A pysanka (Ukrainian: писанка, plural: pysanky) is a Ukrainian Easter egg, decorated using a wax-resist (batik) method. The word comes from the verb pysaty, "to write", as the designs are not painted on, but written with beeswax.
The word pysanka refers specifically to an egg decorated with
traditional Ukrainian folk designs, and is not a generic term for any
egg decorated using wax resist.
Many other eastern European ethnic groups decorate eggs using wax resist for Easter. These include the Belarusians (пісанка, pisanka), Bulgarians (писано яйце, pisano yaytse), Croats (pisanica), Czechs (kraslice), Hungarians (hímestojás), Lithuanians (margutis), Poles (pisanka), Romanians (ouă vopsite, incondeiate or impistrite), Serbs (pisanica), Slovaks (kraslica), Slovenes (pisanica, pirhi or remenke) and Sorbs (jejka pisać).
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| Easter egg from Romania. Note the mostly white Pysanky in the front, "Similarly, it is appropriate to give young people pysanky with white as the predominant color because their life is still a blank page." |
In pre-Christian times, Dazhboh was one of the main deities in the
Slavic pantheon; birds were the sun god's chosen creations, for they
were the only ones who could get near him. Humans could not catch the
birds, but they did manage to obtain the eggs the birds laid. Thus, the
eggs were magical objects, a source of life. The egg was also honored
during rite-of-Spring festivals––it represented the rebirth of the
earth. The long, hard winter was over; the earth burst forth and was
reborn just as the egg miraculously burst forth with life. The egg,
therefore, was believed to have special powers.
With the advent of Christianity, via a process of religious syncretism,
the symbolism of the egg was changed to represent, not nature's
rebirth, but the rebirth of man. Christians embraced the egg symbol and
likened it to the tomb from which Christ rose. With the acceptance of
Christianity in 988, the decorated pysanka, in time, was adapted to play
an important role in Ukrainian rituals of the new religion. Many
symbols of the old sun worship survived and were adapted to represent
Easter and Christ's Resurrection.
In modern times, the art of the pysanka was carried abroad by
Ukrainian emigrants to North and South America, where the custom took
hold, and concurrently banished in Ukraine by the Soviet regime (as a
religious practice), where it was nearly forgotten. Museum collections
were destroyed both by war and by Soviet cadres. Since Ukrainian
Independence in 1991, there has been a rebirth of the art in its
homeland.
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| A mix of modern, diasporan and traditional Ukrainian pysanky. |
No actual pysanka have been found from Ukraine's prehistoric periods,
as eggshells do not preserve well. Cultic ceramic eggs have been
discovered in excavations near the village of Luka Vrublivets'ka, during
excavations of a Trypillian
site (5th to 3rd millennium BC). These eggs were ornamented, and in the
form of торохкальці (torokhkal'tsi; rattles containing a small stone
with which to scare evil spirits away).
Similarly, no actual pysanky from the Kievan Rus'
period exist, but stone, clay and bone versions do, and have been
excavated in many sites throughout Ukraine. Most common are ceramic eggs
decorated with a сосонка (horsetail plant) pattern in yellow and bright
green against a dark background. More than 70 such eggs have been
excavated throughout Ukraine, many of them from graves of children and
adults. They are thought to be representations of real decorated eggs.
These ceramic eggs were common in Kievan Rus', and had a
characteristic style. They were slightly smaller than life size (2.5 by
4 cm, or 1 by 1.6 inches), and were created from reddish pink clays by
the spiral method. The majolica glazed eggs had a brown, green or yellow
background, and showed interwoven yellow and green stripes. The eggs
made in large cities like Kiev and Chernihiv,
which had workshops that produced clay tile and bricks; these tiles
(and pysanky) were not only used locally, but were exported to Poland,
and to several Scandinavian and Baltic countries.
The oldest "real" pysanka was excavated in Baturyn in 2008, and dates to the end of the 17th century. Baturyn was Hetman Mazepa's capital, and it was razed in 1708 by the armies of Peter I. A complete (but crushed) pysanka was discovered, a chicken egg shell with geometric designs against a blue-gray background.
The pysanka is currently being reconstructed; when completed, it will
allow us to see what sort of ornamentation was in use in pre-1708
Ukraine.
The Hutsuls––Ukrainians who live in the Carpathian Mountains
of western Ukraine––believe that the fate of the world depends upon the
pysanka. As long as the egg decorating custom continues, the world will
exist. If, for any reason, this custom is abandoned, evil––in the shape
of a horrible serpent who is forever chained to a cliff–– will overrun
the world. Each year the serpent sends out his minions to see how many
pysanky have been created. If the number is low the serpent's chains are
loosened and he is free to wander the earth causing havoc and
destruction. If, on the other hand, the number of pysanky has increased,
the chains are tightened and good triumphs over evil for yet another
year.
Newer legends blended folklore and Christian beliefs and firmly
attached the egg to the Easter celebration. One legend concerns the Virgin Mary.
It tells of the time Mary gave eggs to the soldiers at the cross. She
entreated them to be less cruel to her son and she wept. The tears of
Mary fell upon the eggs, spotting them with dots of brilliant color.
Another legend tells of when Mary Magdalene
went to the sepulchre to anoint the body of Jesus. She had with her a
basket of eggs to serve as a repast. When she arrived at the sepulchre
and uncovered the eggs, the pure white shells had miraculously taken on a
rainbow of colors.
A common legend tells of Simon the peddler, who helped Jesus carry
his cross on the way to Calvary. He had left his goods at the side of
the road, and, when he returned, the eggs had all turned into
intricately decorated pysanky.
Many superstitions were attached to pysanky. Pysanky were thought to
protect households from evil spirits, catastrophe, lightning and fires.
Pysanky with spiral motifs were the most powerful, as the demons and
other unholy creatures would be trapped within the spirals forever. A
blessed pysanka could be used to find demons hidden in the dark corners
of your house.
Pysanky was believed to hold powerful magic, and had to be disposed of properly, lest
a witch get a hold of one. She could use the shell to gather dew, and
use the gathered dew to dry up a cow's milk. The witch could also use
bits of the eggshell to poke people and sicken them. The eggshell had to
be ground up very finely (and fed to chickens to make them good egg
layers) or broken into pieces and tossed into a running stream.
The cloth used to dry pysanky was powerful, too, and could be used to
cure skin diseases. And it was considered very bad luck to trample on a
pysanka–God would punish anyone who did with a variety of illnesses.
There were superstitions regarding the colors and designs on the
pysanky. One old Ukrainian myth centered on the wisdom of giving older
people gifts of pysanky with darker colors and/or rich designs, for
their life has already been filled. Similarly, it is appropriate to give
young people pysanky with white as the predominant color because their
life is still a blank page. Girls would often give pysanky to young men
they fancied, and include heart motifs. It was said, though, that a girl
should never give her boyfriend a pysanky that has no design on the top
and bottom of the egg, as this might signify that the boyfriend would
soon lose his hair.
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