The Days Before Easter Sunday
Children finish school on Ugly Wednesday (Škaredá středa), which is a good idea because they need to spend some serious time on making Easter what it should be. In the evening of Green Thursday (Zelený čtvrtek), every boy in the village equips himself with a wooden rattle (řehtačka), which is specially made for the purpose, the boys form a group and walk through the village, rattling their rattles vigorously, so the noise can be heard from afar. The meaning of the rattling is to chase away Judas.
Easter is rather enjoyable holiday for children.
The same procedure repeats on Good Friday (Velký pátek) and one more time on White Saturday (Bílá sobota) when the boys don’t only walk through the village but stop at every house in the morning and rattle until they’re given money, which they then split between themselves. However, this custom is not as popular as it used to be in past and practised only in some villages.
Easter Sunday (Neděle velikonoční) is a day of preparations for Easter Monday. Girls paint, color and decorate eggs if they haven’t done so already, and boys prepare their pomlázkas!
Children in kindergarten learning how to paint eggs.
Easter Monday (Pondělí velikonoční) is a day off, the day of the pomlázka.
The origin of the pomlázka tradition (pomlázka meaning both the whip and the tradition itself) dates back to pagan times. Its original purpose and symbolic meaning is to chase away illness and bad spirits and to bring health and youth for the rest of the year. Boys would whip girls lightly on the legs and possibly douse them with water, which had a similar symbolic meaning. An Easter carol, usually asking for an egg or two, would be recited by the boy while whipping. The girl would then reward the boy with a painted egg or candy and tie a ribbon around his pomlázka. As the boys progressed through the village, their bags filled up with eggs and their pomlázkas were adorned with more and more colorful ribbons.
…how it looks in most cases
This tradition is still largely upheld, especially in villages and small towns, although it may have lost its symbolism and romance and is now performed mainly for fun. Some boys and men seem to have forgotten that the whipping is supposed to be only symbolic and girls don’t always like that. The reward has also changed - money and shots of plum brandy (slivovice) are often given instead (to adults) of or in addition to painted eggs and candy. So by early afternoon, groups of happy men can be seen staggering along the roads…
There is also custom called “oblévačka” when men pour water on women. In the Czech Republic its mostly practised in Eastern Moravia although you can sometimes find it in other regions, for example there is even reversed version of this custom when women pour water on men.
In past we used to have “Revengeful Tuesday” when the roles get switched completely. This custom is still held in some places but otherwise it’s widely unknown. A pity - it looks fun.
All that aside, Easter remains one of the most joyful holidays on the Czech calendar.
Happy Easter! - Veselé Velikonoce!
Girls carrying traditional Easter dishes - mazanec and beránek. The weather is sadly very accurate for Velikonoce this year…(I wrote this in 2013 and sadly it’s still actual in 2015)
annaxmalina
dededos
kianamaiart
yousharknotpass
prguitarman
