#slavic culture
Embroidery of a traditional Sorbian Easter egg, made by me as an Easter gift for family members.
Feat: Blown-out sorbian eggs my aunt brought us years ago.
Although English isn’t my first language, I’ll try to explain the symbolism:
In Lusatia/ the Spreewald - more specifically, in Sorbian Culture - before every Easter we are meant to decorate the Easter eggs with the special technique, called Bossiertechnik, which requires wax, feathers, needle pens and natural dye. The decorated eggs are a gift from Godmothers and godfathers to their Godchild, as well as the Patensemmel, which is some kind of a bread roll.
Even though me and my sister don’t have godparents, every year, our aunt brought us her beautifully hand painted eggs. So this year, I also have a special gift for her and my uncle!
Historically, the tradition of Sorbian Eastereggs comes both from Christianity and Paganism, as well as medieval Folklore. Each symbol and color has it’s own meaning. After they’ve been gifted to the godchildren, they were rolled over a field for fertility and a good harvest. Another fertility spell was to ride a horse around the field. Both traditions were varied over the centuries - today, the Osterreiter are riding from one village to the other, to proclaim the resurrection of the Lord, and kids are playing Eierrollen as game (you and your friends are rolling your eggs down a hill - to win the game, your egg has to be the farthest or beat other eggs).
As I said, these colorful eggs don’t come without a special meaning. Of course, everything can be interpreted different from town to town, but overall, they just bring you good fortune.
So here’s how to interpret mine:
The suns you can see (in the middle, on the sides and on the top and the bottom) will bring you health and growth - they also symbolize, well, a sun. Putting three triangles into an ornament, is one of the strongest protections spells - the circles made of single triangles are there for protection too. In this egg, they not only protect the ones I’ll give this embroidery to, but also my wish for health and growth. The “V"s - called Crow’s foot - are used to boost the other symbols. The four single white flowers are meant to ensure a good future and more growth.
I used different tones of green for health and luck. White is like a basic color you’ll find in nearly every egg - some might say it stands for the holy spirit or Purity. Yellow is the color of the sun (I just used it for the aesthetic you know XD). Blue is meant to symbolise things like healing, peace or harmony.
So, long story short, the embroidery I did for my family members can be interpreted as a lucky charm for health, growth and peace.
You cannot imagine the choke hold Rjana Łužica has on Lusatians.
Women in folk costumes of Serbia
source: pinterest
Gorset ślubny z Podkarpacia, koniec XIX wieku/początek XX wieku
Wedding corset from Podkarpacie (Poland), end of the 19th century / beginning of the 20th century
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Nowy Sącz
ul. Zdrojowa 4
dom z pierwszej połowy XX w.
foto z 11 listopada 2017
Kalenicę z obu stron zamykają śparogi z tradycyjnym motywem końskich łbów.
Opuszczony w momencie fotografowania, został zburzony na początku 2021 r.
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Nowy Sącz, Poland
4 Zdrojowa St.
house built in early 20th c.
taken on 11 November 2017
Ridge’s both ends are decorated with a traditional motif of horse heads.
Abandoned at the time of taking, it was demolished at the beginning of 2021.
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Szczawnik
krzyż z 1913 r. przed cerkwią św. Dymitra
foto z 26 lipca 2017
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Szczawnik, Poland
a 1913 cross in front of the Church of St. Demetrius
taken on 26 July 2017
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Szymbark (Małopolska)
Skansen Wsi Pogórzańskiej im. Romana Reinfussa
foto z 2 czerwca 2021
Chałupa zbudowana pod koniec XIX w. w Moszczenicy pod Gorlicami i przeniesiona do skansenu w 1987 r.
Okna kuchni i białej izby.
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Szymbark, Poland
Roman Reinfuss Museum of the Polish Uplanders Village
taken on 2 June 2021
House built in the late 19th c. in Moszczenica near Gorlice and moved to the museum in 1987.
Windows of the kitchen and the ‘white chamber’ (best dining/living room).
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Andrei Shishkin - Perun
While the exact pantheon characterization differed between the Slavic tribes, Perun is generally believed to have been considered as the supreme god by the majority, or perhaps nearly all Slavs, at least towards the end of Slavic paganism. The earliest supreme god was probably Rod; it is unclear precisely how and why his worship as the head of pantheon evolved into the worship of Perun. Another candidate for supreme deity among at least some Slavs is Svarog.
As a thunder deity, all manner of rain-related phenomenon were associated with him. Perun’s family all had roles in the coming of rain. His sons would make the thunder and cause the lightning to strike. His daughters and wife would sift the rain. Together, they brought the moisture, thus making the land fertile so crops would grow. This would have been very important to the agricultural societies which worshipped Perun. To invoke Perun’s favor or call upon him to bring the rains, worshippers would give food offerings to the god. It is considered unlikely that human sacrifices were made to Perun.
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Yesterday wasthe 95 anniversary of the birth of the greatest Polish Sci-Fi writer, philosopher and a trained physician ~ Stanisław Lem (12 September 1921), who died 27 March, 2006, in Kraków. Compared often to Philip K. Dick, he corresponded also with Arthur C. Clarke, and as not many people around the world know, the very idea of rotating space station which Clarke described in a Space Odyssey, was inspired by the Lem’s theory. Lem was a visionary same as the others and is today the most famous Polish writer of the science fiction genre. In my priv opinion, the second best after him is Jacek Dukaj and I recommend his books too. :)
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