Mariah Handus

This master from Cherkasy region weaves didukhs of different forms and contents. Beside the fact that she mastered this craft not long ago (in autumn 2009) her sheaves are made following all the traditional structures and rules.

Creative work

The master’s didukhs do not have any frameworks and hold together due to tightly bound tufts wrapped in straw and tied by flax threads. She weaves holiday trees not from cereal alone (wheat, rye, oats) but adding dry flowers (helichrysum, statice, gomphrena, love-in-a-mist etc), field herbs (immortelle, larkspur, field eryngo etc) and poppies. In the process of weaving Mariah strictly fulfills stated “rules”: she puts seven herbs into each tuft (ears, dry flowers) and makes the branching obligatorily unpaired. All her didukhs are different in their shapes and components. Mariah puts a lot of work and positive energy into each of them. Mostly, she prepares materials for the didukhs herself: grows cereals and flowers; but if she sees a shortage of something then she buys it.

For Mariah, didukhs are parts of antiquity in today’s life; they are symbols of Dazhbog – a god of harvest, prosperity and family protector.