Res Humanitariae

The traditional rites of the last week before the beginning of Lent were well known in various ethnographic regions of Ukraine until the middle of the 20th century. The most archaic are the traditional rites, the actions of which are related to the being of the mythical Kolodiy (Колодíй): his “birth”, “baptism”, “funeral”, thus testifying to the summarized life cycle. All this was played out every day during the entire week: married women tied wooden sticks («колóдки») to the bodies of guys and girls who had not been married for too long, they all together destroyed the jackstraw of Kostrub (Кóструб), men’s physical competitions (fisticuffs) were held, known since Kyivan Rus’ times. Here, the tradition of feasting on flour and sour milk dishes was directly related to the cult of the Heavenly Lights and promoted a faster disappearance of the winter manifestations in nature. All the mentioned rites were accompanied by special songs dedicated to them.