The folk astronomy of Ukrainians combines rational knowledge and worldview ideas about the Moon, reflecting their life experience and observations of the environment over time.
Moon phases and beliefs about their influence on life
Depending on the visible shape of the Moon, there are four main phases of the Moon, which Ukrainians call quarters, quatrains, or quads: new moon (new Moon), waxing, waning (full Moon), and the last quarter (“rotten days”, “waning”, “old Moon”, “old man”). Sometimes there are three parts of the Moon – decades. A time period of two or three days of complete absence of the Moon’s visibility is called a change (“dark Moon”, “liminal phase”, “neither this nor that”, “moonrise”).
New Moon as a symbol of the beginning
The New Moon is of great importance for the economic calendar. In particular, during the period of the new moon’s birth, it is forbidden to perform certain types of work: sowing, planting garden crops, fermenting cabbage, stabbing a wild boar, whitewashing a house, shaking out soot, etc. If you get injured on the new moon, the wound will not heal for a long time, and some doctors even refuse to perform operations on these days. In the Chernihiv region, it was believed in ancient times that the offspring of cattle born on the new moon belonged to the wolf, so they were not kept for long, but cut up for meat or sold.
To this day, remnants of mythological ideas about the phases of the Moon have survived. According to folk beliefs, witches gathered for their games on the new Moon; the new moon never comes on Sunday, and Easter happens only on “old” days.
The best period for business was the time of the Moon’s growth: what was started then could lead to a favorable resolution of something planned, to a successful family life, and wealth. Even today, you can hear that it is better to cut your hair when the moon is new, so that it grows faster and better.
Where do sleepwalkers come from?
The moon’s rays are considered to be dangerous at the full moon. People believed that if they fell on a person during sleep, they could negatively affect their health. This explained the appearance of sleepwalkers, so people were not allowed to sleep near a window or cover it to prevent moonlight from entering the room.
In household life, on the full Moon, they fermented cabbage, canned vegetables and fruits, put poultry to lay eggs, built a house, and went to woo.
Old Moon and its dangers
During the waning of the Moon, it was not recommended to harvest food because it would rot, and one should not cut down wood for construction because it would attract pests. The short period of the Moon’s absence is perceived as fatalistic in folk astronomy. It was assumed that those born on these days would be widowed early or never have children.
How Ukrainians interpreted spots on the Moon
Ukrainians’ interpretation of spots on the moon can be considered an ancient worldview belief. Many records show that people have seen the outlines of two brothers. The stories vary, but here are some of the most common motifs:
- brother stabbed his brother because he went to give food to the cattle on Easter, but they should have eaten it first (Western Polissia);
- a brother snatches a stick from his brother (Lviv region);
- the rich brother wants to stab the poor brother with a pitchfork (Pokuttia);
- a rich brother kills a poor brother over a haystack (Rivne Polissia);
- a brother inadvertently stabbed his brother while he was carrying hay for Christmas (Chernihiv region).
The most common statement in Ukraine is that a brother hurt his brother with a pitchfork.
Sometimes, under the influence of Christianity, the biblical story of Cain and Abel is recalled. Some stories say that the Moon sheltered Cain, disregarding God’s will. In this way, people explained why the Moon and the Sun were different, and they imagined an existential conflict, trying to personify the world around them and reproduce everyday realities in mythological stories about the formation of the world.
How the Moon helped predict the weather
A significant number of folk meteorological signs establish a connection between the Moon and the weather. Most attention is paid to its “birth”, when Ukrainians expect rains in the first three days after the new moon appears, believing that it must “wash itself” or “bathe”.
In the past, such incomprehensible natural phenomena as crowns or circles around the Moon (halo) were harbingers of an impending weather change. Although our ancestors could not explain them well, they noticed that certain weather changes occurred with their appearance (“When the Moon is in a circle, it is to bad weather”, “The Moon is in fog to rain”, “If there is a sickle behind the Moon, there will be bad weather”). Forecasters confirm that halos are visible in the sky when the Moon is covered by translucent cirrus or cirrus-cumulus clouds. These clouds are formed at an altitude of 6-8 km from the smallest ice crystals. The refraction and reflection of light in the crystals create the halo.
By observing the Earth’s satellite in its first phase, Ukrainians predicted the weather for the next month. To do this, they watched the position and appearance of the lunar sickle: if the horn was down, it meant rain. For better memorization of the signs, there are several sayings (“If the young moon is horns down, the chickens will drink water”, “If you hang a bucket on the horn and it holds, it will not rain, but if it falls, it will rain”). If the horns of the moon’s sickle were blunt, not clearly defined, it promised rainy weather (“If the new moon is a sickle, it is for drought, and if it is fluffy, the whole month will be rainy”, “If the new moon is rough, it is for bad weather, and if it is thin, it is for good weather”). The main role here is probably played by the transparency of the air, in which clear and well-defined moon horns portend good weather. The place of the moon’s appearance was important: if it first appeared south of sunset, it would be a warm time, and if it appeared north, it would be cold.
Today, few people rely on the mythology or symbolism of the moon’s appearance in the night sky. However, beliefs and omens are an integral part of Ukrainian culture, and thus are still of interest to historians and researchers.
Author: Oleksandr Vasianovych, ethnologist, PhD in History
This article was published in #2 (191) 2024 of Universe Space Tech magazine. You can buy this issue in electronic or paper versions in our store.
