🇺🇦 Pysanka

A long time ago, in the spell of the sky, we looked up and bowed down. It was the morning of Velykden (Великдень) . The dawn of Spring. Our God was back from the dark, and the world was born again. Around us we saw the sign of life from which all came. Naked egg we clothed you in colour like the Sun, then the Earth, then the Sea. We took you in our hands and made you magic.

When out of the cold Winter came the Sun-God all life broke from a shell to celebrate the first day of Spring of Velykden; the great day. Ancient people of Ukraine decorated eggs with bright and fiery designs. Today their craft lives on though the old gods are gone. What was once pagan ritual remains as art.

Thousands of years ago each decorated egg, or pysanka, had a magical power and purpose of its own. With the right design, blessed by the proper prayers on the morning of Velykden, it could ward off storms and sickness, or bless marriage and friendship. A bright alluring egg hung in the home to catch the eye of an evil spirit. Then when he came close and pounced upon it, it trapped him in the endless labyrinth of lying. Once caught the evil spirit could do no harm.

Each of the 40 triangles was a prayer. As one was drawn a wish was made for blocks cropped children all under the worn eye of the Sun God. Behind the old magic was a simple fact.

Wax seals the color of a surface it covered. One by one each color is protected from the next. When the wax melts the colors beneath reappear. The craft lies in controlling the wax leaving it into countless designs which survived the century. A copper funnel tool of Kistka guides to wax. The Kistka is heated and reheated many times to keep the wax flowing.

The egg is raw. The inside rise to dust in time while the shell may remain for generations. The name psysanka comes from the Ukrainian word pysanty; to write. The design is written on the egg. Charred by the candle flame clear beeswax becomes dark as ink. Straight lines come from endless practice. Some mistakes made in wax cannot be changed.

Each wedge of the shell holds the point of a star.

The lightest dye comes first. Chemical colors have replaced the ancient dyes of boiled berries, bark, sunflower shells. After each die the egg is dried with great care. Little by little the yellow pattern is sealed in wax. For small touches of color, the dye is dabbed on by hand. With the next dye the circle will wash away while the green dots remain.

Only the naked shell keeps changing. The white the yellow and the green are hidden from the orange.

The star rosette is a favorite design. A Sun sign with endless variation. To ensure the yearly return of the God, His image was captured on the egg in springtime. Ukrainian folk art is rich in red, the color of joy, though each village might make the same design in different forms and colors. Bright eggs were exchanged among the young, dark among the old.

With a wide pointed Kistka the wax flows fast and cools quickly. It is hard to keep the Kistka hot. The final design will stand out against a black background. As the dark wax melts the sun is born. Varnish has taken the place of animal fat to polish and preserve the design. Each hand makes the old motifs in its own way.

All figures spring from three ancient forms. Star rosettes were the endless spreading rays of the Sun. The triquetrum stood for divinity the magic three of birth life and death. The swastika a spoke solar wheel was the old Sanskrit symbol for good luck. Each sign could be drawn in three shitty geometric animal and floral.

The figures grew and flourished. they were symbols rather than pictures. A tree was the Tree of Life. A line with no beginning and no end an eternity. Birds with their happy songs were heralds of spring. All were signs of life, of bounty brought by the Sun to a people whose lives were tied to field and forest. Springtime promised riches wealth was a ram or a deer.

As Christianity spread across Ukraine the old meanings changed. Great, once a sign of good harvest, came to stand for the growing church. The four corners of the earth became the cross. Born from the pagan Rite of Spring the ancient psynka came to celebrate the Christian East. Whereas the sun-god came back from the dark, the Son of God came back from the dead.