Photos: Independence Monument, Kyiv - Berehynia Spirit, Protectoress

[Donkees]

Berehynia is a female spirit, “hearth mother, protectoress of the home”. Monument to Berehynia, located in Maidan Nezalezhnosti "Independence Square" Kiev, Ukraine. As a model of the Berehynia statue, the author Anatoliy Kushch chose his daughter, American artist Christina Katrakis. The statue is made of a cast bronze and weighs about 20 tons.









'Berehynia is holding a swag of Viburnum opulus. Viburnum can be found throughout Ukrainian folklore such as songs, decorative art, Ukrainian embroidery, and poetry. Its symbolic roots can be traced to the Slavic paganism of millennia ago. According to a legend, kalyna was associated with the birth of the Universe, the so-called Fire Trinity: the Sun, the Moon, and the Star. Its berries symbolize one's home and native land, blood, and family roots. '


Link to 3D Model:

https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/independence-monument-kyiv-ad65bedf4e6e4a67a77faabbbc7a6fe8

[secondwind]

1. So beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!

I hope it survives.................

[Donkees]

6. The indigenous Berehynia Spirit will survive

“What is that which can never die It is that faithful force that is born into us that one that is greater than us that calls new seed to the open and battered and barren places so that we can be resown. It is this force in its insistence in its loyalty to us in its love of us in its most often mysterious ways that is far greater far more majestic and far more ancient than any heretofore ever known.”

― Clarissa Pinkola Estés, The Faithful Gardener: A Wise Tale About That Which Can Never Die

[SheltieLover]

2. Beautiful!

And seemingly representative of the lack of toxic masculinity in the Ukranian culture!

Ty for sharing!



🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦

[niyad]

5. A most excellent point.

[SheltieLover]

7. 👍

[Wicked Blue]

3. Are those tiny tears under her eyes?

Or is it my overwrought imagination?

[niyad]

4. Thnk you for sharing this beauty and Her meaning.

[crickets]

8. Lovely. K&R for visibility.

[Donkees]

9. Anti-tank hedgehogs can now be seen in the very heart of Kyiv, the central Independence Square

The Kyiv Independent
@KyivIndependent
·
2m
Anti-tank hedgehogs can now be seen in the very heart of Kyiv, the central Independence Square and Khreshchatyk Street.

Photo: Illia Ponomarenko/The Kyiv Independent

[Hekate]

10. How very lovely Berehynia is!

Thank you.

[smirkymonkey]

11. гарний!

(beautiful)

[Donkees]

12. Ukrainian defenders are building barricades on the Maidan Square in central Kyiv once more.

Photo: Stas Yurchenko / Lattice