From our distant past: ancient Ukrainian customs of the Easter holiday

by Lubow Wolynetz

While safeguarding, preserving and displaying its collections, at the same time The Ukrainian Museum preserves and ensures the perpetuation of Ukrainian customs and traditions.

With its beginnings reaching back to antiquity, the Ukrainian cultural heritage developed through many millennia and is an abundant cornucopia of mythology, folklore, and pagan and Christian traditions. Through exhibitions, such as the current one called "Pysanky: Preservation of an Ancient Tradition," the museum features examples of a time-honored, beloved tradition associated with the Easter holiday, the pysanka - the Ukrainian Easter egg.

Acknowledged as the quintessential symbol of Ukrainian folk culture, the pysanka is but one component of an entire cycle that is part of the ancient rituals attributed to the advent of Spring and the Christian celebration of Easter.

These traditions, which originated in the ancient, pre-Christian times on the territory that today is modern Ukraine, reflect the religious outlook, social structure and the way of life of the people.

The pre-Christian, pagan religion practiced by the people was made up of certain cults, such as the cult of natural phenomena (the sun, moon, water, fire, wind, etc.), and the cult of the ancestors, among others.

It was believed that the ancestors visited the living during specific times of the year in order to protect the ancestral hearth and to help the living members of the family. However, homage had to be paid to them. These cults probably originated as a result of the people's observation of nature and its repetitive cycles, as well as from the experience of life and death. The agrarian mode of life of the ancient people of Ukraine also impacted on the formation of their religious convictions.

Helpless in the face of nature's power, people felt that by means of rituals, such as dances, rhythmic gestures, incantations and special offerings, they could please and appease its majestic force. Adherence to prescribed rituals also reinforced law and order in an agrarian society, where a disciplined and balanced life was essential to survival. Spring heralded the rebirth of nature and the emergence of new life after a long winter. Spring was eagerly awaited and celebrated when it arrived, inspiring various rituals of greeting because this was the most important season of the year for people whose lives and welfare depended on the bounty of the land. The Spring rituals consisted of performing songs, dances, baking special breads, burning bonfires, coloring eggs, decorating pysanky and dousing with water.

With the introduction of Christianity to Kyivan Rus' in 988 many of these rituals were adopted into the Christian holidays. As a result, Ukrainian traditions are rich and deeply symbolic in their content. Thus, many of the traditions of the pagan spring holiday merged with Easter, the Resurrection of Christ, and the ancient rituals became a part of the Easter cycle of celebrations.

For example, on the Sunday before Easter, which is called "Willow Sunday," branches of the willow tree (known as "loza") are blessed in Church and then given to the faithful. The people tap each other with these branches, while chanting that Easter will be here in a week. This ritual held a magical intent in pagan times. Possessing medicinal properties, the willow tree was considered a holy tree, since in the spring it was one of the first in the plant world to show signs of life. The people believed that by tapping each other with the freshly-blooming willow tree branch, they would be able to draw from it the same energy and strength that allowed it to come to life in the spring.

The Christian church marks this Sunday in accordance with the Gospel, celebrating the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, where he was greeted by throngs of people waving palm branches. To commemorate this event the Church initiated a custom of distributing palm branches. On this day in Ukraine, willow branches are given to the faithful instead, thus combining the ancient pagan spring ritual with the Christian custom.

The week before Easter is known as "white, clean, illuminating, or grand week, Passion Week, or willow week." Its days are devoted to physical and spiritual cleansing. On Thursday evening there was a service in Church during which the Twelve Gospels of Christ's Passion were read. The attending faithful held large candles or three candles, tucked in a bed of herbs, called "passion candles." In olden times they were made from beeswax by the master of the house. Following the service, the faithful walked home with the lit candles. Throughout the year these candles were kept in a safe place until the following year's Passion Thursday. People believed that the candles had magical powers that would protect the house from lightning, prevent hail from ruining the crops and deter illness.

Sometimes on Thursday or Friday, and during the night before Easter, men and boys lit bonfires near the woods, on hills, by lakes and rivers, in graveyards, and on the greens before the churches. According to ancient belief, these fires were meant to cleanse the neighborhood of all evil, illness, and disaster. The flames supposedly also lit the way for the ancestral souls, who, it was believed, visited their former families. A token household item was thrown into the bonfire as a sacrifice to the gods to ensure prosperity during the year.

The most honored Easter bread was the round-shaped paska, and the preparation and baking of the paska was considered one of the most important tasks of the year. Every homemaker wanted her paska to be the best and the biggest. Thus while baking it she performed various magical gestures and incantations to insure its successful outcome.

The dough for the paska was kneaded in a trough, which rested on a pillow so that the bread would be light. During the preparation the homemaker had to think good thoughts. While the paska was baking no one was allowed to sit down in the house or make a loud noise, for fear the paska would go flat in the oven. In some regions the man of the house would stand guard at his front door, so that no one would enter to cast an evil spell while the paska was baking.

A successfully baked paska brought great joy to the family. It was wrapped in a rushnyk (ritual cloth), or placed in a basket and taken to be blessed in a ceremony following the Resurrection Mass on Easter morning. Other foods as well as pysanky were also carried to church to be blessed.

The antiquity of the paska as a ritual bread was evidenced not only by the rituals performed during the baking, but also by the decorations that adorned this holiday bread. The top of the paska was decorated with symbolic signs made of dough such as a cross, rosettes and pine cones (symbols of fertility), entwined with a braid or spirals (symbols of eternity). Sometimes there were even birds and bees. Most of these decorations were remnants of an ancient pagan religion tied to the cult of the sun and bread.

On Easter, young girls performed hahilky (vesnianky) on the village green, in front of the church or in the graveyard. These ancient group dances and songs, games and pantomime scenes were believed to have a magical function. Their aim was to entice the spring to come as quickly as possible and to chase winter away. The songs and dances imitated the planting and growth of crops; through the magic of special words, music, rhythm and movements, they attempted to ensure a bountiful harvest. With these dances and songs the people tried to entice and enchant all the good spirits of the reawakened nature so that it would bring them good luck and wealth.

Last, but not least, there was the tradition of the pysanka, the Ukrainian Easter egg. While attempting to understand creation, ancient people developed myths in which the egg was perceived as the source of life, the symbol of the sun and the universe. Although similar myths and the decorating of eggs were found in many cultures of the world, Ukrainians today are one of the few groups of people who still uphold the ancient tradition associated with the egg.

The Ukrainian pysanka was believed to possess an enormous power, not only in the egg itself which harbored the nucleus of life, but also in the symbolic designs and colors that were drawn on the egg in a specific manner, according to prescribed rituals. Through this process the decorated egg became a talisman, a protection against evil, as well as harbinger of good.

In ancient times pysanky were decorated only by women and young girls. The decorating process was carried out in secret, away from the eyes of strangers lest someone cast an evil spell on the egg. In pagan times the pysanky were decorated in early spring, while with the onset of Christianity this was done before Easter.

The ornamentation of the pysanky consists mainly of geometric motifs, with some animal and plant elements. The Christian influence brought elements such as the cross, church and fish.

It took a long time for the Ukrainian pysanka to develop and achieve perfection. Although contemporary artisans continue to employ the ancient symbols and traditional colors on the egg, the pysanka is no longer considered to be a talisman, only a beautiful folk art object. However, it is still a very important part of the traditional Ukrainian Easter celebration.

The tradition of the pysanka at The Ukrainian Museum in the exhibition "Pysanky: Presentation of an Ancient Tradition" features the pysanky of several artisans who continue this time-honored Ukrainian tradition. Located at 203 Second Ave., New York, the museum is open Wednesday - Sunday, 1-5 p.m. For information call (212) 228-0110.

Lubow Wolynetz is curator of the Folk Art Collection at The Ukrainian Museum in New York.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, April 30, 2000, No. 18, Vol. LXVIII

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