Most people know Easter as a Christian holiday associated with the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Lent ends, people are feasting, chocolate and eggs are everywhere. The eggs and baby animals are symbols of fertility and new life. In overall, Easter sounds like a fairly pleasant holiday. Unless you’re a woman in Slovakia.
Where I come from, you won’t hear a woman exclaim “I just can’t wait for Easter! “ Easter in Slovakia is far from the fun and relatively peaceful egg hunts the western world is accustomed to. While on Easter Sunday families do get together to feast, it seems like a rather feeble cushion of comfort to make up for what happens the next day.
As a child, my memories of Easter Monday include sleeping in a raincoat and locking myself in various rooms – not quite what you’d expect a child do on a holiday that’s meant to be fun. In Slovakia it is a tradition for men to pour various quantities of water on women and whip them with a special whip woven out of willow rods. All this is meant to ensure that the woman is beautiful, healthy, and fertile for the upcoming year. In the past the custom was even considered a form of courting and women would brag about how many visits they had. The men should traditionally be rewarded with a ribbon on their whip and a painted egg, but nowadays the rewards tend to be money, alcohol and sweets.
Needless to say, in the modern day women are not too fond of this folk tradition. Let me tell you, the fun of snacking on the chocolate meant for the men wears off as you have to change for the fifth time because someone poured a glass of water all over you once again. It is true, however, that especially in cities men are becoming milder with their ministrations, and what used to be rivers and creeks, are now becoming buckets, bathtubs, or in case you’re lucky like me, glasses or bad old perfumes.
(me, in what is probably my third outfit of the day)
While I agree that all this sounds rather drastic, I think everyone should experience a proper Slovak Easter should they get the chance, because believe me, it is an experience, and between the two of us, even though I am a woman, I always came out of it with some money and chocolate in my pockets.