We always feel that once Easter comes, summer is around the corner. Within weeks the earth comes to life again, everything grows and blooms (kids included!) and then suddenly Easter is here with all of its yellow abundance. And we love it!
As some of you might know, originally I am from Poland. In my family’s tradition, we celebrate Easter which is the most important annual religious feast in the Christian liturgical year. This year we celebrate Easter next Sunday, April 21st. My mother is going to visit us here in Tirana so we’re not going back to Warsaw, but it doesn’t mean we won’t celebrate Easter.
It’s such a happy time of year! All our children are off for one week so we’ll have plenty of time to connect, craft, and cook. And eat all of the eggs, of course! In our tradition there are, though, some interesting Polish traditions that stand out.
Pisanki
The eggs, which dominate the Easter table, symbolize life and rebirth. Beautifully decorated eggs “Pisanki”, have adorned Polish tables at Easter for centuries. Although the methods of coloring and decorating eggs have evolved, the tradition has stood the test of time.
Traditional patterns on Easter eggs are prepared with hot wax applied to the shell. Eggs are then covered with paint, and finally the wax is removed to reveal the patterns that have been created.
“Pisanki” eggs take a form of art, and still are the same old chicken eggs as always.
In my house, we do it in the other way – coloring the egg first, and then etching a design in the paint. Eggs painted like this are still edible, as the paints are food-friendly, or even ARE food – because boiling the eggs in onion shells or in beetroots (it will turn eggs in purple) will give them a beautiful color, too. Other way to decorate the eggs is to glue colorful paper, fabric, or even things like tiny beads or wool on them! Now there’re available even handy sticker for kids to put on the colored eggs.
My children love to do these activities!
Easter breakfast
On Easter Sunday after the Sunrise Service, families sit down and eat together. Tables are covered with a white cloth and are decorated with Easter eggs, fluffy chicks, and catkin or fresh flowers, which create a spring atmosphere. The basket with blessed food is placed in the center. Easter breakfast begins with sharing blessed eggs, a tradition with similar symbolic significance to the sharing of the Christmas wafer.
On this solemn morning, the food that was blessed on the previous day is eaten first. Then follow the traditional sour rye soup, meat, cold cuts, pâté, stuffed eggs, and for dessert: babka (sweet yeast cake), cheesecake and mazurek (pastry with a generous layer of chocolate or dulce de leche icing decorated with dried fruit and nuts).
In our family’s tradition, children find the sweets and small gifts the Easter bunny had hid for them around the house. Kids love being given chocolate bunnies, chicks and sugar lambs!
Besides this for kids, we will organize an egg hunt – a game during which decorated eggs are hidden in various places to find. The game is often played outdoors, but can also be played indoors. The children will collect the eggs in a basket. When the hunt is over, prizes may be given out for various achievements.
Easter Monday
?migus–Dyngus – Wet Monday is celebrated on the second day of Easter. On this day, people splash others with water: both relatives and strangers. The tradition derives from old pagan customs related to the symbolic awakening of nature and spring cleansing of dirt and illnesses. Girls that were soaked on this day increased their chances of getting married.
In many villages in southern Poland, the tradition of sprinkling fields with holy water on Easter Monday is still very much alive. It is often accompanied by tricks played on neighbors, such as changing gates, placing farming tools on roofs or hiding water buckets.
I love the folklore of the Polish heritage.
Happy Easter everyone!
