Easter, regardless of the day when it is celebrated, always coincides with the revival of nature. There are a series of traditions for preparing for Easter and then for the Feast of Ascension and Whit Sunday, said folklorist Varvara Buzila, quoted by IPN.
Order and purification form part of the big scenario. Food and moral abstinence imposed by the Christian norms becomes more spread. The women are preoccupied with the baking of Easter bread and pound cakes. Tradition says the Easter bread should be made only from water, flour and salt and be shaped like a circle similar to sun, with a cross on its top in the middle, where salty cheese is put in small amounts. This bread is taken to be blessed on Easter night.
According to Varvara Buzila, everyone should wash the face with water from a bowl where there are put eggs and coins when returning from church, before sitting at the table. This tradition forms part of the purification process. “After we wash the hands and face, we wash ourselves with a fresh white egg so that we are clean and with a boiled red egg so that we are glowing. The rosy cheeks are a sign of health, while coins mean wealth,” said the folklorist.
The burning of tires or Deniile, as this practice is called, is an element of brightness. “We will go to church with candles and will bring home that light. From home, the people will go with lit candles to the cemetery. Icon lamps are burning in our homes. The fire is the brother of the big light. The bonfires form part of this context. They remind that holy light comes out of the graves that open. By such acts the people take part in the sanctification,” stated Varvara Buzila.
According to the folklorist, the communities could not live the Resurrection without using particular ritual objects. These all form part of the sacred scenario, including consumption of eggs from Easter until the Feast of Ascension or Whit Sunday, according to local traditions. If someone dies in the period, they say this person goes directly to Heaven.
This year, the Orthodox Easter and the Catholic Easter are celebrated the same day, on April 16.
