The sense of celebration
Easter commemorates the fundamental event of Christianity: the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. According to the Bible, Jesus was crucified on Friday and resurrected on the third day, Sunday: on Easter morning, the "holy women" went to his tomb to embalm it, only to find that it was empty. A springtime celebration, Easter also echoes the renewal of nature.
The rituals of Holy Week
Based on the old Julian calendar, Easter in Romania is generally celebrated one week after the Catholic equivalent (sometimes at the same time). There are two public holidays: Good Friday and Easter Monday. Preparations begin well in advance. Fasting(post) begins seven weeks before Easter Day. This is the longest fast of the year, designed to purify body and soul. All animal products are banned. The last week before Easter, known as Holy Week or Great Week(Săptămâna mare), is marked by numerous rituals. The first few days are devoted to house-cleaning: rooms are aired, linen and carpets washed, and the last of the vegetable waste accumulated in the fields during the cold season is burned... The aim is to purify, to drive away all the evils of winter. "Don't let Easter catch you in the dirt, or your house will be cursed", threatens an old Romanian saying. Thursday is dedicated to the memory of the dead, who are said to return to earth on this day. It's also the day traditionally devoted to decorating eggs. Friday is a day of mourning, dedicated to prayer and meditation. A total fast is observed, known as the "black fast"(post negru). Saturday is another busy day, as preparations are completed for the various typical Easter dishes: pască (a sweet tart with fresh cheese) and cozonac (a traditional brioche, decorated with walnuts, almonds or raisins), as well as dishes based on lamb(honey), the symbol of Jesus' sacrifice to redeem mankind's sins. Lamb is cooked as a stew(stufat), soup or roast(friptură). The offal is used to make a terrine called drob. In the middle of the night, everyone goes to church, for a long ceremony that can last until dawn. A candle is carried to take the "sacred light", which is flown in from the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and flown across the country! The Pope holds a large candle. Everyone lights their own, then takes it home at the end of the service - a magical sight. When the pope leaves the church with his candle, he announces: " Hristos a înviat " ("Christ is risen"). Everyone replies, " Adevărat a înviat " ("It's true, he has risen"), and they all go around the church three times. This formula will be repeated until morning, and will even replace the usual polite formulas for several days (traditionally until Ascension Day). Families also bring their Sunday dishes to church for the priest to bless at the end of mass. In some regions, such as Maramureș or Bucovina, beautiful traditional costumes are worn. On Easter Sunday, the face is washed in water previously soaked in a red-dyed egg and a silver coin. Cheeks become flushed, an omen of good health for the coming year. The fast is over: a hearty meal brings the whole family together. During this meal, tradition dictates that you clash your painted egg with that of your neighbor. If the egg doesn't break, it brings luck and happiness to its owner.
The delicacy of decorated eggs
A symbol of life and rebirth, the painted egg adorns the Easter table. It can also be placed on family tombs or offered to loved ones. It is most often dyed red, a reference to the blood of Christ. This is why many local women have red fingertips a few days before Easter. This popular practice, still widespread today, has become a veritable art form in some regions. The Slavic-speaking Houtsoules in Bucovina are the leading specialists.
A variety of methods. Whereas in the past, eggs were filled and cooked, today they are emptied of their contents, then washed and dried before being painted. It can take several hours to decorate an egg, depending on the complexity of the motifs. There are several techniques. The oldest is the batik technique: the egg is successively dipped in baths of different colors, from the lightest to the darkest (yellow, red then black, for example). With each bath, the areas that are not to be colored are covered with wax. Goldsmith's work is carried out using a wooden stick with a fine metal tip, called a chișița. The wax is then melted with a candle to reveal the final design. Another technique, which has appeared more recently, involves painting in relief, directly on the shell, with previously colored wax. Leaves of parsley, for example, can also be applied: the egg is slipped into a nylon sticker, so that the leaf remains firmly attached to the shell, then dipped into the color bath. The sheet then prints its shape, in negative. Whatever the method used, at the end of the process, the egg is covered with several layers of lacquer to fix the colors and reinforce the shell's resistance.
Meaningful colors and patterns. The colors and patterns used to decorate eggs vary according to each locality. For example, those from Ciocănești can be recognized by their black background and geometric patterns, usually yellow and red; those from Buzău are red, adorned with white motifs; those around Vatra Dornei are decorated with brightly-hued flowers. Each color, each motif has its own meaning. They intertwine to form a particular meaning: each egg thus tells its own story. Red is the most common color. It symbolizes the blood shed by Christ, but also life, health, resurrection, strength, love and passion. Black represents Jesus' pain, but also eternity and the earth. Green symbolizes the renewal of nature, hope and fertility. Yellow evokes warmth, light, harvest, youth and work. Blue symbolizes the sky, water and health.
In the countryside, some people still use natural dyes: apple blossoms and apple peelings for red, walnut leaves for green, violet blossoms for blue, onion peelings or tree bark for yellow, walnut shells for black... Shops also sell sachets of coloured powder, which you mix with water before dipping your eggs. Geometric, folkloric, religious and natural motifs intermingle to symbolize faith, the cycles of life and nature, and so on. The vertical line symbolizes life, the horizontal line death, and the double line eternity. The spiral represents time, life's path strewn with pitfalls, while the double spiral evokes the link between life and death. The wavy line represents purification. The rectangles represent thought and knowledge. The shells also feature crosses of all kinds, stars, farming implements, plants such as ears of wheat (symbols of prosperity and the earth's wealth), and natural elements such as the sun and water.
Where can you admire them? Where to buy them? Some ethnographic museums, such as the one in Cluj or the National Museum of the Romanian Peasant in Bucharest, have some fine pieces. But the best place to discover decorated eggs is in Bucovina, where there are three very interesting museums: the Lucia Condrea Museum of Painted Eggs in Moldovita, named after the Houtsoul artist, exhibits some 11,000 eggs, virtually all original creations; the Vama Egg Museum, by artist Letiția Orşivschi, has a rich international section in addition to her personal creations, finally, the National Museum of Painted Eggs in Ciocănești presents a fascinating collection of 1,800 old eggs, collected in the last century by Dr. Anton Setnic. All three venues include a store. Ciocănești also hosts the annual Decorated Egg Festival just before Easter. On this occasion, competitions, demonstrations and introductory workshops are organized. In the region's villages, there are other, more confidential places where you can see the women at work: for example, the Viorica Semeniuc guesthouse in Moldovița, or Casa Colinița in Ciumârna. There, if Ion is available, he'll give you a demonstration in the small in-house workshop. You'll also find eggs at the airport and in souvenir stores: we particularly recommend My Romanian Store, in Bucharest, which also offers modernized versions, or the stores of the Village and Romanian Peasant museums, also in the capital.
