Pysanky (Ukranian Easter Eggs)
I believe this is year five or six of my family doing Pysanky during Holy Week. (We belong to the Orthodox Christian Church and this is our holy week). By family, I mean my two oldest children and myself. My husband occasionally does one but is usually busy with other things (like baking Pascha - a traditional Russian sweet bread for Pascha, which is our Easter) so does not take part in it as much as the children and I do. Though he does love seeing our accomplishments.
Pysanky became a Christian tradition in the Ukraine and surrounding areas. But they did start in pre-Christian times and there are many traditions and legends linked to the eggs. Once the egg became a symbol for the resurrection of Christ, people began decorating the eggs with Christian symbols. My kids and I like to try to use as many of the Christian symbols as possible. Many of our eggs have crosses on them, butterflies which symbolize the resurrection and triangles which symbolize the trinity.
They are made using a wax resist method and special dyes. The word 'pysaty' means 'to write' as the designs are not painted but 'written' on with wax. More information can be read here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pysanka
We are by no means experts. We are certainly not at the point of being good enough to sell our wares as some Pysanky artists do. But each year we see improvement and become more and more delighted in what we produce. And we learn more about the symbolism and the tradition, which is an important aspect of our lives and faith.
We started this year's eggs today. Perhaps I will write more about them as the week goes on. Perhaps I'll figure out how to load pictures on here and post some! (Wish me luck on that one....I am not a computer genius by any means)
Pysanky became a Christian tradition in the Ukraine and surrounding areas. But they did start in pre-Christian times and there are many traditions and legends linked to the eggs. Once the egg became a symbol for the resurrection of Christ, people began decorating the eggs with Christian symbols. My kids and I like to try to use as many of the Christian symbols as possible. Many of our eggs have crosses on them, butterflies which symbolize the resurrection and triangles which symbolize the trinity.
They are made using a wax resist method and special dyes. The word 'pysaty' means 'to write' as the designs are not painted but 'written' on with wax. More information can be read here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pysanka
We are by no means experts. We are certainly not at the point of being good enough to sell our wares as some Pysanky artists do. But each year we see improvement and become more and more delighted in what we produce. And we learn more about the symbolism and the tradition, which is an important aspect of our lives and faith.
We started this year's eggs today. Perhaps I will write more about them as the week goes on. Perhaps I'll figure out how to load pictures on here and post some! (Wish me luck on that one....I am not a computer genius by any means)