A Tradition of Making and Using a Wooden Charm

A wooden charm is a horseshoe-shaped carved wood with geometric, vegetal and cosmic patterns. Currently, there are no restrictions on wood type or size. Used at home to protect the person and in the countryside to protect pets. Wooden charms are placed above the front door, on the front wall of the entrance or on a nearby pillar. To protect the animals, they are hung around the animals’ necks, horns, or on the door of the barn, on the post, and to get a lot of butter, they tie it to a cork string. Small wooden charms are hung on children’s cribs or sewn onto the back of children’s clothing. They are also worn by women along with beads. The cultural feature of wooden charms is that they are pieces of applied art designed with national style emblems expressing the ideas of celestial luminaries, animals, water, fertility cults.

Protective wooden charms are still used today and are widely used, especially among the youth. Currently, the scope of their preparation and use is related to the activities of woodworkers and various social groups that keep alive and preserve the tradition of folk beliefs. Their use has a certain purpose due to the belief of protection from evil forces and aesthetic significance, when the charm is used as an ornament or decoration of the apartment. Modern craftsmen are very successful in copying the old, traditional forms of charms, as well as making new styles of wooden charms that are widely used.

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