Photo taken by Roman Odintsov from LINK 

Dear Readers, Easter is coming! I would love to share with you some Polish traditions of Easter. Easter is the oldest Christian holiday. Its date is flexible, as it is celebrated on the Sunday after the first spring full moon. In this year we celebrate Easter on March 31st. Easter is traditionally a time of joy and fun in the fresh spring air. With joy we say goodbye to the long forty-day fast and celebrate the Resurrection of Christ. 

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PALM SUNDAY 

We start celebrating Easter a week before Easter Sunday. We make the Easter palm ourselves from willow branches, boxwood, currants, raspberries, dried herbs, feathers and flowers or we buy a ready-made one. The blessed palm was believed to have magical properties, so it was brought home to bring happiness to the family. 

PAINTING EASTER EGGS 

The most famous Easter tradition is painting Easter eggs. We can do it in several ways.  To begin with, we can use food dyes – mix the dye in a glass with hot water and a tablespoon of vinegar. Depending on how long we keep the egg in this mixture we can decide how dark it will turn out.  To diversify the appearance of Easter eggs dyed this way, try your hand at applying patterns with wax first. Eggs covered with it will not be covered with paint in these places, and after scratching it off we will receive unique, extremely interesting Easter eggs.  Next, a good way to decorate the eggs would be using paints and markers which is the fastest way.  We can paint different patterns: dots, lines, waves or draw a bunny.  Last but not the least, we can have „scratching eggs” – the eggs are dyed one color and then a pattern is scratched out with a sharp tool. 

Photo taken by Roman Odintsov from LINK 

HOLY SATURDAY 

On Holy Saturday we go to church to bless the food for the Easter table – Easter basket.  What’s in a Polish Easter basket?  We can put whatever we want in the basket, but the most common products are: 

– Easter lamb 

– Easter eggs 

– Meat (sausage, ham, etc.) 

– Bread 

– Salt and pepper 

– Easter cake 

– Dairy 

EASTER SUNDAY 

On Sunday morning we sit down at the Easter table and eat a blessed breakfast. According to tradition, the Easter table should be covered with a white tablecloth and decorated with boxwood. The table must have a vase with catkins, the first spring flowers and sprigs of greenery. A plate with Easter eggs is also a must. All blessed foods should be placed on platters so that they can be distinguished from unblessed food. 

Photo taken by Roman Odintsov from LINK

EASTER MONDAY – WET MONDAY 

Easter Monday involves beating each other’s legs with willow branches and pouring water on each other. This symbolizes the spring awakening to life and cleansing from dirt, disease and sin.  It is a popular game played mainly by children and teenagers, which involves throwing water at each other. They use water guns, water bottles, water balloons for this purpose.  Some people also follow the rule that on Easter Monday men throw water on women and on Tuesday women throw water on men. 

APRIL FOOLS’S DAY 

April Fool’s Day, celebrated on April 1, is one of the most anticipated holidays. On this day, it is customary to play jokes and pranks on family and friends. You can often come across such jokes in the media, press or on the Internet. The tradition of jokes has been common for over a hundred years. 

HAPPY EASTER TO EVERYONE! 

Photo taken by Roman Odintsov from LINK 1, LINK 2

🐇  2023/2024 © Nikola Łechtańska, 1 rok, Pedagogika,  Akademia Nauk Stosowanych w Koninie

SOURCES: 1, 2