While the catholic world has already celebrated Easter, the Orthodox Easter is knocking on the door. Knocking as the egg knocking Easter egg game. The custom is performed by 2 players who try to knock each other’s eggs. The first one to have their egg broken loses the game, while the winning is believed to guarantee health and well-being. Of course the eggs are colourfully decorated, often with wax – which decorating tradition is typical for most ex Russian, Balkan and Slavic Middle European Countries and known under the name of Pysanka.
The Pysanka Easter egg decorating pattern is believed to have originated from Ukraine. And the word itself comes from the Ukrainian verb pysaty (to write), which originates from the Old Slavonic pisati (to write, to colour paint), as the designs are not painted on, but drawn or written with wax and on top – colour is applied. For example, a common practise is that the initials of the names of all family members are written in wax on eggs which are later coloured in red (as the tradition calls that the first knocking battle shall be performed with red eggs, to represent the blood of Christ, shed on the Cross)
According to many scholars, the art of wax-resist (batik) egg decoration in Slavic cultures, and particularly in Ukraine, dates back to the pre-Christian era and initially pysanki or pysanky were meant to protect homes from evil spirits and misfortune.
Yet it seems that the British audience got introduced to the wax egg decorating pattern only at the beginning of the 20th century. When a book on the Slavic Folklore described the pysanki custom: “While making these colours and drawing the designs, a great many rules and rites have to be observed, in order that these pisanki..may be without any witchcraft. “
The second quotation comes a half century later with the already anglicised spelling of the word, from a 1951 Dictionary of the Arts by Martin Leon Wolf: “Pysanky, the Ukrainian tradition and art of painting eggs, and the eggs themselves. “ Obviously, the term pysanky (the plural form of pysanka) describes both the pattern of eggs’ decoration and the decorated Easter eggs themselves.
The custom of decorating pysanky has long roots and is believed that every region and even family had their own symbols and rituals of dyeing eggs, which were observed with great care.
Nowadays, people often bring their pynsaky eggs to the Good Friday’s church liturgy and right after the liturgy, when the eggs are blessed – the egg knocking game can begin. Pysanky are typically made to be given to family members and respected friends, as the giving ritual symbolizes the gift of life. And usually the egg which wins most battles and stays whole until the end is left on dislay (though, some families would leave the most beautiful one) to be replaced with a new pysanka next Easter.
