WINSTON WEEKLY[1]

Vol. 2, No. 13

March 31, 2024

ALL THAT IS EASTER

For many, Easter is a religious holiday although the origins, traditions, and celebrations are far and wide. My late mother loved Easter. We always had a bounty of brightly colored eggs. Many never needed dipping or decorating because our chickens laid pink, speckled, brown, and green eggs.

Until this past week, I never really explored the origin of egg decorating. As with most things these days, the origins are debatable but it appears Ukrainian immigrants began the tradition in America hundreds of years ago. The tradition carried forward the Ukrainian way of decorating eggs to call out to the Gods and Goddesses of health and tradition. Ukrainians call decorating eggs psanky (or pysanka in singular form) which means “to write.” There is significance in writing the beautiful patterns and symbols across the eggs. Creating pysanky eggs involves applying melted wax to a scrawl across an egg and then dipping the egg in different dyes to reveal a flower, an animal, or another symbol or other pattern.

There are multiple other traditions and origins of Easter too lengthy to cover in a weekly blog and newsletter, but did you know that Germany is the origin of the Easter bunny? Or that many Australians consider rabbits to be pests, and instead celebrate the “Easter Bilby”? The Bilby is an Australian marsupial with a long snout, black and white tail, and long ears. Once plentiful, there are less than 10,000 Bilbies in Australia. Various sanctuaries have worked to preserve and expand the population. Learn more at the Australian Wildlife Conservancy, www.australianwildlife.org.

THIS WEEK’S ACTIVITY

Try your hand at the Ukrainian way of egg decorating. There is much to be gained from the process.  Or perhaps consider exploring the history of the chocolate egg; learn why a location in France cooks a giant omelet the Monday after Easter; gain a broader understanding of the differences between Passover and Easter; learn the significance of the Julian calendar; find the bread associated with Polish Easter; or explore the history behind the eggs produced in 1875 by the Fry Family of Bristol

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[1] Copyright March 31, 2024. Please feel free to share with the appropriate attribute. Winston Weekly is a weekly Sunday newsletter by Alysen Bayles, Founder of Bayles and Bruce. “Learn, live, love, read.” Alysen’s views are her own.