Easter
Easter
Great day! Great day! Bright Easter on earth! As if joy
and songs An angel on his wings brought us...
Children dance on Easter Sunday - Christ is Risen! Ch
rist is Risen! Today the sun does not set, But shines a
nd shines from the heavens.
Easter is the holiday of the Resurrection of
Jesus Christ, the Resurrection and awakeni
ng to life, after a long winter sleep of nature
. With the arrival of spring, birds return fro
m distant lands, dress in greenery, trees blo
om; the groves echo with loud bird singing.
Paska is a ritual bread, Paska is baked only
on Maundy Thursday. It was forbidden to sl
am the door or borrow anything from the ho
use where Paska is baked; one must make su
re that no one else is there. Paska is the prid
e of the hostess. It was believed that a succe
ssful Paska foreshadowed good, happiness f
or the family; an unsuccessful one - some ki
nd of misfortune. Paska is a symbol of the et
ernity of human life.
They prepare for the holiday in advance - they ba
ke Easter eggs, make Easter eggs and pysanka. Y
ellow, red, orange circles, polygonal stars on the
pysanka are images of the Sun. Waves mean wat
er. They also depict leaves - oak or cherry. They
draw roosters, goats, birds, fish, butterflies, bees.
Everyone should be happy on Easter, because whoever is sad on this day will be sad all y
ear long. If someone dies on Easter, it is believed that their happy soul will go straight to hea
ven, because on that day "heaven is appointed".
After the fast, the bells began to ring - and whoever rang the bell first would be the first to
harvest and would have the best grain. The bells were rung all day long, and then also on the
second and third days.
Easter
Paska
Church
Family
Holiday
Krashanka
Candle
The second Easter symbol is the pysanka or krashanka. Since ancient times,
eggs have been a symbol of the sun, the spring revival of nature, the birth of
life, and the continuation of the family. According to legend, even the mothe
r of Jesus Christ, Mary, made pysankas, which he played with. And once, wh
en evil people tried to throw stones at Jesus Christ, they turned into pysankas
.
Types of painted eggs
There are four main types: krapanka, dryapanka, krashanka and pysanky.
Easter eggs. This is the easiest way to make dyed eggs. Previously, to make them, housewives would coll
ect onion husks and boil eggs in them (sometimes parsley leaves or small currant leaves were tied to the e
gg for decoration, which left white leaf prints on the finished egg). Decoctions of herbs and tree bark were
also used as dyes.
Dots. Wax drops are applied to the egg with a pen and dipped in light paint, then dots are p
laced again and dipped in paint of a darker color. When the dots of all the desired colors ar
e already on the dot, the general background is covered with dark paint (most often dark ch
erry, dark green or black). After that, the wax is melted over a candle and the egg is careful
ly wiped of wax residues with a soft cloth.
Scratch. If you don't have a pen handy, you can experiment with scratch. Take a dark-c
olored egg and dip it in dark paint. When the egg dries, apply a pattern with a pencil and
scratch it with a needle (awl or nail - whatever you have in the household).
Easter egg. This is the most difficult version of colored eggs to make, as it requires ski
ll, patience, and time. First, the main ornaments are drawn with a pencil, then wax is ap
plied along these lines with a pen, after which the egg is dipped in paint, the wax is mel
ted, removed, and, if desired, the ornaments are painted in other colors (you can leave t
hem white).
Easter egg colors and their meanings
Once upon a time, craftswomen made their own paints for Easter eggs.
In Easter egg making, 7 primary colors were most often used (red, yellow, orange, gre
en, cherry, brown, black), but other colors were also possible (depending on the region,
the color range of Easter eggs expanded).
Red. Symbolizes goodness, the joy of life, and for young people, a happy marriage. Accord
ing to church tradition, a red egg is a symbol of the Resurrection, sacrifice, and heavenly fir
e.
Yellow. A symbol of the heavenly body (the sun), warmth, and ha
rvest (the color of ripe grain). Eggs of this color protected against
evil forces and evil. Yellow was also the color of wealth.
Green. The color of spring, the resurrection of nature, hope and life. Symbolize
d the awakening of nature from a long winter sleep.
Brown, brown. Symbolizes the earth and its hidden life-giving power.
Black. The color of the night, of all that is unknown and sec
ret. Usually used as a background, it emphasizes the power
of other colors. It symbolizes the infinity of human life.
White. The color of purity, a symbol of viriy (paradise). The white symbols on the
pysanka symbolized a sinless life.
Blue. It represented the sky, air, water, purity, and health
. On Easter eggs, it symbolized satiety and heavenly divi
nity.
Signs and ornaments on Easter eggs
Cross
Sun
Dawn, Rose
Curl, Snake, Spiral
Branch - pine t
ree
S – similar to the eternity sign
Flowers
Endless (Krivulka)
40 wedges (48 wedges)
Tree of life
Duck feet, God's hand, glove, grandfather's fin Rakes, Combs, Triangles with combs
gers
Quarrel
Oak leaf
Vine
Baranets
Cock
Birdie
Fish
Deer
Easter eggs of Prešov,
Przemyśl and Podlasie
regions
Easter eggs of Western Podillia
Easter eggs of Kharkiv and Za
porizhia regions
Pysanky of Kyiv region
Easter eggs of Poltava an
d Chernihiv regions
Easter eggs of Kherson region
Easter eggs of Odessa, Southe
rn and Northern Bukovina
Easter eggs of Volhynia and Easte
rn Podillia
Easter eggs of Eastern Polissya and Vol
hynia
Easter eggs of Lemko, Boyko, Kursk
and Voronezh regions
Pysanky of the Hutsul
region
Easter eggs of Central Galicia and Trans Pysanky of the Hutsul region, south
carpathia
western Ukrainian Carpathians
Sources:
•
•
•
https://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%92%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B8%D
0%BA%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BD%D1%8C
https://mala.storinka.org/%D0%B2%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%
BA%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BD%D1%8C%D1%81%D0%B2%D1%8F%D1%82%D0%BA%D1%83%D0%B2%D0
%B0%D0%BD%D0%BD%D1%8F-%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%BD%D1%96%D0%B7%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87%D0%B0%D1%97.html
Photos were taken from Google Photos
0
