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О. Купьчицька. Одягають вінок. 1940. Placing of the wedding wreath. O. Kulchytska. 1940. The Ukrainian folk wedding is actually a real life drama in three acts: courtship, engagement, wedding. There are several subdivisions in these acts, such as the maiden’s eve when wedding wreaths are made, wedding tree decoration, the baking of the korovai, the wedding bread, and the ceremony of inviting to the wedding, dressing of the bride, the blessing, seating in the place of honor, the ransom, the bringing of gifts, and others. The folk wedding drama is very much like an oper etta or a musical, because every step in the process is accompanied by a song, music, dance or rhythmic ges ture. Although the people faithfully repeated the tradi tional scenario of the folk wedding ceremony, the pass ing time nevertheless subjected it to a progressive evo lution. Different regions left their own particular imprint on the sequence of events in the ceremony or on other minor details, but for the most part the basics remained intact. Courtship When a young man was ready to marry and had decided on the woman of his choice, he would woo her. If she accepted his admiration and attention, the serious courtship rituals would begin. The young man would find two older men who would act as his emissaries and speak to the girl’s father on his behalf. These men were called “starosty” (the elders) and the role they played was strictly diplomatic in nature. These were people with life’s experience behind them, who were well versed in all the ceremonial wedding rites and rituals. Their responsibility was not only to negotiate the marriage deal, but to make sure that all the elements of tradition were properly and sequentially orchestrated. In other words, the “starosty” were the directors of the wedding drama. As symbols of their position, the “starosty” carried staffs. With a bag filled with bread, salt and a bottle of good whiskey, these courtship diplomats made their way to the house of the girl chosen by the young man, and announced themselves by knocking three times on the door. Even though they may have been aquaintan- ces of the father of the girl, tradition dictated that he make believe they were strangers. The “starosty” then told a strange tale. They said they were from a far away land and came to this part of the country to hunt. They did not find any game, but along the way they met a prince who was on the trail of a marten in the form of a beautiful girl and asked for their help to capture her. The trail of this lovely creature led to this door. At the end of this fabulous story, the “starosty” asked the father if he was willing to give up his daughter or did she still have to grow a bit. During all this talk, the young man stood beside the door, while the girl tended the hearth, which was the symbol of the family unit which she would be leaving when she gets married. The father then asked his wife and daughter what he should do. This question was but a formality which left the way open for his daughter to respond with in a prescribed ritual. If the girl absolutely disliked the young man, she handed him a pumpkin on a plate. In less dramatic cir cumstances, she may be more sensitive to his feelings and therefore say that the ritual cloths are not ready yet, or that her father said she is still too young and has to grow some more. But, if the girl was willing, she then reached into her dowry chest and handed to the “star osty” the ritual cloths which she herself had embroi dered. These wise diplomats then tied the ritual cloths across their right shoulder and under the left arm, and shared the bread and whiskey with the father. For the young man the girl offered a kerchief for which he paid her by putting some money on a plate. The girl then tied the kerchief to the young man’s upper arm or to his belt. When the “starosty” and the young man left the girl’s house, the ritual cloths and the kerchief signified to the entire village that a deal has been made and a wedding will soon take place. The reference to a prince and to hunting in the var ious prescribed narratives is due to the fact that the wedding traditions reached the peak of their develop ment in the princely era and the common folk yearned for ceremonies akin to those practiced by the royalty. In the hard and mundane existence of an agrarian com 18 НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ”, ЧЕРВЕНЬ 1992 Видання C оюзу Українок A мерики - перевидано в електронному форматі в 2012 році . A рхів C У A - Ню Йорк , Н . Й . C Ш A.
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