EASTER

Easter is the holiday

that Romanians will
always associate with
knocking red eggs.
The legend goes that
after Jesus was
crucified, the Rabbis
of Pharisaism held a
celebration banquet.
One of them said:
When the cock we
are eating rose from
the dead and the
boiled eggs turn red,
only then will Jesus
resurrect! No sooner had he finished his words, the eggs turned red and the cock started to
flap its wings. Now, at Easter time, eggs are knocked according to a specific ritual: the elder
person knocks the head of its egg against the head of the egg held by a table companion,
while saying: Christ has risen from the dead! and he is answered Indeed he has! On the
first day of Easter, it is customary to wear new clothes, as a sign of the refreshment of the
body and soul. The meal is an opportunity to gather the family and is made up besides red
eggs, of traditional dishes such as sheep pot cheese, radish and green salad, roast lamb and
sweet cream cheesecake.

In some Orthodox countries there is a tradition of skillfully painting eggs before Easter. The
tradition is very vivid in areas of Romania like Bukovina (the Nordic part of Moldova). A
legend has it that when Jesus Christ was crucified, Mary Magdalene came at the feet of the
cross with a basket of food she had bought. The blood of the Lord dropped over the eggs in
the basket, turning them red. Following this legend, Christians in the East started painting
eggs in red in the Thursday before Easter. This is still done in every Romanian family, using a
simple method, by dipping the boiled eggs into a pot with food dye.

But of hundreds of years, in villages of Bukovina, this custom was turned into an art. To paint
the eggs, the peasants dont use synthetic dyes, but rather natural herbs. They can obtain
red from apple leaves, madder, wild rose, green from walnut leaves, sunflower, yellow from
peel onions, privet, blue from violet flowers, black from nutshell and alder. The decorations
are usually geometric, various shapes of flowers and animals, but got to the point where
entire icons like The last supper or Madonna with Child were painted on a hen egg. To
achieve this, the peasants use the simplest tool (called kishitze), a stick with an iron tip. With

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this, they apply molten wax on the desired pattern of the first color. Then they dip the egg in
the lightest color to be used. When heated, the protective wax melts away, and a new pattern
can be added. Then, another dip in a different color, and so on.

As these little works of art began to be collected, popular artists are preparing them for the
buyers. The substance of the egg is taken out through a tiny hole before boiling, so the crust
is more resistant in time. Because of the demand, the craftsmen started also to paint ostrich
eggs or wooden eggs.

In the cities, the tradition is preserved in every house, but without the artistic painting part.
The eggs are simply dipped in food dye, in various uniform colors, not only the traditional red.

The symbolic aspect of painting and knocking eggs on Easter is far more important than the
folkloric aspect later developed. In Romanian, the name for Easter is derived from the
Hebrew name (Passover, from Pesach) of the celebration of the departure of the Jewish
people lead by Moses from the slavery in Egypt.

In Christian terms, the Easter is also a turning point, from the slavery of sin to the hope of
another life. The egg thus serves very well this symbolism: its shell is like the stone that
covers a grave, which when
cracked opens the way into a
superior form of living. When two
Christians knock the painted
eggs on Easter, the first one
says: Christ has resurrected! To
this, the other responds: Indeed
He did!

Romanians also use these two

ritualistic formulas to greet on the
street in the first week after
Easter, as this is considered the
defining affirmation of the
Christian faith.

Uses the wax resist egg dyeing

method (metoda oulelor nchistrite cu cear) this method involves wax painting and egg
dyeing in successive stages.

Two holes are pierced at each end of the egg to empty the content. The content is blown out
with a straw or a syringe if you will. The drainage holes are then sealed with beeswax.

The design is drawn with wax by use of an instrument known as chii. Chiia is a
wooden instrument with aluminum tip, through which goes a strand of horse or pig hair. It can
be made of a 10 cm long branch, the tip of a pen and some horse hair

After drawing the design, the egg is dipped in the dye. The color doesnt adhere to the wax.
For a multicolored design, the writing and dyeing process is repeated several times, by
soaking the eggs first in one color, applying wax, then soaking in next color, and so on. As a
general rule of thumb, the first color used is yellow, then the red, blue or purple and,
ultimately, green. Traditionally, the colors used in Bucovina were white, yellow, red and black.

The design is revealed when the wax is melted away by holding the egg nearby a source of
heat, a candle light if you will.
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Another method of decorating eggs is by use
of alcohol inks.

After cleansing, emptying and drying the egg, the

surface is degreased with isopropyl alcohol. (This
chemical can be hazardous to the health of those
who encounter it directly. A proper understanding
of the health risks is essential before exposure to
isopropyl alcohol)

To begin with, black lines are drawn to separate

the surface into sections. They are regionally known as belts. Next, the design is drawn in
yellow, red, blue, purple and green. When dried, a thin protective lacquer finish is applied on
the surface. The lacquer must be colorless and free of diluents or any agents that could
remove the paint.

The paint is applied by use of some beech wood

sticks with sharp tip. Pens can be used for drawing
thin lines.

The symbols can be found throughout Romanian

decorative folk art: on embroidery, ceramics,
weavings, carvings, with regional variations and
preferences of each community.

Various associations between geometric,

avimorphic, zoomorphic, floral or anthropomorphic
motifs are borrowed from textiles, woodworks,
carvings or icons.

Sometimes artisans dont know the name, meaning

or source of a specific symbol, but remember it as
something they have seen before, or learned from
their grandparents.

As the Lenten season ends in Easter rejoicing,

note what has been wrought in you this year. A
remarkable cross-section of America has been
practicing Lenten disciplines, even some who are
not active Christians. There is a deep hunger in our collective psyche to re-orient our lives
toward life and light, healing and peace. We share a holy hunger for clarity about what is
good and life-giving, and we yearn to re-focus on what is most central and important in life.

Easter celebrates the victory of light and life over darkness and death. God re-creates and
redeems all life from dead, dry, and destroyed bones. We are released from the bonds of
self-obsession, addiction, and whatever would steal away the radical freedom of God-with-
us. Our lives re-center in what is most holy and creative, the new thing God is continually
doing in our midst. Practicing vulnerability toward the need and hunger of others around us,
we have cultivated compassionate hearts. We join in baptismal rebirth in the midst of Jesus'
own passing-over.

The wonder of the resurrection is upon us once more. May we embrace God's ever-new life
with every cell of our being, every yearning of our soul, and every muscle of our will? Christ

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is raised, death is vanquished, and humanity is restored to holy and creative relationship with
God's ongoing and eternal liveliness. Praise God who brings light out of darkness, life out of
death, and newness out of the stale and moribund. Alleluia! Christ is raised!