Dying eggs is also an important part of Easter in Bulgaria. The days you are supposed to dye eggs are the Thursday and Saturday before Easter. Traditionally Easter eggs are red, but that has changed over time. Now only the first egg dyed has to be red. Similar to the martinitsi's symbolism, red signifies good health. On Easter and Easter Monday you take your eggs when you visit relatives (or have them ready for the visiting relatives) and take turns hitting the top of your egg against theirs, then the bottom, to see who has the strongest egg. If you win the "egg fight" you get good luck, kind of like our wishbone wars at Thanksgiving.
Bulgaria follows the Eastern Orthodox Christian calendar, so Easter here is typically on a different date than western Europe and the Americas. There are many customs surrounding the Easter holiday and each year I learn more about the traditions. Eastern Orthodoxy is more mystical than it's western counterpart. There is often a merging of faith and superstition in the way many people approach Christianity in an Eastern Orthodox context. On Good Friday, for example, people gather at the churches to go under a table to symbolize having their sins forgiven. I'm not sure how it symbolizes this, and most of my friends here aren't really sure either! Another tradition is a midnight service on Easter morning. Some people attend the service, but many people come after the service (around 1AM or later) to light a candle and walk around the church three times. One of my friends told me that the number of times the candle goes out shows how many sins you have. Typically, people take the lit candle home (my friend said it was exciting on the metro with everyone's lit candles!). My friends told me that walking around the church is for good luck, and taking the candle home and putting it under your pillow while you sleep with bring you dreams about the future.
Dying eggs is also an important part of Easter in Bulgaria. The days you are supposed to dye eggs are the Thursday and Saturday before Easter. Traditionally Easter eggs are red, but that has changed over time. Now only the first egg dyed has to be red. Similar to the martinitsi's symbolism, red signifies good health. On Easter and Easter Monday you take your eggs when you visit relatives (or have them ready for the visiting relatives) and take turns hitting the top of your egg against theirs, then the bottom, to see who has the strongest egg. If you win the "egg fight" you get good luck, kind of like our wishbone wars at Thanksgiving.
1 Comment
Laurie
5/6/2016 12:21:07 am
These traditions must be great openings for good conversation! We "fight" eggs in my family at Easter time but not many folks around here are familiar with that tradition.
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