Pysanky Past and Present
Pysanky Past and Present Spring is a time of great hope and excitement in the Eastern European world. ... The second portion describes a special ritual act associated with eggs, that is making them into pysanky. ... References to pysanky can be found in several ancient artistic facets including poetry, music, and myth. ... Pysanky was not meant to be a representation of a single person of family, but as a representation of the entire state. ... Your age and place in society often affected the reason you received your pysanky, or what direct power it could assert over your life. For example children would receive pysanky that were light-colored with floral designs. ... Hospodari (married couples) would be showered with pysanky covered in 40 triangles, because the number has much symbolism in Slavic cultures. ... Trees were seen as an important natural symbol in village life, for example, and pysanky were hung on a tree branch in order to assist with fruiting. ... It is quite evident that pysanky were very integrated into society long before Christian times. It is no surprise then, that the artifact was not lost when the pagan religion faded into the past. ... The change is apparent, though, when one compares two different stories of the origins of pysanky. ... Ever since that time, according to the story, pysanky were decorated in the spring. ... The next passage, post-Christianity, explicitly shows just how origins involving nature would now become origins of Jesus Christ: One tale from the Hutzuls tells us that while Jesus was imprisoned, His mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, prepared a basket of eggs to present to Pilate when asking mercy for her son’s life. ... Women making pysanky were expected to be in perfect state of mind. ... Only after the children were put to bed and the women could work alone could the pysanky be made. ... ” Clearly the most important tool available in making the pysanky is the egg. ... Pysanky are usually made with chicken eggs, although ostrich and rhea (A large bird from South America) are also used. ... As there are a variety of symbols that need to be represented by the pysanky, variation with drawing tools helps in the process. ... Beeswax is superior in pysanky making specifically because of its high melting point. ... The dyes used in making pysanky tend to be very bright colors. ... They were used to symbolize the pushing away of evil, much like the account on the origin of the pysanky explained.