UKRAINIAN EASTER EGGS a Yearly Tradition

 

In Ukrainian Orthodox churches, Easter in 2022 will be celebrated on April 24th, a week after the celebration in Protestant and Catholic churches. That is because the date for Easter is calculated by two different methods. Easter as it's commonly celebrated in the United States falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon of the spring equinox (always between March 22 and April 25), while Orthodox Easter is celebrated on the Sunday after the first full moon after Passover (between April 4th and May 8th.) 

As I do most years in the days before Easter, I make Ukrainian eggs, this time with my granddaughter. Her egg is on the left in the above photo. Mine is a more traditional design. I added mine to our collection of eggs through the years. This year the eggs take on a special meaning. 

I became fascinated with the beautiful designs on Ukrainian eggs when I was growing up in Northeast Minneapolis. The local Ukrainian gift shop gave demonstrations of egg making in the days before Easter. They also sold egg making supplies. I started to make Ukrainian eggs myself when I was a teenager. The designs are drawn on the eggs in wax with a stylus (kistka) and the colors are added successively. The eggs can be kept year after year because the inside moisture simply evaporates over time.  (The designs are made on raw eggs. The eggs are not meant to be eaten but used for decoration.) Some of the eggs in the bowl below were made by my children when they were much younger, others by me. Every year we choose a different combination of dyes. Getting the eggs out at Easter time is a well-loved family tradition.