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Easter in Latvia

Prepared by M.Dunkers

In Latvia, the Easter holiday consists of special days: Moundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, Easter Sunday, Easter Monday. In addition to the practices of the Christian Church, many Latvians observe older pre-Christian traditions as well to welcome the rebirth of nature and the arrival of spring.

How is Easter celebrated in the church?

Easter is a happy time. It is festival of hope and light. It celebrates new life. In churches Easter will be celebrated with special services. They will be really happy occasions remembering Jesus coming to life after his cruel death on the cross.

Latvia, is a country where almost every feast encompasses Christian and Latvian traditions. Easter is also time for celebrating the spring solstice, when, according to Latvian traditional beliefs and rituals, people try to help the soil wake up and become fertile, by encouraging its benevolence. For the most part, in Latvia Easter celebrations take place in the central squares, as well as in culture institutions and museums. Easter is usually celebrated in the family or among close friends.

Easter is a festival of spring and the beginning of new life. Easter symbols are coloured eggs and willow branches. The Easter Egg predates the Christian holiday of Easter. The exchange of eggs in the springtime is a custom that was centuries old when Easter was first celebrated by Christians. From the earliest times, the egg was a symbol of rebirth in most cultures. Eggs were often wrapped in gold leaf or, if you were a peasant, colored brightly by boiling them with the leaves or petals of certain flowers.

Latvian Traditional Beliefs

Easter morning you should arise before the sun and wash your face in a spring to preserve vitality and joy for the coming year and to enhance good spirit, health and beauty. Those who have risen first, wake up those who are still sleeping and swat them with pussy willows and steamed birch branches, chanting "Apaļš kā pūpols, apaļš kā pūpols, veselība iekšā, slimība ārā" (Round like pussy willow, round like pussy willow! Health come in, illness be gone!). This is giving a blessing of good health for the coming year.

One of the most important Easter rituals is the hanging of the swing and swinging, so that you will be spared bites from bugs and snakes.

No Latvian Easter is complete without coloring eggs! And only natural colours are used, among them onion skins, bark, birch buds, camomille, and other field plants.

Duels are another tradition. Eggs are knocked together to see which one survives cracking. Remember, those who eat eggs without salt, will tell lies all year!

The Latvian Ethnographic Open Air Museum will celebrate Easter every year, and will feature a combination of Christian, ancient and modern Easter traditions.