Ukrainian Halloween: Five mystical creatures from Ukrainian folklore you can dress as
While Ukrainians never had a tradition of celebrating Halloween the way it's marked in pop culture worldwide, they have always enjoyed dressing up. During Christmas and New Year celebrations, people in Ukraine traditionally wear the costumes of animals, fairy-tale characters, or even political figures to go caroling or perform fun rituals of their ancestors.
As a nation profoundly connected to its ancient traditions and beliefs, Ukrainians preserved an abundance of folklore legends, myths, and stories about magical or even dark creatures, which you can use as inspiration for eerie Ukrainian Halloween costumes.
If you're fascinated with all things Ukrainian, would love to learn more about Ukraine's culture, and get some Halloween costume ideas, continue reading. Rubryka offers a list of five Ukrainian folklore creatures you can dress as on Halloween.
1. Mavka
Halloween costume ideas: Ukrainian artist Sofia Karaffa-Korbut created illustrations for Lesia Ukrainka's Forest Song publication in 1971. Photo collage: Rubryka
The image of Mavka, one of the most captivating figures in Ukrainian mythology, has been passed through generations in fairy tales, legends, and the works of Ukrainian poets and writers. Often compared to a nymph or mermaid, she appears as a beautiful young woman with flowing green hair and a long white gown adorned with flowers.
According to Ukrainian folklore, Mavkas are the restless souls of drowned girls who dwell deep in the forests, planting flowers and dancing in clearings. Traditionally, these creatures were considered dangerous, especially for young men. A man who is lurked by a mavka into the woods will be lost and never find his way home.
In modern popular culture, Mavka has lost its original dark characteristic and is most associated with the work of Ukrainian playwright and poet Lesia Ukrainka, mainly her play The Forest Song, where the image of Mavka, the leading character, is romanticized to represent the magic and gifts of nature. The play's plot was reinterpreted for children in the animated film Mavka: The Forest Song, which you can watch online for Ukrainian Halloween inspiration.
2. Chuhaister
Halloween costume ideas: The Ukrainian folklore creature Chuhaister protected the forest. Photo: UKRCOL
Like Mavka, Chuhaister is another mystical creature of Ukraine's mythology, destined to roam the forests. According to the legend from the Carpathian Mountains, he was once a human who was cursed by his neighbor to wander in nature for eternity.
From a man, he turned into a creature as high as a fir tree with a long white beard, piercing blue eyes, and skin covered in fur. Despite his fierce appearance, Chuhaister isn't dangerous. He's known to be friendly to people, often appearing at campfires set by travelers in the meadows and inviting people for a wild dance.
Ukrainians believed he was a protector of the forest and people who might venture into it, like shepherds with their grazing sheep from the nearest mountainous villages. Chuhaister's true role as a guardian was to hunt Mavkas. He caught and tore the forest nymphs apart for food and helped lost men find their way out of the woods.
3. Povitrulia
Halloween costume ideas: Povitrulia is affectionate but as elusive as the breeze. Photo: Magic World
Another mythical creature that could be perfect for a Ukrainian Halloween costume is Povitrulia. Because her name derives from the word "povitria," meaning air, she is associated with the air element and often called the "daughter of the mountain winds." This positive figure of Ukrainian folklore is typically depicted as a red-haired, ethereal beauty draped in flowers from head to toe and floating above the ground with the help of her delicate wings.
Unlike many mystical women-like spirits of forest, mountains, and water, such as mavkas or mermaids, the povitrulia is compassionate and kind to people, even said to aid lovers. Povitrulias were also believed to love music and dancing, especially the sound of the flute, so shepherds and travelers carried musical instruments with them for a chance to charm these free-spirited beings.
According to the myth, a man can even marry a povitrulia, but to do that, he must steal her wings. Once her wings are taken, she may become a loving wife and mother, bound to her earthly life. However, the moment she reclaims her wings, she will vanish into the unknown, and her husband should journey across the world to find her and earn back her love.
4. Pesyholovets
Halloween costume ideas: Pesyholovtsi, Ukrainian mystical creatures, were illustrated by Iva Mykhailian for the children's book "Mavka Verbychka and Pesyholovtsi." Photo: Iva Mykhailian/Behance
One of the most terrifying creatures in Ukrainian mythology, Pesyholovets, a monstrous man-eating giant, came to Ukraine from ancient Greek stories and became typical for Ukrainian folklore. It is often portrayed as having a human body and a dog's head with a single huge eye in the middle of its forehead. In some legends, these creatures are also described as having just one arm and one leg, moving in pairs by holding onto each other for support.
Barbaric, uncivilized, and brutal, Pesyholovtsi were believed to live in distant lands or unexplored parts of the forest. According to myth, they were vicious, incredibly fast, and impossible to defeat. They would drink the blood of their enemies and also capture people, throw them into deep pits, fatten them up with nuts and candies, and then feast on them. Some believe they symbolized cruel foreign invaders — a horde that destroyed everything in its way.
5. Viy
Halloween costume ideas: Viy's gaze could kill anyone in its path. Illustration by librovortex.blogspot
We're finishing our Ukrainian Halloween list with Viy, who might be the most well-known folklore character in Ukraine's popular culture. Viy is a dark and outlandish creature who lives in the underworld and comes to the human plane at the darkest hour of the night. Hunched and covered in mud, Viy has long eyelashes and massive eyelids that couldn't open without the help of its servants. Ukrainians feared the "evil eye," which explains why this creature was believed to have a deadly gaze.
Viy's image was popularized thanks to the namesake novella by Ukrainian writer Mykola Hohol, where Viy, surrounded by dark forces, comes to the funeral of a witch. Some researchers argue that there were no written mentions of Viy until Hogol wrote the story, so they tend to believe Viy was the fruit of the writer's imagination, inspired by different Ukrainian folklore creatures. This fact doesn't make Viy any less terrifying and mysterious.
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