The Traveling Treasures

  Blog #7 Ukrainian Easter Eggs Welcome back! Today I will be covering pysanka, or Ukrainian Easter eggs. The practice is traced back to pagan times, when ancient Ukrainian people worshipped the Sun as the source of life on Earth. Because they believed birds were chosen by the sun God, eggs became central to their rituals.  Shown above are traditional pysanky eggs. (The History Behind the Ukrainian Tradition of Decorating Pysanky Easter Eggs, TIME) However, once Christianity started to spread, the eggs new meaning became the resurrection of Christ. Orthodox Christians began to use these pysanky eggs when celebrating Easter to protect them from misfortune.  The importance of pysanky is continue after Easter as well. Ukrainians put egg shells in cattle feed or gardens to enhance growth. Eggs are also put in the four corners of houses to bring good luck.  Psyankas are also made to celebrate the first day of spring, also call Velykden. The process of making psyanky eggs...

  Welcome back everyone! In this blog I will be covering West African mask making. Masks are very central to African culture, and the traditional of masking is related to the continent's history of extravagant masquerades .              Shown above is an example of an African masquerade.       (The Mardi Gras, the Canboulay and the Persistence of Africa, Artistis' Coalition of Trinidad and Tobago.) Masquerades were theorized to have developed around 3000-2500 BCE among the Bantu people. However there are hypothesized mystical origins as well, according to an Igbo legend masquerades were introduced by a villager who utilized masked figures to ward off opponents during disputes over land. Others argue the masquerades developed from male elders as a form of social control as women are not allowed to participate in masquerade activities.  Despite the different theories of origin, the symbolization of the masks are the same. They ca...