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APRIL, 1945 ...... її Dancing Club Revived Savela Stechyshyn O rigin O f The U krainian Easter Egg Translated by Mildred Milanowicz With the ar rival of Lent, Ukrainians ev erywhere are making рґера- rations for Easter as for so m e t h і n g great and im portant. ^Most fiotable is the preparing dur ing the entire of the tradi tional Easter eggs, or pysanky. These pysianky are closely associated with Easter. Without these pysanky it seems that Eas ter would not have its full mean ing. It has become a ritual neces sity of our culture, which has its origin in the far distant past of the Ukrainian people. We gaze wiith delighted aston ishment at these beautifully-dec orated pysanky and ifta.rv-el at the intricate designs. Where did they come from, what do they mean? The pysanka has a very ancient history. Proof of this is found in the many archeological excava tions in Ukjraine, where these decorated eggs have been found that date 'from the Stone Age, thus exploding the common be lief that Easter eggs were prim arily a product of pre-Christian era. Qur early Ukrainian ances to r like all other peoples, were pagans who worshipped the sun as a great life-giving force. Win ter to these pagans was consid ered a punishment. For this rea son, it was with impatience that they awaited the arrival of spring, as a great time of rejoic ing, for which preparations were made long beforehand. Our an cestors greeted spring with vari ous songs and games, which still remain in our folk-cullture in the form of our Easter “hayeevki.” The egg, which stands for re birth, or new life, is closely as sociated with this -Festival of Spring and with the general awaikening and rebirth of nature. This spring brings people joy, new hope for a better life, new desires, health and wealth. The sun helps the whole world to re fresh itself at this time and to bloom anew. For this reason peo ple in ancient times depicted all their hopes, expectations and joys on the egg, as a symibol of that recurrent rebirth, since the egg best exemplifies the globe of earth, which, like the egg, will soon free its^f of the hard shell of winter and will bring new life, or spring, to the earth. This is more or less the expla nation of the origin of the py- sarika. Naturally, with the ad vent of Christianity into Ukraine the pysanka took on a new signi ficance. From that time, its signi ficance is closely associated with the Resurrection of Christ. The people even originated) legends* and follk-tales about the origins , of these pysanky. In some sec tions it is believed that the Holy Mother was the first to decorate a pysanka to present to Pontius Pilate, as ransom for the Son of God. In other sections the story is told that the three Marys came to the grave of Christ and brought these Easter eggs to bribe the guards to let them into the Tomb. From that time on, everyone began to color these Easter eiggs. In every story the pysanka emerges as an attractive object, and quite worthy enough to ransom Jesus from his martyr dom. Such is the great import ance attached to the pysanka. The pysanka is also associated with many folk-customs and be liefs. For example, on Easter, in honor of the Resurrection, people exchange these Easter eggs, wishing each other health and happiness. The pysanka, like a talisman, is believed to have within it same secret power which can banish evil and bring good. When a girl wishes a young man to court her, she gives him a pysanka. If the love is mutual, the young man ac cepts it. If not, he returns it, for he fears the spell the girl could have cast over the pysanka. In most localities, it is the custom to present a pysanka to the priest on Easter, or to exchange with him. A pysanka received from a priest is supposed to possess special powers, because it safe guards a home from sickiness, fire and from similar catastro- phies. In some sections, a pysan ka is cast into graves during bu rials. All this evidences how deeply-rooted is the faith of the people in the power of these py sanky and what importance is prescribed to them. In short, the pysanka besttfws happiness, good, love, beauty and peace and final ly, it is considered a link between this world and the next. Ukrainian ethnographers, after extensive study of their national folk-art, state, that the pysanka is the only extant example of our ancient art of ornamentation in its true and original form. De signs used currently on Easter eggs have not undergone any im portant changes, but have been preserved in the same form in which it was originated hundreds of years ago. This may be ex plained by the fadt that all our ancestral customs were consider ed by the people as important to the necessities of life, therefore, all its meanings have survived without any basic changes. So to day, the pysanka seems to unfold our whole past before us. This is mainly true of the pysanky from mountain sections, where the na tural barriers kept foreign influ ences at a minimum. Easter egg designs may be div ided into two principal groups, namely, the geometrical and the floral. The geometric design is the oldest. It is made up of vari ous separate symbols,' which to gether create an attractive decor ative pattern. One symbol, the broken cross, known familiarly as the swastika, appears in many designs and is one of the oldest symbols not only in the history of the pysanka, but in the art his tory of the numerous peoples of the earth. It is knowif* every where as a symibol of happiness and good luck. Two swastikas to gether form a rosette or star. This star is the most widely used symbol in both egg and cross-stitch designs. 'Next we find the tri-corner (tri-'kutnik), which seldom appears alone, but is invariably incorporated into the entire design. This tri-corner always symbolizes some trio, as heaven-earth-hell,. or, man-wo- man-child, and so on. This same tri-corner is found in cross- stitch designs. Another popular symibol is the fir-tree,'which symbolizes eternal youth and glowing health. Cent rally, the fir-tree is shown in con junction with a star, rosette or sun. Using these syimibiols, the decorator of the pysanka con veys th^ message that the com ing spring will bring health, youth, and general refreshening. Good-iuok symbols are horse shoes, and oak leaves. Rakes, windmills, scythes, foretell pros perity. Horses and stags or deers insure wealth. In general, it can be stated that every mark, or symbol, on the egg has its own meaning. These symlbols are interwoven and to gether create the whole design. Thus the creaticfn of this design makes the pysanka a true work of art. In some sections of Ukraine, a floral design has developed, both in egg designs and in cross- stitch designs. This is true in sections of northern Galicia, in the Sokal district and in some parts of Western Ukraine. In these designs, one can recognize flower-pots, carnations, violets, forget-me-nots, strawberries and raspberries. There are two principal meth ods of decorating Easter eggs, that is, the •waxirng-dyeing meth od, or batik method, and the scratch method. The latter meth od is the oldest but less known. It is simply done by d y e in g the egg some dark brown color, then scraping off the design with a pen-knife or a needle. The batik method is more com plicated and will be explained in detail in the next issue of “Our Life.” e To Ukrainians, the pysanka holds a great importance, both in religion and in art. For this rea son, this lovely custom of decora ting pysanky should not be per mitted to die out. Every Ukrain ian family should dutifully con tinue this pretty custom, train- Following is an article sent to “Our Life” by Miss Genevieve Prymak, of Baltimore, Md., who hopes that it may set an example and encourage other dancing clubs to reorganize their groups and continue the work which was started by Mr. Avramenko. The activities of the Baltimore Uk rainians are no longer to be restricted to this area — a vigorous campaign is being undertaken to introduce to Americans and to re -introduce to Uk rainians everywhere, the endeavors of the Baltimore Ukrainians to pjromote our culture. Our purpose at this time is to ad vise of the rebirth of the Ukrainian Dancing Club of Baltimore. As is the case with most mixed clubs, many members have been taken into the service and our dancing club has been seriously handicapped for this reason. However, Sunday afternoon, March 4, the fragments of the group were woven together at a meeting held at St. Michael's Catholic Church, 524 S. Wolfe St., Baltimore, Md. Mr. Albert Stysley presided, Stan Emche, our 21 year old veteran of the Army, was elected Acting Secretary to carry out the duties of Joe Dmytriw who is serving overseas with the Army, Ann Poliszuk, Treasurer, and Genevieve Prymak was elected Publicity Secre tary. The main purpose of the Club, to repeat, is to promote the culture of Ukraine, enrich, and keep alive the beauty of our folk dances. We need “new blood” to build up the organiza tion to the stage of prestige it held before the war. About fifteen new members, ages ranging from six to thirty, have already joined * and through publicity we hope to get more. Albert Stysley is our capable and talented leader. Dancing rehearsals are to be held weekly and within a few months we anticipate being able to exhibit our dancing publicly for the honor and glory of the Ukraine. It will require patience and much practice to teach these dances to our new members — we have set our goal and want to let you know of our ac tivities in the hopes that other dancing groups will be encouraged to do like wise. You mothers and fathers, if your daughters and sons have migrated to Baltimore to work — write to them and tell them of our club — we are anxious to teach them, and they will enjoy association with the Ukrainians here. Information can be secured from the Publicity Secretary — Genevieve Prymak, 2944 Hudson St., Baltimore, Md. So far, two sisters from Shamo- kin, Pa., have already joined us — we want to expand our membership — you can help. Genevieve Prymak . BUY UNITED STATES WAR SAVINGS STAMPS AND BONDS Jing childjren from early child hood in this art and in the mean ings of its designs. This is оцг national obligation as Ukrainians. Mildred Milanowicz Lenten season Видання C оюзу Українок A мерики - перевидано в електронному форматі в 2012 році . A рхів C У A - Ню Йорк , Н . Й . C Ш A.
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