Ukrainian Easter Eggs: Krashanky & Pysanky
There are two types of Easter eggs which are well-known in Ukrainian Easter tradition. One type is the krashanka (plural - krashanky), a hard-boiled egg which is dyed a solid color, as in indicated by its name which is derived from the word kraska meaning “color”, and is meant to be eaten. The other type is pysanka (plural - pysanky), derived from the word pysaty - “to write”, which is beautifully decorated and dyed and, through a very long history predating written records, has always been made from a raw egg and is never consumed.
Krashanky: Some Folk Customs
The brightly dyed hard-boiled eggs that are included in the basket to be blessed on Holy Saturday or Easter morning have many old folk customs associated with them. The best-known custom is the practice of breaking the long Lenten fast with a piece of blessed egg. After mass on Easter morning, the family returns home to a breakfast-brunch and holy feast, the head of the household cuts one of the blessed krashanka and each member of the family eats a piece. This custom symbolizes family unity and is a solemn hope that the upcoming year will be happy and prosperous.
Krashanky and paskas, as well as pysanky, made especially for the receiver, were exchanged by friends and relatives on Easter day. Good wishes and kisses were given with these gifts, and everyone repeated the Easter greeting “Khrystos Voskres (Christ is Risen)” and the answering reply “Voisteno Voskres (He is truly Risen)”.
Some women in the Ukraine used to observe the feast of Blazheni. The Blazheni were believed to be meek, good men who lived near the “Sunday Waters” in a far-away land where there was no way to keep track of the passing time. On Easter Monday red krashanky shells would be thrown onto swiftly flowing waters in order to let the Blazheni know that the “Great Day” had arrived.
On Easter day or on one of the three consecutive days that Easter was celebrated, people in the Ukraine would visit the cemetery next to the church for a service in memory of the dead. After the service was over, they would sit in the grassy areas of the cemetery and have a meal or tryzna (feast in memory of the dead) of krashanky and the blessed foods left from Easter. When the meal was done, the remaining food would be left on the graves and a glass of vodka or wine would be poured over the grave while repeating “eat, drink and enjoy this and remember us sinners”. When birds were seen later eating this food, it was believed that they were really the spirits of the dead.
In the western Ukraine, especially the Hutsul area, three krashanky and a piece of paska were wrapped up and placed in the stove or fire for the dead. Coming from a simpler time and a less educated people, we should remember that these customs reflected in their own way a deep religious belief in life after death in the presence of God.
In past years in the Ukraine, people wanting to discover the fate of relatives who had died would place a krashanka on the grave and cover it with a little earth. The next morning, if the egg was disturbed in anyway, it was believed that the soul of the deceased was in need of prayer. If, however, the egg was still in place and unsoiled in the morning, one would be sure that the soul had entered into heaven.
The krashanky were also believed by many to have magical protective powers. Peasants would put their shells in the thatch of their roof and under haystacks to keep away strong winds. Beekeepers would bury one under the beehives to ensure a good year for honey. Later in the spring, a farmer would roll a krashanky in green oats on St. George’s Day and then bury it in the field to give a good harvest that was not harmed by foul weather. Shells of krashanky were also buried in the garden in hopes of a bountiful yield and placed in chickens’ nests so that many chicks would be hatched.
Water in which krashanka shells had been soaking was used by Ukrainian girls to wash their faces. It was believed that this water would make the user prettier, and no doubt the red dye did give added color to many fair cheeks.
People also credited krashanky that had been blessed on Easter with strong healing powers. A krashanka hung by a string around the neck was believed to be of help to a seriously ill person, while touching affected areas with a krashanka was supposed to cure blood poisoning.
Even after the krashanky were used in every possible way, they or their shells were never carelessly thrown aside. Having been blessed on the “Great Day” they were considered holy and treated with respect. Krashanky were only disposed of by throwing the shells in moving water, or by burning or burying the eggs.
What We Know about the Origins of Pysanky
The art of pysanky is so ancient that no one truly knows its origins. It is known that at least 2000 years ago primitive people who lived in the area of the Ukraine worshiped the sun. These pagan people saw parallels between the yellow yolk of the egg and the sun, the white of the egg and the moon. In those ancient times, the egg was believed to have magical power and often was used in sun worship ceremonies.
Our long-ago ancestors also knew that the egg could be the source of life. In rituals of the spring which celebrated both the return of the sun as the days grew longer and rebirth of the earth as nature woke from the long winter, the raw, fertile egg gained significance as a symbol of life and hope.
When the nation of Ukraine accepted Christianity in 988 A.D., the egg was adopted as a religious symbol of the Easter celebration - both as the egg which was eaten to first break the fast of Lent, and in the form of pysanky, decorated with designs of Christian significance. Written references from as early as the 13th century recorded the well-developed customs of pysanky and krashanky in the Ukraine. The pysanky now had new symbolism as a sign of new hope - hope that man could feel because of Christ’s resurrection and His promise of Eternal Life.
The egg was compared to the tomb from which Christ arose and the old pagan symbols were given new Christian meanings - the old sun designs now stood for the Son of God, triangles stood for the Holy Trinity, stars showed God’s love toward man, dots represented Mary’s tears, and crosses represented Christ’s suffering for us. New symbols were added, too - the fish which represented Christianity, forty-triangle designs which reminded us of the forty days of fasting by Christ and the forty days of Lent, the butterfly as a sign of the Resurrection, and designs of Ukrainian-style churches, our place of worship.
Through many years, the pagan beginnings have faded from our memories, and the new, glorious, Christian meanings attached to pysanky have given Ukrainians and others much joy.
Some Old Beliefs about the Power of Pysanky
The women in the family who made the pysanky took care to prepare themselves mentally and spiritually before they sat down to begin their designs in the last week of Lent. It was believed that the goodness that then would be in the home could be transferred to the pysanky through the designs that were drawn on them. When beginning this important task, the woman would make a sign of the cross and whisper “God, help me!”. Though all the women in the family might be working on pysanky, this was not a time to be gay and frivolous. There were special songs that could be sung quietly so the souls of the dead who traveled in the night would not be bothered. This was a serious time, for if there was a large family, several dozen eggs might be completed in four of five nights.
Many type of pysanky would have to be made. Certainly, out of respect, there would be one or more made for the priest, with careful designs expressing religious meanings. At least one pysanka would need to be made for friends outside of the family and other persons who would exchange pysanky with you on Easter morning.
Simple but colorful eggs, often with floral designs, would be made for the children of the family and for any other young relatives or godchildren, too.
The young maidens would need to make many pysanky to exchange with the young men in their town or village. Special care would be made to express the wishes that the girl would want to give to the beaus who received her pysanky. If she wanted to be coy, a young girl could give pysanky to several young men, but if only one special person received her gift of pysanky, there might be an engagement following Easter.
Elders would receive special eggs in dark colors that had symbols such as ladder that foretold of the journey to Heaven that they might soon be making.
Special eggs might be prepared for the graves of children and adults of the family, as well as a few which would be kept to place in the coffin in case anyone died during the upcoming year. In the last century, children who died at Easter had pysanky included in their coffins as symbol of their family’s wish that they should have playthings and food in the afterlife. Young women who died unmarried in this earlier time had buried with them a vinok (bridal wreath) formed of pysanky that encircled their head.
The animals were not overlooked when making pysanky. From the large animals that were in the barns or the fields to the smallest, the bees that produced the honey, eggs were decorated that carried symbols that asked for many young to be borne, for strength to be maintained, or even for a good supply of honey in the upcoming year, When the warm weather arrived, farmers would take these special pysanky and rub them on their animals to protect their health, and then bury the eggs in the hope of good crops. The beehives also received the benefits of the pysanky prepared especially to be placed beneath them.
Pysanky were also made for the protection of people’s property - their homes, their farms, and their barns. Their presence in these buildings was believed to spare them from harm from lightening or fire. These special pysanky were blown out and suspended above the barn door.
Sometimes pysanky were emptied and a bird’s head and wings were added to hang before the icons in the home. These “birds” represented the dove who came down from Heaven and flew over the infant Jesus.
* Adapted from “Ukrainian Easter” by Mary Ann Woloch-Vaughn.
Here are some that my mom made! In our family we were taught that each pysanky would add a link to strengthen the chains around “evil” or the devil, and every time one broke it would weaken the chain
