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TRADITIONS OF UKRAINIAN SCOUTING-PLAST
THE UKRAINIAN SCOUT
EMBLEM
The usual scouting emblem of Scouting organizations
in countries around the world is usually the fleur-de-lis. So it is also
for the Ukrainian Scouting, but the Ukrainian Scouting emblem artfully
combines the fleur-de--lis with the official state emblem of independent
Ukraine — the "Tryzub" or Trident.
The trident is a very ancient
symbol of Ukraine. It's usually taken to symbolize Wisdom, Knowledge and
Love. It first appeared as insignia of royalty in Crimea among the
mysterious Taurians, at least three millennia ago. Later this heraldic
device was adopted as the family crest of the Rurik kings, who were the
rulers of the earlier Ukrainian state, the Kievan empire, which existed
from the 9th to the 15th centuries. The "Tryzub" or Trident is now the
official crest of the Ukrainian State.
Historical Tridents of
Ukraine
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Trident of
Crimea 3rd Century AD |
Tridents
of |
the Rurik
Kings |
Official
Crest of Ukraine |
THE PLAST
GREETING
SKOB!
Ukrainian Scouts-Plastuny, like most other
Scouts in the world, use the universal Scout greeting "Be Prepared!",
which in Ukrainian sounds " Ho-tooys!" (literally: " prepare yourself!")
This greeting is used today mostly by the Cub Scouts.
But the
Ukrainian Scouts also have another greeting: "SKOB!"—an acronym of four
Ukrainian words: "Sylno" (forcefully), " Krasno" (beautifully),
"Oberezhno" (carefully), and "Bystro" (speedily). Together, they spell
"SKOB", which happens to be the name of a species of an eagle, which
inhabits the wide steppes of Ukraine. SKOB specifies in some detail, how
the Scout is supposed to prepare himself.
The Ukrainian
Scouts-Plastuny also greet each other with a right-handed three-finger
salute, signifying the three Main Duties of a Plastun. They also shake
their left hands in greeting.
ST.GEORGE PATRON SAINT
OF UKRAINIAN SCOUTS, AND THE ANNUAL SPRING FESTIVAL
Saint George, a mythical saint
from Cappadokia (in modern-day central Turkey), usually portrayed on a
horse with his spear piercing a dragon, has been revered in Ukraine since
the great prince of Kyiv, Volodymyr the Great, established Christianity as
the official state religion of the Kyivan Empire in 988 AD. Churches and
icons dedicated to St. George are very popular in Ukraine.
For
Ukrainians, St.George symbolizes purity of spirit, selfless devotion to
the protection of their country and boundless courage and valor in the
service of goodness and purity.
No wonder then that Ukrainian
Scouts adopted St. George as their patron saint. The
feast of St. George falls in May. That date is celebrated by the Ukrainian
"Plastuny" as both the St. George’s day and the Festival of Spring—the
yearly beginning of the camping and hiking season.
A weekend in May
is usually selected for the "Sviato Vesny" (the Spring Festival). Scouts
go out into the nature, to their camping-sites, into woods, or mountains,
where they set up their tents, hold sport events, cookouts, campfires,
various competitions, exercises and various other
activities.
Special events of this festival often include some very
old (pre-Christian) dances (called "vesnianky" and "hahilky") — which, for
many thousands of years, have been held in springtime in Ukraine, during
the Christian era as part of the Easter ceremonies. They take their origin
in ancient pagan worship of such deities of spring as: Lada, Yarylo, etc.
Special music, songs, and various rituals accompany these dances, which
underlie the essential unity of man and nature and go back to the ancient
Ukrainian traditions of striving to preserve nature and natural
environment.
This year, as the years past, scouts in Ukraine held
their annual Spring Festival, honoring St. George, as an example to scouts
of valor and good deeds.
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