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Paper short abstract

This paper explores the cow’s role in Carpathian folk culture as a mediator between the earthly and the sacred, focusing on rituals, beliefs, and narratives from 1987–2019 fieldwork that highlight cattle’s economic, social, and symbolic significance.

Paper long abstract

This paper examines the role of the cow in the traditional culture of the Ukrainian Carpathians as a mediator between economic, social, and sacred spheres. Fieldwork materials collected by the author in Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, and Zakarpattia regions between 1987 and 2019 demonstrate that the cow was regarded not only as a vital source of livelihood but also as a symbol of prosperity, reflected in beliefs, rituals, and oral narratives.

Ownership of cattle determined a family’s social status (khudobni), while ritual and narrative practices reinforced this importance. Alongside calendrical customs such as Christmas and Easter celebrations, the spring “turnout to pasture,” and local herdsmen’s festivals, numerous magical practices and charms were aimed at protecting cows and milk from witchcraft, the evil eye, and disease.

At times, livestock approached a sacred status. During the Christmas-tide period, cattle were believed to speak to God, either complaining or praising their owner. In the same season, the ritual introduction of a calf (polaznyk) into the household was thought to bring wealth and good fortune for the year ahead.

By addressing ritual practices and their accompanying narratives, this paper situates cattle within calendrical, magical, and social contexts. In this system of folk belief, the cow emerges as a central mediator between the earthly and the sacred in the worldview of the East Slavic population of the Ukrainian Carpathians.