Each region, each village, and almost every family in Ukraine had its
own special ritual, its own symbols, meanings and secret formulas for
dyeing eggs. These customs were preserved faithfully and passed down
from mother to daughter through generations. The custom of decorating
pysanky was observed with greatest care, and a pysanka, after receiving
the Easter blessing, was held to have great powers as a talisman.
Examples of Ukrainian pysanky, modern and traditional. |
The dyes were prepared from dried plants, roots, bark, berries and insects (cochineal). Yellow was obtained from the flowers of the woadwaxen, and gold from onion skins. Red could be extracted from logwood
or cochineal, and dark green and violet from the husks of sunflower
seeds and the berries and bark of the elderberry bush. Black dye was
made from walnut husks. The dyes were prepared in secret, using recipes
handed down from mother to daughter. Sometimes chemical dyes (of unusual
or difficult colors) were purchased from traders along with alum, a mordant that helped the natural dyes adhere better to eggshells.
A variety of styluses, from traditional to modern |
The pysanky were made at night, when the children were asleep. The
women in the family gathered together, said the appropriate prayers, and
went to work. It was done in secret––the patterns and color
combinations were handed down from mother to daughter and carefully
guarded.
Pysanky were made using a wax resist (batik) method. Beeswax
was heated in a small bowl on the stove (піч), and then scooped into
the stylus as needed. The molten wax was applied to the white egg with a
writing motion; any bit of shell covered with wax would be sealed, and
remain white. Then the egg was dyed yellow, and more wax applied, and
then orange, red, purple, black. (The dye sequence was always light to
dark). Bits of shell covered with wax remained that color. After the
final color, usually red, brown or black, the wax was removed by heating
the egg in the stove and gently wiping off the melted wax, or by
briefly dipping the egg into boiling water.
An unfinished pysanka ready for the black bath of dye. It bears the Ukrainian Easter greeting: "Christ is risen!" |
Alternatively, in Transcarpathia and other ethnic Lemko areas, a
pinhead was dipped into molten wax and then applied to the shell of the
egg. Simple drops were made, or there was an additional pulling motion,
which would create teardrop or comma shapes. These drops were used to
create patterns and designs. Dyeing and wax removal proceeded as with
traditional pysanky.
Pysanky continue to be made in modern times; while many traditional
aspects have been preserved, new technologies are in evidence. Aniline
dyes have largely replaced natural dyes. Styluses are now made with
modern materials. Traditional styluses are still made from brass and
wood, but those made with more modern plastic handles are gaining in
popularity. An electric version of the stylus has been commercially
available since the 1970s, with the cone becoming a metal reservoir
which keeps the melted beeswax at a constant temperature and holds a
much larger amount than a traditional stylus. These newer styluses
(whether electric or not) also sport machined heads, with sizes or the
opening ranging from extra-fine to extra-heavy.
Pysanky are typically made to be given to family members and
respected outsiders. To give a pysanka is to give a symbolic gift of
life, which is why the egg must remain whole. Furthermore, each of the
designs and colors on the pysanka is likely to have a deep, symbolic
meaning. Traditionally, pysanky designs are chosen to match the
character of the person to whom the pysanka is to be given. Typically,
pysanky are displayed prominently in a public room of the house.
In a large family, by Holy Thursday, 60 or more eggs would have been
completed by the women of the house. (The more daughters a family had,
the more pysanky would be produced.) The eggs would then be taken to the
church on Easter Sunday to be blessed, after which they were given
away. Here is a partial list of how the pysanky would be used:
- One or two would be given to the priest.
- Three or four were taken to the cemetery and placed on graves of the family.
- Ten or fifteen were given to children or godchildren.
- Ten or twelve were exchanged by the unmarried girls with the eligible men in the community.
- Several were saved to place in the coffin of loved ones who might die during the year.
- Several were saved to keep in the home for protection from fire, lightning and storms.
- Two or three were placed in the mangers of cows and horses to ensure safe calving and colting and a good milk supply for the young.
- At least one egg was placed beneath the bee hive to insure a good harvest of honey.
- One was saved for each grazing animal to be taken out to the fields with the shepherds in the spring.
- Several pysanky were placed in the nests of hens to encourage the laying of eggs.
Everyone from the youngest to the oldest received a pysanka for
Easter. Young people were given pysanky with bright designs; dark
pysanky were given to older people.
A bowl full of pysanky was invariably kept in every home. It served
not only as a colorful display, but also as protection from all dangers.
Some of the eggs were emptied, and a bird’s head made of wax or dough
and wings and tail-feathers of folded paper were attached. These “doves”
were suspended before icons in commemoration of the birth of Christ,
when a dove came down from heaven and soared over the child Jesus.
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