I'm not really an Easter/spring decor kind of girl,
but once a year I like to bring out our heirloom Pysanky.
Intricately painted by my great uncle William Hanischuk, they are so
beautiful and so delicate.
Here's a little fascinating background of Pysanky, (from trusty Wikipedia)
"A
pysanka (
Ukrainian:
писанка, plural:
pysanky) is a
Ukrainian Easter egg, decorated with traditional
Ukrainian folk designs using a wax-resist (
batik) method. The word
pysanka comes from the verb
pysaty, "to write", as the designs are not painted on, but written with
beeswax.
As in many ancient cultures, Ukrainians worshipped a sun god (Dazhboh).
[citation needed]
The sun was important - it warmed the earth and thus was a source of
all life. Eggs decorated with nature symbols became an integral part of
spring rituals, serving as benevolent talismans.
In pre-Christian times, Dazhboh was one of the main deities in the Slavic pantheon;
[citation needed]
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.
[3] "
So we are very lucky to have these beautiful,
and possibly benevolent magical objects passed down to us.
Once a year we take them out and admire them,
and I secretly stress out about breaking them before they are put away again
for another year.
