Between Sleep and Death: Dreams as a System of Death Omens in the Villages of the Left-Bank Cherkasy Region

Relevance. Beliefs about death omens occupy an important place in the traditional culture of Ukrainians and reflect ways of interpreting liminal life situations. Despite the considerable body of ethnological research on funeral ritual practices, folk beliefs about prophetic dreams as omens of death remain only fragmentarily documented, especially in the local context of the Left-Bank Cherkasy region of Ukraine. Documenting the living folkloric tradition is essential, since traditional beliefs are gradually disappearing under the influence of urbanisation and the transformation of worldview. Purpose. To collect, classify, and analyse folk beliefs about dream-omens foretelling death in the villages of Revbyntsi, Mala Burimka, and Staryi Mokhnach in the Zolotonosha district of Cherkasy region; to identify the main narrative motifs of prophetic dreams, to interpret their symbolism, and establish their connection with funeral ritual practices. Methods. The study is based on field ethnographic research conducted by the author in 2024–2025. Respondents were selected with a focus on representatives of the older generation as bearers of traditional knowledge. The collected testimonies were recorded on video and subsequently transcribed. The analysis employed the comparative method, symbolic interpretation of dreams, and contextual interpretation within the framework of folk tradition. Results. The study identifies the principal motifs of prophetic dreams: tooth loss (the most widespread omen, interpreted according to the presence of blood, pain, and the location of the tooth); appearances of deceased relatives (especially when they call, lead someone to the cemetery, or ask for something to be given to them); images of black ploughed soil and a collapsing house (symbolising the earth as the place of burial and the house as a symbol of the family’s condition); the appearance of a horse in dreams (associated with the symbolism of guides to the otherworld); and other motifs (living flowers, the mass appearance of flies). Conclusions. Prophetic dreams are grounded in the belief in the permeability of the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead. The interpretive system preserves archaic layers of belief and demonstrates a close connection with funeral ritual practices. At the same time, some respondents express a sceptical attitude toward certain omens, which indicates an ongoing transformation of traditional beliefs. The study documents local variants of folk beliefs and enriches the understanding of thanatological concepts.