Pysanka- an egg decorated with traditional symbols, which are drawn using wax and dyes. The making of Easter eggs was associated with the pre-Christian folk custom of welcoming spring, and later with Easter.
This type of folk art is common among many Slavic peoples, including Ukrainian. Researchers believe that the Ukrainian pysanka has more than 100 symbolic designs.
Pysanka (galunka)- symbol of the Sun; life, his immortality; love and beauty; spring revival; goodness, happiness, joy.
In the myths of many peoples of the world, it is the egg that is the source of peace. Among the pagan Slavs, Easter eggs existed already during the time of the Antes - our ancestors / III - VIII centuries. n. e./ and were a symbol of the solar cult. Birds are the messengers of spring resurrection, the Sun, and their testicles are the emblem of the sun - life, birth.
A bird's egg in general is the embryo of life, a symbol of the sun god; In ancient times it symbolized goodness, joy, happiness, love, wealth, success, the location of good forces, human protection from evil forces. (Kilimnik S. Ukrainian year. - Book 2. - P. 176)
A clean, smoothly painted or decorated egg acquired symbolic religious and ritual meaning long before Christianity. Many peoples have preserved legends in which the egg is the source of life, light and warmth, even the embryo of the entire Universe. There are also numerous versions of legends that explain the existence of Easter eggs during the Easter holidays, link the emergence of traditions of painting Easter eggs with gospel events (the passion of Christ), etc.
With the introduction of Christianity, the symbolism of Easter eggs gradually changed. It has become a symbol of joy and faith in the resurrection of Jesus Christ as a symbol of forgiveness. Easter eggs were used as an objectified symbol of love, giving them to young people. In folk medicine they were used to “pump out” diseases. Blessed Easter eggs were buried in the ground /for a high harvest/, placed in a coffin, in a manger for livestock. The husks from pysanka were thrown “for luck” onto the roof of the house, etc. It is interesting that pysankar-making was characteristic only of those ethnic groups that began to be called Ukrainians.
Considering the physical characteristics of the egg shell, medieval pysanky have not survived to this day. However, mass painting of eggs in Ukraine has existed for centuries. In the 19th century the production of Easter eggs in different artistic versions existed throughout Ukraine.
Easter eggs were made in the spring, before Easter, by rural girls and women, monastery monks and icon painters, city young ladies, bakers and others. Therefore, the decoration technique was different. In the villages, eggs were painted in one color, sometimes patterns were scratched out, decorated with wax and painted in several colors, while in the city they resorted to various artificial methods - they glued pieces of colored paper, foil, fabric, thread, etc. Easter eggs were mainly made for themselves and only occasionally for sale at the fair.
Once upon a time, magical actions were performed with Easter eggs. To ensure the harvest, they were rolled over green wheat during the spring Yuri and buried in the ground. On Easter morning, the young people washed themselves with water, into which they had previously placed eggs and silver coins, which were supposed to give strength and beauty. Blessed Easter eggs were a talisman for homes against thunder and fire, and for people and animals against the “evil eye”; they were used as a cure for certain diseases. Pysanky served as an object of amusement for children and youth. They played “cue ball”, “chair” games, etc. From empty Easter eggs, adding a tail, wings and a dough head to them from colored paper, they made so-called “pigeons”. They, as well as Easter eggs strung on a cord (usually three at a time), were hung near the icons, thus decorating the home.
Symbolism of pysanka flowers
Krashanki are considered the oldest - these are Easter eggs of the same color. Subsequently, multi-colored Easter eggs arose, in which various natural dyes were used. Such paints, unlike modern ones, had pleasant soft shades. But the color in pysanka appeared not only for the sake of beauty, but also received its symbolic meaning, the origin of which is not accidental.
The yellow, golden, orange colors of pysanka affect a person like the rays of the sun, giving a joyful, bright mood. In pysanka they mean warmth, hope, heavenly bodies, and harvest on the farm.
The red color on Easter eggs is probably the most significant. It is not for nothing that in the popular language it has become close to the concept of beautiful; the words “red” and “good” have become synonymous. Red paint symbolizes goodness, the joy of life, and for young people - hope for a happy marriage. It is the red egg that is the main symbol of the Resurrection, sacrifice and heavenly fire.
Green the color means the spring awakening of nature, hope for a good harvest.
Blue- sky, air, and also health.
Brown, brown- the earth and its hidden life force.
Black color is the color of the night, the otherworldly, everything unknown and secret. In pysanka, being a background, it reveals the power of other colors, just as in life darkness makes it possible to understand what light is. It also symbolizes the infinity of human life, the continuation of existence after death.
Multi-colored pysanka is a symbol of family happiness, peace, and prosperity.
Dark Easter eggs were painted on farewells as an expression of respect for those who had passed on to another world.
Dividing the surface of pysanky
Remember children's tongue twisters that use numbers? What about fairy tales in which there are certainly either three kingdoms or three sisters? For our ancestors, numbers were sacred, each had its own meaning and its own power. Therefore, the division of the surface of the egg into a certain number of parts and the stable repetition of certain elements are not accidental.
The division into two conveyed the idea of two worlds. They were often divided into three vertically, this is how the three celestial spheres were designated. When divided by four, a cross is formed, which means the four cardinal directions.
The classic division of the hemispheres into four parts, each of which is divided into three, conveys the idea of four seasons with three months. According to other ideas, the world was divided into six sides. This spatial orientation is conveyed by a hexagonal star.
While studying Easter eggs, scientists suggested that in ancient times there was an eight-year calendar cycle. In folk mythology, the sky has eight spheres - “clouds”: seven are blue, and the eighth is red, on which God himself sits.
A very interesting section into forty parts, the so-called forty-wedges. Each wedge denoted a certain type of human activity or natural phenomenon, and in the Christian vision - forty days of fasting.
The ornament of Easter eggs is symbolic. It is based on three cardinal symbols that reflect the vertical structure of the Universe: a circle, a square (or rhombus) and a center, the world axis, in the form of a cross, a tree, an 8-shaped sign. Hence there are three types of ornament: circular, key, and braided.
The design of the ornament is called a pattern 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 in two vertically by a belt and mainly its sides are decorated, then such a pysanka is called a side pysanka. The main dividing belt can be in the form of a thread, a ribbon, decorated or undecorated. 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 half along the meridian, and then into four parts. The marks will be placed in the resulting segments of the egg, and such a pysanka will be called longitudinal based on the type of pattern. The “eight-round” pattern consists of eight spheroidal segments formed from four equal vertical lobes of the egg, surrounded by the equator line.
The mesh is a symbol of fate. Protects from evil spirits, separates evil from good.
The yellow mesh is a symbol of the sun and the destiny that is being built here.
The dots are a symbol of fertility.
Ornamental forms are placed in the fields vertically, diagonally, radially, and segment. They alternate in a checkerboard pattern and are repeated. The same sign may 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 and swastika create the impression of movement - rotation of the two halves of the egg in opposite directions .
The meaning of the symbols on Easter eggs
When an egg separates, fields of various shapes and sizes are formed. They form the basis for placing ornamental elements. Each of these signs came to us from time immemorial, but most of them can be read, because even very strange signs basically express objects that are close and understandable to us. We, like our ancient ancestors, rejoice at the first spring leaves, listen in surprise to the lark singing, and admire the flow of the river. To express the eternal, our ancestors created symbols. Let's look at the main ones.
Sun
The life of ancient people was very difficult. It was difficult to survive the cold winter and wait for the new harvest. The arrival of the long-awaited spring was perceived as the birth of a new sun, the liberation of the heavenly body from the forces of darkness. Therefore, everything that is best in human life is associated with the symbol of the sun. Among the pagan gods, Dazhbog, the solar god, was one of the main ones. In Christianity, the sun also became a symbol of God, since God is light.
Cross
One of the sun signs, a symbol of the universe, four cardinal directions, four winds, four seasons. Derived from a schematic image of a bird, in ancient times the sun was represented as a bird flying across the sky.
In Christianity, the cross is a symbol of suffering, death and resurrection, with which the church begins, blesses and sanctifies everything.
Swastika, svarga or broken cross
Sign of holy fire, sun and perpetual motion. One of the oldest symbols in general. For the first time, its images are found on the products of primitive hunters, and this is about thirty thousand years ago. According to popular belief, a broken cross foreshadowed goodness and protected against dark forces. Varieties of the swastika are widely used not only in egg painting, but also in embroidery, ceramics, and wood carving.
Rose, rosette, star
Symbolizes the sun and the morning dawn. Contains an oblique cross, a straight cross, as well as left-handed and right-handed swastikas. In folk symbolism it is an unchanging symbol of love. Giving a pysanka with a star meant a declaration of love.
Infinity or curveball
A sign of one of the main elements - water. Being necessary for all living things, water could simultaneously be angry and unforgiving during the spring flood. Surprised by the power and tirelessness of water, our ancestors used its sign to denote eternity. The wavy line is the predecessor of cruciform symbolism. Rooted in Trypillian culture, this symbol of eternal movement and continuity of life is to this day an indispensable attribute of Pysankar art. "Meander" is interpreted as a symbol of water, fertility and the life cycle.
Rakes, combs, triangles with combs
Belong to symbols that are associated with water. Depicts clouds and rain. They wrote pysanky with rakes during drought, believing that by writing this sign they could summon the long-awaited heavenly waters.
Deer
Symbol of prosperity, wealth. It has existed since the times of primitive hunters, when the meat of this animal was the main food, the skin was needed for sewing clothes and building housing, and weapons and jewelry were made from bones and horns. In folk mythology, the heavenly deer carries the sun on its antlers. The running deer was a prototype of longevity and good health.
Horse
The horse symbol is also associated with sun worship. According to ancient legends, the sun rides across the sky in a chariot drawn by fiery horses. In Christianity, the horse is the image of a fearless prophet of faith, unrestrained, ready for self-sacrifice. The horse meant strength and love of work.
Bird
A symbol of the origin of life, fertility, offspring, prosperity, a half-earthly, half-heavenly being. The rooster was considered a conductor of God's sun and a guard against evil, while the dove was a symbol of love, fidelity and harmony. In Christianity, the bird is a symbol of ascension to God.
Duck's feet, lady's hand, glove, grandfather's fingers
The bird's footprint was also a talisman, like the handprint of the pagan Sun God, who in ancient times was associated with a bird. Such signs symbolized power, patronage, integrity - everything that was associated with respect for the hand.
Tree of life or flowerpot
According to popular beliefs, in the middle of heaven there is a large tree - the Tree of Life. It covers the entire paradise and has the leaves and fruits of all the trees. It is on it that the three brothers are located - the Sun, the Moon and the rain, or their Christian substitutes - the Lord and Saints Peter and Paul. Designates the axis of the universe, which connects three worlds - underground, earthly and heavenly, the so-called fabulous “three kingdoms”. A symbol of nature, forever renewed.
The tree of life also symbolizes the development of the family - father, mother and child. Therefore, as a rule, a tree has three branches. In Christianity, it is a symbol of God's wisdom.
One of the most common symbols on Easter eggs, as well as on towels, wall paintings, carpets, and dishes, is the “Tree of Life” symbol, or as it is also called “pot”. The most ancient Ukrainian carols brought to us the ancient ideas of people about those times when there was neither heaven nor earth, but only the open sea, and on it - green sycamore. So, in the form of a tree - poplar, willow, oak, birch, apple tree, pear - the core of the universe was imagined, around which the balance of opposites was established. The world tree is always depicted not natural, but stylized, i.e. simplified, generalized. In such images, it is necessary to divide them into three tiers vertically and maintain a clear system of right and left sides. The lower part - the roots, going underground, is often represented in the form of a triangle, a pot. It contains snakes, fish, waterfowl and animals, therefore part of the tree is not only the underground world, but also the sea, river, all water. Also, the lower part of the World Tree is the world of the underground god, the lord of the underground fire and countless riches, the embodiment of ideas about the world otherworldly, old times. The middle tier represents the earth, the real world, the world of the present. Large animals are depicted here - bulls, horses, deer, wolves, bears - and humans. The upper part of the World Tree rises to boundless heights - to God. Birds, bees, and heavenly bodies settle in the upper reaches. It often happens that the sun shines on the top of a tree. The tree of life is also a family tree, where each flower represents a relative, and all together is the embodiment of the genealogy of a particular person. A simpler three-member designation for a tree-family. This is a trunk with three branches: father, mother, child.
An amazing property of the Tree of Life is its ability to turn into a Coast Guard Woman with her hands raised to the sky. By the way, in the ancient myths of some peoples of the world, a woman was formed from wood. The image of the World Tree is an image of embodied fertility, associated with the Mother Goddess, and is her symbol and attribute.
The great goddess was considered the mistress not only of the sky, but of all nature. Often the sign of the earth was depicted on her feet (in this case, the goddess’s feet turned into roots) or she was drawn as a snake-footed woman, since the earth is the place of residence of the Serpent. A similar image of a female ancestor was widely known among other peoples: among the Egyptians - Isis, among the Babylonians - Ishtar, among the Greeks - Hera, among the Thracians - Semele, among the Scythian farmers - Tabitha.
In Ukrainian ornaments, the “Tree of Life”, as a rule, was depicted very realistically. Trees of unsurpassed beauty were embroidered on huge towels from the Kiev and Poltava regions. And on Easter eggs they gradually acquired the laconic form of the now well-known “flowerpots” and “three-leafed flowers”. At the same time, even in ancient times, the abstract image of the “Tree of Life” - a “trident”, which later became the coat of arms of Ukraine, began to dominate.
Oak leaves
Oak in Ukrainian traditions has always been associated with strength and power. Oak leaves are a favorite motif in the embroidery of men's shirts. According to pre-Christian beliefs, the oak was the world tree. Oak trees are more often struck by lightning, and therefore they are also a symbol of God's thunder.
Tricorn or tripod, triquetra
One of the oldest symbols of the sun, as well as the sign of the holy number “three”.
On many folk Easter eggs there is an image of Fire, Sun, Dawn. Fire, next to water, is a factor of the universe, a symbol of male power. Since Fire and Water are brother and sister, and, having united, they formed love, the earth and everything that is on it, then in many rituals Fire is a symbol of love, which is the messenger of the Sun on Earth and gives people light, warmth, bread and all kinds of food, helps in crafts (forging), but, like the Sun, it can be good or dangerous depending on people’s attitude towards it. Therefore, Fire, like the Sun, must be respected and not anger - because then it can severely punish. There are strict prohibitions against spitting on fire, throwing garbage, etc. Triquetra– a symbol of fertility, fire, masculine strength.
On Easter eggs, Fire is indicated by the sign “three-armed” (other names for this sign are “triquetra”, “tripod”). It is believed that the tricorn is a sign associated with the Neolithic (Stone Age) god of the earth, and fire was one of his attributes. This sign is also a symbol of fertility, since the God of the earth was the bearer of the male, fertilizing factor. a triangular hook consists of three rounded or broken hooks extending from a common center, or from a circle or triangle.
Pine trees, spruce trees, fir trees
They are considered symbols of eternal youth, health, growth and immortality.
Charm symbols
The exhibit, stored in the Kiev Historical Museum, bears the symbolic name - “Bereginya”. As we know, in pre-Christian times our ancestors believed in the Great Goddess - Bereginya or Makos. This symbolic image - a stylized female figure with her hands raised up - subsequently turned into a plot reproduction of the Mother of God.
Sigma- symbol of a snake. Found on ceramics of the Trypillian culture. Means water, thunder, lightning. The snake guards the home.
Symbols of strength and endurance
In the old days in Rus', as soon as a girl was born, she was washed in a font made from a decoction of viburnum and willow leaves. They gave feminine strength, the woman then becomes a good wife and gives birth to healthy children. When a boy was born, an oak tree was planted in his honor and the baby was bathed in an infusion of oak leaves. Oak leaf - so that the strength does not deplete.
Symbols of love
Since ancient times, the dove has been considered a symbol of love. If you want to have a happy family, then draw doves on an oak tree. Love is also symbolized by the spruce tree (Smereka). In order to find out how many years later a girl will get married, they ask the cuckoo about it. Therefore, the cuckoo is a symbol of love. And in order to always be paired with your loved one, they draw flowers with paired petals.
Symbols promoting the birth of children
Symbols of health and longevity
So that no one gets sick, they draw a sun, a rose, a fish, a deer on the testicles. And the endless thing helps people live long, so that misfortune comes to them and so that beekeepers have a good honey harvest.
Symbols favoring a rich harvest
The diamond is a symbol of earth, the dots are seeds, and the rake is a symbol of rain.
Square and rhombus
The four elements, four seasons, four life stages (birth, youth, maturity and old age), four cardinal directions and times of day were successfully encrypted into the sides of the square. The mesh “square” “sieve” ornament symbolized the eternal separation of the concepts of good and evil.
Spiral
This symbol represented primitive ideas about the structure of the Universe. The line twisted in a spiral also meant water or a coiled snake, personifying the feminine face. In addition, the spiral was identified with a labyrinth that “confuses” evil forces on the way to a pure soul.
Symbols that heal
Warning symbols
To reduce disasters, take care of your households. Easter eggs with warning symbols will also help you. “Wolf teeth” and “bear paws” will remind you of predatory animals, “rabbit ears” will remind you of the need to protect vegetables, and the “raven beak” on a pysanka will remind you of the danger of birds of prey. If such Easter eggs are kept at home, they will protect pets and remind them of danger
Christian symbols
These were Christian symbols. One depicted a beautiful church, the other depicted 40 wedges, and there were also Easter eggs with crosses surrounded by an endless border and with the inscription “Christ is Risen.”
The triangle is often found on Easter eggs and denotes the trinity of the world: sky, earth and water, father, mother and child.
The triple principle - earth, man and sky - found its expression in this symbol. For our ancestors, a triangle filled with a mesh or linear hatch meant a plowed field. In the Christian interpretation, forty triangles acquired the meaning of forty days of fasting or forty martyrs.
Plant and animal motifs
Pysankarkas constantly drew inspiration for their designs from the natural world, depicting flowers, trees, vegetables, leaves and entire plants in highly stylized ways. Such symbols reflected the renewal of nature and life.
The most popular floral design is a flowering plant in a pot or a tree, which symbolizes life. Cherry, a symbol of girlish beauty, was supposed to bewitch love. On Hutsul Easter eggs you can often see a stylized pine branch - a symbol of eternal life and youth. There is a belief that anyone who washes their face with sacred water containing Easter eggs will always be young, healthy and beautiful. The grape motif symbolized brotherhood, goodwill and long-term, faithful love.
The ornament of apples and plums was supposed to bring wisdom and health. Among the flowers depicted on the Easter eggs were roses, periwinkles, lilies of the valley, sunflowers, tulips and carnations. All of them were supposed to help the plants mature.
Pine is a symbol of health.
The oak tree is a symbol of strength.
Plums are a symbol of love.
Hops are a symbol of fertility.
Any berry is a symbol of fertility; mother.
Flowers are a symbol of girlhood.
Wishing for an addition to the family, the pysanka was decorated with images of flowers: bells, periwinkle, lilies of the valley, carnations. Viburnum leaves meant strength, endurance, faith in justice. Oak leaves symbolized faith in the forces of nature and worship of the gods.
Although animal motifs are not as popular on Easter eggs as plant ones, we still see them, especially on Hutsul products. These symbols had a dual meaning: to provide their owners with the best attributes of animals, such as health and strength, and to assure a long and fruitful life for the animals. Animals such as deer, rams, horses, fish and birds were drawn abstractly; sometimes pysankars reproduced only parts of animals - duck necks, hare ears, chicken feet, ox eyes, ram horns, wolf teeth, bear paws.
The rooster and the dove were considered God's bird, which would awaken the sun and human conscience, keeping everyone living in the house under its wing; the latter were written as a symbol of the soul and the Holy Spirit.
The dove is a symbol of the soul.
Swallow - the long-awaited arrival of spring.
Types of Easter egg painting. Colorful Easter eggs
Krashenki
Krashenki- from the word paint. You can color eggs in different ways.
Some housewives boil eggs hard, and then immerse them for 10-15 minutes in a solution of warm water with food coloring, which can be bought in the store.
Other housewives like to dye eggs in a decoction of onion peels. To do this, place raw eggs in a saucepan with water, add onion peels and cook for 15-20 minutes until the eggs acquire the desired color.
Previously, eggs were painted in a special way: they were wrapped in dry leaves of oak, birch, and nettle, tied with thread and boiled. The result was beautiful “marbled” eggs.
Drapes
For drapanki It is better to take brown eggs. The shell of such eggs is stronger than that of white eggs.
First, the eggs are boiled, then painted some darker color, and then dried. The pattern is applied to the shell with a sharp object - a knife, an awl, scissors, a thick needle, a stationery knife. But before scratching the pattern, it must be applied to the egg with a sharp pencil. During operation, the egg is held in the left hand, and a sharp object in the right.
The openwork pattern on the drape looks good on brown or other dark paint.
The design on the drapanka can be anything, unlike the pysanka with its strictly traditional geometric designs. Using the edge of a stationery knife, scratch the contours of the design. To create shades inside the contours, we draw the pattern not with the tip, but with the entire surface of the knife blade. Erase the pencil sketch with an eraser. The drawing is ready. For shine, you can wipe the egg with a cotton swab and a drop of oil. Pysanky are elaborately painted Easter eggs. Ukrainian Easter eggs are real works of folk art.
To draw Easter eggs, elements of flora and fauna and geometric shapes are used. Each region of Ukraine had its own characteristic ornament and color. In the Carpathian region, eggs were painted yellow, red and black, in the Chernihiv region - red, black and white, in the Poltava region - yellow, light green, white.
The pysanka was not drawn or painted, but written on a raw chicken egg. Every line on a pysanka is an arc. The arcs form circles and ovals and, crossing, divide the surface of the egg into fields, the name of which is the baptismal shirt of the Easter egg.
Easter eggs were supposed to be painted with the first strike of the bell. First, the egg was dipped in yellow paint - “apple tree”, and kept in it for three “fathers”. Each color of the pattern was protected with wax. By the end of the work, the eggs turned into black, gloomy buns. They were dipped into 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 greased. They put it with a whisk around the Easter cake - for God, on a dish with grain - for people, and dyes on sprouted oats - for parents. And three candles burned in honor of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Currently, the art of painting Easter eggs is being revived. Forgotten equipment is being restored, new masters are appearing. A museum of Easter eggs has been created in the city of Kolomiya, Ivano-Frankivsk region.
Malevanka
Malevanka- an egg painted with your own, invented pattern.
They have no symbolic meaning and can be painted with paint (not wax).
The name “malevanki” comes from the word paint; Easter eggs are painted with invented patterns using paints.
Artists, when painting Easter eggs, often draw plot pictures, flowers, landscapes, and landscapes in addition to patterns.
Eggs
Eggs- eggs carved from wood and stone, made from porcelain and clay were made in Rus' back in the 13th century.
Later, eggs began to be decorated with beads, lace, knitting, etc.
The most famous “Eggs” in the world were made by the imperial jeweler Carl Faberge.
I have completely changed. First of all, it changed inside. Very much. And it's as if admitted herself. Although I had previously undergone quite a lot of techniques in personal therapy, because in our country it is mandatory, plus training seminars.
I dyed my hair and made it brown, which is pretty close to mine. It’s a little hard to remove redheads, although I use henna instead of chemicals.
I thought about my wardrobe and realized that I really feel more comfortable wearing something else. I bought myself two beautiful floor-length dresses with wide hems. They are very beautiful, but at the same time noble and calm. But most importantly, I calmed down a lot in my soul, and began to do a lot with the children and around the house.
In my opinion, the effect is very strong. I am very grateful for this method.
Hope
I would like to express my deep gratitude to Lana for the course on pysanka. It has a number of strengths that can be very valuable to many.
1) The course is designed for independent work, and this is its undeniable advantage. This format makes it possible not to depend on a psychologist, but to help oneself, which is very important for people who feel an urgent need to do something with their lives, but do not have the financial opportunity to work with a coach or psychologist. The basis of the method and course is “Help yourself!”, “Everything is in your hands”, “No one will deal with your issues except you!”, which returns to a person his natural strength (even if forgotten, imperceptible and unobvious) and responsibility for own life.
2) There is no "water" in the course, he is strictly practical. Each word of Lana is weighed and verified, a large number of examples are given (both analyzed in class and written in text for ease of independent use), everything is clarified and explained, possible “pitfalls” in the process of work are discussed.
3) A very reasonable format: first theory, which you can listen to at a convenient time in a recording, then practice with maximum depth in the topic, clarifying the nuances. Of course, you must be present at the practical lesson.
4) Affordable price (which was very important for me personally).
5) In addition to the course itself, the website of the school “Through the Eyes of the Soul” gives access to interesting materials and touches on important topics. I was truly amazed!
Lana's manner of presenting material is very captivating - one can feel her competence, deep knowledge and understanding of issues at a deep level. I thank her for her generosity in explaining and focusing our attention on important things. Her every word conveys care, support and sincere interest in our results. Special thanks for the additional practical lesson not specified in the plan.
Anna K.
Let's face it! Another attempt to find answers to a question that torments you always ends with even more...
No answers!!! And questions. And what? Where is the exit?!
In the next drain-worthy situations? Or will you again look for a magical training, from a group of encouraging friends, “a pill for everything at once”? Or will you continue to endure?
So here it is. It was a state when not only tears, but enormous Gratitude to yourself for relief from pain. And you can do it too, and yourself!
This is living with clarity, down to the smallest features, of the timeless, already, reasons for the situations in which I find myself. Such power of joy from liberation can only be compared with the postpartum euphoria of happiness. Have you guessed it yet?
I’m writing this about how the course “Pysanka. Method of Baptism” by Lana Chulanova fit into my life :)) The course is the best what happened to me lately.
I declare with full responsibility that this course will develop in you the ability to independently provide express assistance in all inconsistencies, in all areas of life!
The ability to see causes, consequences, necessity and knowledge of how to change and remain true to your true self will be developed during the course. They registered with me thanks to Lana’s skill, experience, work and help from the participants. I thank everyone from the bottom of my heart! Because inside there were questions about how to resolve certain situations in my life. I will definitely apply the knowledge I gained. Thank you
You can get to know Pysanka, like yourself, throughout your life...
Dedicated to my friends, inspirers, patient students.
To good Faith and Love!
Svetlana Kremneva.
Today it is difficult to find a person who has not seen and admired the amazing creations of the craftswomen of Slavic Pysanka.
The thousand-year-old tradition of painting chicken eggs using beeswax and natural paints has grown into a wonderful folk art that is unique in its charm. Pysanok’s creations are distributed everywhere where Slavic peoples historically lived: the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Ukraine, Belarus, and the European part of Russia. And now, as a result of great migrations, craftswomen of this precious miniature can be found in any part of the Earth. All of them carefully preserve the traditional rules and features of wax painting on a chicken egg, the secret mysteries of filling each Pysanka with protective power. And the mastery of pysanka among those who come into contact with their creation comes from the heart, from the soul, from God.
If you pick up Pysanka, a completely different world opens up for you, and you yourself become different: better, kinder, more affectionate. It is probably a true assumption that Pysanka contains the Soul of that woman - Bereginya, who created it for Love, Health, Longevity, Strength, Happiness, Wealth.
2. Tradition born in the depths of centuries.
In the spring, when the bright rays of the sun break through the winter clouds and touch the ground, when the snowdrifts begin to disappear before our eyes, and the ice-bound rivers turn into stormy streams, people turned to God, to the sky and the sun and called out - they welcomed the red Spring. Birds flew in from warm lands (as people from Iria believed) - messengers of spring, joy, warmth and the Sun. This event gave great hope that the harsh time of winter was ending, that very soon the birds would begin to lay eggs and hatch and hatch chicks. And they do this only with the arrival of spring and the sun.
According to the ideas of our ancient ancestors, a bird's egg was a symbol of the Universe, the Sun, life, resurrection, and rebirth. Indeed, the egg is a miracle in which Life is hidden. From ancient legends we know that people believed that the whole world arose from a universal cosmic egg that floated in the abyss of the sea. Well, the yolk itself is so similar in color and shape to the sun. And in the ancient Karelian epic “Kalevala” there are the following lines:
From the egg, from the bottom
Mother came out - the Earth is damp;
From the egg, from the top
The high vault of heaven rose;
From the yolk, from the top
The bright sun appeared;
From the protein, from the top
A clear month has appeared;
From the egg, from the motley part
The stars appeared in the sky;
From the egg, from the dark part
Clouds appeared in the air.
3. Different types of Easter eggs.
At the dawn of human life, the Egg was revered as a symbol of the spring Sun, which awakens Nature from sleep, and later the egg became a talisman protecting people from evil forces. To make the strength of the egg even greater, its surface was painted in various colors: yellow, red, orange, green, blue, and “paints” were obtained, and if droplets of wax were applied to the surface of the egg, then after coloring in one or more colors, “colors” were obtained. kapanki."
In addition, beautiful magical signs were applied to the shell, perhaps because they did not yet know how to write. And those signs were drawings - prayers. This is how Easter eggs were created to receive both help and protection from divine powers. People firmly believed that Easter eggs would bring goodness, happiness, prosperity, health and protect them from any evil. And they brought it!.. And they protected it!..
Since time immemorial, signs of rain, earth, water, sun and fire have been painted on the egg, thereby establishing a connection with the forces of nature, ensuring a generous harvest, prosperity in the home and a happy destiny. Even in the last century, pysanka accompanied a person from birth to death. The pysanka was placed in the cradle of a baby as a symbol of the beginning of a new life, and it was placed in the coffin of the deceased as a sign of hope for his Resurrection. Easter eggs were used to commemorate deceased relatives, and they were also given to newlyweds for health and happiness.
The custom of painting eggs has gone through many tests: time, the policy of mixing cultural, religious and historical values, fear of reprisals - and has survived and is still preserved. Dyed and painted eggs accompany one of the most beautiful Christian holidays - Bright Resurrection - Easter as a sign of the rebirth of life, resurrection. Of course, this fragile fine art could perish, and was a few steps away from it.
However, outstanding scientists of the 19th and 20th centuries: anthropologist F. Vovk, ethnographers O. Kolberg and N. Sumtsov, who studied this tradition, left for us albums with images of Easter eggs. And a full member of the Russian Imperial Geographical Society S.K. Kulzhinsky created a monumental work, on the basis of which it is possible to resurrect both a forgotten custom and an ancient ornament. If you want to see authentic masterpieces of the Slavic Pysanka, go to Ukraine: Kiev or Lvov, where museums contain collections numbering tens of thousands of copies of this tiny miracle. It was here that the skill of Pysanka reached its greatest development and became a symbol of Ukraine.
In Canada, Ukrainian emigrants erected a monument to Pysanka. In the USA, in New York there is a museum of Ukrainian art. Behind this process of revival of ancient Slavic art, of course, there are specific people:
E. Benyashevsky - a book about Pysanka published in 1968;
Z. Eliev - album with 1200 samples, published in the USA in 1994;
A. G. Solomchenko published a unique book - the album “Pysanki of the Ukrainian Carpathians”;
O. Belous and Z. Stashuk - “Pysanka School”, a manual for those wishing to learn the skill, published in Kyiv in 1999;
Z. Ivanitskaya - album “Pysanka”, published in Moscow in 2001;
V. Manko - book “Ukrainian folk pysanka”, published in Lviv in 2001.
That, perhaps, is all that can be read about Pysanka today. And even then, most of the publications are in Ukrainian.
In Yaroslavl, this tradition is studied within the framework of the workshop for the revival of folk crafts “Slavic Easter eggs” of the Yaroslavl regional public organization “Russian Traditions” with the participation of craftswomen: S. Kremneva, E. Kulikova, M. Kozlova, N. Shleneva, A. Khaikina, G. Kotova and many others, for whom the revival of unique art has become more than just a hobby.
4. The meaning of color in Pysanka.
Pysanka as an artistic phenomenon of human creativity includes the ambiguity of ancient symbols. The symbolism of Pysanka is a combination of meanings of color, ornament and the egg itself. A symbol is something that serves as a conventional sign of some concept, phenomenon, idea (Explanatory Dictionary of S.I. Ozhegov). Bright colorful miniatures use a variety of color combinations. However, a certain pattern can be traced in them: most often we see white, yellow, red, brown, black, and less often green and blue colors in the ornaments. The meanings of color are diverse and have a direct dependence on the region where Pysanka was written, on the historical period of time in which it was created.
Thus, white color has always been perceived as the color of purity: divine purity, purity of spirit, purity of thoughts and goals set for man. If we consider that the shell of a chicken egg is white, then we can assume that this color is the basis of life, the basis of the universe. Without claiming to be true, we can assume that white color is an analogue of light, divine light. Remember such Russian expressions as “white light” or “in broad daylight”, they also indicate the connection between the concepts “white” and “light”. Now imagine how you took an egg, created the image of a future Easter egg and drew the first lines of a magical pattern. Your thoughts are pure, your heart is filled with love, you are creating a new World. And the outline of the ornament you have planned on Pysanka will be white - the color of divine purity.
The next color you will apply to the Pysanka will be yellow. This is the color of vital, divine power - the power of Knowledge. Life force is given to us by the light of the Sun. Do you remember which pencil a child chooses when drawing the sun? Many of us would choose red, but the baby chooses yellow. Gold, the metal of strength and power, is yellow in color. And now on your Pysanka the yellow lines and fields of the pattern shine with the golden light of Reason.
Red, of course, is the color of joy of life, strength, courage, courage. The actual meaning of the word “red” is multifaceted. This is especially noticeable in Russian. Beautiful - “fair maiden”, valuable - “red goods”, “mahogany”. The main, important one is the “red corner”, “red porch”. Nice, bright, bright - “red day”. Listen to how this word is played in a folk song:
In the mansion from the red porch
The beautiful maiden entered.
The beautiful maiden came in
I cleaned up the red corner.
I tidied up the red corner,
I assembled the table - the throne.
Table - throne assembled
Yes, I invited guests.
Popular wisdom has preserved the amazing polysemy of the word “red” in proverbs: “A hut is not red in its corners, but red in its pies,” “For a catchy word, he will not spare his own father,” “A debt is red in payment.”
In Pysanka, red is often the dominant color, carrying the main meaning. In the Pysanka “For Health,” the color red can mean vigor, joy of life, and the ability to fight for life. In Easter eggs made for women, this color can tell about the beauty of life, joy, hope and dreams of each of us. In Pysanka for men, this color is a symbol of courage, strength, bravery, and perseverance in achieving a goal.
And now, green fluffy pines - symbols of health, eternal youth and longevity - magically fit into the divine shape of a living chicken egg; the duck is a symbol of fertility, caring and the ability to come out of the water dry; two yellow squares (symbols of your house, your land) in an openwork eight-pointed star. And all this against a bright red background, confirming the joy of being.
The green color is much less common in Pysanki, and even more rarely is it the dominant color. More often these are small inclusions in the overall ornament of Pysanka “for health”. As a rule, greenery is used in patterns made up of plant elements and is directly dependent on the time of year.
Green color, as a sign of the blossoming of the vital forces of nature, also appears in Pysanka along with spring. When the first leaves bloom on the trees, when the first greenery breaks through last year's withered grass, then they begin to write Easter eggs with green lines and patterned fields. Greenery in the ornament signifies the growth, development and health of all life on earth: new, strong, young, both in Nature and in human life. Such a Pysanka was revered as a person’s prayer to higher powers for leniency and help in righteous deeds, for the granting of a rich harvest, and success in creative endeavors.
The next significant color on Pysanka is brown or burgundy. We are all children of planet Earth. Since ancient times, people have understood that the earth must be protected, because it feeds, waters, warms, and protects. That is why it was affectionately called: Mother Earth. She was given primacy in wisdom and strength, songs filled with hope for a better fate were dedicated to her, fairy tales and legends were passed about her from mouth to mouth. From this preface you already understand that the brown color on Pysanka is the color of Mother Earth,
which means the color of wisdom, hope, faith, the color of support in life, the color of the source
all the best. Most often, this is not the color of the pattern, but the color of the background - the basis of the entire Pysanka.
Black color is also often found in Pysanky, but only as a background. It makes sense to assume that this is the color of outer space, the cosmic abyss, from where everything that exists on Earth originated. Of course, this is just an assumption, but think about why the color black attracts us so much? Black color, darkness is that mystery, that unknown that scares kids and frightens adults. In ancient times, this color was associated with the symbol of the Earth, its fertility; it conceals sacred, mysterious, even disturbing ideas of ancient people. These Easter eggs evoke very similar impressions in our time.
Blue and purple colors speak for themselves. Of course, the first idea of them is expressed in the images of the sky, air, space, spiritual purity and divine providence. However, these colors are much less common than others. And it’s not surprising, because Pysanka was created by people and for people living on Earth. In some Pysankas you can see shades of primary colors: orange, pink, scarlet, crimson - this is most likely not a tradition, but creative variations of craftswomen.
If we talk about the tradition of colors in Pysanki, we can distinguish the main ones: white, yellow, red, green, brown or burgundy and black. Easter eggs with a sparse, austere pattern probably date back to a more ancient time; their origin is the earliest, archaic. Perhaps it is fair to note that the color resolution of the ornaments on Pysanka is also associated with the place where they were written. In areas located further south, where it is warm, where there is vibrant nature, a huge variety of flowering vegetation, the ornamentation of Pysanok is richer, and their color resolution is multicolored. For example, take a look at the Hutsul Pysanky.
How much work, care, skill and precision in drawing a huge number of intersecting lines has been invested in these wonderful works - Hutsuls called: “ducks”, “goats”, “rams”, “ochkata”, “starry”…. How much poetry, love, and joyful experiences are hidden in the national character of these Easter eggs!
But these are Pysankas that are completely different in mood, more restrained, modest in color scheme, with large, almost severe ornaments. They were born in lands where winters are longer and colder, where spring and summer are not so wild with colors, where songs are drawn out and feelings are calm. Although, who knows what feelings there are? If you think about it, you can see in them the greatest strength of the spirit of people. People whose main goal is to live, survive and leave behind a sprouted grain, a house they built, a successor to the family, a successor to the cause. Isn’t this such a simple and understandable answer to the question at first glance: why did you come to this earth? It is possible that the search for the main answer to the main philosophical question gave birth to these amazing creations.
5. Symbolism of Pysanka.
The word reveals the meaning and content of an artistic literary work. A symbol is also a word. For thousands of years, people have verified the semantic meaning of signs and symbols. It is surprising not only that the symbol is very beautiful graphically, but also how it accurately reflects in its lines, color, and shape a person’s desire for life and beauty. If you try to compare the symbols in the works of national creativity of different nations, then even an uninitiated person will see how similar they are, how much they have in common. But you and I do not set ourselves the goal of exploring the similarities and differences in the symbolism of the peoples of the world. We will try to see the meaningful part of the symbolism of the Slavic Pysanka.
Pysanka among all nations has always had more than just a decorative character. They were treated as strong amulets. There are several reasons for this. Firstly, for almost all Indo-European peoples, the egg is a symbol of life, and the pattern on the shell is a summoned divine help, a talisman for the one to whom this pysanka is written. Secondly, working on a small masterpiece requires a lot of time and a lot of attention, which means it will only be done for a truly loved one, which is also a powerful amulet. Well, and, finally, all the applied patterns necessarily carried a strict meaning, a message to the gods and information for the owner of the amulet.
Over the course of several centuries, the Slavic peoples developed certain patterns on Pysanka, and each locality developed its own character of the traditional ornament and its coloring. Style, color, and the main significant elements were passed down from mother to daughter and were unshakably performed on Pysanka. That is why it is still possible to determine where it was made by the colors and patterns on the egg.
Easter eggs patterns often consisted of geometric shapes of complex outlines, based on a rhombus or a square. A rhombus with dots inside symbolized a sown field, prosperity, abundance. The shapes of the rhombus were especially varied: with protrusions at the corners, crossed by two diagonals, comb-shaped, with spirals extending in pairs from its corners, etc. The rhombuses in the patterns were arranged in a chain one after another or combined with other geometric motifs: an oblique cross, a star, socket.
In addition to geometric motifs, Slavic Pysankas contain images of flowers, leaves, bushes, and trees. It also has many plant and floral motifs. One of them is the World Tree, symbolizing the connection between the lower, “underworld,” the earth and all nine heavens. The World Tree was depicted as lush, tall, with various fantasy flowers and birds on the branches.
Plant motifs are combined in a pattern with images of birds or animals. It was a whole world of poetic images. Fairytale peahen birds, modest little ducks, horses, graceful deer with branchy antlers were depicted on the amulet egg.
No less often found on Pysanka is a stylized female figure, often formed on the basis of an oblique cross - this is the goddess Bereginya, also known as Makosh (Virgin Mother in the modern reading), which has childbearing symbolism. This is perhaps the most basic protective image - a direct appeal to divine help. It is surprisingly simple to implement: just two intersecting lines, which themselves find a place on the Pysanka. Raised hands pray for help, protection, health. To a person. Her image is easily combined with triangles, rhombuses, and curls. Each of which is also an independent symbol. The triangle is the unity of the elements of nature, the unity of the family, the unity of the divine Trinity. A rhombus is a house, a person’s field of activity, his world in which he lives. The diamond and its variations are also associated with fertility and sexual power. Curls are symbols of protection from the threat of the outside world, or they are often called “ram's horns” - these are signs of material well-being. This is how one simple symbol can contain such rich content.
Motifs of flowers, trees, birds, animals, and female figures in folk art have always been endowed with capacious and multi-valued symbolism.
Thus, swans were the personification of a young beautiful girl and bride or were considered a symbol of true love, pigeons were a symbol of marital fidelity and a happy family, ducks reflected the trustworthiness and caringness of a woman - the housewife, a falcon - the speed and courage of a warrior - a man.
Very often in the ornamentation of Pysanka there are wavy and broken lines and waves of different shapes. This is a widespread symbol of water, purification, growth, getting rid of diseases and all sorts of negativity in works of folk art.
The favorite patterns on Pysanka were cruciform motifs, trefoils and the most important symbols of the agrarian cult of the ancient Slavs - swastikas and sun signs.
Reference: In general, the swastika has been known in Russia, based on archaeological excavations, for at least three thousand years, and not only as decoration, for example, on the Vyatichi. But in Rus' this symbol - a cross with curved ends - had a different name - “Kolovrat”. “Kolo” is the Old Russian name for the sun, “vrat” means “return”; in modern Russian this word corresponds to the word “solstice”. The sun was symbolically represented by an equilateral cross, and sometimes by a cross superimposed on a circle. The curved ends of the cross symbolized either the increase or decrease of daylight hours. The increase in solar time of day was indicated by the left swastika, which in Russian was called “Kolovrat”; the decline of the sun was indicated by the right swastika, in Russian called “posolon” (From the “Slavic Encyclopedia”. dazzle.ru). And in Pysanki this sign carries the fiery, creative principle: “Kolovrat” - saves, preserves what already exists. Pysanka with “kolovrat” has no price when losses are expected in your business. The pysanka with the swastika “salt” has a creative meaning, carries the meaning of profit, increase, growth in business, in family, in prosperity.
Easter Easter eggs occupy a special place among these miniature creations. Their ornamentation clearly repeats the requests of Christian rituals: various types of crosses, swastikas, churches, decorated with publicly available details of folk ornaments. Stripes – “plowed field”, mesh – “protection”, dots – “seed”, wavy lines – “water”, etc. And of course, on Easter Easter eggs, which are given to people dear to you on the day of the Holy Resurrection, inscriptions like: “Christ is Risen” are appropriate.
Pysanky from my collection, which numbers more than 200 painted miniatures. It presents Pysanky of the traditional style, the so-called “lists” from samples from the collections of researchers of different times. There are Pysanki - insights, Pysanki created in the image and likeness, but in each of them lives a piece of the author’s love. I am deeply convinced that Pysanky are written not with skill and skill (that would be too simple), but with soul and heart.
7. Tales about Easter eggs.
First.
Mitka grew up as a weak boy, was often sick, and always got into some awkward stories. He grew and grew and reached military age. You yourself know how to send your son to the army, how many fears are spinning in your mother’s head. However, she did not take any illegal actions. She saw me off and made the sign of the cross: “Serve, son! Just take care of yourself. If you can’t protect yourself, no one will do it for you.” Mitka went to the army. Six months of training - and off to war. It was then that my mother ordered me a talisman - a pysanka for her son. Of course, how many guys did not return home from this incomprehensible war. For this occasion, I chose bright colors for Pysanka: white, yellow, red, and brown—life colors. And I wrote the symbols so that they would be protected from a bullet, from an enemy, from chance.
Some time passed, not much: three or four months. Pysanka began to cry: a drop appeared from the top of her head. This means that the amulet is signaling: take action - trouble is on the doorstep. The mother rushed to look for her son, because there had been no news from him for a month, and at first he wrote almost every week.
She found Mitka in a hospital in Rostov, wounded in the head. The guy was already on the mend. The mother brought her son home, here the doctors treated him and gave him a conclusion: he served, he shed blood, and that’s enough. That means they were commissioned. But alive! Now he is already married and has two children.
Believe it if you want, believe it if you want, but the Easter egg gave the sign in time.
I definitely write Easter eggs for my children and grandchildren. And for health, and for luck, and for protection. And she taught her daughters this business, they write well, beautifully. Only they, the young ones, always don’t have enough time.
My grandson was still four years old at the time. And the following sore clung to him: as soon as the temperature rose, he began to choke - it’s called false croup. The boy was often sick. But what about young people, they want to go for a walk.
One day they got together with friends and took their son with them, because in that family there was a similar child. Well, let's go and go - not for the first time. Only closer to midnight in their room there was a sound like an explosion. I looked to see what was there, and it was the pysanka that exploded, the one I wrote to my grandson for his health. I go to the phone, call, ask how the children are behaving there, is it time for them to go to bed? They answer me that they have been sleeping for a long time. I tell my daughter about pysanka. Five minutes later, my daughter calls back: they say that the baby has a fever, he has begun to suffocate, they say, they have already called an ambulance.
What happiness: the Easter egg warned: it gave a signal; the ambulance was nearby: it arrived quickly; and in the hospital the oxygen chamber was operational and free.
Then the doctors said that they called an ambulance on time, if only a little longer it would have been difficult to help...
Grandma, do you want me to tell you how the egg helped my mother and me?
-Tell me, granddaughter.
-You know, grandma, we went to Turkey on vacation in the summer? We flew there by plane, and everything was fine. Then, when we had rested, we also returned by plane. Somewhere in the middle of the journey, our plane began to shake so much that all the passengers got scared, some even screamed. The girl flight attendant calmed everyone down, told them to fasten their seat belts and said that the plane had hit a turbulence zone.
-Were you scared, granddaughter?
- Yes, grandma! I cried and asked my mother if our plane would break down. My mother told me not to be afraid, that God would not allow this. Then the plane stopped shaking, and we flew to Moscow.
-Well, thank God it all ended this way!
- Grandma, I haven’t told you everything yet. Listen! When we arrived home, we saw that the protective egg that you wrote to your mother and me had burst. And I think it was it that saved us on this terrible flight.
-Yes, granddaughter, maybe the pysanka helped you, or maybe an experienced pilot or a lucky chance. The main thing is that everything ended well.
-Grandma, when my mother and I go on vacation again, will you write us an Easter egg for happiness and good luck?
-I’ll definitely write!
Fourth.
My daughters are beautiful, slender, young. Both are married, both have children. There are amazing stories associated with the birth of both of my granddaughters.
I wrote two amulets for the eldest: one for conception, the other for bearing a child and easy childbirth. So, doctors feared for the outcome of this event for several reasons and believed that the result could be unpredictable.
When the time came, the daughter went to the maternity hospital and took the Easter egg with her. At the clinic, all things, of course, were placed in a storage room - and the purse, where the Easter egg for pregnancy permission was, was also there.
The birth really didn’t take long - it went quickly, without any pathologies. Thanks to the doctor and midwife who were able to provide all this. The girl was born strong, loud-mouthed, and 10 points healthy.
The day of discharge arrived. The daughter received her things from the storage room. In the purse lay a completely unrecognizable pysanka. It was as if someone had spent a long time erasing the magical pattern from the shell with a wet rag.
And I suppose that the amulet had to work hard so that everything in the sacrament of the birth of my black-browed granddaughter was calm and easy.
My youngest daughter has an even more exciting story. The pysanka for bearing a child worked in the first half of pregnancy, because there was a threat of miscarriage. At the beginning of last month, the doctors became concerned because the fetus was in a persistent “posterior presentation” (that’s what they call it in the medical world, I think). This threatened serious complications, including caesarean section.
I urgently went to the village to get an egg from a pullet chicken. The old people said that such eggs contained very great vitality and fertile power. The egg was found tiny, almost like a pigeon. I wrote a duck on it and placed it under the icon, but not as usual - with the sharp end up, but on the contrary - as if upside down. She prayed and left everything to God’s providence. It was then that miracles began to happen: exactly two weeks later, the pysanka began to dry, and three days before the birth it turned into a “vanka-vstanka” - an egg that, no matter how you laid it, could only stand on the “head”. A completely fresh egg that I took from under a chicken dried up in two weeks! It seemed incredible to me then. And here is the main miracle - the day before the birth the baby turned over and stood in its normal position! All these three weeks, the daughter was in the prenatal department under the supervision of doctors. They prepared her for a caesarean section.
As a result, the birth went smoothly, without complications. Many thanks to all the specialists who took part in this, for the fact that I had a second granddaughter - a white baby!
I have a friend. Gorgeous. Smart girl. Married. But there are still no children. So she asked me to write a pysanka for conception after a long ordeal in medical institutions. Actually, there was nothing surprising in this request, because if you really want something, then all means are good. Of course, I agreed - how could I not help the girl! I sat down in the evening, in silence. I started writing, and the egg in my hands cracked. Well, well, I think it’s rare, but it happens. Maybe there was a crack in the egg and I didn’t notice. I took another one, checked it thoroughly, and got to work. And the egg, well, as if alive, jumps out of my hands and breaks. I think it’s no coincidence that all this! I'm calling my friend the next morning. And she’s all in tears: “My hubby left for someone else. I don’t know what to do now.” Maybe that’s why the pysanka didn’t want to be created?!
However, the story did not end there. Because my friend decided: “Well, their men, since they are so unfaithful. I will live alone for my own pleasure, but I definitely need to give birth to a child. Besides, the years go by.” So I wrote her a pysanka. And I included in her maintenance both conception and meeting with a worthy person. More than a year passed after that - I lost track of my friend. One day they tell me that she met a man she liked. And soon she will give birth to a child.
A few months later, we met with her, and I found out that the “conception” pysanka cracked on the day when the woman confirmed the pregnancy test with the doctor. Now the baby (and a son was born) is already four years old. He grows up in a world of love and affection: his mother and father dote on him.
In the spring, when the bright rays of the sun break through the winter clouds and touch the ground, when the snowdrifts begin to disappear before our eyes, and the ice-bound rivers turn into stormy streams, people turned to God, to the sky and the sun and called out - they welcomed the red Spring.
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Birds flew in from warm regions (as people from Iria believed) - messengers of spring, joy, warmth and the Sun. This event gave great hope that the harsh time of winter was ending, that very soon the birds would begin to lay eggs and hatch and hatch chicks. And they do this only with the arrival of spring and the sun.
According to the ideas of our ancient ancestors, a bird's egg was a symbol of the Universe, the Sun, life, resurrection, and rebirth. Indeed, the egg is a miracle in which Life is hidden. From ancient legends we know that people believed that the whole world arose from a universal cosmic egg that floated in the abyss of the sea. Well, the yolk itself is so similar in color and shape to the sun.
At the dawn of human life, the Egg was revered as a symbol of the spring Sun, which awakens Nature from sleep, and later the egg became a talisman protecting people from evil forces. To make the strength of the egg even greater, its surface was painted in various colors: yellow, red, orange, green, blue, and “paints” were obtained, and if droplets of wax were applied to the surface of the egg, then after coloring in one or more colors, “colors” were obtained. specks."
In addition, beautiful magical signs were applied to the shell, because they did not yet know how to write. And those signs were drawings - prayers. This is how Easter eggs were created to receive both help and protection from divine powers. People firmly believed that Easter eggs would bring goodness, happiness, prosperity, health and protect them from any evil. And they brought it!.. And they protected it!..
Since time immemorial, signs of rain, earth, water, sun and fire have been painted on the egg, thereby establishing a connection with the forces of nature, ensuring a generous harvest, prosperity in the home and a happy destiny. Even in the last century, pysanka accompanied a person from birth to death. The pysanka was placed in the cradle of a baby as a symbol of the beginning of a new life, and it was placed in the coffin of the deceased as a sign of hope for his Resurrection. Easter eggs were used to commemorate deceased relatives, and they were also given to newlyweds for health and happiness.
The custom of painting eggs has gone through many tests: time, the policy of mixing cultural, religious and historical values, fear of reprisals - and has survived and is still preserved. Dyed and painted eggs accompany one of the most beautiful Christian holidays - Bright Resurrection - Easter as a sign of the rebirth of life, resurrection. Of course, this fragile fine art could perish, and was a few steps away from it. Fortunately, this did not happen.
If you want to see authentic masterpieces of the Slavic Pysanka, go to Ukraine: Kiev or Lvov, where museums contain collections numbering tens of thousands of copies of this tiny miracle. It was here that the skill of Pysanka reached its greatest development and became a symbol of Ukraine. In the Ukrainian town of Kolomyia, not far from the city of Chernivtsi, an amazingly beautiful museum for Pysanka was built. I’ve been wanting to go there for a long time, it hasn’t worked out until now, but this year I think I’ll get around to it.
Want to? We can go together.
A little about the symbolism of Pysanka
The word reveals the meaning and content of an artistic literary work. A symbol is also a word. For thousands of years, people have verified the semantic meaning of signs and symbols. It is surprising not only that the symbol is very beautiful graphically, but also how it accurately reflects in its lines, color, and shape a person’s desire for life and beauty. If you try to compare the symbols in the works of national creativity of different nations, then even an uninitiated person will see how similar they are, how much they have in common.
Pysanka among all nations has always had more than just a decorative character. They were treated as strong amulets. There are several reasons for this. Firstly, for almost all Indo-European peoples, the egg is a symbol of life, and the pattern on the shell is a summoned divine help, a talisman for the one to whom this pysanka is written. Secondly, working on a small masterpiece requires a lot of time and a lot of attention, which means it will only be done for a truly loved one, which is also a powerful amulet. Well, and, finally, all the applied patterns necessarily carried a strict meaning, a message to the gods and information for the owner of the amulet.
Over the course of several centuries, the Slavic peoples developed certain patterns on Pysanka, and each locality developed its own character of the traditional ornament and its coloring. Style, color, and the main significant elements were passed down from mother to daughter and were unshakably performed on Pysanka. That is why it is still possible to determine where it was made by the colors and patterns on the egg.
At the seminars that I conduct quite regularly, we try to understand these features and create unique masterpieces-amulets for our loved ones.
For pysanka you need time when you will not be distracted and pulled out of the process by paper and pencil (pen).
Next, you make yourself comfortable, place a sheet of paper in front of you and place two anchors of the present moment at the very top. This is the current date (03/16/2012) and your name (I write Daria).
Next, you formulate in your head the topic you will write about.
It could be just a cleansing drain (then the topic is writing out my condition), research (the topic is why I need..., why this is happening...), unsubscribing the grievance (the topic is my grievance at...) and any other.
Next, you draw a horizontal line from the left to the right edge of the sheet.
Under this line, you already record the topic in writing and begin to write everything that comes to mind.
It’s important that during the process, don’t think about what you’re writing. Your task is simply to write down all the mental confusion that is going on in your head. Thinking through the wording is unnecessary and even harmful. If swearing and curses are written out, that’s good; it’s better that they be written out and burned, than those invisible from within that poison. If emotions and tears come flooding in during the process, don’t hold back, live it. You can draw, scribble - you can do whatever you want. The main thing is to write down on paper everything that is inside you on this topic to the point of complete emptiness. When there is nothing left and there is a ringing, echoing emptiness inside, then we draw a second line like at the beginning - this is how we close the space of the pysanka. Below the line, for the final return to reality, we again set the same anchors - the current date and our name.
Then write the magic phrase: “cancel all decisions.” Under this royal decree, be sure to write your signature and again the current date.
Now you can re-read it if you really want to.
And everything written into the fire. It’s better right away, but you can postpone it. The main thing is to do this no later than three days after unsubscribing.
No new decisions need to be made. Don’t worry about the good solutions that were written down either. Everything good will be automatically restored after cancellation. The psyche is not stupid and does not get rid of what is good and useful.
Pysanka looks something like this
Part two. What should I do if, during the process of unsubscribing, I remembered (learned) something that now makes me feel bad? Or I didn’t remember anything, but I still feel bad.
This pain does not need to be endured, it does not need to be driven into the depths in order to return back to a comfortable state, you just need to live it and let it go. Moreover, any pain is also a compressed force; by releasing it, we return the force back.
I know several ways how this can be done, I am sure that there are many more of them and those who wish will be able to find a lot of useful things in any source.
My methods that I have gained over the past years.
Cleansing drain pysanka.
The rules are the same as for the research one (that is, the date, name, boundaries are required - this is all protection from not staying inside). Be sure to have a magic command to the mind after the bottom line: “cancel all decisions” and your signature with the date below it.
Differences - there will be no questions here, instead of asking a question, you write what kind of pain is tormenting you (resentment, fear) and then pour out everything that is inside on paper. Such Easter eggs are written to the point of emptiness, until the feelings dry up completely and the head becomes completely empty. If you can’t write, then instead of words, you can simply move your pen over the paper, drawing lines, and pronounce what’s in your head. The essence is the same - you need to write until you feel empty inside. It is quite possible that the emptiness will be temporary - we are multi-layered and under one layer of pain another may appear. In such a situation, you just need to write a cleansing pysanka again. And again. And again.
Such Easter eggs must be burned. What was poured onto the paper must be released in order to return the strength and until you burn it, all the pain and strength will remain on the paper. Subsequent combustion is also part of the safety precautions that must be observed.
In a similar way, pain can transfer to any material medium
- a doll (who has worked with traditional dolls knows perfectly well what I mean), for wrapping with threads, for strings, or for anything, even twisting candy wrappers. The main principle is that when speaking out what sits inside and interferes, your hands must work; it is through your hands that you bring this blackness out of yourself onto something material. And then you destroy this material through any of the elements, but most easily through fire.
Anyone who does this seriously and with full effort will definitely encounter the fact that such things sometimes burn very poorly. It looks like magic, but plain paper doesn’t want to burn. This is normal - after you have transferred the pain to paper or a doll, it is no longer just paper and a doll.
And another easy-to-use method - working with the elements directly . It is as follows. Before starting work, you need to agree with the element of water for help in working with pain. The easiest way to do this is through the ancient spells “Water-Tatyana, earth-Ulyana, key-Ivan, give water for all troubles” and “Where there is water, there is illness and misfortune.” After this, you can put your hands in the water and, through actions with your hands, just like in a cleansing pysanka, drain everything that is inside onto the water. If water is poured into a container, then the spell “Where there is water, there is disease and misfortune” is whispered when pouring it, if on a flowing one, then immediately.
APD - In the comments, Yulia suggested a slight change to the slander - “Where there is water, there is pain and misfortune.” Greatly expands functionality and strengthens the formula. Personally, I absolutely trust Yulina’s formulations, they have been tested always one hundred rows. Well, psycholinguistics is a very useful thing, so I’ll change the slander. It's up to you to decide.
It’s possible without these conspiracies, it’s just easier for me, but the agreement must be announced in any case.
In the same way, you can work with the earth to come to an agreement and drain the pain into the earth.
And yet - this is a separate job, you should not combine it with washing dishes or planting a garden.
I hope you understand the basic principle - pain from the inside through the hands is transferred to something material and this material is then given to one of the elements for cleansing. In the case of working with the elements directly, the material aspect is not needed - the pain is direct through the hands transferred to the elements for cleansing.
If these methods do not purr for you, then using this principle you can come up with your own - the main thing is that it works.
And only when you have cleared out all the pain will you be able to review your research papers for decisions made out of resentment or fear. After that, they can be canceled, changed - edited as you please. It’s still better to put it in writing so that you can put more effort into canceling it.
Well, as a conclusion, it’s very worth looking at why all this happened. What lesson was there in the situation, why did you create it for yourself, what did you want to learn and were unable to do it at that moment.
