In Eastern Europe, the tradition of creating wax resist dyed eggs for Spring Equinox has ancient roots. This craft – known as pysanky in Ukrainian (the most popular variation) and hímestojás in Hungarian are formative rituals for Alex Eninsche, the leader of our egg-writing workshop.

She has spent the last decade immersed in the architecture and design community in Minneapolis, currently an adjunct instructor in the College of Design at UMN, and creates tasty, seasonal (in both ingredient and tradition) Magyar treats for her business, Tulipán Hungarian Bakery, which is an extension of her broader interest in Eastern European folk art and customs.

Salonnière’s fascination with the domestic arts as vehicles for ritual and connection can be seen in Ritual and the Return to Craft and Salonnière Paper 01

A selection of Alex’s eggs at our workshop at Maison Bodega (click to hear Alex speak to the origin of the pysanky tradition.)

Minneapolis is in many ways the seat of pysanky in America - Ukrainian refugees of the past 100 years have been creating community here and becoming stewards of this folk art. The largest Pysanky supplies shop for the country is located in North Loop. The goal of the workshop is to share a personal practice of craft, intention setting as a type of spell casting, and also something endemic to this city.

Pysanka 1975, an internationally acclaimed 14 minute film by Slavko Nowytski featuring Luba Perchyshyn, artistically shows the decorating process while explaining the historic and spiritual background.

“Naked egg, we clothed you in color like the sun, and the earth, and the sea. We took you in our hands and made you magic. When out of the cold winter came the sun god all life broke from a shell.”

An incredible zine created by Alex for the workshop walk participants through the significance of the symbols + colors and the process of imbuing their egg with intention.