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Easter eggs a well-known spring tradition
Theresa Seraphim
for Spotlight
It occurs every year on the Sunday after the first full moon following the spring equinox.
And every year, Easter, like Christmas, brings people out in their finery to celebrate their traditions.
For Christians, that may include church services to mark Jesus’ Resurrection from the dead three days after His Crucifixion.
That celebration is the impetus behind one of the most famous Easter traditions – dying eggs in vibrant colours.
“In Christian times, the egg was a symbol of new life, just as a chick might hatch from the egg,” says an article at theholidayspot.com. In addition, consumption of eggs was prohibited during Lent, making the idea of new life even more prominent.
“The egg is symbolic of the grave and life renewed by breaking out of it…The egg itself is a symbol of the Resurrection – while being dormant, it contains a new life sealed within it,” says the article.
The process of making Ukrainian Easter eggs, or pysanky (Ukrainian for “writing”), takes time, and a steady hand, but results in some bright, beautiful colours.
According to howto.com, that process requires pencils, eggs, cardboard, beeswax, candles, wide rubber bands, white vinegar, tablespoons, facial tissues, dyes, kistky (or styluses), and finishing nails.
After allowing a white, uncooked egg to reach room temperature (don’t use boiled eggs, as they spoil), wipe it down with a solution of one-half cup water and one teaspoon vinegar.
Once it’s dabbed dry with a tissue, draw your design on the egg lightly with a pencil.
Hold the head of a stylus over a candle flame briefly, and then use the stylus to scoop up some beeswax. Melt the wax in the stylus over the candle, and then draw the melted beeswax over the pencil design for the first colour – the lightest one of your bunch.
Put the egg in that lightest dye for 15 minutes, then fish it out with a tablespoon and dab, don’t wipe, it dry. Continue the process, going from lightest to darkest colours and holding the egg under a hair dryer to heat the wax, which is wiped off when it looks wet. The last step is to let the egg dry on a stand made from three finishing nails poked up through a piece of cardboard.
Once the egg is complete, it can be emptied by blowing it out or using a syringe to suck the insides out.
Wrapping a rubber band around the egg can help draw a straight line, and adding a teaspoon of vinegar to the dye will make colours bolder.
However you celebrate it, have a happy Easter!
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