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ACQUAINTING WITH HISTORY OF ORIGIN
OF UKRAINIAN EASTER-EGG.
Still since those times when a primitive man began to grow into "Homo sapiens" ("intellectual man"), he began to dream of domination over different elements of the nature: over fire, water, air. And if afterwards a man has learnt to get a fire, and began to get control over aquatic element - was building boats, but only birds continued to dominate in air. Except for their ability to fly and to the closeness to celestial gods, birds owned another secret - man was impressed by the fact of appearance of a live nestling, seemingly, out of a lifeless egg. Besides it needs to reminisce the likeness of yolk to the Sun...
Here is how prof. Stepan Kilimnik in his labour the "Ukrainian year in folk consuetudes in historical illumination." (1962, Winnipeg) describes attitude of our ancestors toward the birds: "... Exploring the especial love of our ancestors to the numerous migratory birds, we guess, that once the birds, possibly some of them, were totems in which, by a beliefs, spirit of the souls of great-grandfathers and grandfathers and supernatural forces were infused which were well-disposed to the people, were helping people, were taking care of habitations, harvest, fertility (birthrate), health and of all good of people ... Fully inviolable birds in Ukraine were considered such: nightingale, cuckoo, swallow, lark, rook, crane, ... and a lot of other. It was allowed to kill a kite, as a wrecker, grey geese in autumn...; but bad soothsayers such as an owl, horned owl, thief-magpie and crow - and those did not exterminate ... ".
If to keep in mind those moments, which were given above, and adding the interesting story of Mr. S.Kilimnik about worthy attitude of our ancestors toward birds, it could become credible reason that a man began to represent different characters-requests on the bird's eggs, with hope, that gods will carry out these wishes.
For example let's take representation of the Sun (this could be a symbol in the form of a simple circle, or circle with rays, or a sunflower). Representing the Sun on an egg, a man asked from the Gods a sunshiny weather. Representing a symbol in the form of a ram, he asked the Gods a rich issue of the cattle. Amount of cattle in those times was one of welfare measures. One of the numerous animal symbols is also a cock. People considered that a pysanka with its image shields the house from a thunderbolt; it's need to remember, that after the "third cocks" all "impure forces" disappear (folk superstition).
"Corns", "Cucumbers", "French beans" and similar signs were the symbols of fertility of the Earth. Pysanky with suchlike symbols were digging in in earth on the edge of garden or field. Or were conducting with them different sacred ceremonies, etc. Pysanka, named "garlic", drove away evil ghosts.
Concerning aforementioned symbols - they were characteristic for heathen times. Afterwards, with adopting Christianity some of christian symbols were added to them: as "churches", "priest's cassocks" and other, and some could change own significance - such as "a fish" (symbol of Jesus Christ now) or "triangle" (before it was the symbol of fire, water and air, now is the symbol of The Saint Trinity). There was a big quantity of symbols, now even researchers and dabs of pysanka interpret often variously meaning of these symbols - obviously because symbols were differed in the separately taken regions as well as the decorative patterns of pysanky were differed in the separately taken villages.
However, the main and prolonged factor which was destroying and erasing decorative patterns of pysanky, was the persecuting of everything which was coupled with the Ukrainian culture. My generation remembers how were teaching us - everything that originates from a village is the result of lack of education (either we talk about a pysanka or about a man), that's why we were avoiding our own culture. At the same time simple peasant women were singing authentic folk songs, were embroidering antique patterns, were making authentic pysanky, trying to import nothing new. I remember, how my grandmother Vasylyna (she lives on Pokuttya) was very much angry at me (I was yet first-grade boy at that time) when I asked why she does not draw hutsulian pysanky, that are more beautiful in fact? She angrily answered: "But it's ours!". I cannot forget one story that happened in one village of Horodenkivshchina. People have directed me to the very known woman - old dab of pysanka. Her relatives met me on the yard and explained that she is heavily sick therefore will be best for me to come in other, more comfortable time. The woman-master heard our talk and asked relatives to invite the guest in the house. She has heard out, has hardly risen, has rested on her elbow, and began to draw by obscure lines the pictures on paper, which usually applied on pysanky. She told also about colors that were peculiar to her works. Despite uncertain picture, I have guessed at once about what is the question - images of those pysanky are in the sketches now. That day, despite the fact that I have overcome about 150 km (50 from them - by a bicycle), I did not feel quite weariness and was happy. Sure, the old woman-master felt relieved slightly because she was again convinced that still there are people which are worried about our culture. There were and tragic moments during my searches - I put aside a journey in Kunysivtsi to Mrs. Maria Zelenets'ka - and finally arrived. Here I got to know terrible news - just then (in that day) there were 40 days of her death. Now I have the big weight at heart. But I have received some help from Mrs. Popadyuk Zoryana Mikhaylivna (born in 1979) who has adopted from Mrs. Maria her tradition of drawing, her decorative patterns. Moreover - she entrusted to me a few works in the execution of Mrs. Maria - I'm infinitely grateful to her for it. Now we can see these works in the section "Easter-eggs of Pokuttya".
As regards of interesting moments that accompanied the creating (designing) of pysanky - there were enough a lot. Foremost, a woman-master should be "clean" (absence of "menstruatio"). Except for that, it was obligatory whispering of different prayers. A rag, by which was rubbed off beeswax from the surface of pysanka just taken out from the furnace, was acquiring magic properties. Some woman-masters had concealed them for kindling the furnace in eve of the next Easter, other "... smoke out beshikha by it..." (in a certain sense beshikha is a witch) (Prof. S. Kilimnik "The Ukrainian year in folk consuetudes...", book #2., vol.#3)..
The terrible fate of authentic hutsulian pysanka consists in next situation: although it is a lot of masters, however trying to do the own production better, they almost have not left a trace from the authenticity during the last 15-20 years. As regards of the modern Ukrainian pysanka on the whole, today there is a big variety of new decorative patterns, styles and techniques of implementation. An electric pysachok (it's a special device for drawing pysanka) has come to substitute for ordinary and traditional pysachok /"pysal'tse", "kistka"/, that certainly accelerates the process of drawing a pysanka, however the spirit of antiquity is being quite lost. |
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