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" go to his tomb to embalm it and realize that it is empty. Easter, a springtime festival, also echoes the renewal of nature.
The rituals of Holy Week
Set according to the old Julian calendar, Easter is generally celebrated in Romania one week after its Catholic equivalent (sometimes at the same time): April 19 in 2020 and May 2 in 2021. On this occasion, two days are public holidays: Good Friday and Easter Monday. Preparations begin well in advance. Fasting (post) begins seven weeks before Easter Day. It is the longest of the year, intended to purify the soul and the body. All products of animal origin are forbidden. The last week before Easter, called Holy Week or Great Week (Săptămâna pond), is marked by many rituals. The first days are devoted to the great cleaning of the house: airing the rooms, washing the clothes and carpets, burning the last vegetable waste accumulated in the fields during the cold season... It is a question of purifying, of chasing away all the evils of winter. "Let Easter not 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 that day. It is also the day traditionally devoted to decorating eggs. Friday is a day of mourning, dedicated to prayer and meditation. A total fast, known as the "black fast" (post negru), should be observed. On Saturday, we get busy again, to finish the preparation of the different typical Easter dishes: the pască (sweet pie with fresh cheese) and the cozonac (traditional brioche, decorated with nuts, almonds or raisins), but also dishes based on lamb (honey), symbol of the sacrifice of Jesus to redeem the sins of men. It is cooked as a stew (stufat), soup or roast (friptură). With the giblets, a terrine called drob is prepared. In the middle of the night, everyone goes to church for a long ceremony that can last until the early morning. A candle is carried, to take the "sacred light", brought by plane from the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, and then flown across the country! The pope holds a large candle. Each person lights his own, then takes it home at the end of the service - a fairy-tale spectacle. When the pope leaves the church with his candle, he announces: "Hristos a înviat" ("Christ is risen"). Everyone answers him "Adevărat a înviat" ("it is true, he is risen") and they all go around the church three times. This formula will be repeated until the morning and will even replace the usual forms of politeness for several days (traditionally until the Ascension). The families also bring back to the church the dishes prepared for Sunday, so that the priest can bless them at the end of the mass. It is also customary for this feast to wear new clothes, symbols of purification. In some regions, such as Maramureș or Bucovina, people dress in beautiful traditional clothing. On Sunday, Easter Day, one washes one's face in water in which an egg dyed red and a silver coin have been dipped. The cheeks are filled with water, a sign of good health for the coming year. The fast is over, and a hearty meal is eaten, bringing the whole family together. During this meal, tradition dictates that one's painted egg is bumped into the neighbour's egg. If the egg does not break, it brings luck and happiness to its owner.
The delicacy of decorated eggs
Spread throughout Central and Eastern Europe, the tradition of decorated eggs is one of the most picturesque for the western visitor. A symbol of life and rebirth, the painted egg adorns the Easter table. It can also be placed on family graves or offered to relatives. It is most often dyed red, a reference to the blood of Christ. This is why many women in the country have red fingertips a few days before Easter. This popular practice, still widespread, has become a real art in some regions. The Slavic-speaking ethnic group of the Houtsoules, in Bukovina, is the great specialist.
A variety of methods. If, in the past, eggs were full and cooked, today they are emptied of their contents, then washed and dried before being painted. It can take several hours of work to decorate an egg, depending on the complexity of the designs. There are several techniques. The oldest is the so-called batik technique: the egg is dipped successively in baths of different colours, from the lightest to the darkest (yellow, red and then black, for example). At each bath, the areas that are not to be coloured are covered with wax. A goldsmith's work is carried out using a wooden stick with a fine metal tip, called chișița. The wax is then melted with a candle to reveal the final design. Another technique, which has appeared more recently, consists of painting in relief, directly on the shell, with previously coloured wax. Leaves, of parsley for example, can also be applied: the egg is slipped into a nylon sticker, so that the leaf remains well stuck to the shell, then it is dipped in the colour bath. The sheet thus prints its shape, in negative. Whichever method is used, at the end of the process, the egg is covered with several layers of lacquer to fix the colours and strengthen the shell.
Colours and patterns full of meaning. The colours and patterns used to decorate the eggs vary from place to place. For example, those at Ciocănești can be recognised by their black background and geometric patterns, mostly yellow and red; those at Buzău are red, with white patterns; those around Vatra Dornei are decorated with brightly coloured flowers. Each colour, each pattern has its own meaning. They intertwine to form a special meaning: each egg tells its own story. Red is the most common colour. It symbolizes the blood shed by Christ, but also life, health, resurrection, strength, love and passion. Black represents the pain of Jesus, but also eternity and earth. Green symbolizes the renewal of nature, hope and fertility. Yellow evokes heat, light, crops, youth, work. Blue symbolizes the sky, water, health.
In the countryside, some people still use natural dyes: apple blossoms and apple peelings for the red, walnut leaves for the green, violet flowers for the blue, onion peels or tree bark for the yellow, walnut shells for the black... Shops also sell sachets of coloured powder, which are mixed with water before soaking the eggs. Geometric, folkloric, religious and natural motifs are intermingled to symbolize faith, the cycles of life and nature, etc. Thus, the vertical line symbolizes life, the horizontal line symbolizes death and the line doubles eternity. The spiral represents time, the path of life 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. We also find on the shells many crosses of all kinds, stars, agricultural tools, plants such as ears of wheat (symbols of prosperity, of the richness of the earth), natural elements such as the sun or water.
Where to 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 beautiful pieces. But the best place to discover decorated eggs is Bucovina, which has three very interesting museums: the museum of the Houtsoule artist Lucia Condrea, at Moldovița, exhibits some 11,000 eggs, almost all of them original creations; the museum of the artist Letiția Orşivschi, in Vama, has, in addition to his personal achievements, a rich international section, as well as a regional collection, with eggs that are between fifty and one hundred years old; and finally the Egg Museum at Ciocănești presents an exciting collection of 1,800 old eggs, collected in the last century by Dr Anton Setnic. All three places have a shop section. It should also be noted that Ciocănești hosts the annual festival of decorated eggs just before Easter. On this occasion, contests, demonstrations and introductory workshops are organized. In the villages of the region, other more confidential places will allow you to see the women at work: for example, Viorica Semeniuc's boarding house, at Moldovița, or Casa Colinița, in Ciumârna. There, it is Ion who, if he is available, will give you a demonstration, in the small home workshop. You will also find eggs at the airport and in souvenir shops: My Romanian Store in Bucharest, which also offers modernised versions, is particularly recommended, as are the shops of the Village and Romanian Peasant Museums, also in the capital.
