How to make pisanki

Poles didn't invent the celebratory decoration of eggs, but there's a lot to be said for how the tradition developed on the Slavic territory. The oldest decorated egg specimens found around here come from the 10th century, and they were made by painting a pattern of wax on the shell, then dipping the egg in a dye.

At the end of the post there's a tutorial that shows you how to make Easter eggs using that very technique. But first, let's talk semantics.

There are several types of decorated eggs in our tradition, and they all have their particular names.

Kraszanka (crash-an-kah) is an egg which has simply been dipped in dye.

Pisanka (pee-san-kah) is an egg which has been painted on with wax, and THEN dipped in dye.

Drapanka (drah-pan-kah) is an egg which has been dipped in dye, and then had a pattern scratched out on it.

Oklejanka (oh-clay-an-kah) is an egg which has been covered in a pattern made from pieces of plants, fabric, and wool.

Rysowanka (ree-so-van-kah) is an egg which has been drawn on.

If this is too much to take in, don't worry. Nowadays, you can get away with calling all of these eggs 'pisanki'. Why does it end with i? Because that's the plural of pisanka. Yes, Polish is hard.

The symbolism of the egg varies from culture to culture, but it is always powerful. For Slavic Pagans, the egg was generally a portent of new life and good luck. It is said that a meal of eggs was shared as part of one spring ritual, and the crumbled shells were sprinkled on tilled ground to guarantee a good crop. (modern composters will know that this is actually a very good way to nourish the soil)

With the arrival of Christianity, attempts were made to eradicate belief in the egg's magical properties. Well, a two hundred year ban on eating eggs during Easter didn't help much- the Church had to give in and repurpose them as a symbol of the Resurrection.

In Poland, to this day, the custom of sharing eggs at Easter persists. On Easter Monday, before any other food is consumed, a plate of egg slices is passed around. As we eat the eggs, we also exchange kind words and well wishes- much like we do at Christmas with blessed wafers.

I shot this tutorial with the help of my friendly neighbourhood folklorist Mariza Nawrocka-Teodorczyk (dziękuję!). Decorating eggs using wax and dye is actually quite easy! Have a look for yourselves:

Drowning the Marzanna

Marzanna is an ancient pagan Slavic goddess, and one of her domains is Winter. On the vernal equinox which falls on March 21st, we make an effigy of her, set it on fire and then drown it in the river so that Spring will come.

My Marzanna from last year

So, where does this tradition come from?

Slavic Pagans, of course.

Although Christianity in Poland has worked hard for the last thousand years to assimilate and conceal the multitude of wonderful pagan traditions within its Catholic celebrations, the drowning of the Marzanna persists despite many attempts to eradicate it. In fact it's traditional for pre-school children to make the effigy in class and then have a little field trip to drown her. Sometimes, older children will cut out paper numbers- symbolising their bad grades- and throw them in the water as well.

Your typical Marzanna should be made of straw, and dressed in white- or, as they do it in some regions, wound out of rags and wearing a colourful maiden's dress. The puppet would be paraded through the village so that she might draw out misery, hunger, sickness, and all the evils of the cold seasons out of every house. Once that duty was fulfilled, she would be set on fire and dropped into the water- and woe be unto those who looked back at her on their way home. Even torn to shreds, the goddess could still take vengeance with a curse.

The burning of Judas which was meant to replace it somehow never really caught on...and I am glad. Marzanna must die as the Winter cedes to Spring, but she will return next season to live again. Her burning is a symbol of the natural order, while tormenting a straw effigy of Judas only serves to translate guilt into angry righteousness.

Another ancient tradition would have us greet Jaryła, the god of Spring and fertility, with dances and rituals. Slavic religion persists in several modern-day faith groups, but so far my attempts to get in touch with them have been fruitless, so alas I can't give you an account of anything more authentic than the secularised drowning of Marzanna.

So. I haven't done this in a while, for lack of good company, but last year I found two friends who thought it was a great idea. We made our Marzanna from wood, rags and hay, so she should decompose well. The Ner river is pretty dirty already, but there was no need to contribute to the pollution.

Hello, Spring, goodbye, Winter!

You do have to set her on fire before you drown her.

As a bonus, here's a rather lovely video of the traditional drowning, shot last year by some Poles in...Glasgow. ;) Apparently they're doing it again this year, on March 25th. If you're in Glasgow, go join in the fun!

Meta information:

Wikipedia entry on Slavic Paganism:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavic_paganism


COSMOPOLIS- the authors of the Drowning Marzanna video:
http://cosmopolis10.blogspot.com/


Literary source: Polskie Obrzędy i Zwyczaje, Dr. Barbara Ogrodowska