On Easter

Latvia is a country full of traditions. Easter is no exception. We will explore the origins and practice of colouring eggs, swinging, and beating each other with willow catkins, for a slightly different take on typical European Easter celebrations. Plus, superstitions and stories of ghosts and witches.

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On Easter

Latvia is a country full of traditions. Easter is no exception. We will explore the origins and practice of colouring eggs, swinging, and beating each other with willow catkins for a slightly different take on typical European Easter celebrations. Plus, superstitions and stories of ghosts and witches. Latvia combines the pagan celebration of the Spring equinox with Christian Easter. Let’s run chronologically through a Latvian Easter.

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The Sunday before Easter

Palm Sunday is called Pūpolsvētdiena in Latvian. Willow catkin Sunday. In place of palms, which you will not find growing outside of people’s heated homes, Latvians use willow catkin branches. When we lived in England, my wife would search the local park for a few willow branches that had just started sprouting their fluffy catkins. Not an easy task as Spring tends to come earlier in the UK than in Latvia. Here in Latvia, the catkins are just right at Easter time. And if you are a little lazy, you can buy branches in the supermarkets!

On this day, a family parent would mildly spank other family members with willow catkin twigs. The tradition behind this activity is to enhance the family’s health and energy. The custom has developed, and now anyone can spank other family members. You need to be the one who wakes up first and finds willow twigs with catkins on them.

While spanking, you should chant this:

“Apaļš kā pūpols, vesels kā rutks. Lunkans kā žagars, sarkans kā ābols. Drošs kā lauva, veikls kā vāvere. Slimība ārā, veselība iekšā.”

 It means:

“Round as a catkin, healthy as a radish. Flexible as a twig, red as an apple. Brave as a lion, quick as a squirrel. Illness goes out, health comes in.”

 Here is a tip for you if you are a spanker. While spanking, avoid hitting the legs. Why? Ancient Latvians believed that hitting their legs would cause them to become fat.

 Even if you don’t want to be the spanker, you should still try to get up before sunrise on Willow Catkin morning. Latvians believed that otherwise, you would have low energy levels for the whole year until the following Easter. You will hibernate all year round, just like a bear does in winter. I joke with friends that I would like to hibernate during the cold Latvian winter, but not all year round!

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The Thursday before Easter

The Thursday before Easter, Maundy Thursday in English, is called Zaļā Cetrutdiena in Latvian - translated as Green Thursday.

This stems from when German Catholics brought Christianity to Latvia in the 12th and 13th centuries. Germans mark Gründonnerstag, which means Green Thursday. Maundy Thursday is the day which commemorates Christ’s Last Supper, and churchgoers receive a green branch to signify the completion of Lent. In ancient pagan tradition, the colour green is also the colour of spring. Although Germans prepare green colour dishes on this day, Latvians avoid picking anything that grows and bringing it inside the house. Latvians also try to be well-organised and tidy on Green Thursday. The belief is that if you manage to do so, it will be easy for you to maintain good order and tidiness all year round. Latvians also eat green peas on Green Thursday. Then, according to tradition, Latvia is a country full of traditions. Easter is no exception. We will explore the origins and practice of colouring eggs, swinging, and beating each other with willow catkins for a slightly different take on typical European Easter celebrations. Plus, superstitions and stories of ghosts and witches. Latvia combines the pagan celebration of the Spring equinox with Christian Easter. Let’s run chronologically through a Latvian Easter.

f you hear a cuckoo in summer, you’ll get rich soon after.

Another tradition for Green Thursday is that you need to dance on a rock if you want to have strong and beautiful legs. OK!

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Easter Friday

Latvians call Good Friday, Lielā Piektdiena - Great Friday. This day is a public holiday in Latvia and is associated with many superstitions - a day of magic and, especially, of witches.

A person born on Good Friday can see ghosts, and anyone can see witches on Good Friday if they climb up to the attic of their house and look through a sieve. Apparently, you can recognise witches among churchgoers if you look at them through a hole in a coffin.

It would be best if you didn’t wander around on Good Friday. That’s what only envious and evil people who practice black magic do. Also, don’t visit others on Good Friday if you don’t want witches to show up at their homes.

On Good Friday, you can prepare to protect your house from lightning. Put a loaf of bread in the bottom drawer in a chest of drawers. When thunder strikes, start eating this bread. That will make lightning pass by without hitting your home. 

To get all you want and be protected, you must catch two mating frogs on Good Friday and throw them on an ant hill. Then walk away. You’ll hear singing and violins playing and later dogs howling, but don’t look back. Return to ant hill only on the following day. You should be able to find a small hook within it. That hook will enable you to attract everything you want. You should also be able to find a tiny crutch in it. A crutch is a staff used as a walking aid. That crutch will enable you to keep away anything you want.

People should eat bacon before sunrise to be free of snakes for the whole year. They should also avoid hanging laundry out to dry.

Yes, some pretty wacky traditions!

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Holy Saturday

In Latvia, Easter Saturday isn’t called Holy Saturday or Black Saturday. It is called Klusā Sestdiena, which means Quiet Saturday. Many Latvians would avoid hosting loud events and celebrations on that day as it may be disrespectful to others. It is the time when people remember the sufferings of Jesus Christ.

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Easter Sunday and Monday

The Latvian for Easter is Lieldienas, a plural noun that means the Great Days. The translation of Easter Sunday is Pirmās Lieldienas which means the First Easter. In Latvia, the Monday following Easter Day is also a state holiday. It is called Otrās Lieldienas, which means the Second Easter.

Unlike in England, schools are not on holiday over Easter for a week or two. Just the public holidays of Easter Friday and Monday.

Easter Sunday is often spent with family, who might enjoy a meal together. In the Latvian Easter tradition, round-shaped foods, symbolising the sun, are incorporated into the Easter Sunday dinner. We will mix English and Latvian culture by taking Scotch Eggs to an elderly relative this Easter Sunday. These are boiled eggs covered in sausage meat and a layer of breadcrumbs. An English pub classic. Oh, in England during the pandemic, there was a big debate by parliamentarians and the media about whether scotch eggs could be counted as a meal, to meet the Covid-imposed restriction that people had to order a meal in order to be served in a pub!

Back to Latvia. If you want to have lots of energy and happiness all year round, you should wake up early on Easter Sunday morning. Bathing in a stream running towards the sun will also help ensure a clear mind and physical beauty. Try to be the first to jump into a spring on Easter morning. You will then have more energy than others and will be the healthiest.

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Latvian Easter Eggs

If there is one thing that symbolises Latvian Easter traditions, it is painted eggs. The most traditional way to decorate Easter eggs is by using onion skins to give the eggshells a warm, dark hue. The most straightforward technique produces a mottled, freeform design. However, using the impressions of leaves, flowers, and twine allows more control over the design.

There are several ways to colour Easter eggs naturally.

1. Onion skins

Put as many onion skins as possible in a saucepan, pour in cold water and cook for 10 minutes to increase the colour of the liquid. You can boil the skins the night before, leave the water to colour well, boil it again the next day, add salt and vinegar and paint the eggs.

2. Tea

Those who have not been diligent onion peelers this year can make up for it by painting eggs in black tea. The decoration is made the same way as onion peel, adding salt and vinegar at the end. The amount of tea can be varied as desired - the more used, the stronger the colour. You can also try colouring using different herbal teas.

3. Blueberries, beets, spinach

If a jar of blueberry jam or a bottle of juice has accumulated in the pantry, you can make a decoration that will result in bluish eggs. Mix the jam or juice with water and bring it to a boil. When the mixture has reached room temperature, put the eggs inside, boil and cool. Eggs can also be painted in beetroot juice and spinach.

4. Red cabbage

In the spring, you can find more cabbages in the supermarkets. If you have an uncooked purple cabbage head in the refrigerator, it will also be a good material for painting eggs. Cut the cabbage roughly, pour over water, add vinegar, cook for 20 minutes, and leave to infuse to intensify the colour. Try painting both white and brown eggs using purple cabbage!

5. Rags

Dyeing with rags is quite simple - choose coloured pieces of cloth, which usually stain the water during washing, wrap eggs in them, and put them in clean water. Boil like onion peels. Any pattern will remain from the colour of the fabric on the egg. Old silk ties are particularly prized for this purpose.

6. Wrapping paper

You can also use different coloured papers to paint eggs. Sweet wrappers, like that British classic Quality Street, are good. The eggs are wrapped in them, tied then boiled in water. The wrappers will stain the egg.

Here are a few extra tips

You must first choose whether to use brown or white eggs. Onion peel may make brown eggs more beautiful, but the smoky blue colour of blueberries will work well when painting white eggs. I recall hunting in every supermarket for my wife’s preferred white eggs in England. These are not common in the UK. Looking at the eggs we have bought for this Easter, they come from Ukraine. I’m happy about that!

Medium-sized eggs are kept in boiling water for no more than 10 minutes because eggs are also intended for eating, not just for decoration. To make the colour brighter, adding salt and vinegar to the water is recommended. It is also recommended to boil the eggs in water for about four or five minutes, then stop cooking and leave them in hot water for another five to seven minutes to make the colour brighter.

Patterns can be made by wrapping green leaves, flowers, oatmeal, pasta or something else around the egg. Eggs can be covered with thread or ribbon to create patterns. The main principle is to keep the attached decorator close to the egg to prevent the coloured liquid from getting under it. Thread, tape, gauze or even old socks can be used for this. The main thing is that the material is not thick and fits snugly to the egg.

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Easter Egg Beliefs

In Latvian mythology, an egg symbolises the sun. It also symbolises fertility and the beginning of a new life. As with all the other elements of Easter, superstitions surround Easter eggs. For example:

• Beware the person who eats an egg without salt—it indicates that they are a liar.
• Eating an odd number of Easter eggs brings you bad luck.
• You should share your Easter eggs with others to ensure your chickens continue to produce eggs.
• Eggs that you can peel cleanly predict a good year’s linen harvest.
• People who handle eggshells carelessly can expect many arguments in their families. So, please don’t drop the shells on the ground and don’t step on them.

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Easteregg fights

In an egg fight, the intention is to break the shell of the opponent’s egg. The belief is that the one who has the strongest egg will live the longest life. Use the tip of the egg when fighting. We have this family egg fight every year. But I cannot remember who normally wins!

There is also the tradition of exchanging Easter eggs. Do it mindfully because the intent is to enhance mutual kindness and likability. So, don’t try to trade the egg that you don’t like for a better one. That won’t help to fulfil this intent.

Egg-rolling is also a game from the past. In this game, eggs are rolled down a ramp or slope. The owner of the egg that gains the most momentum and travels the furthest is the winner.

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Swinging

Latvians believe that you should swing as much as you can on Easter. Swinging will protect you from mosquitoes as well as snake bites during summer.

 The swings must be made new for Easter and destroyed and burned no later than a week after Easter. This is to prevent witches from swinging on them. Latvians also believed crows would steal chickens if you left Easter swings up after Easter.

 Young men were usually responsible for building and later destroying the Easter swings. They also swung women on the swings. Women thanked them by giving them coloured Easter eggs or a pair of mittens that they had knitted.

The swings in question are not single swings you would sit on and use your legs to go higher in the air. These swings are huge folk swings, built for standing upon, and typically can carry two or more people. According to folklore, riding on the swing during Easter will ensure fertility and keep away mosquitos.

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 In conclusion, Easter is a fun time in Latvia, full of traditions from pagan times. Forget your chocolate-manufactured eggs and bunnies and experience a natural celebration of the Spring equinox. Eggs are an essential aspect of a Latvian Easter. Just watch out for the bad superstitions around eggs and witches!