Symbols on Easter eggs and their meaning. Pysanka - history, symbols and symbols, ornaments, varieties, traditions

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Rites associated with the production of Easter eggs.
The time of writing Easter eggs. Most Easter eggs are painted for Easter. Therefore, it was believed that they are painted only for this holiday. Previously, they were painted for all spring holidays, and each of them had its own patterns.
On Candlemas - February 12, when winter meets summer, three Easter eggs with a simple, broken and oblique cross (swastika) were painted in the Cherkasy region. This is a sign that the Sun will send more and more heat to the earth.
For the holiday of Kolyada when the Sun was honored during the transition from winter to spring, a full, side, half rose was depicted on Easter eggs. Girls gave such Easter eggs to guys as a token of their affection and love.
Forty saints had to reveal their skill - forty Easter eggs had to be drawn with different patterns. If a woman coped with this, she was considered a real egg. Pysanka with the motive "Forty wedges" was obligatory.
On the Annunciation they already drew trees with flowers, different leaves, pines, leaves with ram's horns, hops - everything that is associated with growth.
Palm Sunday brought a colorful and intricate variety of Easter eggs. There were suns, and twigs, and trees.
For Easter and Seeing Easter eggs are filled with sunny beauty. Here they are already writing out in the full breadth of the creative soul. Only on the Wires the colors are darker and sadder.
Summer patterns are already coming to Mironositskaya (May 10). There are more diamonds, peas, lamb horns.
On Ascension, they painted everything they knew. And the suns, and the stars, and the endless, and the trees, and various hops. They were presented to each other, carried to the cemetery and laid on the graves. It happened that they painted for the Green Week, painted in onions and laid on the graves of those who died a violent death.
So for almost four months they painted Easter eggs, glorifying spring and its holidays.
In distant provinces, for example, Podolsk, they began to write Easter eggs for the Kolyada holiday. In the Kuban, Kharkiv region - from Maundy Thursday, sometimes from the 5th week of Great Lent or from half of Lent. In Chernihiv region - from 3, 4, 5.6 weeks of Great Lent, and on holidays and Sundays, writing Easter eggs was considered a sin. In the Poltava region - sometimes on Pure Thursday, sometimes on the Annunciation (March 25), they continued on Palm Sunday. In the Kyiv region - no later than Clean Week, sometimes earlier. In the Kherson region - from Maundy Thursday. 40 saints were written by "Sorokaklintsy".
A special day for writing Easter eggs, as we see, was Maundy Thursday. Thursday has long been dedicated to the Divine Thunder and Lightning. Among the Slavs it was the god Perun, among the Greeks - Zeus, among the Romans - Jupiter. There is a close connection between the worship of the spring sun and thunderstorms. The return of spring is accompanied by thunderstorms, which finally bring the Sun out from under the winter clouds. These two phenomena were combined in the representation of man, and therefore Thursday took a special place in the celebration of the veneration of the Sun God. There is a belief that spring comes at midnight on Maundy Thursday. If at this time you scoop up water from the river before the kite dips its wing in it, then such water will bring beauty and health. If you bathe before sunrise, the water will cleanse not only the body, but also the soul. Clean Thursday also has a connection with fire, that is, with the earthly manifestation of the heavenly Sun.

The symbolism of Easter eggs.
The most ancient motifs that are found on earthenware, ceramic Easter eggs are lines, circles, crosses, rhombuses, squares, dots. One of the oldest motifs is considered to be a rhombic meander pattern, which was a symbol of the mammoth-good in Late Paleo art (displays a pattern of dentin on a cut of the tusk of this animal). An example of such a pattern can be seen on a found bone bracelet from the Mezen site in Chernihiv region (18-20 thousand years BC. Fig. 1).

When choosing drawings for Easter eggs, they preferred agricultural motifs, customs and rituals of honoring the earth, heavenly bodies, and water. Pysanka ornaments are connected with local nature and mythology. Stars, crosses, the Sun, which now generously decorate Easter eggs, have a specific meaning; among different peoples they symbolize happiness, prosperity, good luck. The sun is drawn in the form of a circle, swastikas, roses, a star - in the form of rays, water - in the form of waves.

Let's take a closer look at the symbols that are depicted on Easter eggs.

Fig. 2 - motive "endless". Among the variety of ornaments of Ukrainian pysanky, a special place is occupied by an unusually peculiar element in the form of a wavy strip. It is called "bezkonechnik" and is very common in Easter eggs of the Hutsulshchyna, Bukovyna, Volyn, Kherson, Poltava. An analysis of the ornaments of the modern folk art of Ukraine and archaeological sites clearly shows that our modern masters inherited the wavy ornament "endless" from ancient times and that it comes from the art of the Trypillia culture - the Neolithic period. Taking into account that the “infinite” in the art monuments of the Trypillia culture was widespread much earlier than it was discovered in the cultural monuments of ancient Greece, we can conclude that the Greek masters borrowed a stylized image of the sea from our ancestors as the basis for the famous meander of Hellas. This, by the way, confirms the fact that it was the Aryan peoples, during their migration to the south, that laid the foundation for the culture of the peoples of the Mediterranean. Other names are “wave”, “snake”, “meander”, “krivulka”. It symbolizes the thread of life, the eternity of solar movement. The “endless” on the pysanka has neither beginning nor end, which means that the evil that gets into the house and into this trap will not be able to get out of it and will never bother the owner of the pysanka again. Varieties of the Ukrainian meander:
1, 2, 3, 4 - Hutsul region.
5 - Northern Bukovina
6 - Transcarpathia,
7 - Volyn
8 - Kherson region
9 - ancient Greek meander.
Fig 3 - "Diamond". It is a symbol of fertility, a general symbol of the feminine in nature.
Fig 4 - "Square", divided into parts with dots was a symbol of the sown field. "Polka dots" - dots, symbolized the grain that should germinate, or the stars in the sky, or the cuckoo egg - a symbol of spring. In Christianity, dots have become a symbol of the tears of the Mother of God.
Rice. 5 - "Triangle". A very interesting example of the use of the "triangle" motif is Pysanka, which is called "forty wedges" and should consist of forty-eight triangles. In ancient times, each triangle was intended to fulfill one wish. The triangle also means three dimensions, three natural phenomena - fire-water-air, thunder-water-earth, sky-earth hell, Yav-Nav-Right, Man-Woman-Child. In Christianity, "forty wedges" have become a symbol of forty days of fasting, forty martyrs, or forty days of Jesus' stay in the wilderness, and the triangle symbolizes the Holy Trinity.
Rice. 6. - Staircase. Symbol of the search for a better life
Rice. 7 - Sieve. A symbol of separation of good and evil.
Rice. 8 - Wheel, circle. This is a symbol of immortality, which manifests itself in nature by the continuous repetition of the cycles of the rebirth of life.
Rice. 9 - Symbols of the Sun. The most common and diverse group of signs are solar, ancient cosmogonic signs that depict heavenly bodies, primarily the Sun. The sun is an eternal source of heat, the greatest force that defeats the cold of winter and returns spring awakening to all living things. The movement of the Sun is represented by spirals (Fig. 9-1). This sign appeared on the altars 10 thousand years ago. It is also a sign of fertility. In the ideas of our ancestors, the spiral was a sign of the Universe, and on earth it was a sign of a snake that lived near the water and was its guardian. The sun is depicted by various signs (Fig. 9-2) Very often the Sun is depicted as a rose (Fig. 9-3) A rose can be “full”, “empty”, “mangy”, “protruding”, “lateral”, “truncated” , “lapataya”, etc. Another sign of the supreme deity of our ancestors was the swastika (Fig. 9-4). Other names for this sign are “four-legged”, “svarga”, “broken cross”. The swastika is a symbol of holy fire, a protective sign from evil spirits, a symbol of the Universe, a sign of the four cardinal points, four winds, four seasons. If the swastikas are rounded, then they are called “lamb horns”, “spiders”, “horns”, “goose necks”, “rams”.
The swastika is found on the ancient monuments of all Indo-European peoples. It was found among the Mongolian peoples, among the Phoenicians, Etruscans, Finns, among the Gauls and Germans, among the Romans in the 3rd century of our Era. This is a favorite symbol of the ancient Aryans.
A variation of the swastika is the "trirog" (Fig. 9-5). Three hooks of the "trirog" are located at an angle of 120 degrees. Other names for this sign are “tripod”, “triquetra”, “rue”, “nut leaf”, “spiders”, “horns”. This sign is known from the Tripoli culture and, like the triangle, symbolizes some kind of trinity.
The cross was found as a decoration on clay vessels on the islands of the Aegean Sea (10th century BC). The most common is the "Greek cross" - four equal ends. (Fig. 9-6), sometimes "Latin" - with an elongated lower end. (Figure 9-7)
Fig.10. Another ancient symbol that is used on Easter eggs is the Goddess-Bereginya - a symbol of life and fertility, the mother of all living things. She is depicted as a full-length woman with her hands up. She is depicted surrounded by flowering vegetation, fish, stars. Often in one hand she holds a branch of a tree, and in the other - a radiant Sun.
Rice. 11. Tree of Life. One of the most popular plant motifs is a flowering plant in a flowerpot, or a tree that symbolizes life. The Tree of Life embodies the past, present and future, (Nav, Rule, Reality). The symmetry of the World Tree of Life meant the establishment of links between the parts of the world, in the heavenly, earthly and underground spheres, the destruction of chaos.
Rice. 12. Plant motifs. They were widely used on Easter eggs. Plants were depicted in full, or parts of them (leaves, flowers, branches). Oak (Fig. 12-1) viburnum (Fig. 12-2) leaf symbolized great strength and undying beauty.
Oak is a sacred tree, the embodiment of Perun, the god of solar male energy, development, life.
Kalina is a tree of our Ukrainian kind. Once, in ancient times, she personified the rebirth of the Universe, the fiery trinity - the Sun, the Moon and the Star. Therefore, its name comes from the ancient name of the Sun - Kolo. Viburnum berries have become a symbol of blood and the undying Family.
Cherry - a symbol of girlish beauty, helped to attract love.
On Hutsul Easter eggs one can often see a stylized branch of smereka (Fig. 12-3) - a symbol of eternal youth and life.
Grape motif symbolized brotherhood, benevolence and true love.
An ornament of Apples and plums brought wisdom and health.
Hops symbolize the flowering of youth and young love.
Mallow, periwinkle, lilies of the valley, sunflowers, tulips, carnations, pine, violets, rue, periwinkle wreaths, walnuts, leaves were also depicted. (Fig. 12-4, 12-5).
Rice. 13. Animal motifs not as popular as vegetable ones, but we still meet them. And this is evidence that our Slavic ancestors were vegetarians and did not eat meat. Animals in their lives occupied a much smaller place than plants. This is a rooster, cancer, bee, fish, horses, sheep, deer, spiders, snails. Most often Easter eggs draw them abstractly, sometimes only parts of animals: duck feet, ram's horns (Fig. 13-1), chicken feet, crow's feet, ox's eye, hare's teeth, bear's feet.
A certain place in Ukrainian everyday art is occupied by the image of a horse. (Fig. 13-2). It is associated with the cult of the Sun. The sacred horse moved the Sun across the sky.
Fish (Fig. 13-3) - a symbol of health, a sign of water, fertility, an ancient Ukrainian symbol of life and death. The other world is connected with fish, the one where the souls of our ancestors go.
The deer (Fig. 13-4) represented long life and wealth, and its antlers were associated with the rays of the rising sun.
Birds (Figure 13-5) were considered the harbingers of spring
The bee symbolizes the purity of the soul, the butterfly represents joy, a carefree childhood, the transition of the soul to an eternal happy life.
Spider - a symbol of perseverance, patience.
Figure 14. Another interesting group of Easter eggs - pysanky with household motifs in ornament. Such Easter eggs depict rakes, scallops (Fig. 14-1), axes, umbrellas, a cradle, "wolf teeth" - a detail of a weaving workbench in Podolia, boats, boots, a violin, a reel. The motif "Rabelka and scallops" is a security sign from evil forces, from death. Rakes with dots - protection from the storm.
With the advent of Christianity, Easter eggs with religious themes appeared. Easter eggs with a cross are the most common, although the cross is an ancient sign of the Sun. Most often they draw a four-beam equilateral cross with thickenings at the ends. There are Easter eggs “shroud”, “church”, “ringing”, “priest robes”, “God's hand”, “Sunday”, etc.

The symbolism of flowers.
Red - joy, life, hope, love, for young people - hope for a wedding.
Yellow is a symbol of the Moon and stars, and in the economy - the harvest.
Blue - sky, air, magical meaning - health.
Brown - personifies the earth, the gifts of the fields.
Combination of several colors- family happiness, peace, love, success, etc.
Green - spring, the resurrection of nature, the wealth of flora and fauna.
White + black - a symbol of the earth, fertility.

While they are bathing the egg in paint, they read “Our Father” three times, the Easter egg “to health” - it is advisable to read while you write too - so that there are no extra thoughts and thoughts in your head, because what we think about is what we write down on a Easter egg.

The waning moon is the time to write Easter eggs that help solve problems of various kinds - writing off the evil eye, ailments, failures ... The main symbols on such Easter eggs are "wolf teeth", "rake", "Svarga" ("swastika", "four-legged") with direction against the sun.
From the new moon to the full moon, Easter eggs are written for what one dreams of. Especially good - on the night of the new moon. Pysanky "for profit" - new moon or full moon. "for love" or "women's" - write on the growing young moon.

Funeral Easter eggs are white and blue, they are of two types, those that write on the Trinity and are sent on rafts along the river, they are written on a living egg and Easter eggs that are taken to the grave are written only in boiled.

"wolf teeth" - a talisman against evil forces (they write to write off karmic debts or hang over a baby's bed as a charm)
"ram's horns" - a piasnka for prosperity, since a sheep is a nurse: it will feed and clothe
"bear paws" - a charm "in the garden" so that wild animals do not fight cattle
"duck feet" / "chicken feet" - for prosperity

Easter eggs in Rus' were never made for themselves, but only for a gift. Considering how many relatives a person had in those days and how closely people communicated with each other, the whole family was sometimes involved in painting eggs, just so as not to forget or offend anyone. Giving a Easter egg, the person seemed to say: here, I wish you happiness and health. There were also egg painting masters, they were called pysankars and had their own secrets. After all, learning how to paint eggs so that people gasp is not so simple. So the secrets were kept.

Today we simply dip the egg into the paint, or at best make colorful stains on it, and earlier eggs were painted with symbols, geometric shapes - magical signs. Eggs for Easter eggs were selected very strictly. Not only eggs that were ugly in shape or color were not allowed, it was even impossible to take eggs from an old bird - only from young healthy hens, and the eggs had to be fertilized.

First, the shells were degreased and pickled, for which they used vinegar or alum, and then the eggs were dipped in paint, mostly vegetable. They painted eggs with a special scribe - a device with a cavity inside. Used beeswax, white napkins for polishing eggs. Each housewife prepared brushes on her own: it could be a hollow bird feather cut off from above, a straw, a tubular bone of a rooster attached to a wooden holder.

They started painting the egg with yellow paint, which was called "apple tree", because it was made from the roots of a young apple tree, then it was dyed with red paint and finished with black paint. Between the stages of dyeing, each new layer was recorded with wax to preserve the conceived pattern. The last coat required the most intense staining, and the eggs were kept in the dye for 14 hours. Then, removing the finished egg from the paint, it was carefully wiped, polished with a white linen napkin, erasing the wax layers.

Painted eggs were kept in the most conspicuous places in the house: they were put on shelves, placed under the icons, and even the icons were hung with a garland. Throughout the Easter week, neighbors and relatives went to visit each other and gave their Easter eggs.

Easter eggs are not the only type of magical eggs common in Ukraine. There is another variety called "krashenki". These eggs were hard-boiled, dyed any color, and solemnly eaten at dawn on Easter Sunday. The name "krashenki" comes from the word "paint", and "pysanky" - from the word "write" (that is, paint, apply patterns). Krashenki are hard-boiled and meant to be eaten, while pysanky are left raw to retain their fertility magic.

Krashenki are painted in a single color, usually red, and Easter eggs are covered with patterns and painted in different colors.

There are different types of such eggs:

• Krashenka- monochrome.
• Krapanka- with a plain background, on which spots, stripes, specks are applied.
• Dryapanka- an egg on which, after dyeing, a pattern was scratched with a metal point.
• Malevanka- an egg painted with its invented pattern.
• Pysanka- an egg painted with an ornamental or plot pattern in accordance with traditional patterns that are passed down from generation to generation. Patterns are drawn on a cold egg with hot wax, then it is immersed in diluted paint. Then they make a new pattern with wax and dip it in another paint, and so on. When all the patterns are applied, the wax is removed.
• yaychata- eggs made of wood, porcelain, beads, clay, etc.

In order to get a plentiful harvest, eggs with the image of wheat ears and agricultural ornaments were buried in the first and last furrow of the field. To protect against fire, Easter eggs with blue and green ornaments in the form of a meander were kept in the drma.

If the fire still flared up, pysanky were carried around it to prevent the fire from spreading.

Krashenki also had magical uses. Their main task was healing by transference. The patient wore such an egg around his neck, suspended on a thread, and it absorbed the ailment. To prevent blood poisoning, it was necessary to touch a person with a consecrated egg. An egg placed under the hive prevented the bees from leaving it and increased honey production. Before sowing the field, an egg wrapped in green oats was buried in it as a fertility amulet. When a new house was being built, amulets of red dyes adorned with wheat tassels were hung over doorways to propitiate spirits that might be disturbed, and in fact to ask for their protection.

While the paint was being prepared, a letter to God was written on a raw chicken egg with hot wax using a bone-fork taken from a rooster breast. Eggs for Easter eggs were only suitable for those that were laid between two lunar months. A real Velikodensky pysanka retained its vitality until the next Maundy Thursday: it did not become rotten and did not dry out.

Easter eggs were supposed to be painted with the first strike of the bell. First, the egg was dipped in yellow paint, the "apple tree", and kept in it for "three otchenash". Each color of the pattern was protected with wax. By the end of the work, the eggs turned into black gloomy koloboks. They were dipped in hot water or brought to the fire. The wax melted, and the pysanka was born, just as the sun is born from the blackness of the night.

To make the pysanka shine, it was smeared with fat. They put it with a whisk around the Easter cake - for God, on a dish with grain - for people, and krashenki on sprouted oats - then for parents. And three candles burned in honor of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

The main colors of the ornament: black, red, yellow, green. The Black (Ryaba) Hen laid a luminiferous golden egg from which the Universe was born. The earth is black, throwing off the white veil of winter. Velikden is red, Yegory is green, Kupala is golden (yellow).

Pysanka unlocked the heart for love, gave strength to fertility, protected from the evil eye and spoilage, slander, disease, natural disaster, poverty, bestowed beauty and wealth, hope for a happy marriage and harvest. She was kept in the house as an icon. The gift of pysanka strengthened kinship. Through the pysanka there was a transfer of spiritual warmth from person to person, there was a transfer of sacred knowledge from generation to generation. Selling pysanka is an unforgivable sin; bestowing it meant giving honor.

Painting eggs is a creative process. Firstly, an amazing feeling arises just because you are holding in your hand the beginning of life - an egg, heavy, cool, as if breathing from the inside. And when you paint it, gradually making it darker and darker, you stop seeing the signs already drawn. Before you is only a uniform black glow. But it is worth heating a dark egg - the wax will disperse and through it, as through magic glass, bright signs will begin to appear.

Before applying the pattern, be sure to wash the eggs, but do this very carefully so as not to damage the shell. The easiest way to paint boiled eggs. In this case, boil them in water with the addition of 1 tablespoon of salt per 2 liters of water. Remove one at a time and lay out on a clean towel to cool. You can also paint hollow eggs, that is, hollow, without content. Such eggs are stored longer, they are a kind of "eternal pysanka".

For painting it is desirable to use natural paints. Yellow paint is prepared from the roots of a young apple tree, poplar shoots, onion peel, nettle root, chamomile flowers and other plants. Blue and purple paint can be made from sunflower seed husks, mallow flowers, and blueberries and elderberries. Green paint in its pure (that is, unmixed) form is obtained from the leaves of lily of the valley, nettle, ash bark and buckthorn. Red paint is made from bird cherry berries, flowers and seeds of St. John's wort. Brown is prepared from the bark of an apple tree, oak, buckthorn. Black is made from alder roots.

Prepare all vegetable paints only in enamelware. Pour raw materials for 5-6 hours with cold water, then boil over low heat: leaves - 40 minutes, flowers - 30 minutes, bark - 3 hours. Strain the finished broth and add 1 teaspoon of potassium alum to it. Coloring time - from 10 minutes to 14 hours. Ready-made dyes are used as indicated on the package.

Dye eggs by dipping them in paint. If you use aniline dyes, then do not keep eggs in them for a long time: the dye penetrates deep into the egg layer and destroys the shell structure. The maximum immersion time is 5 minutes for food coloring, 3 minutes for aniline. Do not lower waxed eggs into hot water - only warm. You can't cook eggs at all.

The traditional colors of Easter eggs are white, yellow, red and black. Start staining with white and finish with black. It is permissible to use brown, green, purple, lilac colors, but then the egg is already called a malevanka. The Paint Process mixes layers of paint, so you need to know how new paint is applied to an existing layer. The melted wax is removed from the pysanka with a linen napkin. With constant use, the napkin is impregnated with wax and polishes the shell well.

It is best to work with beeswax, but you can also use paraffin wax. A blown egg is strengthened from the inside with hot paraffin, it is injected inside with a conventional syringe.

Wash your hands thoroughly with soap. Take the egg in your left hand and the pencil in your right. With the little finger of the right hand, maintain the balance of the egg and with a pencil divide its surface into fields. At the same time, rotate the egg towards you, and draw the line away from you. Try not to change the position of the pencil. Distribute the pysanka ornament in the fields. Draw the pattern on the egg: first with a simple soft pencil, and then with wax. Wax according to the pattern is applied in different ways - with brushes, matches, straws, feathers. A wax brush - a scribbler - can be made from metal foil by rolling it into a funnel-shaped tube 1-1.5 cm long. The tube is attached with a thin wire to a wooden holder with a diameter of 8 mm and a length of 10-12 cm. But it is best to use brass brushes with a thin and comfortable tip. You will need several brushes of different thicknesses (if you want to get a drawing with different line thicknesses): they are placed in melted wax and taken from there as needed.

They work as a scribe like this: they heat the brush on fire (candle, burner) and fill it with wax. The egg is taken in the left hand, and the scribbler in the right, the elbows are pressed to the body so that there is support, the little finger of the right hand rests on the shell, and the fingers of the left rotate the egg. The egg is rotated towards itself, and the lines lead away from itself. It is likely that at first you will not succeed, but gradually you will master this art.

Remember: first draw a pattern on the white surface of the egg with hot wax (according to pencil marks). After that, put the egg in the paint. Make sure that the water temperature does not exceed 40 ° C (otherwise the wax will melt), and the color of the paint is the lightest, that is, yellow. Then the egg is again covered with wax and dipped in a darker paint (red, red). Play with colors and patterns - painting the egg depends on your imagination. After you have obtained the desired colors and patterns, remove the wax. To do this, place the egg in the oven for a few minutes or bring it to the tongue of a candle and remove the melted wax with a paper towel. Ready pysanka can be wiped with sunflower oil, giving it greater brightness and shine.

If you start painting not from white, but from yellow, you will get a magical tormented dye. Droplets of wax must be lowered so that scales form: each time a part of the drop is painted over, and they seem to overlap partially on top of each other. At the end, immerse the egg not in dark paint, but in water with vinegar (proportion 1: 1). Then wash the egg with soap in cold water, melt the wax and remove it with a napkin. The whole egg will be covered with colorful peas.

It is possible to paint eggs with the help of one paint and "signets" of wax, as a result of which you get paints with wedges, commas, dots or lines. All these are magical signs. But if you are making a ritual egg, then follow the rules. The pysanka ornament is based on the rotation of the cross around the center, which we already know, because of which familiar figures are formed: a circle, a square (or rhombus) and a center, a world axis, in the form of a cross, a tree, a wheel with eight spokes. These symbols in the egg can be used as the basis of the painting (that is, the egg depicts one of the symbols, and the rest line up inside this symbol), or be part of the ornament. Here are some examples of symbols used in painting Easter eggs:

Each craftswoman had her own repertoire of the divine writing of Easter eggs. The letter was passed down from generation to generation, from century to century, from millennium to millennium. The symbols of Easter eggs have divine power. So they taught me, so I tell you, so you will tell your children when you teach them to write Easter eggs.

Symbolism of the Slavic Pysanka

I dare to describe the interpretation of symbols using the works of: A. Golan, J. Cooper, B. A. Rybakov.

Cosmic symbolism is a microcosm. the rhomboid equator of the egg, symbolizing the earth, the spherical surface of the sky above them, the spiral pattern applied on it - the path of the rising and setting sun.

Stars are a sign of philanthropy of moral purity, a symbol of Peace and balance, harmony. Emblem of Wisdom

The sun is a symbol of the highest cosmic power, the All-seeing Deity, the eye of the world and the eye of the day, the center of being and intuitive knowledge (solar birds and animals: eagle, hawk, swan, phoenix, rooster, lion, ram, white or golden horse.)

Rain, water - a bunch of zigzags, a meander (wavy line) - signs of purifying heavenly water, Easter eggs with such signs were kept from damage, evil eye, envy.

Ram horns - cosmic power, a symbol of fire and the sun (prosperity, wealth).

Flowers, trees, birds, bees, horses, cows, deer are symbols that give a happy life in the family and the world.

Flowers are signs of readiness for fertility, for childbearing.

Bees are a symbol of immortality, rebirth, diligence, order, purity of the soul. Winged messengers who bring secret wisdom.

Moth - is a joy, the transition of the soul to an eternal happy life. He's a guardian angel.

The rooster is a solar bird, an attribute of the solar gods. The bird of glory, meaning excellence, courage, vigilance, dawn, personifies the fighting spirit, military courage.

A sieve is a symbol of the separation of good from evil (protection).

Endless - has neither beginning nor end, and the evil that has entered the house falls into a trap and will not harm the owner. This is a symbol of the non-stop course of life, procreation. The eyes were also kept in the house from damage. Pysanki with an infinity were used in a ritual action: the beekeeper laid an egg under the hive so that the bees swarm endlessly and brought honey.

The spiral is a single code of the world, laid by Mother Nature in the foundation of all living and non-living things. The spiral is the unity of the Macrocosm (the Universe) and the Microcosm (man). The spiral has the same symbolism as the labyrinth.

The labyrinth is a return to the center, to the source, a newly found paradise, the achievement of realization after torment, testing and testing, initiation, the mysteries of life and death.

Pine - vitality, fertility, strength of character, evergreen - symbolizes immortality, health.

A pine cone is a phallic symbol, fertility, a good inheritance (productive, creative power).

Palm branch - signed for health, pysanky with willows ran around cattle so that they would not get sick and be not subject to the evil eye. Verbochka has a direct connection with the ancient rite of the Slavs<<вербохлёст>>, which symbolizes the transfer to man of the natural forces of the earth, water, sun. On Palm Sunday, people and animals were whipped with a willow and said:<<не я бью, верба бьёт, хворь берёт здоровье даёт>>, for a person they also added:<<будь богатым, как земля и здоровым, как вода>>.

Oak leaves - for strength (if pysanka is for children, for a boy)

Magpie - symbolizes good luck and is considered<<птицей удовольствия>>. The crackling magpie brings good news.

Belt - symbolizes the road and protects people from disunity and quarrels. Also a belt protection for the egg itself.

Vases - (a flower, a tree in a vase) denote the Tree of Life, the axis of the World. The Tree of Life grows in paradise and means restoration, a return to original perfection. This is the cosmic axis, symbolizing unity beyond good and evil. According to the legends of many peoples, the World Tree was thought to be the incarnation of the Great Goddess - apparently, because she was considered the mistress of not only the sky, but all nature. The motif of determining the fate of people is connected with the world tree.

Goddess Bereginya is a symbol of life and its continuation. Protected all living things, giving birth to life, requiring care and protection from troubles and death. She - Bereginya is depicted as a woman (sometimes stylized, simplified) in full growth with her hands raised to the sky (asking), sometimes lowered (giving). The image of Beregini can be found in different patterns of the Woman in Childbirth, and if you look closely, then the Family are signs of the unity of the male and female principles on earth.

Triangle - The triune nature of the universe: Heaven, Earth, Man: father, mother, child.

God the Father, God the Son and the Holy Spirit, man as a body, as a soul, spirit. Dispensation of the World, at home, Mystical number three, the first three of the flat figures. The triangle with its apex up is solar and has the symbolism of the life of fire, the masculine principle, the lingam, the spiritual world, this is the trinity of love, truth, wisdom. The triangle with its vertex pointing down is lunar and has the symbolism of the feminine, the uterus, water, nature, and the body. They symbolize the Great Mother as a parent.

The circle is a symbol of wishes, the search for a better life, the ring is a symbol of motherhood and knowledge, childbirth.

The path is a symbol of perpetual motion, a belt.
The symbolism of Easter eggs is read not only by the ornament, but by the combination of colors.

Red - symbolizes a strong, bright, joyful life
Green - for development, health
Yellow is the color of knowledge, wisdom
White - Divine color of purity, connecting all colors
Black - unknown, unknown, cosmic
Bardo (brown) - the color of the earth, strength
Purple is the color of cosmic knowledge.

Easter eggs are raw eggs, on which the most skillful pattern is applied, after which the contents of the egg are poured out, and then an empty, marvelous egg is already presented. This work is very complex and requires the utmost accuracy and coordination of both movements and mental processes.
Krashenki are boiled eggs, they can be plain or painted, they are easier to make...
Paints
For dyeing eggs, natural, food or aniline dyes are used. Flowers, leaves, grain husks, bark, roots, and berries can be raw materials for obtaining vegetable dyes.
yellow paint of various shades is extracted from the bark of a young wild apple tree, poplar shoots, birch leaves, nettle root, buckwheat chaff, onion husks, wild elder flowers, chamomile, milkweed, adonis, kupavok, saffron, crocus, St. John's wort, yellow flowers of the bulbous plant dream;
blue, light blue or purple - from the husks of black sunflower seeds, poplar catkins, mallow flowers, blue flowers of the dream plant, snowdrops, blueberries and elderberries;
green - from a combination of yellow and blue colors, as well as from moss, buckthorn bark, ash, lily of the valley leaves, primrose, nettle, green rye and wheat;
red - from sandalwood chips, bird cherry berries, flowers and seeds of St. John's wort, as well as from dried females of Polish cochineal (an insect from the worm family); pale pink - from the flowers of Ivan-tea angustifolia;
brown - from the bark of an apple tree, oak, buckthorn, spruce cones, onion peel, walnut leaves or horse chestnut;
black - from young leaves of black maple, alder bark, blue sandalwood.
The roots are best harvested in early spring or late autumn, the bark - only in the spring, when the tree "weeps", the flowers - at the beginning of flowering, and the leaves - very young. So that the potion does not lose its color, it is supposed to dry it only in the shade, and store it in a tightly closed container in a dry, dark place. Coloring berries can be frozen.
To prepare paints, you will also need: earthenware or enamelware, melted or rain water, potassium alum. Pour raw materials with cold water, insist for 5-6 hours, and then boil over low heat: bark - three hours, leaves forty minutes, flowers - half an hour. For 100 grams of dry raw materials - 1 liter of melt water. Strain the broth and add a teaspoon of alum. The paint is ready. Dyeing eggs in natural dyes lasts from 10 minutes to 14 hours. This occupation is painstaking, but redeemed by the healing of natural colors. In addition, they are stronger, dearer, sweeter to the eye, softer and look a hundred times richer than any artificial dyes.
Production of krashenok (pysanky) using modern food colorings.
We need the following items:
- food colorings. Dyes are needed in which they are not boiled, but 9% vinegar is added and already boiled eggs are kept for some time
- candle. Wax is better, but paraffin or steoric is also suitable
- scribbler. Who does not know what a hack is, then it is not necessary - it will be completely replaced by two brushes - one and four (this is the thickness in mm).
- two rags. On one we will boldly drip wax, paints, matches and stain it in every possible way, and the other must be clean - we will wipe the paint off the eggs with it.
- jars for dyes. You need to put a spoon in each jar so that the jar does not burst when boiling water is poured into it (according to the instructions on the pack of dyes).
- 9% vinegar. To successfully fix the paint on the eggs.

Of course, those items that I have listed, you can replace with equivalent and more convenient ones. For example, with the help of a scribbler, you can apply very thin contours, and a brush can mainly serve to paint over large areas.

The hands of the master must be perfectly clean, not greasy. Boiled eggs must be cooled. It is important that they are not hot, otherwise the wax will drain from them. Add salt to the water to prevent the eggs from bursting while boiling.
Dyes diluted according to the instructions should also not be hot. Spoons, after the dyes are already diluted, do not remove from the cans. We will use them to carefully place and remove eggs from jars. There should be enough dye to cover the egg dipped into it.
Take an egg in your hands and apply the thinnest drawing with a sharp pencil. Of course, you can not do this, but do not be surprised later, when you complete the work, why this asterisk that you wanted to portray looks like a crooked fence, and a rhombus looks like a half-eaten bun.

The surface of the egg is difficult, because it is not flat, and of course you need to get used to making a beautiful sketch. At the same time, nothing can be washed - there will be divorces, stains.

Now select the outline that should remain white and take the brush in your hands. Light a candle, and when the wax is hot, carefully dip the brush into the wax. The brush can burn a little - it's okay, the main thing is not to deprive it of hairs at all - we will use them to apply wax to the egg. Bring the egg closer to the candle and now, with confident and quick movements, apply wax to the selected contour. Wax hardens very quickly, so find a spot close to the fire!

When the contour is ready, carefully, so as not to break, dip the egg into the dye. For example in green. Let the egg lie there for a minute. The intensity of the color depends on the time - take it out early - there will be a light green egg. Later - more saturated.

It's time to get it out - put the egg on a clean, dry cloth and wipe it. Now again take the brush in hand and apply a new contour. We already have a white pattern on a green background, and now we will keep the green outline. After the wax has been applied, dip the egg in a different color. For example red.

The dyes we offer are good because they overlap the previous color. That is, in our case, the green will remain only under the wax, and the egg itself will become a wonderful red color, and not a mixture of red and green. And so on - until you consider the drawing complete. Dip in different colors, apply new contours. But don't get too carried away. At first, it's best not to use more than 4 colors. Otherwise, you risk getting a gray-bur-crimson egg!
Now the egg is almost ready. It remains to remove the wax. Probably need another clean rag. Well, or you can take the first one, if it is not very dirty. Bring the egg close to the fire, from the side (if soot may appear from above), so that the flame licks the egg and the wax begins to drain. Now quickly wipe the heated area with a cloth. Again to the fire - the wax has flowed - again wipe the barrel on a rag. And so on until the egg is completely wax-free.

The art of pysanka is a ritual art, which is precisely why it is beautiful. The technique of painting a chicken egg using wax and paints is extremely simple. Success largely depends on the perfection of the instrument and the correct setting of the writing hand. Cooking Easter eggs is a holiday in itself. During painting, the egg gradually turns from white to black, but as soon as it is brought to the fire, the wax on the shell begins to melt, revealing a delightful play of color and lines. The sudden appearance of a pattern of blackness makes you smile: the feeling of delight at the same time is so strong that, wanting to experience it again and again, a person involuntarily takes up the second, third, fourth pysanka ...
Easter eggs ornaments have their own strict logic. Knowing the laws of writing, understanding the content of the tradition, having before your eyes classical samples of patterns, you can create your own, unique Easter egg.
Ritual veneration of pysanka is associated with the veneration of Lada - the Goddess of love, beauty, wedding. This wonderful painted egg was originally created as a talisman of the Family, an emblem of matchmaking, a magical Kolyada Dar, providing a link between times and generations.
The tradition of pysanka belongs to the Slavs, the art of ritual painting of a chicken egg in science is considered to be a primitive, peasant, purely feminine occupation, associated with the magic of fertility ...
In the old days, it was believed that only primordial, certainly fertilized, eggs of young hens, laid on the first spring new moon, are suitable for making Easter eggs. In addition to eggs, they needed pure beeswax, pure water, living fire, new wax brushes, new napkins, new clay pots, and a potion to extract the colors.
Untouched, "mute" water was supposed to be taken before dawn, silently, in secret, from seven, or even nine sources, or where three streams merge into one; it was necessary to scoop with new dishes, along the stream. It was lucky to get water from the March snow.
The dyeing potion was laid out in pots, filled with water, infused for several hours, and then placed in a warm oven for another two or three hours.
Making brushes was the business of the mistress of the house herself. Most often, a bird's feather, a straw broken in two, a cock's forked bone served as a brush. Later it was a tube, fixed with tow, thread or thin wire on a wooden holder - birch or thorn. No one, except for the craftswoman herself, dared to touch the objects involved in the preparation of Easter eggs.
The preparation of Easter eggs began when all the underground springs and wells were opened, the ice on the river collapsed and the bee woke up. It was believed that earthly water unlocks heavenly water... On this day, it was customary to bake special bread with swastika symbols and paint pysanky for bees.
On the same day, people baked for the Feast of Baking... The house smelled of fresh bread, herbal infusions - meadows, forests, honey, a flowering garden... The craftswoman sat by the stove and, dipping her brush into melted wax, drew mysterious signs on the egg shell . Her soul was full of kind and bright feelings, best wishes to relatives and friends - to all those to whom Easter eggs were intended.
The dyeing of wax-painted eggs began with the first strike of thunder or a bell. Having dipped an egg in yellow paint, an "apple tree" prepared from the bark of a wild young apple tree, the woman whispered a conspiracy three times. Eggs, painted yellow, she again painted with wax, thus protecting the parts of the ornament that should be yellow, then she continued dyeing, but in red paint, and covered with wax this time those parts of the pattern that should be red, after which dipped eggs in black paint made from kvass, alder bark and rusty iron. The black paint was prepared for two weeks, and the eggs were kept in it for fourteen hours.
After dyeing, having melted the wax on the eggs (it is possible over a candle, in the oven, in hot water), the craftswoman carefully wiped the finished Easter eggs with a brand new linen napkin. The wax letter was transferred to the canvas, and the napkin acquired the miraculous power of a talisman.
Easter eggs were intended only for donation. The scruffy painted egg had no divine power. Such an offering was considered an insult. It was not allowed to give Easter eggs to those who lead a nomadic lifestyle, Easter eggs were not given to those with whom the family did not want to be related. Easter eggs were not allowed to commemorate the dead. Krashenki served for breaking the fast and commemorating the dead, for ritual games of cue ball and skating rink. Krashenka is a boiled egg, pysanka is certainly raw. A broken pysanka threatened drought. If the pysanka happened to be broken, then the shell should immediately be crushed and buried in the ground or thrown into the water.

By the way, the Easter cake, which is now baked by Christians for Easter, we called BABA.

PYSANKA-KRASHENKA
There is an ancient custom to paint Easter eggs, Easter eggs, the essence is that a chicken egg (a symbol of life) is painted with paints according to a certain technique.

PYSANKA-CHARM

Pysanky with hemstitches
Became amulets
They have a dream in them
Evil is beaten down by a pysanka.

Easter eggs have hundreds of symbols, amulets. They will protect from black malice and Envy, from blood and separation, from disease and hunger...
There is, perhaps, not a single good wish that could not be expressed by drawing Easter eggs.
Symbolism of the drawing:
Swallows - the arrival of spring;
Spiral-sign of life (given to the elderly);
Green hearts - the heat of love (girls gave guys);
Towel - for the daughter to successfully marry;
Apple, flowers - for the birth of a girl;
Cockscomb - protection from misfortune...

Symbolism of color
Red is the color of fire and joy.
Yellow - dedicated to the sun.
Black is the color of the earth.
Brown - the fertility of the earth.

Children until the age of majority were given only red or green Easter eggs. A young soul must get stronger from the beginning, gain strength.
Get together for a holiday with the whole family. Give your neighbor Easter eggs with good wishes.

Pysanka EGG
To paint a testicle is an ancient custom that goes back to the deepest distance of the centuries of the ancient Slavs. Pysanka was not drawn, not painted, but written on a raw chicken egg.
According to legend, pysanky are stars born by LADA-Virgin Mary. Once a year, a Slavic woman had the great honor of presenting the Mother of God on earth.
On Thursday, at the hour before dawn, she took out a magic spinning wheel to the threshold and spun a thread, bathed the children during the day, baked bread, and then simmered paints for Easter eggs in a warm oven. I took water for paints in a tritein in the evening from seven springs. She carried her home silently, in secret. Dried herbs, flower petals, the bark of a young wild apple tree were poured with this unopened living water and put in the oven for a couple of hours. While the paint was being prepared, an appeal to the Gods was written on a raw chicken egg with hot wax.
Eggs for Easter eggs were only suitable for those that were laid between two lunar months. The real Velikodensky pysanka retained its vitality for a whole week: it did not go rotten and did not dry out.
Easter eggs were supposed to be painted with the first strike of the bell. First, the egg was dipped into the yellow paint "apple tree" and kept in it for some time, while the hymns-appeals to the Gods were read. Each color of the pattern was protected with wax. By the end of the work, the eggs turned into black, gloomy koloboks. They were lowered
in hot water or brought to the fire. The wax melted and the pysanka was born, just as the sun is born from the darkness of the night.
Easter eggs were placed with a whisk around the Easter cake - for the Gods and Ancestors, on a dish with a mirror surface - for people, and Easter eggs on sprouted oats - for parents.

The first pysanka was made for the Gods and Ancestors (in this case, pysanka can be made from a wooden egg).

The second is for parents.

The third pysanka is the invocation of Spring.

The fourth pysanka is a pattern for wealth and prosperity in the Family.

It was impossible to sell pysanka, to bestow - it meant honoring

"I will wrap myself in shells, gird myself with the morning dawn, fence myself in with the moon, cover myself with the sun, stumble with frequent stars - such is the pysanka ... It became the personification of beauty and harmony, the unshakable law of the universe."
Ivanitskaya Z.N. "Pysanka: 300 SAMPLES"

To make a Red Egg you will need:
- fresh chicken eggs without defects on the shell,
- pure beeswax, church wax candles, as well as household paraffin candles,
- paints,
- napkins,
- soft simple pencil,
- table vinegar,
- brushes, special tools for painting with wax.

Preparing eggs for painting.
The egg shell should be even, matte, but you choose white or fawn - this is already a matter of taste. A medium-sized chicken egg is most suitable, while it is desirable that both ends of the egg be approximately equally rounded. Eggs for Easter eggs should be washed very carefully, in soft warm water. Lay them out on a towel after washing to dry.
You can paint and paint both boiled and raw eggs.
Eggs should be boiled as follows: carefully fold clean eggs into a saucepan, pour water level with them, add salt (1 tablespoon per 2 liters of water) and bring to a boil. Then carefully remove from boiling water and lay on a towel - let cool.
Pysanky masters often recommend soaking chicken eggs in water with vinegar before dyeing. A drop of vinegar will not hurt if you are working with a quail, duck or goose egg, but vinegar is contraindicated in chicken shells.
You can paint not only a full, but also a blown egg. Dip the paper in egg white and seal both ends. Punch holes and drill them to a millimeter diameter. Then, use a straw to blow out the egg. You can also blow out an egg with a medical syringe: slowly inject air into the egg; the white and yolk will flow down the needle. The paper can be peeled off, empty shells can be washed and dried.

Paints
For dyeing eggs, natural, food or aniline dyes are used. Flowers, leaves, grain husks, bark, roots, and berries can be raw materials for obtaining vegetable dyes.
- yellow paint of various shades is extracted from the bark of a young wild apple tree, poplar shoots, birch leaves, nettle root, buckwheat chaff, onion husks, wild elder flowers, chamomile, milkweed, adonis, kupavok, saffron, crocus, St. John's wort, yellow flowers of a bulbous plant dream ;
- blue, blue or purple - from the husks of black sunflower seeds, poplar catkins, mallow flowers, blue flowers of the dream plant, snowdrops, blueberries and elderberries;
- green - from a combination of yellow and blue colors, as well as from moss, buckthorn bark, ash, lily of the valley leaves, primrose, nettle, green rye and wheat;
- red - from chips of sandalwood, bird cherry berries, flowers and seeds of St. John's wort, as well as from dried females of Polish cochineal (an insect from the mealybug family);
- pale pink - from the flowers of Ivan-tea angustifolia;
- brown - from the bark of an apple tree, oak, buckthorn, spruce cones, onion peel, walnut or horse chestnut leaves;
- black - from young leaves of black maple, alder bark, blue sandalwood.
The roots are best harvested in early spring or late autumn, the bark - only in the spring, when the tree "weeps", the flowers - at the beginning of flowering, and the leaves - very young. So that the potion does not lose its color, it is supposed to dry it only in the shade, and store it in a tightly closed container in a dry, dark place. Coloring berries can be frozen.
To prepare paints, you will also need:
- earthenware or enamelware,
- melt or rain water,
- potassium alum.
Pour raw materials with cold water, insist for 5-6 hours, and then boil over low heat: bark - three hours, leaves forty minutes, flowers - half an hour. For 100 grams of dry raw materials - 1 liter of melt water. Strain the broth and add a teaspoon of alum. The paint is ready. Dyeing eggs in natural dyes lasts from 10 minutes to 14 hours. This occupation is painstaking, but redeemed by the healing of natural colors. In addition, they are stronger, dearer and look a hundred times richer than any artificial dyes. Food coloring should be diluted according to manufacturer's instructions.
Aniline dyes are available in the form of powder or tablets and are sold in hardware stores. You need to buy those that are intended for home dyeing of wool products. Prepare the concentrate according to the instructions. Divide half a liter of concentrate into three parts, pour into glass jars, add 150-200 grams of boiled water and 2 tablespoons of 9% vinegar to each of the three parts. If desired, a little paint of a different color can be added to the first two parts to get a wide range of shades. But you can not eat such an egg.

Dyeing
The egg is placed on a plastic spoon and dipped in paint.

The paint contains acid, and if the egg gets wet in food paint for more than five minutes, and in aniline for more than three, the calcium in the upper layer of the shell will be broken, the egg will be painted unevenly and will be hopelessly spoiled. After painting one egg, remove it from the paint, gently blot it with a soft cloth and start painting another. There are food colorings in which eggs are colored only during cooking. They are suitable for the preparation of plain colors. The variety of colors of Easter eggs and Easter eggs is achieved by layering paints on the egg and the obligatory preliminary reservation of each color with wax. This is a famous batik method. Having completed painting and dyeing, the wax on the egg must be melted over a candle flame or in the oven, and then removed from the shell with a napkin.

Aniline or food colorings must be heated in a water bath before use. The paint must be warm, but not hot, otherwise the wax will melt prematurely. For the same reason, pysanka or batik krashenka cannot be boiled in food or aniline paint. The exception is natural dyes. Eggs painted with wax can be kept in a vegetable dye solution until they are completely dyed, and then boiled in the same paint. Remove the finished pysanky from the hot paint and remove the wax from the shell with a napkin.

Dyeing always starts with light tones and ends with dark ones. The traditional colors of pysanka ornaments are white, yellow, red and black. But instead of black, brown, green or purple paint was sometimes used, instead of red - purple. Pysanka, painted in violation of color symbols, was popularly called malevanka. On dyes, the presence of green was allowed. There were even plain green, Trinity, Krashenka. If red paint is applied to green paint, the egg will turn red.

The paint "does not paint" if it is cold, or the vinegar has evaporated, or the egg is stale, or the hen was poorly fed; and also - if the craftswoman left greasy spots on the shell. Take care of your hands. Don't skimp on napkins. After preparing each pysanka, you will have to wash your hands with soap and water. It is impossible to lubricate them with cream, so as not to stain the shell with fat. There is a way out: we paint all thirty eggs with wax on a white field, then paint them one at a time in yellow paint, paint them again - paint them red, etc. You will have to wash your hands only at the end of the work. If your palms are damp, keep the egg in a napkin when painting. A blown egg does not sink in paint, you need to take a deep spoon. Before painting a blown egg, do not forget to seal the holes with wax, otherwise the paint will get inside the shell. And one more thing: if there are small children in the family, try to do without aniline dyes.

Napkins
White napkins are required when performing pysanka. It is good to blot a painted egg with paper napkins, but it is still better to remove melted wax from the shell with a cloth. It’s good if there is cotton rags: old sheets, knitted fabric. A linen napkin soaked with wax subsequently does not completely remove the wax from the egg, but polishes the shell, leaving a pattern under a thin wax film, and then there is no need to varnish the souvenir egg, which, although it protects the paint and slightly strengthens the shell, but deprives the egg of naturalness.

Wax and paraffin
To protect the color, it is best to use pure beeswax. You can buy it from beekeepers, in the market and in stores selling honey. If you've bought wax and aren't sure if it's filtered well enough, melt it in a saucepan over moderate heat and strain it through a fine sieve. In hot wax, you can add a little dry food paint of a dark color. When painting, colored wax is clearly visible on the egg shell.

Paraffin lines do not hold as well as wax lines; in the course of work they can be destroyed. Paraffin is indispensable if it is necessary to reserve large areas of the egg, when blowing raw Easter eggs, and also to strengthen the shell. Ready raw pysanka is first dipped in molten paraffin and only then holes are drilled in the shell and the contents of the egg are blown out. The blown pysanka is strengthened from the inside as follows: using a glass medical syringe, 5 cubes of hot paraffin are injected into the pysanka, after which the egg is rotated in the hands until it cools. At the same time, paraffin envelops the shell with a film. In the same way, you can strengthen the shell with PVA glue, with the only difference being that after wrapping the shell with glue, sifted sawdust is poured into the egg. Paraffin candles should be pure white and odorless. Thin wax candles are needed to apply specks to the egg shell.

Pencil
A novice master, when making pysanka, first draws a pattern on the egg with a soft simple pencil and only then covers this pattern with wax. If the pencil is hard, then its mark will remain on the finished pysanka.

brushes
You can wax an egg with a pin, a match, a straw, a carnation head, a burning candle, a quill pen, a steel poster pen and, of course, a homemade or factory-made brush. A homemade brush is a funnel-shaped tube rolled up from foil 1–1.5 cm long. The tube is attached with tow or a thin copper wire to a wooden holder 8 mm in diameter, 10–12 cm long. There should be several such brushes. During operation, they need to be dipped in melted wax. While one is writing, the rest are waiting for their turn in hot wax. Excellent are brushes made of brass, the writing tip of which has a hole located strictly in the center. The thickness of the lines of the drawing depends on the diameter of the writing tip and the diameter of its hole. It is desirable to have a set of brushes for bold, thin and medium lines. How to use such a brush: heat the brush head on an open fire (candles, lamps, gas burners) and fill it with wax. To avoid blots, remove excess wax from the brush body with a napkin and start painting the egg.

Your tool does not write if:
- incorrectly hold both the egg and the brush. Take the egg in your left hand and the brush in your right. Press the elbows to the body. The writing hand needs support, otherwise it will tremble. Place the little finger of your right hand on the surface of the egg. With the fingers of your left hand, rotate the egg towards you, and draw the lines away from you, trying, if possible, not to change the position of the writing hand;
the wax has cooled down. Heat the brush head without immersing the spout in the fire;
- the wax is over. Fill the brush with wax;
- clogged brush. Heat the brush head and clean the hole with a thin wire;
- an air pocket has formed. Remove it by piercing the vial with the same wire; - the nose of the brush is strongly pressed against the surface of the egg. Take the pressure off your writing hand;
- your brush has been in the wrong hands. The reason for this is someone else's handwriting.
An important rule: to avoid burns, when heating the brush, do not immerse the holder in the fire and do not bring the wax to a boil. After work, it is not necessary to remove the remaining wax from the brushes.

Krashenka

Warm up food coloring in a water bath. Boil the eggs over low heat and let them cool. Light a thin wax candle and cover the egg with hot drops of wax. Do not forget to rotate the egg and make sure that the droplets do not spread.
Dye the egg yellow and cover it again with drops of wax, and then bathe it in scarlet paint. Blot, cover with drops of wax, then repaint yellow and dip in green paint. On the green shell, also drip wax and paint your future dye in a dark blue final color.
Now place the egg in a warm oven (100°C) or bring it to the fire, but do not immerse it in the flame. You can also use a hairdryer. When the wax on the egg has melted, carefully remove it with a soft linen cloth. Krashenka-kapanka ready.

Repeat all over again, but around the wax droplets, draw petals, curls, rays with a brush ... - and then the sun will shine on the dye, flowers will bloom ... If the wax droplet still flows, add wings to it. A moth will flutter on the dye. Draw the fins - the fish will swim.

For flour dye start the reservation not with white, but with yellow. Drop wax droplets with a scale, so that later a red pea peeks out from under the yellow, green - from under the yellow and red ... Instead of the final paint, immerse the egg in table vinegar, diluted in half with water. After 20 minutes, remove the egg from the acid and wash with soap and cold water. Wet thoroughly. Melt the wax. Multicolored polka dots, accurately engraved, will appear in relief on the white surface of the egg.

Dip the egg in yellow paint, and then in red - that's a red egg for you or plain dye. Regardless of whether there is yellow in the pattern or not, the egg is initially dyed in yellow. Monochromatic dye will become "marble" if you add a drop of vegetable oil to the paint or rub the shell with sandpaper before dyeing.

For iconic dye from a wooden stick with a diameter of 0.8 and a length of 10-12 cm and a small "boot" carnation with a round hat, make yourself a signet (poke). Heat the poke hat on fire, dip it in wax and immediately put a dot on the egg. From the points you get a "cross", "circle", "necklace", "grapes", "flower" ...

With the help of a file, a round poke cap can be turned into a triangular one. And then the pattern on the egg will not be from dots, but from tiny wedges. Set the poke aside. With the nose of a properly heated brush, lightly tap the shell once or twice and, as soon as a wax droplet appears on the egg, without letting it cool, immediately turn it into a “comma” ... When painting bird eggs for Easter, the Western Slavs choose a “wedge”, "comma", "dot", eastern and southern - prefer the line. Krashenka, as a rule, has one magic sign. "Circles" or "crosses" are randomly placed on the surface of the egg. The iconic krashenka preceded the ritual pysanka.

Ritual pysanka ornaments
The ornament of Easter eggs is symbolic. It is based on three cardinal symbols that reflect the vertical structure of the Universe: it is a circle, a square (or rhombus) and a center, a world axis, in the form of a cross, a tree, an 8-shaped sign. Hence, there are three types of ornament: circular, key, weaving:

The design of the ornament is called a divorce and is a grid formed from the intersection of circles and ovals encircling the egg. Ornamental forms - magical signs-symbols - are placed in the divorce fields. If the egg is divided vertically in two by a belt and its sides are mainly decorated, then such a pysanka is called a side egg. The main dividing belt can be in the form of a thread, ribbon, decorated or without decoration. It may be absent altogether, but the principle of placement of the main ornamental forms is preserved. Thus, we have Easter eggs "belted" and "unbelted". Divide the egg in two along the meridian, and then into four parts. The signs will be placed in the resulting egg slices, and such a pysanka will be called longitudinal by the type of divorce. The "eight-turn" divorce consists of eight spheroidal segments formed from four equal vertical lobes of an egg surrounded by the equator line.

The main types of structures are connected by transitional divorces. Suppose an ornamented belt divides the surface of the egg into two hemispheres vertically. Each of the resulting fields will be called large. A star, a cross or a tree can be entered in such a field. If large fields are interrupted along the equator, meridian, diagonal or radius, and ornamental forms, alternating or repeating, are placed in each of the formed segments, then we get breaks. And everything here is subordinated to the idea of ​​the Universe, the structure and essence of the Universe.
After the divorce of the circular type through the "fields-interruptions" the divorce "sack bag", the type "weaving" follows.

Ornamental forms are placed in the fields along the vertical, diagonal, radius, segment. They alternate in a checkerboard pattern, repeat. The same sign can be placed in opposite directions.

If the ornament as a whole is characterized by rhythm, then the ornaments of Easter eggs allow us to talk about tempo-rhythm. Ornamental forms, based on a broken cross, a swastika, create the impression of movement - the rotation of the two halves of the egg in opposite directions.

Craftswomen gave pysanky names. The name was also a symbol, a talisman. Sometimes they were scarecrow names. Hiding the true name, the evil spirit could not only be scared away, but also deceived. Prickly plants were among the strongest amulets. Among the names of Easter eggs, “rose” prevails: “rose with scallops”, “rose with rake”, “rose with calytok”, “rose with infinity”, “empty rose”, “full rose”, “cross rose”, “guard rose "," dog rose "," mangy rose "... Over time, when the content of pagan symbols began to be forgotten, images of churches, church utensils appeared in the ornaments of Easter eggs, patterns were written off from the vestments, hence the Easter eggs "throne", "priests' robes" , "Golgotha" (Golgotha), etc.

Ornamental motifs

It happened that the name of a ritual painted egg depended only on the name of one of the leading ornamental forms in the composition that determined the style of the pysanka: "Windmills", "Corners", "Poppy", "Dawns", "Panns", "Pletenka", "Beans" , "Spiders", "Bird Paws", "Bass Ear", etc. Easter egg ornaments have their own local characteristics, not to mention the fact that each craftswoman had her own style of writing. The style of pysanka is determined primarily by a set of certain expressive means. Ornamental forms were filled in or framed with strokes, dots; in other cases, we see the coloring of the fields, a combination of hatching and a dot, hatching and coloring, hatching and drops - a drop on a shaded field or outside it; simultaneous combination of dots, drops, blots and hatching; filling ornamental forms with a grid, the so-called "squirrel letter", a combination of a grid and a drop, a grid and coloring. A significant role in the style of pysanka is played by color, the selection of colors. The style of Easter eggs is also determined by the way wax is applied to the egg; the pattern can be made with a line, wedge, "comma" ("apple seed").

You can see detailed illustrations of all types of ornaments in the application.

Pysanka craftsmanship
Cooking Easter eggs is an activity that requires solitude and peace of mind. It is most pleasant to paint a raw chicken egg. Its defenselessness and fragility make every movement of the craftswoman's hands gentle, her touch gentle. And if you believe that the Universe is in your palms, that it is just as fragile and defenseless... Rotating the egg, you lightly massage the fingertips of your left hand, and the warmth of your soul penetrates into the future pysanka. Dreams take wings. A wax line runs along the shell, braiding, girdling, protecting the egg. If the hand disobeyed, do not scrape, trying to correct the mistake. Pysanka is spoiled, without grieving, cook fried eggs from it.
Before painting with wax, learn how to apply a drawing with a simple pencil and not on raw, but on boiled eggs. And remember that lines on a spherical surface are arcs. Lead them constantly in the same direction, rotating the egg, either towards you or only away from you. A table for the design of the Easter eggs ornament is also in the appendix to this article. So that the work does not seem boring to you, count the dividing belts. An odd number of belts gives an even number of fields.
If the drawing is written off correctly, try covering its lines with wax. The wax line should be long, then there will be few joints and they will be less noticeable. Grid lines can be bold, the outlines of ornamental forms, unless they include construction lines, should be done with a #2 brush, medium size. And for hatching, brush No. 1 is suitable. It is better to start hatching the wedge from the base and finish at the top. So that the strokes do not "fall", the girdle must first be divided into squares. The same applies to meshes. We cover the fields with wax, but not with strokes, but with a spiral, and with the size of the brush that framed the field, otherwise the wax will lie unevenly on the shell, sometimes barely noticeable individual sections of the field will remain unprotected, and therefore unpainted in the color you need.
When you learn to divide the surface of the egg into fields and place a pattern in them, when the brush becomes submissive, take a raw fresh chicken egg and start eating pysanka. At the next stage of mastery, try to make the same pattern in different styles. Avoid a compass, an eraser, try to do without a pencil and do not put a rubber band on the egg. The support of the writing hand, the rotation of the egg in one direction, the brush nose at right angles to the work surface - and the line will be excellent. If the hand trembles a little with excitement - it's not scary and even not bad: the drawing will be alive, because dry cold geometry tires the eye.
Pysanka - magic or science? Pysanka is, first of all, an art. But the one who created the pysanka brilliantly knew astronomy, geometry, botany, philosophy, personality psychology, and the laws of harmony. If you feel the ornament as a prayer, then you will know how to draw the morning dawn on the egg, the sown field, spring waters, the sun and the moon, the paradise apple tree, the flower and the grain, the sky and the earth, two loving hearts, a magic lock and key.

The egg is the symbol of the creator of all nature,

omnipotent, omnipresent

and containing everything.

The greatest holidays of our ancestors: New Summer, Easter (Pasika) and Christmas of the Universe (Great Day) - were embodied in the current Bright Resurrection of Christ.

Christianity found in Rus' both the worship of an egg as a symbol of the transition from non-existence to existence, and the custom of preparing krashenka and Easter eggs. They commemorated their ancestors with a boiled painted egg and saw off the winter. Easter eggs met Zhiva-Spring and sang the awakening of the creative forces of nature.

Pysanka was not drawn, not painted, but written on a raw chicken egg. Its ornaments are sacred writings: prayers, carols, the laws of God, which are more than one thousand years old. Every line on a Easter egg is an arc. The arcs form circles and ovals and, intersecting, divide the surface of the egg into fields, the name of which is the baptismal shirt of Easter eggs.

According to legend, pysanky are stars born by the Mother of God-Bee. Once a year, a Slavic woman had the great honor to represent the Mother of God on earth. On Maundy Thursday, at the hour before dawn, she brought a magical whorl to the threshold and spun a woolen thread, turning the spindle against the salt: she knitted the "ovary" - the golden germ of life. During the day she bathed the children, baked bread, and then simmered paints for Easter eggs in a warm oven. Water for paints was taken on Wednesday evening from seven springs or wells, behind the current - in honor of the seven stars of the Pleiades of the constellation Taurus, where, according to legend, the Creator himself lived. She carried her home silently, in secret. Dried herbs, flower petals, the bark of a young wild apple tree were poured with this unopened living water and put in the oven for a couple of hours.

While the paint was being prepared, a letter to God was written on a raw chicken egg with hot wax using a bone-fork taken from a rooster breast. Eggs for Easter eggs were only suitable for those that were laid between two lunar months. A real Velikodensky pysanka retained its vitality until the next Maundy Thursday: it did not become rotten and did not dry out.

Easter eggs were supposed to be painted with the first strike of the bell. First, the egg was dipped in yellow paint, the "apple tree", and kept in it for "three otchenash". Each color of the pattern was protected with wax. By the end of the work, the eggs turned into black gloomy koloboks. They were dipped in hot water or brought to the fire. The wax melted, and the pysanka was born, just as the sun is born from the blackness of the night.

To make the pysanka shine, it was smeared with fat. They put it with a whisk around the Easter cake - for God, on a dish with grain - for people, and krashenki on sprouted oats - then for parents. And three candles burned in honor of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

The main colors of the ornament: black, red, yellow, green. The Black (Ryaba) Hen laid a luminiferous golden egg from which the Universe was born. The earth is black, throwing off the white veil of winter. Velikden is red, Yegory is green, Kupala is golden (yellow).

On the Bright Resurrection of Christ, windows were thrown wide open so that as much sun as possible entered the house. Pysanka was placed in water, and young girls washed themselves with this water, getting ready for matins, in order to take a blush from the dawn. On Monday, the children thanked their godmother with pies and pysanka. Bands of young men, drawers, went from house to house, sang Christ-glorifying songs, and as a reward they received a Easter egg from the girl, in which the very spirit of God and his forty mercies. Pysanka unlocked the heart for love, gave strength to fertility, protected from the evil eye and spoilage, slander, disease, natural disaster, poverty, bestowed beauty and wealth, hope for a happy marriage and harvest. She was kept in the house as an icon. The gift of pysanka strengthened kinship. Through the pysanka there was a transfer of spiritual warmth from person to person, there was a transfer of sacred knowledge from generation to generation. Selling pysanka is an unforgivable sin; bestowing it meant giving honor.

A well-known researcher of pysanka, a full member of the Russian Imperial Geographical Society S.K. Kulzhinsky left us information about the Orenburg, Samara, Ufa, Tula, Kuban, Voronezh Easter eggs. At the end of the 19th century, the landowner E. Skarzhinskaya collected more than 2,000 Easter eggs for her ethnographic museum in Lubny, among them Kursk Easter eggs from Great Russian villages, of extraordinary beauty and very fine workmanship. A Slav can be recognized by pysanka, as by a birthmark. It is already being written in Siberia and the Urals, in Yaroslavl and Tver, in Moscow and St. Petersburg... There is no death. There is a transformation. Christ is Risen!

How to write a pysanka

Materials needed: fresh white chicken eggs, beeswax, candle, soft pencil, brushes, matches, paper and cotton napkins, special dyes for Easter eggs or aniline dyes for wool, white vinegar, spoon.

The instrument used to write Easter eggs is called a brush. From foil or thin tin, roll up a cone-shaped tube. Roll it around the needle so that the bottom hole is as narrow as possible. Fasten the tube to a wooden stick with a thin copper wire.

Dilute the paints with hot boiled water. Strain. Add 2 tbsp. tablespoons of vinegar for 0.5 liters of paint. Instead of vinegar, add 1 teaspoon of salt to yellow and orange paints.

Wash white eggs in boiled water at room temperature and dry on a towel.

Wash your hands thoroughly with soap. Take the egg in your left hand and the pencil in your right. With the little finger of the right hand, maintain the balance of the egg and with a pencil divide its surface into fields. At the same time, rotate the egg towards you, and draw the line away from you. Try not to change the position of the pencil. Distribute the pysanka ornament in the fields.

Light a candle. Heat the brush head and fill it with wax. Cover with hot wax those lines and parts of the ornament that should be white. Try not to interrupt the line.

Place the egg on the spoon and gently dip it into the yellow paint for 1-2 minutes. The paint should be warm, but not hot, so that the wax on the egg does not melt. Blot the yellow-colored egg with a paper towel, dry it and wax the yellow elements of the ornament. If there are green specks in the pysanka letter, put them on the shell with a match, blot with the tip of a paper napkin, cover with wax and dip the egg in red paint. Having protected the red color with wax, dip the egg into the final - dark red, black, brown paint or bleach "Whiteness", "Lily", if you want to have a Easter egg on a white background. To get a green background, you need to lower the red egg first into water, then again into yellow paint, and only then into green.

Now bring the egg to the fire. When the wax melts, wipe it off with a soft cotton napkin, and Easter eggs will shine in your hands, like the sun after a thunderstorm.

Grate the finished pysanky with unsalted lard. Do not varnish! Store in the shade, in a well-ventilated area.

Each craftswoman had her own repertoire of the divine writing of Easter eggs. The letter was passed down from generation to generation, from century to century, from millennium to millennium. The symbols of Easter eggs have divine power. So they taught me, so I tell you, so you will tell your children when you teach them to write Easter eggs. For your Easter basket, I offer samples of Easter eggs from the late 19th - early 20th centuries.