The surprise revelations of the puzzle-like Matrioshka dolls and the multi-layered symbolic designs of Ukrainian pysanky (decorated Easter eggs) set the stage for understanding the complexity and significance of feminism in contemporary Ukraine. It is the story of women whose culture, with its roots in ancient matrifocal civilizations, have been continuously negated by the dominant culture of Russia. Like the Matrioshka dolls who recall older images of the Great Goddess bringing forth life from within her body, Ukrainian women continue to bring forth from within themselves individually and as a diverse community new expressions of the life-giving and world-shaping power of the values and beliefs of their submerged culture.