Do you believe in the power of amulets? They can be different for everyone. Someone knits a red thread around their arm and believes that it will protect them from all bad things, while others simply endow household items with special magic and, for example, always carry a toy given by their daughter near their heart.

Did you know that since ancient times, a motanka doll has been responsible for amulets and communication between generations, going through all the stages of life with a person? And the secret of its power lies in the tradition of making and passing it down from generation to generation. This amulet has a deep meaning and reveals the symbols of our nation.

“The motanka doll was present in the life of the people almost from the birth of the child. If we go back to the past life of our ancestors, the first thing a mother made for her baby was a baby doll, which was put in the cradle before the baby was born. And when the child grew up, they would let him play with the doll. If the family had plans to give birth again, this special toy would be put back in the cradle to warm the place. Also, when a mother gave her daughter in marriage, she tried to give a motanka doll along with a dowry. In this way, this doll symbolized the connection between generations and families. In general, this is all our history, our traditions passed down by word of mouth from our ancestors,” says Zinaida Buhaichuk, a craftswoman who makes motanka dolls, with awe.

The woman also believes that if the tradition of passing on motanka continues to spread, we will be able to instill respect for parents and our family in the younger generation. That's why Zinaida has been trying to bring such amulets back into the lives of Ukrainians for many years. The craftswoman created a public organization called the Code of the Nation Creative Workshop, teaches children and everyone else to make motanka and affectionately calls them “my dolls.”

Zinaida Buhaichuk recalls: “From the first days of the war, I thought that no one needed my work, but it turned out that this was not entirely true.” So the question arises: “What role do rag dolls play in the modern life of Ukrainians?”

And the craftswoman realized the answer very quickly: “A lot of dolls went to various auctions to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the children of our country, to lottery drawings. We sent the “Bereginya” dolls to the military, to our friends who were going to the front. As one Zhytomyr newspaper wrote: “A doll can fight too”. This is another example of how you can benefit your people by doing what you love.

“I have recently presented a collection of dolls that I have been creating for almost a year, wearing clothes based on embroidery from all regions of Ukraine. I wanted to show the diversity of our clothes. It's like a small image of the territory from which the information was drawn. This collection aroused a lot of interest. At the presentation, people came up to us, asked questions, and everyone wanted to find their region, saying: “Where is my Luhansk region? Where is my Odesa region? What does the Dnipro look like?“” says Zinaida.

And what prevents Ukrainians from reviving such lost traditions and cherishing the cultural heritage of our people? Motanka dolls have already traveled around the world and broadcast a piece of Ukrainian history, so perhaps it's time to breathe new life into the lost tradition. The craftswoman says that today the motanka doll has become a kind of marker of Ukraine. We see it in Poland, Belgium, Denmark, and Germany. People are joining our Ukrainian culture.

However, it should be noted that today the dolls have become a real talisman for our military. It is where death is on the heels of Ukrainian soldiers that a motanka brings life. “One man once sent me a message in Messenger. Back in 2014, I gave him a motanka doll through volunteers, and it stayed with him throughout the war. The soldier himself has just returned home, and the doll is still there. He attached a photo of the already “frayed” motanka. The man said that he wore it and believed that it would help and save his life. And so it happened, he returned home,” says Zinaida Buhaichuk with a trembling voice. But although sometimes it seems that only a miracle can save you, sometimes it is already in your pocket. You just have to believe in it.

Traditions or rituals that we have forgotten often find an echo in the modern world. Thus, motanka dolls, which once symbolized the connection between generations, have become amulets for the Ukrainian military.

The article was prepared within the framework of the project of the Agency for Private Initiative Development  "Promoting Youth Civic Participation in Decentralized Communities" with co-financing from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).