Symbols and patterns of Easter eggs. Easter patterns on Easter eggs Symbols on Easter eggs and their meaning

Everything around us has its own special meaning. And even if our ancestors were not as educated as people in modern times, their ideas about the Universe as a fragile egg are a vivid example of the ability to "see to the root"

Even our pagan ancestors attributed special magical properties to the egg. A blown-out raw egg with an ornament “written” on it served as a powerful amulet in pre-Christian times. Each element of the ornament necessarily corresponded to a deep idea, but the whole composition was, as a result, a single harmonious whole.

With the advent of Christianity, the egg, as a symbol of resurgent life, found its place of honor in religious rites. Also later, many legends appeared explaining the semantic connection of the painted egg with the story of the Resurrection. Here is one of them.

ORIGIN OF PISANKA

When Jesus was crucified. His wounds began to bleed. Drops of blood turned into dyes before everyone's eyes. The Mother of God standing nearby, weeping, fervently prayed. Drops of mother's tears spread over the krashenkas in unprecedented patterns, turning them into Easter eggs. Having collected all the Easter eggs and Easter eggs, the Mother of God went to Pontius Pilate with a request to give her the opportunity to bury her Son. On the way, she handed out Easter eggs to those she met with the wishes of peace and harmony.

Easter eggs in Rus' were never made for themselves, but only for a gift. If you know how many relatives a person had in those days and how closely people communicated with each other, then the whole family was sometimes engaged in painting eggs, just so as not to forget or offend anyone. Giving a Easter egg, the man seemed to say: here, I wish you happiness and health. There were also egg painting masters, they were called pysankars and had their own secrets.

Color knowledge.

Red- joy of life, fire, solemnity, positivity.
4 black- earth, otherworldly life. (Used as an element of a picture or as a background on which a pattern will be applied.)
Brown- fertility, a symbol of wisdom.
Yellow orange - sunshine, rich harvest.
Blue- air, sky, wish of health.
Green- the resurrection of nature after a long winter sleep.
combination 4 black and white - respect for ancestors, holiness.
Multicolor- a wish for love and family happiness.

Knowledge of symbols.

TREE
The Tree of Life is one of the most popular ancient Slavic symbols. The propensity of this symbol, along with respect for nepotism - "family", was the wish for longevity. Depicting cherries attracted love, pine branches symbolized youth and long life. The motif of the vine meant fidelity. Apples and cream wish wisdom and health.

"BEREGINYA"
The image of a female figure with hands raised up is a traditional pre-Christian symbol of the goddess of fertility and the foremother of all living things. A woman from ancient times to this day is the protector of o4aga, and the wise guardian of destinies.

FISH
Before the fish became one of the main Christian symbols, its image was a talisman of prosperity, as well as a metaphorical image of vitality, purity and transparency of thoughts.

GRABELKI
Agricultural symbol, meaning rain, fertility. With the advent of Christianity, he received an additional interpretation of the descended divine grace.

PAU4OK
Such an outwardly unpleasant and even repulsive spider, thanks to the observation and wisdom of the ancestors, received a semantic load as a graphic symbol of diligence and perseverance, and became the patron of artistic crafts.

BABO4KA
A symbol of happiness, lightness and carelessness, it was most often used to decorate Easter eggs intended for giving to children.

P4ELA
In addition to great diligence and commitment to family values, p4ela also personified the sincerity of the soul and ingenuity. Pisanki with the image of p4ela were hidden under the beehives, so that the p4ela would “swarm” well.

TO4KI
Initially, currents, randomly scattered over the surface of Easter eggs or forming a lace ornament, symbolized the stars in the sky. With the advent of Christianity, they began to recognize the tears of the Mother of God, mourning the Son.

HORSE AND DEER
Symbols of endurance and fortitude, personifying the male mind. On its branched horns-lu4ah, the hard worker deer brings the sun into the sky every morning. The horse is an image of fearlessness and reckless faith in goodness.

BIRDS
Birds harbingers of spring are a popular ornamental motif. For example, a rooster is the herald of the coming morning, praising the light of the sun and protecting from the influence of evil forces. Lasto4ka - the long-awaited arrival of spring.

SQUARE AND RHOMBUS
4 elements, 4 seasons, 4 life stages (birth, youth, maturity and old age), 4 cardinal directions and time of day - were successfully encrypted in the sides of the square. The set "square" ornament "sieve" symbolized the eternal separation of the concepts of good and evil.

SPIRAL
This symbol was a primitive idea about the structure of the universe. The line, twisted in a spiral, also meant water or a coiled snake, personifying the female head. In addition, the spiral was identified with a labyrinth that "confuses" evil forces on the way to the 4th pure soul.

FLOWERS AND LEAVES
Wishing for an addition to the family, the Easter egg was decorated with images of flowers: bluebells, periwinkle, lilies of the valley, carnations. Viburnum leaves meant strength, endurance, faith in justice. Oak leaves symbolized faith in the forces of nature and admiration for the gods.

BESCOPE4NICK
The wavy line is the forerunner of the cruciform symbolism. Rooted in the Trypillian culture, this symbol of eternal movement and the continuity of life is still an indispensable attribute of Pisankar art to this day. "Meander" is interpreted as a symbol of water, fertility and life cycle.

SUN
The symbol of the sun is one of the most ancient. Varieties of this symbol are octagonal stars, "broken crosses" and "horns", "running sun". Pysanka, decorated with a solar symbol, protects from diseases, the evil eye, misfortunes and attracts joy and well-being.

TRIANGLE
The triple nature - earth, man and sky - found its expression in this symbol. A triangle filled with a grid or linear hatching, among our ancestors, meant a plowed field. In the Christian interpretation, forty triangles acquired the meaning of forty days of fasting or forty martyrs.

Symbolism of the Slavic Pysanka
I dare to describe the interpretation of symbols using the works of: A. Golan, J. Cooper, B. A. Rybakov.
Cosmic symbolism is a microcosm. the rhomboid equator of the egg, symbolizing the earth, the spherical surface of the sky above them, the spiral pattern applied on it - the path of the rising and setting sun.
Stars are a sign of philanthropy of moral purity, a symbol of Peace and balance, harmony. Emblem of Wisdom
The sun is a symbol of the highest cosmic power, the All-seeing Deity, the eye of the world and the eye of the day, the center of being and intuitive knowledge (solar birds and animals: eagle, hawk, swan, phoenix, rooster, lion, ram, white or golden horse.)
Rain, water - a bunch of zigzags, a meander (wavy line) - signs of purifying heavenly water, Easter eggs with such signs were kept from damage, evil eye, envy.
Ram horns - cosmic power, a symbol of fire and the sun (prosperity, wealth).
Flowers, trees, birds, bees, horses, cows, deer are symbols that give a happy life in the family and the world.
Flowers are signs of readiness for fertility, for childbearing.
Bees are a symbol of immortality, rebirth, diligence, order, purity of the soul. Winged messengers who bring secret wisdom.
Moth - is a joy, the transition of the soul to an eternal happy life. He's a guardian angel.
The rooster is a solar bird, an attribute of the solar gods. The bird of glory, meaning excellence, courage, vigilance, dawn, personifies the fighting spirit, military courage.
A sieve is a symbol of the separation of good from evil (protection).
Endless - has neither beginning nor end, and the evil that has entered the house falls into a trap and will not harm the owner. This is a symbol of the non-stop course of life, procreation. The eyes were also kept in the house from damage. Pysanki with an infinity were used in a ritual action: the beekeeper laid an egg under the hive so that the bees swarm endlessly and brought honey.
The spiral is a single code of the world, laid by Mother Nature in the foundation of all living and non-living things. The spiral is the unity of the Macrocosm (the Universe) and the Microcosm (man). The spiral has the same symbolism as the labyrinth.
The labyrinth is a return to the center, to the source, a newly found paradise, the achievement of realization after torment, testing and testing, initiation, the mysteries of life and death.
Pine - vitality, fertility, strength of character, evergreen - symbolizes immortality, health.
A pine cone is a phallic symbol, fertility, a good inheritance (productive, creative power).
Palm branch - signed for health, pysanky with willows ran around cattle so that they would not get sick and be not subject to the evil eye. Verbochka has a direct connection with the ancient rite of the Slavs<<вербохлёст>>, which symbolizes the transfer to man of the natural forces of the earth, water, sun. On Palm Sunday, people and animals were whipped with a willow and said:<<не я бью, верба бьёт, хворь берёт здоровье даёт>>, for a person they also added:<<будь богатым, как земля и здоровым, как вода>>.
Oak leaves - for strength (if pysanka is for children, for a boy)
Magpie - symbolizes good luck and is considered<<птицей удовольствия>>. The crackling magpie brings good news.
Belt - symbolizes the road and protects people from disunity and quarrels. Also a belt protection for the egg itself.
Vases - (a flower, a tree in a vase) denote the Tree of Life, the axis of the World. The Tree of Life grows in paradise and means restoration, a return to original perfection. This is the cosmic axis, symbolizing unity beyond good and evil. According to the legends of many peoples, the World Tree was thought to be the incarnation of the Great Goddess - apparently, because she was considered the mistress of not only the sky, but all nature. The motif of determining the fate of people is connected with the world tree.

Goddess Bereginya is a symbol of life and its continuation. Protected all living things, giving birth to life, requiring care and protection from troubles and death. She - Bereginya is depicted as a woman (sometimes stylized, simplified) in full growth with her hands raised to the sky (asking), sometimes lowered (giving). The image of Beregini can be found in different patterns of the Woman in Childbirth, and if you look closely, then the Family are signs of the unity of the male and female principles on earth.
Triangle - The triune nature of the universe: Heaven, Earth, Man: father, mother, child.
God the Father, God the Son and the Holy Spirit, man as a body, as a soul, spirit. Dispensation of the World, at home, Mystical number three, the first three of the flat figures. The triangle with its apex up is solar and has the symbolism of the life of fire, the masculine principle, the lingam, the spiritual world, this is the trinity of love, truth, wisdom. The triangle with its vertex pointing down is lunar and has the symbolism of the feminine, the uterus, water, nature, and the body. They symbolize the Great Mother as a parent.
The circle is a symbol of wishes, the search for a better life, the ring is a symbol of motherhood and knowledge, childbirth.
The path is a symbol of perpetual motion, a belt.
The symbolism of Easter eggs is read not only by the ornament, but by the combination of colors.
Red - symbolizes a strong, bright, joyful life
Green - for development, health
Yellow is the color of knowledge, wisdom
White - Divine color of purity, connecting all colors
Black - unknown, unknown, cosmic
Bardo (brown) - the color of the earth, strength
Purple is the color of cosmic knowledge.

Easter eggs are raw eggs, on which the most skillful pattern is applied, after which the contents of the egg are poured out, and then an empty, marvelous egg is already presented. This work is very complex and requires the utmost accuracy and coordination of both movements and mental processes.
Krashenki are boiled eggs, they can be plain or painted, they are easier to make...
Paints
For dyeing eggs, natural, food or aniline dyes are used. Flowers, leaves, grain husks, bark, roots, and berries can be raw materials for obtaining vegetable dyes.
yellow paint of various shades is extracted from the bark of a young wild apple tree, poplar shoots, birch leaves, nettle root, buckwheat chaff, onion husks, wild elder flowers, chamomile, milkweed, adonis, kupavok, saffron, crocus, St. John's wort, yellow flowers of the bulbous plant dream;
blue, light blue or purple - from the husks of black sunflower seeds, poplar catkins, mallow flowers, blue flowers of the dream plant, snowdrops, blueberries and elderberries;
green - from a combination of yellow and blue colors, as well as from moss, buckthorn bark, ash, lily of the valley leaves, primrose, nettle, green rye and wheat;
red - from sandalwood chips, bird cherry berries, flowers and seeds of St. John's wort, as well as from dried females of Polish cochineal (an insect from the worm family); pale pink - from the flowers of Ivan-tea angustifolia;
brown - from the bark of an apple tree, oak, buckthorn, spruce cones, onion peel, walnut leaves or horse chestnut;
black - from young leaves of black maple, alder bark, blue sandalwood.
The roots are best harvested in early spring or late autumn, the bark - only in the spring, when the tree "weeps", the flowers - at the beginning of flowering, and the leaves - very young. So that the potion does not lose its color, it is supposed to dry it only in the shade, and store it in a tightly closed container in a dry, dark place. Coloring berries can be frozen.
To prepare paints, you will also need: earthenware or enamelware, melted or rain water, potassium alum. Pour raw materials with cold water, insist for 5-6 hours, and then boil over low heat: bark - three hours, leaves forty minutes, flowers - half an hour. For 100 grams of dry raw materials - 1 liter of melt water. Strain the broth and add a teaspoon of alum. The paint is ready. Dyeing eggs in natural dyes lasts from 10 minutes to 14 hours. This occupation is painstaking, but redeemed by the healing of natural colors. In addition, they are stronger, dearer, sweeter to the eye, softer and look a hundred times richer than any artificial dyes.
Production of krashenok (pysanky) using modern food colorings.
We need the following items:
- food colorings. Dyes are needed in which they are not boiled, but 9% vinegar is added and already boiled eggs are kept for some time
- candle. Wax is better, but paraffin or steoric is also suitable
- scribbler. Who does not know what a hack is, then it is not necessary - it will be completely replaced by two brushes - one and four (this is the thickness in mm).
- two rags. On one we will boldly drip wax, paints, matches and stain it in every possible way, and the other must be clean - we will wipe the paint off the eggs with it.
- jars for dyes. You need to put a spoon in each jar so that the jar does not burst when boiling water is poured into it (according to the instructions on the pack of dyes).
- 9% vinegar. To successfully fix the paint on the eggs.
Of course, those items that I have listed, you can replace with equivalent and more convenient ones. For example, with the help of a scribbler, you can apply very thin contours, and a brush can mainly serve to paint over large areas.
The hands of the master must be perfectly clean, not greasy. Boiled eggs must be cooled. It is important that they are not hot, otherwise the wax will drain from them. Add salt to the water to prevent the eggs from bursting while boiling.
Dyes diluted according to the instructions should also not be hot. Spoons, after the dyes are already diluted, do not remove from the cans. We will use them to carefully place and remove eggs from jars. There should be enough dye to cover the egg dipped into it.
Take an egg in your hands and apply the thinnest drawing with a sharp pencil. Of course, you can not do this, but do not be surprised later, when you complete the work, why this asterisk that you wanted to portray looks like a crooked fence, and a rhombus looks like a half-eaten bun.
The surface of the egg is difficult, because it is not flat, and of course you need to get used to making a beautiful sketch. At the same time, nothing can be washed - there will be divorces, stains.
Now select the outline that should remain white and take the brush in your hands. Light a candle, and when the wax is hot, carefully dip the brush into the wax. The brush can burn a little - it's okay, the main thing is not to deprive it of hairs at all - we will use them to apply wax to the egg. Bring the egg closer to the candle and now, with confident and quick movements, apply wax to the selected contour. Wax hardens very quickly, so find a spot close to the fire!
When the contour is ready, carefully, so as not to break, dip the egg into the dye. For example in green. Let the egg lie there for a minute. The intensity of the color depends on the time - take it out early - there will be a light green egg. Later - more saturated.
It's time to get it out - put the egg on a clean, dry cloth and wipe it. Now again take the brush in hand and apply a new contour. We already have a white pattern on a green background, and now we will keep the green outline. After the wax has been applied, dip the egg in a different color. For example red.
The dyes we offer are good because they overlap the previous color. That is, in our case, the green will remain only under the wax, and the egg itself will become a wonderful red color, and not a mixture of red and green. And so on - until you consider the drawing complete. Dip in different colors, apply new contours. But don't get too carried away. At first, it's best not to use more than 4 colors. Otherwise, you risk getting a gray-bur-crimson egg!
Now the egg is almost ready. It remains to remove the wax. Probably need another clean rag. Well, or you can take the first one, if it is not very dirty. Bring the egg close to the fire, from the side (if soot may appear from above), so that the flame licks the egg and the wax begins to drain. Now quickly wipe the heated area with a cloth. Again to the fire - the wax has flowed - again wipe the barrel on a rag. And so on until the egg is completely wax-free.

The art of pysanka is a ritual art, which is precisely why it is beautiful. The technique of painting a chicken egg using wax and paints is extremely simple. Success largely depends on the perfection of the instrument and the correct setting of the writing hand. Cooking Easter eggs is a holiday in itself. During painting, the egg gradually turns from white to black, but as soon as it is brought to the fire, the wax on the shell begins to melt, revealing a delightful play of color and lines. The sudden appearance of a pattern of blackness makes you smile: the feeling of delight at the same time is so strong that, wanting to experience it again and again, a person involuntarily takes up the second, third, fourth pysanka...
Easter eggs ornaments have their own strict logic. Knowing the laws of writing, understanding the content of the tradition, having before your eyes classical samples of patterns, you can create your own, unique Easter egg.
Ritual veneration of pysanka is associated with the veneration of Lada - the Goddess of love, beauty, wedding. This wonderful painted egg was originally created as a talisman of the Family, an emblem of matchmaking, a magical Kolyada Dar, providing a link between times and generations.
The tradition of pysanka belongs to the Slavs, the art of ritual painting of a chicken egg in science is considered to be a primitive, peasant, purely feminine occupation, associated with the magic of fertility ...
In the old days, it was believed that only primordial, certainly fertilized, eggs of young hens, laid on the first spring new moon, are suitable for making Easter eggs. In addition to eggs, they needed pure beeswax, pure water, living fire, new wax brushes, new napkins, new clay pots, and a potion to extract the colors.
Untouched, "mute" water was supposed to be taken before dawn, silently, in secret, from seven, or even nine sources, or where three streams merge into one; it was necessary to scoop with new dishes, along the stream. It was lucky to get water from the March snow.
The dyeing potion was laid out in pots, filled with water, infused for several hours, and then placed in a warm oven for another two or three hours.
Making brushes was the business of the mistress of the house herself. Most often, a bird's feather, a straw broken in two, a cock's forked bone served as a brush. Later it was a tube, fixed with tow, thread or thin wire on a wooden holder - birch or thorn. No one, except for the craftswoman herself, dared to touch the objects involved in the preparation of Easter eggs.
The preparation of Easter eggs began when all the underground springs and wells were opened, the ice on the river collapsed and the bee woke up. It was believed that earthly water unlocks heavenly water... On this day, it was customary to bake special bread with swastika symbols and paint pysanky for bees.
On the same day, people baked for the Feast of Baking... The house smelled of fresh bread, herbal infusions - meadows, forests, honey, a flowering garden... The craftswoman sat by the stove and, dipping her brush into melted wax, drew mysterious signs on the egg shell . Her soul was full of kind and bright feelings, best wishes to relatives and friends - to all those to whom Easter eggs were intended.
The dyeing of wax-painted eggs began with the first strike of thunder or a bell. Having dipped an egg in yellow paint, an "apple tree" prepared from the bark of a wild young apple tree, the woman whispered a conspiracy three times. Eggs, painted yellow, she again painted with wax, thus protecting the parts of the ornament that should be yellow, then she continued dyeing, but in red paint, and covered with wax this time those parts of the pattern that should be red, after which dipped eggs in black paint made from kvass, alder bark and rusty iron. The black paint was prepared for two weeks, and the eggs were kept in it for fourteen hours.
After dyeing, having melted the wax on the eggs (it is possible over a candle, in the oven, in hot water), the craftswoman carefully wiped the finished Easter eggs with a brand new linen napkin. The wax letter was transferred to the canvas, and the napkin acquired the miraculous power of a talisman.
Easter eggs were intended only for donation. The scruffy painted egg had no divine power. Such an offering was considered an insult. It was not allowed to give Easter eggs to those who lead a nomadic lifestyle, Easter eggs were not given to those with whom the family did not want to be related. Easter eggs were not allowed to commemorate the dead. Krashenki served for breaking the fast and commemorating the dead, for ritual games of cue ball and skating rink. Krashenka is a boiled egg, pysanka is certainly raw. A broken pysanka threatened drought. If the pysanka happened to be broken, then the shell should immediately be crushed and buried in the ground or thrown into the water.

By the way, the Easter cake, which is now baked by Christians for Easter, we called BABA.

PYSANKA-KRASHENKA
There is an ancient custom to paint Easter eggs, Easter eggs, the essence is that a chicken egg (a symbol of life) is painted with paints according to a certain technique.
PYSANKA-CHARM
Pysanky with hemstitches
Became amulets
They have a dream in them
Evil is beaten down by a pysanka.
Easter eggs have hundreds of symbols, amulets. They will protect from black malice and Envy, from blood and separation, from disease and hunger...
There is, perhaps, not a single good wish that could not be expressed by drawing Easter eggs.
Symbolism of the drawing:
Swallows - the arrival of spring;
Spiral-sign of life (given to the elderly);
Green hearts - the heat of love (girls gave guys);
Towel - for the daughter to successfully marry;
Apple, flowers - for the birth of a girl;
Cockscomb - protection from misfortune...
Symbolism of color
Red is the color of fire and joy.
Yellow - dedicated to the sun.
Black is the color of the earth.
Brown - the fertility of the earth.
Children until the age of majority were given only red or green Easter eggs. A young soul must get stronger from the beginning, gain strength.
Get together for a holiday with the whole family. Give your neighbor Easter eggs with good wishes.
Pysanka EGG
To paint a testicle is an ancient custom that goes back to the deepest distance of the centuries of the ancient Slavs. Pysanka was not drawn, not painted, but written on a raw chicken egg.
According to legend, pysanky are stars born by LADA-Virgin Mary. Once a year, a Slavic woman had the great honor of presenting the Mother of God on earth.
On Thursday, at the hour before dawn, she took out a magic spinning wheel to the threshold and spun a thread, bathed the children during the day, baked bread, and then simmered paints for Easter eggs in a warm oven. I took water for paints in a tritein in the evening from seven springs. She carried her home silently, in secret. Dried herbs, flower petals, the bark of a young wild apple tree were poured with this unopened living water and put in the oven for a couple of hours. While the paint was being prepared, an appeal to the Gods was written on a raw chicken egg with hot wax.
Eggs for Easter eggs were only suitable for those that were laid between two lunar months. The real Velikodensky pysanka retained its vitality for a whole week: it did not go rotten and did not dry out.
Easter eggs were supposed to be painted with the first strike of the bell. First, the egg was dipped into the yellow paint "apple tree" and kept in it for some time, while the hymns-appeals to the Gods were read. Each color of the pattern was protected with wax. By the end of the work, the eggs turned into black, gloomy koloboks. They were lowered
in hot water or brought to the fire. The wax melted and the pysanka was born, just as the sun is born from the darkness of the night.
Easter eggs were placed with a whisk around the Easter cake - for the Gods and Ancestors, on a dish with a mirror surface - for people, and Easter eggs on sprouted oats - for parents.
The first pysanka was made for the Gods and Ancestors (in this case, pysanka can be made from a wooden egg).
The second is for parents.
The third pysanka is the invocation of Spring.
The fourth pysanka is a pattern for wealth and prosperity in the Family.
It was impossible to sell pysanka, to bestow - it meant honoring

Easter eggs painted with colors were called Easter eggs. The word also has a second meaning. Pysanka (Sanskrit "pisanga") means "beautiful, bright". Can you imagine from what depth of centuries this custom comes? Eggs were dyed throughout Rus'. The most beautiful Easter eggs were made in the southern regions, in present-day Ukraine. The very process of painting Easter eggs was previously considered a magical ritual action.

Easter eggs in Rus' were never made for themselves, but only for a gift. Considering how many relatives a person had in those days and how closely people communicated with each other, the whole family was sometimes involved in painting eggs, just so as not to forget or offend anyone. Giving a Easter egg, the person seemed to say: here, I wish you happiness and health. There were also egg painting masters, they were called pysankars and had their own secrets. After all, learning how to paint eggs so that people gasp is not so simple. So the secrets were kept.

Today we simply dip the egg into the paint, or at best make colorful stains on it, and earlier eggs were painted with symbols, geometric shapes - magical signs. Eggs for Easter eggs were selected very strictly. Not only eggs that were ugly in shape or color were not allowed, it was even impossible to take eggs from an old bird - only from young healthy hens, and the eggs had to be fertilized.

First, the shells were degreased and pickled, for which they used vinegar or alum, and then the eggs were dipped in paint, mostly vegetable. They painted eggs with a special scribe - a device with a cavity inside. Used beeswax, white napkins for polishing eggs. Each housewife prepared brushes on her own: it could be a hollow bird feather cut off from above, a straw, a tubular bone of a rooster attached to a wooden holder.

They started painting the egg with yellow paint, which was called "apple tree", because it was made from the roots of a young apple tree, then it was dyed with red paint and finished with black paint. Between the stages of dyeing, each new layer was recorded with wax to preserve the conceived pattern. The last coat required the most intense staining, and the eggs were kept in the dye for 14 hours. Then, removing the finished egg from the paint, it was carefully wiped, polished with a white linen napkin, erasing the wax layers.

Painted eggs were kept in the most conspicuous places in the house: they were put on shelves, placed under the icons, and even the icons were hung with a garland. Throughout the Easter week, neighbors and relatives went to visit each other and gave their Easter eggs.

Easter eggs are not the only type of magical eggs common in Ukraine. There is another variety called "krashenki". These eggs were hard-boiled, dyed any color, and solemnly eaten at dawn on Easter Sunday. The name "krashenki" comes from the word "paint", and "pysanky" - from the word "write" (that is, paint, apply patterns). Krashenki are hard-boiled and meant to be eaten, while pysanky are left raw to retain their fertility magic.

Krashenki are painted in a single color, usually red, and Easter eggs are covered with patterns and painted in different colors.

There are different types of such eggs:
Krashenka - one-color.
Krapanka - with a plain background, on which spots, stripes, specks are applied.
Dryapanka is an egg on which, after dyeing, a pattern was scratched with a metal point.
Malevanka - an egg painted with its invented pattern.
Pysanka is an egg painted with an ornamental or plot pattern in accordance with traditional patterns that are passed down from generation to generation. Patterns are drawn on a cold egg with hot wax, then it is immersed in diluted paint. Then they make a new pattern with wax and dip it in another paint, and so on. When all the patterns are applied, the wax is removed.
Eggs - eggs made of wood, porcelain, beads, clay, etc.

Easter eggs are magical amulets that grant protection and fertility. A childless woman was given a Easter egg with a picture of a chicken.

In order to get a plentiful harvest, eggs with the image of wheat ears and agricultural ornaments were buried in the first and last furrow of the field. To protect against fire, Easter eggs with blue and green ornaments in the form of a meander were kept in the drma.

If the fire still flared up, pysanky were carried around it to prevent the fire from spreading.

Krashenki also had magical uses. Their main task was healing by transference. The patient wore such an egg around his neck, suspended on a thread, and it absorbed the ailment. To prevent blood poisoning, it was necessary to touch a person with a consecrated egg. An egg placed under the hive prevented the bees from leaving it and increased honey production. Before sowing the field, an egg wrapped in green oats was buried in it as a fertility amulet. When a new house was being built, amulets of red dyes adorned with wheat tassels were hung over doorways to propitiate spirits that might be disturbed, and in fact to ask for their protection.

According to legend, pysanky are stars born by the Mother of God-Bee. Once a year, a Slavic woman had the great honor to represent the Mother of God on earth. On Maundy Thursday, at the hour before dawn, she brought a magical whorl to the threshold and spun a woolen thread, turning the spindle against the salt: she knitted the "ovary" - the golden germ of life. During the day she bathed the children, baked bread, and then simmered paints for Easter eggs in a warm oven. I took water for paints on Wednesday evening from seven springs or wells, behind the current - in honor of the seven stars of the Pleiades of the constellation Taurus, where, according to legend, the Creator himself lived. She carried her home silently, in secret. Dried herbs, flower petals, the bark of a young wild apple tree were poured with this unopened living water and put in the oven for a couple of hours.

While the paint was being prepared, a letter to God was written on a raw chicken egg with hot wax using a bone-fork taken from a rooster breast. Eggs for Easter eggs were only suitable for those that were laid between two lunar months. A real Velikodensky pysanka retained its vitality until the next Maundy Thursday: it did not become rotten and did not dry out.

Easter eggs were supposed to be painted with the first strike of the bell. First, the egg was dipped in yellow paint, the "apple tree", and kept in it for "three otchenash". Each color of the pattern was protected with wax. By the end of the work, the eggs turned into black gloomy koloboks. They were dipped in hot water or brought to the fire. The wax melted, and the pysanka was born, just as the sun is born from the blackness of the night.

To make the pysanka shine, it was smeared with fat. They put it with a whisk around the Easter cake - for God, on a dish with grain - for people, and krashenka on sprouted oats - for parents. And three candles burned in honor of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

The main colors of the ornament: black, red, yellow, green. The Black (Ryaba) Hen laid a luminiferous golden egg from which the Universe was born. The earth is black, throwing off the white veil of winter. Velikden is red, Egory is green, Kupala is golden (yellow).

Pysanka unlocked the heart for love, gave strength to fertility, protected from the evil eye and spoilage, slander, disease, natural disaster, poverty, bestowed beauty and wealth, hope for a happy marriage and harvest. She was kept in the house as an icon. The gift of pysanka strengthened kinship. Through the pysanka there was a transfer of spiritual warmth from person to person, there was a transfer of sacred knowledge from generation to generation. Selling pysanka is an unforgivable sin, giving it meant honor.

A well-known researcher of pysanka, a full member of the Russian Imperial Geographical Society S.K. Kulzhinsky left us information about the Orenburg, Samara, Ufa, Tula, Kuban, Voronezh Easter eggs. At the end of the 19th century, the landowner E. Skarzhinskaya collected more than 2,000 pysankas for her ethnographic museum in Lubny, among them - Kursk, from Great Russian villages, of extraordinary beauty and very fine workmanship. A Slav can be recognized by pysanka, as by a birthmark. It is already being written in Siberia and the Urals, in Yaroslavl and Tver, in Moscow and St. Petersburg...

How to write a pysanka

Painting eggs is a creative process. Firstly, an amazing feeling arises just because you are holding in your hand the beginning of life - an egg, heavy, cool, as if breathing from the inside. And when you paint it, gradually making it darker and darker, you stop seeing the signs already drawn. Before you is only a uniform black glow. But it is worth heating a dark egg - the wax will disperse and through it, as through magic glass, bright signs will begin to appear.

Before applying the pattern, be sure to wash the eggs, but do this very carefully so as not to damage the shell. The easiest way to paint boiled eggs. In this case, boil them in water with the addition of 1 tablespoon of salt per 2 liters of water. Remove one at a time and lay out on a clean towel to cool. You can also paint hollow eggs, that is, hollow, without content. Such eggs are stored longer, they are a kind of "eternal pysanka".

For painting it is desirable to use natural paints. Yellow paint is prepared from the roots of a young apple tree, poplar shoots, onion peel, nettle root, chamomile flowers and other plants. Blue and purple paint can be made from sunflower seed husks, mallow flowers, and blueberries and elderberries. Green paint in its pure (that is, unmixed) form is obtained from the leaves of lily of the valley, nettle, ash bark and buckthorn. Red paint is made from bird cherry berries, flowers and seeds of St. John's wort. Brown is prepared from the bark of an apple tree, oak, buckthorn. Black is made from alder roots.

Prepare all vegetable paints only in enamelware. Pour raw materials for 5-6 hours with cold water, then boil over low heat: leaves - 40 minutes, flowers - 30 minutes, bark - 3 hours. Strain the finished broth and add 1 teaspoon of potassium alum to it. Coloring time - from 10 minutes to 14 hours. Ready-made dyes are used as indicated on the package.

Dye eggs by dipping them in paint. If you use aniline dyes, then do not keep eggs in them for a long time: the dye penetrates deep into the egg layer and destroys the shell structure. The maximum immersion time is 5 minutes for food coloring, 3 minutes for aniline. Do not lower waxed eggs into hot water - only warm. You can't cook eggs at all.

The traditional colors of Easter eggs are white, yellow, red and black. Start staining with white and finish with black. It is permissible to use brown, green, purple, lilac colors, but then the egg is already called a malevanka. The Paint Process mixes layers of paint, so you need to know how new paint is applied to an existing layer. The melted wax is removed from the pysanka with a linen napkin. With constant use, the napkin is impregnated with wax and polishes the shell well.

It is best to work with beeswax, but you can also use paraffin wax. A blown egg is strengthened from the inside with hot paraffin, it is injected inside with a conventional syringe.

Wash white eggs in boiled water at room temperature and dry on a towel.

Wash your hands thoroughly with soap. Take the egg in your left hand and the pencil in your right. With the little finger of the right hand, maintain the balance of the egg and with a pencil divide its surface into fields. At the same time, rotate the egg towards you, and draw the line away from you. Try not to change the position of the pencil. Distribute the pysanka ornament in the fields. Draw the pattern on the egg: first with a simple soft pencil, and then with wax. Wax according to the pattern is applied in different ways - with brushes, matches, straws, feathers. A wax brush - a scribbler - can be made from metal foil by rolling it into a funnel-shaped tube 1-1.5 cm long. The tube is attached with a thin wire to a wooden holder with a diameter of 8 mm and a length of 10-12 cm. But it is best to use brass brushes with a thin and comfortable tip. You will need several brushes of different thicknesses (if you want to get a drawing with different line thicknesses): they are placed in melted wax and taken from there as needed.

They work as a scribe like this: they heat the brush on fire (candle, burner) and fill it with wax. The egg is taken in the left hand, and the scribbler in the right, the elbows are pressed to the body so that there is support, the little finger of the right hand rests on the shell, and the fingers of the left rotate the egg. The egg is rotated towards itself, and the lines lead away from itself. It is likely that at first you will not succeed, but gradually you will master this art.

Remember: first draw a pattern on the white surface of the egg with hot wax (according to pencil marks). After that, put the egg in the paint. Make sure that the water temperature does not exceed 40 ° C (otherwise the wax will melt), and the color of the paint is the lightest, that is, yellow. Then the egg is again covered with wax and dipped in a darker paint (red, red). Play with colors and patterns - painting the egg depends on your imagination. After you have obtained the desired colors and patterns, remove the wax. To do this, place the egg in the oven for a few minutes or bring it to the tongue of a candle and remove the melted wax with a paper towel. Ready pysanka can be wiped with sunflower oil, giving it greater brightness and shine.

If it’s difficult for you to draw magical symbols, you can make Easter eggs instead of Easter eggs. You don't need a scribe to make the dye. Need a candle. During painting, the egg is simply covered with droplets and streaks of wax. Rotate the egg around the axis and drip wax onto it directly from the candle. Start with white: drip an egg in wax and dip in yellow paint, then drip again and paint the egg green, drip again and put in dark blue paint. And when, after removing the wax, all layers open, you can add the missing details to the drops and get magical symbols - a fish, a bird, a flower, a tree, a butterfly.

If you start painting not from white, but from yellow, you will get a magical tormented dye. Droplets of wax must be lowered so that scales form: each time a part of the drop is painted over, and they seem to overlap partially on top of each other. At the end, immerse the egg not in dark paint, but in water with vinegar (proportion 1: 1). Then wash the egg with soap in cold water, melt the wax and remove it with a napkin. The whole egg will be covered with colorful peas.

It is possible to paint eggs with the help of one paint and "signets" of wax, as a result of which you get paints with wedges, commas, dots or lines. All these are magical signs. But if you are making a ritual egg, then follow the rules. The pysanka ornament is based on the rotation of the cross around the center, which we already know, because of which familiar figures are formed: a circle, a square (or rhombus) and a center, a world axis, in the form of a cross, a tree, a wheel with eight spokes. These symbols in the egg can be used as the basis of the painting (that is, the egg depicts one of the symbols, and the rest line up inside this symbol), or be part of the ornament. Here are some examples of symbols used in painting Easter eggs:

Grate the finished pysanky with unsalted lard. Do not varnish! Store in the shade, in a well-ventilated area.

Each craftswoman had her own repertoire of the divine writing of Easter eggs. The letter was passed down from generation to generation, from century to century, from millennium to millennium. The symbols of Easter eggs have divine power. So they taught me, so I tell you, so you will tell your children when you teach them to write Easter eggs.

Pysanka- an egg decorated with traditional symbols, which are painted with wax and dyes. The production of Easter eggs was associated with the pre-Christian folk custom of meeting spring, later - with Easter.

Pysanka//galunka// - symbol of the Sun; life, his immortality; love and beauty; spring revival; goodness, happiness, joy.

In the myths of many peoples of the world, it is the egg that is the peacekeeping principle. Among the pagan Slavs, Easter eggs already existed in the time of the Ants - our great-ancestors / III - VIII centuries. n. e./ and were a symbol of the solar cult. Birds are the messengers of spring resurrection, the Sun, and their testicles are the emblem of the sun - life, birth.

The egg of a bird in general is the germ of life, a symbol of the sun god; in ancient times it symbolized - goodness, joy, happiness, love, wealth, success, the location of good forces, the protection of a person from evil forces.
Kilimnik S. Ukrainian year. - Book 2. - p.176

Researchers believe that Ukrainian pysanka has over 100 symbolic drawings.

With the introduction of Christianity, the symbolism of pysanka also gradually changes. She became a symbol of joy and faith in the resurrection of Jesus Christ as a symbol of forgiveness. Easter eggs were used as an objectified symbol of love, giving them to the young. In folk medicine, they "pumped out" diseases. The consecrated Easter eggs were buried in the ground /for a high harvest/, put in a coffin, in a manger for cattle. The husks from pysanky were thrown "for good luck" on the roof of the house, etc. It is interesting that pysankarism was characteristic only of those ethnic groups that began to be called Ukrainians.

The ornament of Easter eggs is symbolic. It is based on three cardinal symbols, reflecting the structure of the Universe vertically: it is a circle, a square (or a rhombus) and a center, a world axis, in the form of a cross, a tree, an 8-shaped sign. Hence, there are three types of ornament: circular, key, weaving.
The design of the ornament is called a divorce and is a grid formed from the intersection of circles and ovals encircling the egg. Ornamental forms - magical signs-symbols - are placed in the divorce fields.

If the egg is divided vertically in two by a belt and its sides are mainly decorated, then such a pysanka is called a side egg. The main dividing belt can be in the form of a thread, ribbon, decorated or without decoration. It may be absent altogether, but the principle of placement of the main ornamental forms is preserved. Thus, we have Easter eggs "belted" and "unbelted". Divide the egg in two along the meridian, and then into four parts. The signs will be placed in the resulting egg slices, and such a pysanka will be called longitudinal by the type of divorce. The "eight-turn" divorce consists of eight spheroidal segments formed from four equal vertical lobes of an egg surrounded by the equator line.
Mesh- a symbol of fate. Protects from evil spirits, separates evil from good.
yellow mesh- a symbol of the sun and the fate that is being built here.
Dots- a symbol of fertility.

Ornamental forms are placed in the fields along the vertical, diagonal, radius, segment. They alternate in a checkerboard pattern, repeat. The same sign can be placed in opposite directions.
If the ornament as a whole is characterized by rhythm, then the ornaments of Easter eggs allow us to talk about tempo-rhythm. Ornamental forms, based on a broken cross, a swastika, create the impression of movement - the rotation of the two halves of the egg in opposite directions.

Meanings of symbols used when painting Easter eggs

Sun

One of the most common elements in Easter egg ornament is the image of the Sun in the form of various solar signs. The sun is a heavenly fire, about which people at different times had their own idea, but always respected and exalted. It was represented as a hole through which one can see the real bright sky, a spark, it is not known how it stays in the sky, like the Eye of God, a candle worn by angels, like a big wheel that can be obtained even by hand when it falls to the ground in the evening. Sunrise revives, awakens the whole world, gives warmth, light and strength to all living things. spring The sun destroyed the cold, broke ice bridges, opened heaven and earth with its rays (golden keys), released birds from warm lands, green grass, spring wheat. Easter eggs Sun marked with signs a circle, a circle with dots, a circle with a cross inside, circles with rays, as well as in the form of six- and eight-beam rosettes, stars.
Easter eggs with the image of the Sun are often called "roses", "roses", which can be full, simple, half, vertical, in the form of "spiders". Under the name "Stars" we also meet the image of the Sun as a bright star, but in folk poetry the image of the morning and evening dawn of Venus is sung. Dawn is a red-haired girl who opens the heavenly gates with keys in the morning and releases the Sun, chasing after her. The dawn is scattered on the ground with dew, and the bees collect God's dew and give people honey. The dawn is compared to a good, beautiful girl. "Spiders" were often called and are now called "sleeves", "woman's sleeves", "grandfather's sleeves"; asterisks - "roses", "full roses", "Ruzhechka".

Christ is called the Sun of Truth. The Savior said: “I am the light of the world. Whoever comes after me, do not blukatime in darkness, but will have the light of life" (Yo. 8, 12). His light is internal, spiritual. God is light, and truth, Freedom. So, the Sun is a sign of God. Solar light - It is a symbol of unity, the order of the world.It is also a symbol of a clear and sober vision, Justice.

Cross and svarga (swastika)

Cross symbolizes the creation of the world. The vertical line of the cross means heaven, spirituality, the horizontal - the earth, its feminine. The cross is eternal life because it is infinite.

To the oldest signs symbolizing the universe, belongs "Cross". Known since the Stone Age, it is a sign of the three-dimensionality of the Universe The full cross is a three-dimensional, spatial symbol, since it is formed by the intersection of two planes. The vertical line of the cross is a heavenly, spiritual, active, masculine line. This is the sign of Fire. The horizontal line is earthy, passive, feminine. This is the sign of Water. At the intersection (combination) of these two factors, a third force arises - the force of Love, Life, Creation. The cross is able to expand infinitely in any direction, therefore, it denotes eternal life. In the ancient beliefs of the Stone Age, the cross was associated with the God of the Earth, denoted the 4 cardinal points, and later, in the Bronze Age, it became the emblem of the Sun. The graphic designation of this sign comes from the schematic designation of a flying bird, since in ancient mythology the Sun was identified with it. "Svarga" is one of the varieties of the cross. Other names for this sign are “swastika”, “chotirinig”. This graphic symbol, found in almost all ancient or primary cults of the world, is found on ancient monuments of the Indo-European peoples.

The word "swastika" is of ancient Indian origin (Skt.) and means "celestial rotation".

The basis of the graphic image of this sign can be a cross (a symbol of the Earth, and later the Sun in the center), a circle (a symbol of the sky), a square (a sign of the Earth). In the Bronze Age, the svarga was already associated with the solar cult, and the rounded spurs symbolized the movement of the Sun. There are two types of svarga: direct (right-handed) and reverse (left-handed). A straight svarga with rounded spurs to the right, clockwise, symbolizes the sunrise, creation, the movement of the sun in spring and summer, good, positive, male energy (Yang). The reverse svarga with rounded spurs to the left, counterclockwise, symbolizes the sunset, destruction, the movement of the Sun in autumn and winter, evil, negative, feminine energy (Yin). Svarga is also a sign that promotes the birth of children, a symbol of good wishes, good luck, longevity, fertility, health and life. In Ukrainian Easter eggs, svarga is also called “broken” or “hooked cross”, “leeches”, “cock combs”, “duck necks”.

The tree of Life

One of the most common symbols on Easter eggs, as well as towels, wall paintings, carpets, dishes, is tree of life symbol, or as it is also called - "vase". The oldest Ukrainian carols brought to us the ancient ideas of people about those times when there was neither sky nor earth, but only the open sea, and on it - green sycamore. So, in the form of a tree - poplar, willow, oak, birch, apple, pear - the core of the universe was represented, around which the balance of opposites was established. The world tree is always depicted not natural, but stylized, i.e. simplified, summarized. In such images, it is necessary to divide into three tiers vertically and observe a clear system of right and left sides. The lower part - the roots, entering underground, is often represented as a triangle, a pot. It contains snakes, fish, waterfowl and animals, therefore part of the tree is not only the underworld, but also the sea, river, any water. Also, the lower part of the World Tree is the world of the underground god, the ruler of the underworld fire and untold riches, the embodiment of ideas about the other world, the old days. The middle tier represents the earth, the real world, the world of the present. It depicts large animals - bulls, horses, deer, wolves, bears - and humans. The upper part of the World Tree rises to an infinite height - to God. Birds, bees, and celestial bodies settle in the upper reaches. It often happens that the sun shines at the top of the tree. The tree of life is also a family tree, where each flower denotes a relative, and all together is the embodiment of the genealogy of a certain person. The three-term designation of a tree-family is simpler. This is a trunk with three branches: father, mother, child.

An amazing property of the Tree of Life is its ability to turn into a Coastal Woman with her hands raised to the sky. By the way, in the ancient myths of some peoples of the world, a woman was formed precisely from a tree. The image of the World Tree is the image of embodied fertility, is associated with the Mother Goddess, is her symbol and attribute.

The great goddess was considered the mistress not only of the sky, but of all nature. Often, a sign of the earth was depicted on her feet (at the same time, the goddess's feet turned into roots) or she was drawn as a serpent, since the earth is the place where the Serpent resides. A similar image of a female progenitor was widely known among other peoples: among the Egyptians - Isis, among the Babylonians - Ishtar, among the Greeks - Hera, among the Thracians - Semele, among the Scythian farmers - Tabitha.

In Ukrainian ornaments, the "Tree of Life", as a rule, was depicted very realistically. Trees of unsurpassed beauty were embroidered on huge towels from the Kiev and Poltava regions. And on Easter eggs, they gradually acquired the laconic form of the now well-known "vases", "three-leafed". At the same time, even in ancient times, the abstract image of the "Tree of Life" - "trident", which later became the coat of arms of Ukraine, began to dominate.

Triquetra or tripod

On many folk Easter eggs there is an image of Fire, the Sun, Dawn. Fire, next to water, is a factor of the universe, a symbol of male power. Since Fire and Water are brother and sister, and, having united, they formed love, the earth and everything that is on it, then in many rites Fire is a symbol of love, which is the messenger of the Sun on Earth and gives people light, warmth, bread and any food, helps in crafts (forging), but, like the Sun, it can be good or dangerous depending on the attitude of people towards it. Therefore, Fire, like the Sun, must be respected and not angry - because then it can severely punish. There are strict prohibitions against spitting on fire, throwing garbage, etc. Triquetra- a symbol of fertility, fire, male power.

On Easter eggs, Fire is denoted by the sign “triple” (other names for this sign are “triquetra”, “tripod”). It is believed that the trinity is a sign associated with the Neolithic (Stone Age) god of the earth, and fire was one of his attributes. Also, this sign is a symbol of fertility, since the God of the earth was the bearer of the male, fertilizing factor. a treble hook consists of three rounded or broken hooks coming out of a common center, or from a circle or triangle.

Charm symbols

The exhibit, stored in the Kiev Historical Museum, has a symbolic name - "Bereginya". As we know, in pre-Christian times, our ancestors believed in the Great Goddess - Bereginya or Makosh. This symbolic image - a stylized female figure with arms raised up - subsequently turned into a narrative reproduction of the Mother of God.

Sigma is the symbol of the snake. It is found on ceramics of the Trypillia culture. Means water, thunder, lightning. The snake guards the hearth.

Symbols of strength and endurance

In the old days in Rus', as soon as a girl was born, she was washed in a font from a decoction of viburnum and willow leaves. They gave feminine strength, a woman then becomes a good wife and gives birth to healthy children. When a boy was born, an oak tree was planted in his honor and the baby was bathed in an infusion of oak leaves. Oak leaf - so that the strength is not exhausted.

Symbols of love

Since ancient times, the dove has been considered a symbol of love. If you want to have a happy family, then draw doves on an oak tree. Love is also symbolized by spruce (smereka). In order to find out in how many years a girl will marry, they ask the cuckoo about it. Therefore, the cuckoo is a symbol of love. And in order to be always paired with a loved one, they draw flowers with paired petals.

Symbols that promote the birth of children

Symbols of health and longevity

So that no one gets sick, they draw the sun, a rose, a fish, a deer on the testicles. And the endless one helps people live long, so that misfortune comes to them, and so that the beekeepers have a good honey flow.

Symbols favoring a rich harvest

The rhombus is a symbol of the earth, the dots are seeds, and the rake is a symbol of rain.

Symbols that heal

These were Christian symbols. On one was a beautiful church, on the other - 40 wedges, and there were also Easter eggs with crosses surrounded by an infinity, and with the inscriptions "Christ is Risen". Triangle often found on Easter eggs and denotes the trinity of the world: sky, earth and water, father, mother and child.

Plant and animal motifs

Easter eggs constantly drew inspiration for their patterns from the natural world, depicting flowers, trees, vegetables, leaves and whole plants in a highly stylized manner. Such symbols reflected the renewal of nature and life.

The most popular floral ornament is a flowering plant in a pot or a tree that symbolized life. Cherry, a symbol of girlish beauty, was supposed to bewitch love. On Hutsul pysanky, you can often see a stylized pine branch - a symbol of eternal life and youth. There is a belief that those who wash their face with sacred water, in which there were Easter eggs, will always be young, healthy and beautiful. The grape motif symbolized brotherhood, goodwill and long-term, true love.

The ornament of apples and plums was supposed to bring wisdom and health. Among the flowers depicted on Easter eggs were roses, periwinkle, lilies of the valley, sunflowers, tulips and carnations. All of them were supposed to help the plants ripen.

Pine- a symbol of health.
Oak- a symbol of strength.
plums- a symbol of love.
Hop- a symbol of fertility.
Any berry- a symbol of fertility; mother.
Flowers- a symbol of girlhood.

Although animal motifs are not as popular as plant motifs on Easter eggs, they are still found, especially on Hutsul products. These symbols had a dual meaning: to provide their owners with the best signs of animals, such as health and strength, as well as to assure a long and fruitful life for animals. Animals such as deer, sheep, horses, fish and birds were drawn abstractly; sometimes Easter eggs reproduced only parts of animals - duck necks, hare ears, chicken legs, ox eyes, ram horns, wolf teeth, bear paws.

Rooster and dove- were considered a divine bird that would wake up the sun and human conscience, keeping everyone living in the house under its wing, the second was written as a symbol of the soul and the Holy Spirit.
Horse meant strength and love for work.
running deer was the prototype of longevity and good health.
Pigeon is a symbol of the soul.

Easter eggs are not the only type of magical eggs common in Ukraine. There is another variety called "krashenki". These eggs were hard-boiled, dyed any color, and solemnly eaten at dawn on Easter Sunday. The name "krashenki" comes from the word "paint", and "pysanky" - from the word "write" (that is, paint, apply patterns). Krashenki are hard-boiled and meant to be eaten, while pysanky are left raw to retain their fertility magic.

Krashenki are painted in a single color, usually red, and Easter eggs are covered with patterns and painted in different colors.

There are different types of such eggs:

Krashenka- monochrome.
Krapanka- with a plain background, on which spots, stripes, specks are applied.
Dryapanka- an egg on which, after dyeing, a pattern was scratched with a metal point.
Malevanka- an egg painted with its invented pattern.
Pysanka- an egg painted with an ornamental or plot pattern in accordance with traditional patterns that are passed down from generation to generation. Patterns are drawn on a cold egg with hot wax, then it is immersed in diluted paint. Then they make a new pattern with wax and dip it in another paint, and so on. When all the patterns are applied, the wax is removed.
yaychata- eggs made of wood, porcelain, beads, clay, etc.

Pysanky are magical amulets that grant protection and fertility. A childless woman was given a Easter egg with a picture of a chicken.

If the fire still flared up, pysanky were carried around it to prevent the fire from spreading.

According to legend, pysanky are stars born by the Mother of God-Bee. Once a year, a Slavic woman had the great honor to represent the Mother of God on earth. On Maundy Thursday, at the hour before dawn, she brought a magical whorl to the threshold and spun a woolen thread, turning the spindle against the salt: she knitted the "ovary" - the golden germ of life. During the day she bathed the children, baked bread, and then simmered paints for Easter eggs in a warm oven. Water for paints was taken on Wednesday evening from seven springs or wells, behind the current - in honor of the seven stars of the Pleiades of the constellation Taurus, where, according to legend, the Creator himself lived. She carried her home silently, in secret. Dried herbs, flower petals, the bark of a young wild apple tree were poured with this unopened living water and put in the oven for a couple of hours.

To make the pysanka shine, it was smeared with fat. They put it with a whisk around the Easter cake - for God, on a dish with grain - for people, and krashenki on sprouted oats - then for parents. And three candles burned in honor of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

A well-known researcher of pysanka, a full member of the Russian Imperial Geographical Society S.K. Kulzhinsky left us information about the Orenburg, Samara, Ufa, Tula, Kuban, Voronezh Easter eggs. At the end of the 19th century, the landowner E. Skarzhinskaya collected more than 2,000 Easter eggs for her ethnographic museum in Lubny, among them Kursk Easter eggs from Great Russian villages, of extraordinary beauty and very fine workmanship. A Slav can be recognized by pysanka, as by a birthmark. It is already being written in Siberia and the Urals, in Yaroslavl and Tver, in Moscow and St. Petersburg...

It is best to work with beeswax, but you can also use paraffin wax. A blown egg is strengthened from the inside with hot paraffin, it is injected inside with a conventional syringe.