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OUR LIFE MONTHLY, published by Ukrainian National Women’s League of America VOL XXXVII APRIL 1980 No. 4 WITH THE FEAST OF CHRIST’S RESURRECTION WE GREET WORLD FEDERATION OF UKRAINIAN WOMEN’S ORGANIZATIONS AND ALL ITS MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS, THEIR HEADQUARTERS AND MEMBERS ALL ORGANIZATIONS THAT SHARE OUR COMMON EFFORT AND GOALS: THE FREEDOM OF OUR COUNTRY, ITS GROWTH AND FUTURE AMONG THE ’’CIRCLE OF FREE NATIONS; FELLOW COUNTRYMEN IN UKRAINE AND BEYOND IT, IN JAILS, IN PRISON CAMPS, IN EXILE; FELLOW COUNTRYMEN IN THE FREE WORLD, SCATTERED OVER THE FACE OF THE EARTH REGIONAL COUNCILS, BRANCHES, THEIR MEMBERS AND MEMBERS-AT-LARGE OF UNWLA HAPPY HOLIDAYS! CHRYSTOS VOSKRES! VOISTYNU VOSKRES! Executive Board of UNWLA EDITO RIAL PYSANKA We are separated from our homeland by wide spaces, seas, continents. Those who were born in Ukraine are also separated by time; they remember Ukraine as the land of their youth. Others know it only as the land of their ancestors. Something, maybe a nostalgia for Ukraine or maybe a need to be closer to her, has awakened a desire for knowledge of the past, the culture of Ukraine, its folk art, its heros. In Ukraine, our individuality is being limited to stage performances, simple embroidery... True folklore, folk art in its purest form is being pushed into the shadows. At the same time, interest in ancient traditions is growing. In the land of limited freedom, every pysanka, every form of pure folk art, is a manifestation of the need for closeness to our homeland. The same feelings can be observed here. Old and young alike are learning ancient Ukrainian traditions, are incorporating them in their holiday celebrations, and are sharing them with non-Ukrainians. The pysanka has become an object of great interest. We are learning not only the technology of the pysanka, but also its history, its role in society, its symbolism. All this has great importance not only for us, but also in the preservation of our traditions, which are forgotten or are dying with the deliberate aid of Soviet regime. Ancient traditions are for us a magical potion which brings us closer to our homeland. Incorporated in the little pysanka, we see not only a great love for beauty, but also magical thoughts and dreams, worldly philosophy, and the beliefs of our ancestors. OUR COVER GEOMETRIC SYMBOLS Geometric symbols and patterns are the predominant form of pysanka ornamentation. A pysanka artist, confronting the difficult surface of the spheriod egg, mastered it by dividing it with straight lines into triangles, squares, belts, and other shapes. The divisions provided areas that were then easily filled with symbols and ornaments. The egg could be divided into as few as two or four areas or into as many areas as an ambitious artist desired. A very popular symbolic pattern emerging from this type of division was called ’’the forty triangles". As each triangle was drawn on the egg it was designated to fulfill a particular wish.; With the advent of Christianity to Ukraine, the meaning of the forty triangles was adopted to represent the forty days of Lent, the forty days of Christ’s stay in the desert, or the forty martyrs. The triangles could be left plain of filled in with nets, lines, or dots. Another group of geometric symbols was derived form the stylization of objects found in the house and fields. Designs of barrels, saddlebags, rakes, spades, ladders, windmills, combs, and forks belong to this category. Pysanky and the ir Symbols. Tania Osadsa. The Ukrainian Museum. New York, 1980. 24 НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ, КВІТЕНЬ 1980 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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