Modern Rendition of The Hutsuls

This painting, from Ukrainian artist “AveOko”, is called “Mofar (3)”, and is a modern rendition of a figure from the Hutsul culture. The Hutsuls, a mountain- and- forest- dwelling people in Western Ukraine, consider mofars to be a type of shamen, using herbalism and folk magic. Mofars are considered neither evil nor good per se, but use their knowledge and skills as they see fit.

The mofars became known outside of Ukraine when author Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky wrote a famous novel featuring a mofar called _Shadows of Our Ancestors_ in 1911, and mofars appear frequently in Ukrainian music (the Kyiv artist stonefromthesky, a.k.a. Alex Zinchenko has an electronica piece called “Molfar”) and commercial goods (there is Molfar beer and a Molfar tea).

But molfars were/are actual people. One who became somewhat well known was a man named Mykhaylo Nechay, who was actually honored by the Ukraine government for his contributions to Ukraine’s musical culture. Nechay believed he could miraculously stop people from bleeding, and he was rumored to have given prognostications. Sadly, he was murdered by a mentally ill person in 2011 at age 81.