EASTER
EASTER
Easter is a mobile annual festival; the date of its observance is calculated on the lunar calendar.
Easter is the most revered festival in the Church calendar of Orthodox Christians.
It is celebrated in the course of three days. Typical of this holiday is the dying of eggs.
Eggs are dyed on Thursday or Saturday of the Holy Week.
The eldest woman in the house has the privilege of dying the eggs. On Maundy Thursday loaves of bread are also made - both ritual and regular, as well as Easter cakes /kozunatzi/.
The different kinds of ritual bread are called Lord's bread /“bogovitza”/, Easter ring-shaped buns /kravai/, or Easter rolls /kolatzi/.
Making Easter cakes was introduced in Bulgaria as late as the 1920’s, but nowadays it has a very important place in the Bulgarian people's customs. Dying the eggs: Each dye is diluted in a separate, new pot.
The first egg to dye should be red. It is placed next to the home icon.
In the past women used natural pigments - infusions of walnut tree leaves, onion peelings (to dye yellow), blueberries (to dye purple), infusion of fir-cones (to dye beige), boiled beet (to dye red), corn-flower (to dye blue).
Eggs are also painted using various techniques.
