THE THINGS WE DO...: Some mak for the road (06/26/05)

THE THINGS WE DO...

by Orysia Paszczak Tracz

Some mak for the road

"This time, I'll really be in trouble!" I thought to myself. I've been known to bring back interesting and/or unusual things from Ukraine - all legal, of course - but this was ridiculous!

I'll start from the beginning. Traditions and ancient folk beliefs are all around the very contemporary urban Ukraine, not just in the rural areas. You would expect that the people in the "selo" (village) would hold on to special rituals, but they do the same in very modern Kyiv and Lviv, and other cities as well.

My friend and I are bidding our farewells to the very hospitable family with whom we stayed for about a week in Lviv. The grandmother (gulp, probably my age or even a bit younger) is a sincere, open, delightful individual. Along with loading us down with gifts that we try to fit into already bursting luggage, she recites this beautiful verse "na dorohu" - for the road. It is a blessing for a safe journey.

And while she's speaking, she rushes into the next room and comes out with some poppy seeds in her hand, and starts sprinkling them over me and putting some into my pockets. These are blessed seeds, from the feasts of Makovey and Spas, and they will keep me safe on the trip home to Winnipeg. We then all sit down for the obligatory moment of silence and meditation before departing for the airport.

I don't think anything of it until, at the airport, I remember the drug regulations, and the sniffing dogs at Frankfurt and Toronto. Oh, great, I can just see the headlines now: "Ukrainian Canadian writer busted for drug smuggling ..." [hmmmm, we always knew she was into those poppies and hemp...]

In the hustle and bustle of getting to the airport and onto the plane, I forget about the seeds for a while. I open up the always interesting Panorama, the in-flight magazine of Ukraine International Airlines, and settle in for some reading and relaxation.

And I laugh out loud.

There in a profile by Artem Volnovoy on frequently traveling opera singer Volodymyr Hryshko, I read: "Other than documents, money and clothes, is there something special that you always take along when you are traveling?" "I always take some holy water with me, as well as sacred poppy seeds and icons I inherited from my mother. In fact, before I perform, I always sprinkle the stage with holy water and poppy seeds for good luck."

There it is in print! If I were to be stopped, in my hot little hands I had the proof that the seeds in my pockets and hair and in the seams of my clothing were legitimate, at least according to traditional Ukrainian standards. If a prominent soloist of the Metropolitan Opera and the New York City Opera travels with his "mak," this time so was I.

I clutched that magazine all the way through to Winnipeg.

Well, nothing happened at customs, and I arrived home without incident. But along with many other examples of Ukrainian ancient beliefs being very much alive, I brought home seeds which kept me safe and symbolized fertility, goodwill and all that is bliss.

I hope to go again this summer. And who knows what I'll be bringing back this time? I'm afraid to imagine.

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