The older I get, the more I feel this tangible connection to land and all her children. I stand today with the knowing that I belong here, that I am a child of the Earth.

And the more I feel connected to this land, the more I feel a sadness and severing from the land where I was born…

Berehynia (also Bohynia) is the Ancient Mother Goddess who is believed to be source of life and death in Ukrainian mythology.

She is celebrated as the life giving mother, the creator of heaven and all living things, and the mistress of heavenly water (rain), upon which the world relies for fertility and fruitfulness. On the other hand, she was thought to rule destiny.

I first came to know Maria’s brilliant artwork when news broke out that many of her paintings were deliberately destroyed by russian missiles during the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 while hanging at the Ivankiv Historical and Local History Museum. She has since become an honorary ancestor who is continually a source of inspiration for me in the ways her art embodies a Ukrainian creative spirit.

Thank you, Water, for cleansing me and returning me back to the flow of my rivers, the waves of my ocean, the calm of my tears; for reminding me that there is always time to slow down, take a deep breath and tune in…