Pisanki and the Spring Equinox

Long before Easter, Slavic households painted eggs to wake the land in spring. Haggath still makes one every equinox.

The simple method

1. Hard-boil a white egg.
2. Using a candle, drip beeswax onto the shell in a pattern — dots, lines, a sun.
3. Dye it in onion-skin water (simmer brown onion skins for 30 minutes).
4. Once coloured, warm the wax gently and wipe it away to reveal the pattern.

Meaning in the marks

• Sun or star: life and warmth
• Wavy lines: water and flow
• Wheat ears: a good harvest

Keep the egg on a windowsill through spring, then bury it in a garden or pot. Beeswax and kits are in Haggath's shop.