V

vazon (вазон): literally a potted plant.  It is the name given to a version of the “tree of life” motif that resembles a plant in a pot. It is a symbol of the berehynia.

Veles or Volos (Велес/Волос). The old Slavic god of cattle, wealth, and trade. He was one of the chief deities in the pantheon of pagan Rus’.  With the adoption of Christianity Saint Vlas (Vlasii) replaced Veles as the protector of livestock.

Vegreville: a town in Alberta, Canada, which is the site of the world’s largest pysanka.

Velyкden’ (Великдень): In modern usage, Easter.  It was also the name given in pagan times to the spring holiday.  A literal translation is “Great Day.”

verba (верба): willow, at Easter time it is usually pussy willow.  In Ukraine it is willow branches that are blessed on Verbna Nedilia (Palm Sunday).  The pussy willow motif appears occasionally on pysanky.

vitriak (вітряк): windmill.  This is the name given to some svarha/swastika motifs. The pysanka on the right is an example from Kuban.

Volyn’ (Волинь): ethnographic region of Ukraine located in the northwestern area of the country.  Modern-day Volyn’ oblast is located within this region, along with territories from four other oblasts and Belarus. Pronounced “vo-LIÑ’” (short i and a soft n in the second syllable).

Voropay: Oleksa Voropay (Voropai) is best know for his ethnographic tome “Folk Customs of Our People,” which was published in two volumes, in Munich, the first in 1958, and the second in 1961.  Since Independence, this work as been republished in Ukraine, as a single volume, several times.  It is one of the two main sources of ethnographic information about Ukrainian folk customs, and has several pages of information about pysanky, pysankarstvo, and talismanic traditions.

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