "prejudice" nothing nice comes to your head. And that's a bit strange to me because when I hear word "prejudice" I usually start smiling. And I'm not crazy, but prejudices are funny. They are extremely funny! I mean it! Well, if you don't believe me, you can come to Ukraine and reassure yourself! What? You don't have time for that? Not now at least? Ok! Ok! I will help you out! Get cozy and prepare to do some reading.
So, Ukraine is a country full of prejudices. But not the ones that right away jump to your head! As I've told you before Ukraine is a very very old country and a lot of things in our culture is centuries old. Most of them derived from very old traditions and abiding different spirits that lived in nature and the ones that my ancestors had to deal with on everyday basis. Many of them are very entertaining as of modern life, but some of them make sense even in so technologically advanced world.
Let me start with a weird one: you should not walk under a rigid ladder set against a wall or anything else or any other kind of ladder. And the reason for that is not that it's dangerous and something or somebody might fall on you. Nope. According to our Ukrainian prejudice, you will run into a stripe of bad luck if you walk under it. Well, maybe that was a gentle way of our ancestors to warn us that walking under ladders is dangerous then it was a pretty vague way to do it, don't you think?
Next one: when you hand in something to somebody make sure that you don't do it over a doorstep unless you really want to get into a bad argument with that person later on. In case you want to skip that quarrel when handing something in, put one foot on the doorstep, you will be safe that way. I've been to a couple of awkward situations myself with this prejudice: once I was pulled into the house when I came to return a book to my literature teacher. I couldn't understand why she was pulling me in with that book in my hands. Of course, she explained herself and as a kid, I couldn't understand how a doorstep can have such a great influence on human life but some people are pretty dedicated to cultural traditions. In the village where my grandmother lived once in a while I had to fulfill some errands that presupposed going to the home of my relatives. I was always learning some prejudice wisdom during those folklore expeditions )) One of my aunts would always shout to me: Don't stand in the doorway! Come in! She wouldn't even consider giving or taking anything from me if I was on the doorstep.
If you forgot something at home and you decided to come back get it (unless it's a mobile phone, believe me, it's a great experience of leaving it at home - in the evening you will discover to yourself how many people really love you and how many really hate you!), so if you forgot something and run back into the house or apartment make sure that you cast a short glance into any kind of mirror. If you don't do it all your day will go wrong! That's one of the things that I follow unquestionably no matter what! I don't even try to persuade me to act otherwise. No way!
If you spilled some salt you are in big trouble! Get ready for a big quarrel with your significant other! If you want to avoid it you have to do a certain ritual and you'll be saved: take a pinch of that spilled salt with your right hand and throw it over your left shoulder. Don't mix it up! It really matters with those lefts and rights! Unless you feel like you need to give a good shake to those relationships ))
Don't you dare take that garbage out of your place in the evening! I'm not sure that this prejudice is entirely Ukrainian. I assume it could have come from Chinese Feng Shui. Anyways, garbage stays in till the dawn. If you did dare to take it out, prepare for a long-lasting financial stagnation period. But you can always break it if you step into cr*p accidentally while taking a stroll in the park or anywhere else. So for every prejudice there is a counter-prejudice )))
Empty buckets are pretty threatening too! If you happen to travel to some Ukrainian villages don't be surprised if you walk the street and then see somebody with buckets waiting while you walk past and only then pass your track. Crossing somebody's way with empty buckets may bring bad luck to the life of the person whose way you crossed. Many people are very conscious of this prejudice and will try to keep you out of trouble. Of course, if you know about magic dulia (doo-lia) you don't have to worry about empty buckets. Where to get it or where it grows? Or even more radical question: WHAT IS IT?????? Dulia is a finger combination (way more complicated than a primitive middle finger gesture) which is known in the Western Word as fig sign. It is as old as Roman Empire where it was used as a sign to deny a request. In order to make right dulia you have to put your thumb in between your pointer finger and your middle finger and make a fist out of your hand. There you are! Now you learned some real magic! The usage of dulia spreads way further than just a situation with empty buckets. You can use it in a plethora of cases. For example, when you feel that somebody is not very sincere with you when paying you a compliment and tries to put their evil eye on you (haven't you felt like that when you know a person is not very nice genuinely and then out of sudden he or she is extremely friendly with you? that's when I would definitely have a dulia in my pocket).
Don't laugh on Friday, or you will cry on Sunday! This prejudice always puzzled me a lot, and even scared me once in a while, because it would work. I guess ancient Ukrainians were not big into partying on Fridays that's why they were kind of despising those who did. So they decided to scare away them with a punishment like that. But I have to confess that it did happen to me a couple of times and it made me think about it from different angles. Maybe it happens because human mood has its "cycles" and if you had a great time on Friday it still kind of lingers through Saturday and then on Sunday you realize that it's over. On the other hand, if you work a 5 day work week and Monday is your first work day maybe you get so sad about it that you start crying. I don't know where it comes from but sometimes it is true.
Spiders! Yes, they are also in our system of prejudice! We are lucky not to have those huge hairy monsters like in some more exotic places, and maybe that's why attitude to spiders is very respectful in Ukraine. Well, you are not supposed to kill a spider, especially those ones that live in your home. You can carefully spool spider's web on a broom together with Mr. Spider and take him out, but be careful and make sure that you don't damage the spider itself. Spider in Ukrainian mythology is connected to the creator of the world, it is weaving the strings of life and symbolizes destiny and fertility.
There is also a bunch of prejudices connected to exchanging things. For example, we believe that if you want to know the other person's thoughts you should drink from that person's cup or glass. Or if you want to learn what your spouse it dreaming about at night you can try to sleep on their pillow. Such prejudices are related to some kind of magic practices that our ancestors were aware of. I don't have any scientific or historical explanations to such things but one thing I know for sure: when accidentally I put my sleeping gown inside out, I dream really weird things. I could write a whole book of stories about those dreams. And of course, there are prejudices about putting clothes inside out on yourself. If it happened you might get into a bad luck stripe in life. And again, there is a counter-prejudice to reprogram the situation: take off that piece of clothing (make sure you do it at home)))), spit three times over your left shoulder, throw it on the floor and step on it slightly. That's it! Your good luck is back!
As you have noticed the left shoulder is of great significance: you either throw something or spit over it. My grandmother explained to me that behind the left shoulder stands the devil and behind the right one is our guardian angel. That's is why we spit on the devil or throw salt at him.
I bet a lot of our prejudices are common for other countries just like that fig sign. At the same time, there are things that are traditional only for Ukraine. Now that you have the knowledge of some Ukrainian ones you can successfully implement them in your life and have more luck and success!
At least, that's definitely something I wish you: be healthy, lucky and behave!
Truly yours!
So, Ukraine is a country full of prejudices. But not the ones that right away jump to your head! As I've told you before Ukraine is a very very old country and a lot of things in our culture is centuries old. Most of them derived from very old traditions and abiding different spirits that lived in nature and the ones that my ancestors had to deal with on everyday basis. Many of them are very entertaining as of modern life, but some of them make sense even in so technologically advanced world.
Let me start with a weird one: you should not walk under a rigid ladder set against a wall or anything else or any other kind of ladder. And the reason for that is not that it's dangerous and something or somebody might fall on you. Nope. According to our Ukrainian prejudice, you will run into a stripe of bad luck if you walk under it. Well, maybe that was a gentle way of our ancestors to warn us that walking under ladders is dangerous then it was a pretty vague way to do it, don't you think?
Next one: when you hand in something to somebody make sure that you don't do it over a doorstep unless you really want to get into a bad argument with that person later on. In case you want to skip that quarrel when handing something in, put one foot on the doorstep, you will be safe that way. I've been to a couple of awkward situations myself with this prejudice: once I was pulled into the house when I came to return a book to my literature teacher. I couldn't understand why she was pulling me in with that book in my hands. Of course, she explained herself and as a kid, I couldn't understand how a doorstep can have such a great influence on human life but some people are pretty dedicated to cultural traditions. In the village where my grandmother lived once in a while I had to fulfill some errands that presupposed going to the home of my relatives. I was always learning some prejudice wisdom during those folklore expeditions )) One of my aunts would always shout to me: Don't stand in the doorway! Come in! She wouldn't even consider giving or taking anything from me if I was on the doorstep.
If you forgot something at home and you decided to come back get it (unless it's a mobile phone, believe me, it's a great experience of leaving it at home - in the evening you will discover to yourself how many people really love you and how many really hate you!), so if you forgot something and run back into the house or apartment make sure that you cast a short glance into any kind of mirror. If you don't do it all your day will go wrong! That's one of the things that I follow unquestionably no matter what! I don't even try to persuade me to act otherwise. No way!
If you spilled some salt you are in big trouble! Get ready for a big quarrel with your significant other! If you want to avoid it you have to do a certain ritual and you'll be saved: take a pinch of that spilled salt with your right hand and throw it over your left shoulder. Don't mix it up! It really matters with those lefts and rights! Unless you feel like you need to give a good shake to those relationships ))
Don't you dare take that garbage out of your place in the evening! I'm not sure that this prejudice is entirely Ukrainian. I assume it could have come from Chinese Feng Shui. Anyways, garbage stays in till the dawn. If you did dare to take it out, prepare for a long-lasting financial stagnation period. But you can always break it if you step into cr*p accidentally while taking a stroll in the park or anywhere else. So for every prejudice there is a counter-prejudice )))
Empty buckets are pretty threatening too! If you happen to travel to some Ukrainian villages don't be surprised if you walk the street and then see somebody with buckets waiting while you walk past and only then pass your track. Crossing somebody's way with empty buckets may bring bad luck to the life of the person whose way you crossed. Many people are very conscious of this prejudice and will try to keep you out of trouble. Of course, if you know about magic dulia (doo-lia) you don't have to worry about empty buckets. Where to get it or where it grows? Or even more radical question: WHAT IS IT?????? Dulia is a finger combination (way more complicated than a primitive middle finger gesture) which is known in the Western Word as fig sign. It is as old as Roman Empire where it was used as a sign to deny a request. In order to make right dulia you have to put your thumb in between your pointer finger and your middle finger and make a fist out of your hand. There you are! Now you learned some real magic! The usage of dulia spreads way further than just a situation with empty buckets. You can use it in a plethora of cases. For example, when you feel that somebody is not very sincere with you when paying you a compliment and tries to put their evil eye on you (haven't you felt like that when you know a person is not very nice genuinely and then out of sudden he or she is extremely friendly with you? that's when I would definitely have a dulia in my pocket).
Don't laugh on Friday, or you will cry on Sunday! This prejudice always puzzled me a lot, and even scared me once in a while, because it would work. I guess ancient Ukrainians were not big into partying on Fridays that's why they were kind of despising those who did. So they decided to scare away them with a punishment like that. But I have to confess that it did happen to me a couple of times and it made me think about it from different angles. Maybe it happens because human mood has its "cycles" and if you had a great time on Friday it still kind of lingers through Saturday and then on Sunday you realize that it's over. On the other hand, if you work a 5 day work week and Monday is your first work day maybe you get so sad about it that you start crying. I don't know where it comes from but sometimes it is true.
Spiders! Yes, they are also in our system of prejudice! We are lucky not to have those huge hairy monsters like in some more exotic places, and maybe that's why attitude to spiders is very respectful in Ukraine. Well, you are not supposed to kill a spider, especially those ones that live in your home. You can carefully spool spider's web on a broom together with Mr. Spider and take him out, but be careful and make sure that you don't damage the spider itself. Spider in Ukrainian mythology is connected to the creator of the world, it is weaving the strings of life and symbolizes destiny and fertility.
There is also a bunch of prejudices connected to exchanging things. For example, we believe that if you want to know the other person's thoughts you should drink from that person's cup or glass. Or if you want to learn what your spouse it dreaming about at night you can try to sleep on their pillow. Such prejudices are related to some kind of magic practices that our ancestors were aware of. I don't have any scientific or historical explanations to such things but one thing I know for sure: when accidentally I put my sleeping gown inside out, I dream really weird things. I could write a whole book of stories about those dreams. And of course, there are prejudices about putting clothes inside out on yourself. If it happened you might get into a bad luck stripe in life. And again, there is a counter-prejudice to reprogram the situation: take off that piece of clothing (make sure you do it at home)))), spit three times over your left shoulder, throw it on the floor and step on it slightly. That's it! Your good luck is back!
As you have noticed the left shoulder is of great significance: you either throw something or spit over it. My grandmother explained to me that behind the left shoulder stands the devil and behind the right one is our guardian angel. That's is why we spit on the devil or throw salt at him.
I bet a lot of our prejudices are common for other countries just like that fig sign. At the same time, there are things that are traditional only for Ukraine. Now that you have the knowledge of some Ukrainian ones you can successfully implement them in your life and have more luck and success!
At least, that's definitely something I wish you: be healthy, lucky and behave!
Truly yours!
I will leave a photo of the Glass Angel here for good luck!
The photo is taken by me.
All rights reserved!
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