Water and the Sun

All Ukrainian embroidery is covered with sacred signs of Water and the Sun. The Sun is often depicted by a rosette or flower with eight petals, whilst the sign for Water brings to mind a coiled grass-snake. These are two elements which created earthly life and that is why they are to be interpreted as humid (or moist) maternal and fiery paternal energy. Symbols for the Earth and Sun united with Water to comprise the life-giving trinity, were incorporated in Ukrainian embroidery since time immemorial. They are signs of those forces without which life itself is not possible. The rhombus signs on the shoulders are symbols of fertile Mother-Earth, which are generously sown and warmed by the Sun allowing our life to grow in abundance. But the Earth itself is part of the Universe with its multitudinous star system and our young Sun which for our ancestors was the embodiment of sacred, cosmic fire.