The rich and meaningful tradition of Ukrainian Easter eggs endures

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A rooster-shaped ceramic jug that remained intact atop a kitchen cabinet in a ruined building in a town shattered by Russian bombardments became a symbol of Ukrainian resilience and strength.

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A photo of the rooster in the bombed-out Borodyanka apartment, about 60 kilometers northwest of Kyiv, went viral and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy each received such a rooster earlier this month as a gift while walking through Kyiv.

That ceramic rooster was Taïssa Hrycay’s inspiration for one of the traditional Ukrainian Easter eggs — pysanky — she created at her home on the South Shore of Montreal in the run-up to Orthodox Easter this Sunday.

Orthodox Christians use the older Julian calendar to determine the dates for holidays rather than the newer Gregorian one, and although many Ukrainian churches have opted to co-ordinate Easter celebrations with other Christian churches, most Orthodox Christians still celebrate Easter after other Christians.

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As the conflict in Ukraine bleeds into the Easter season and the relentless Russian military assault continues, the Ukrainian tradition of decorating pysanky has taken on special significance.

Amid reports of pysanky fundraiserspeople have shared online images of their pysanky and decorated them in the blue and yellow of the Ukrainian flag.

Hrycay’s pysanka (pysanka is the singular form) includes a stunning image of a rooster featuring yellow, orange, red and brown and the phrase “Glory to Ukraine” in Ukrainian.

Patterns for pysanky are generally chosen from books or the internet and initially drawn in pencil directly on the shell of a raw egg, usually a chicken egg. the process can take several hours and require reserves of patience, but is also described as meditative and gratifying.

“I enjoy making pysanky during the year,” said Hrycay, 53. “For me, it is a meditation of sorts.”

The practice “is particularly poignant and significant this year,” she said. “We are hoping to see the end of war very soon.”

Although pysanky look painted, they are, rather, created with a technique known as wax-resist: Designs written in melted beeswax are applied to the eggshell with a heated stylus known as a kistka. The word pysanky derives from the Ukrainian verb “to write.”

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The beeswax hardens immediately and the egg is then dipped into a jar of light-coloured dye, often yellow. The shell quickly turns yellow, except for the areas covered in wax. Melted wax is then applied to areas of the shell that will remain yellow. In the case of Hrycay’s rooster, that meant his beak, thighs and some of his tail feathers.

The waxing and dyeing process is repeated with a succession of increasingly dark colours. Once the egg has been dipped into its final dye bath, it is placed near a lit candle for the wax to melt. As the wax is gently dabbed away with paper toweling, the colors of the pysanka are revealed.

The shell, which is sometimes emptied by drilling a hole in it or suctioning out its contents, is then coated with varnish; people treasure their pysanky or offer them as gifts.

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Eggs have traditionally been considered symbols of renewal and, before Christianity in much of Europe, were decorated and given as gifts in festivals celebrating the return of the sun in spring. People believed they could send tributes and appeals to the pagan gods, according to Sophie Zielyka Ukrainian-American ethnographer and artist — and when Christianity came to Ukraine in the 10th century AD, it incorporated elements of paganism.

Designs on pysanky often included symbols. Wheat, a staple crop in Ukraine, symbolizes hopes for a good harvest and prosperity, for instance; arrow-like motifs depicting pine needles symbolize health and stamina, and triangle designs represent the Holy Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

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Today commercial aniline dyes are used, but originally dyes were derived from natural materials. Blueberries or red cabbage yielded a blue tint, for instance, and turmeric and ginger were used for yellow, said Hrycay, who has investigated the possibility of using such natural dyes.

Different areas of Ukraine used particular colors and patterns. Red, orange and black, for instance, were used in the region in which her father lived. Although her parents de ella met only after settling in Montreal following the Second World War, both were born in Ukraine and still have family there.

Decorating pysanky is a way for Hrycay and her sister, Natalia Hrycay, 49, to reconnect with their roots.

“It is such a Ukrainian tradition,” Natalia Hrycay said. “We are very proud of it and it is part of our heritage. I think everything Ukrainian has significance — singing, dancing, speaking Ukrainian.”

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With the invasion of Ukraine and the continued war, “you see things in a different light.”

The sisters learned to create pysanky from their mother as children—and Natalia Hrycay’s two children have also learned the art form. Her husband de ella, a dentist whose steady hand is a valued tool of his profession, creates elaborate pysanky as well.

For the first time since the coronavirus pandemic derailed so many holiday plans, the sisters and their loved ones plan to attend Easter mass in church; their pysanky — set in a basket with other ingredients, a traditional Easter bread known as paska, Ukrainian sausage, kolbassa, butter and salt among them — will be blessed in person.

For templates and visuals of pysanky, go to bit.ly/3EA3XUR.

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