Easter in Slovakia: Easter eggs and buckets of cold water
It’s not Easter bunnies or chocolate eggs hiding in a bush. In Slovakia, Easter Monday is celebrated by guys chasing girls around with a whip (a switch) made off willow branches (korbáče) and also pouring buckets of cold water on them. And as a sign of gratitude, girls reward the boys by giving them beautiful hand-decorated Easter eggs, chocolates, liquor, or even money. What an awesome traditions!
Ok, perhaps some girls will disagree with me. But this tradition of šibačky (switching) and polievačky (watering) is all in good sport. The point is not to harm the girls, instead, this tradition keeps them beautiful and “springy” (like the twigs) for the whole year. And of course, it gives the boys a chance to visit with their favorite girls.
Images from the traditional way to celebrate Slovak easter. The first image comes from Slovakia.travel, the second image was submitted on Facebook.
Traditional Slovak Easter celebrations date to the pre-Christian pagan times, when people did not think of seasons changing as something that happens automatically because of Earth’s motion around the Sun. Instead, the seasons were directly linked to the spirits present in the environment all around them. Spring was the time when the good spirits started taking the lead from the evil that dominated through out the winter. And to aid in this transition, several rituals were undertaken to help the good defeat the evil. There was the drowning of Morena (potápanie Moreny) in which a wooden board decked in womens clothes was sent floating down the river. This symbolized getting rid of bad things from the previous year. There was also the raising of the May pole (stavanie mája), which was a green budding branch, decorated with colorful ribbons and Easter eggs. This again symbolized the coming of Spring and was meant to surely put the Winter behind.
In fact, green budding twigs were believed to have magical powers, and that’s where the tradition of Easter whipping comes from. By getting switched by the spring branch, the girl would receive not only some of the strength from the guy, but also the health, liveliness, and fertility of the budding branch. It was believed that girls who got whipped would get younger, become prettier, and also more skilled in their daily doings. No wonder that it was a truly bad omen for some girl not to receive any switching! Of course, the guys were more interested in visiting the prettier of the village girls, and this is why some girls had to bribe the guys by offering them presents: easter eggs, home baked goods, and so on. Each guy also received a colorful ribbon from each girl to tie to the end of his korbáč (the decorated easter whip). At the end of the day, young boys and girls gathered for a party, and the boy with most ribbons became the king of the night.
The pouring of water had a similar rejuvenating meaning. The water washed away all the evils and diseases from the body. In some villages, guys would throw girls in a nearby creek. In most, cold water was pulled from the well and poured onto girls from buckets.
Few examples of traditional Slovak Easter eggs mailed in by readers.
These days, the Easter Monday traditions are still widely followed but in a somewhat modernized manner. Many girls still wake up Easter Monday by having a bucket of water poured on them while still in bed. But the general polievačka now consists of merely a cup of water splashed in the girl’s face. And for good measures, the guy the sprays some perfume on the girl. And while in the past it was customary to only switch the younger generation, now the tradition has extended to the whole family.
But what about food? Easter Sunday was a day for plentifulness, and in many families, it was eggs and ham and that became a popular Easter Sunday dish. In my family, we celebrated Easter Sunday by a plate full of open face sandwiches and deviled eggs. Other families also prepared braided raisin bread vianočka), potato salad and baked ham. In the East, it was common to make something called hrudka, which is a “cheese” made of eggs, and also pasha bread. Young ram, baránok, was another symbol of spring. Those families that could not afford to have an actual lamb meat, prepared dishes in the shape of a young ram.
Regardless how you decide to celebrate it, happy Easter to you!
Good references on the traditions of switching
http://spectator.sme.sk/articles/view/5179
http://spectator.sme.sk/articles/view/407
http://hnonline.sk/c1-36706340-velkonocne-sibanie-pochadza-z-predkrestanskeho-obdobia
http://www.sme.sk/c/3790349/sibacka-mala-pozitivny-vyznam.html
Easter Traditions
http://www.infovek.sk/predmety/etika/tradicie/vn/vnzvyky.php
http://www.velikonoce.org/velikonocni-tradice/
http://suraba.blog.sme.sk/c/190268/Velkonocne-tradicie.html
http://www.jankohrasko.sk/clanky/clanky/2008/marec/velkonocne-tradicie-a-zvyky
Easter Egg Decorating
http://www.infovek.sk/predmety/etika/tradicie/vn/techniky.php
http://www.nasarodina.sk/article.php?sid=1487
http://www.velikonoce.org/velikonocni-kraslice/
http://www.slovakia.travel/entitaview.aspx?l=1&idp=6606
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How do you celebrate Easter in your family?
When my wife was a girl in northern Slovakia, her family’s Easter lunch had ham, horseradish (not spicey), hardboiled eggs, and a cake in the shape of a lamb (berancek). Yesterday I had the same for our lunch. She also said they always took a trip to the mountains on Easter Monday to avoid the water and whips.
Actually, there is a lot of misunderstanding around ”easter;; in Slovak Republik.
As a matter of fact, no lamb would be eaten.
In the past meat used to be rather expensive and NO FARMS actually existed to produce either meat or milk.
Also celebrating the ”PASKA” which is almost during the same period as PASSOVER, shows, that it would be rather jewish than catholic celebration.
LOL I love it… I think that would be so much fun. I don’t know about you… but i’m not even hungry today after all the food that we ate yesterday.
between the paska..perogy…tenderloin
and of course birthday cake..
Hope you guys had a Happy Easter.
After Christmas, Easter is probably the most popular holiday in Slovakia. The article above is pretty much what I have experienced and have a lot of great memories about it;)
There are real problems.
How to support the asocials, good investment, religious misunderstandings…
Can someone please give me a recipe for hrudka? My husband’s mom made it at Easter.
Thanks
Georgia
Georgia, we never made this in my family (I think it’s more of an eastern Slovakia thing). You will find a recipe on the It’s All Relative website, http://www.iarelative.com/recipe/e_cheese.htm
my mom use to make red beets n horseradish mixed in
can someone give me the recicpe
she also use to make a egg ball this was a easter thing she did after church
Sylvia ~~ I am a second generation Slovak and am now passing the tradition of the Easter Blessed Breakfast to my children. We all look forward to preparing the basket which we take to church on Holy Saturday and the foods are Blessed. It is so great to hear other people who are familiar with the tradition – Paska, Easter cheese, and beets n horseradish, kielbasa. My grandmothers Easter Cheese recipe is 1 quart whole milk, 12 large eggs, 1 pint water, and 1 Tablespoon of salt. Beat eggs well. Mix all ingredients in a large pot. Bring to boil, stirring frequently until most of the water is boiled off. Be very careful it will burn very easily. Pour mixture into cheese cloth, gather cheese cloth together so it makes a ball of cheese, and hang over a bowl overnight.
We also make the beets ‘n horseradish. We cheat by using a jar of prepared horseradish (not the creamy one you would use for sandwiches) and canned beets. Unfortunately I don’t have exact measurements, I was taught to make by taste, but here goes ~~ grind beets in food processor. Mix horseradish and ground beets. Add small amounts of white vinegar and sugar to taste – if you prefer hot hot, use less sugar.
Have fun and I wish you a Blessed and Happy Easter.
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