Slovenia's diverse Easter celebrations

Slovenia may be small and may have just two million people but it has a surprising number of different ways in which to celebrate Easter.

A typical Easter meal in Slovenia includes ham, horseradish, bread and a special type of nut cake called "potica." Easter eggs are also included, of course, but will look different depending on what part of the country you're enjoying your meal.

Not only do Slovenes in different regions use different methods for decorating their Easter eggs, they also don't agree on a name for them. In the southeast and east, they call them "pisanice," by the Hungarian border they call them "rumenice," elsewhere they are "remenke." The generally used word is "pirhi."

There are various ways of decorating them, and again certain regions prefer certain techniques. In the southeast and east, as well as at the coast, people will put wax on their easter eggs. After hollowing out the egg, they use candle wax to design a pattern on the shell. (In the southeast, they usually make geometric shapes: lines, circles, dots, etc.) The egg is then soaked in red dye for a few hours. The color red symbolizes the blood of Christ. The dye will stain the parts of the egg not protected by wax. When the egg is dry, another wax pattern can be added and the process repeated to add another color.

Slovenian Easter eggs will often be dyed using natural colors. Dying with tree bark provides a brown color, eggs cooked in tea end up in various shades of green, Dried blackberries make the eggs yellowish-orange, while things like hollyhock, logwood, and moss leave the eggs blue. These natural dyes take hours to do their work, and their intensity can be affected by using additional ingredients, like vinegar.

In Slovenia's capital, Ljubljana, as well as in Styria and Upper Carniola, people prefer using oils to decorate their Easter eggs. In Lower Carniola, they prefer using knife carvings.

In the town of Idrija, for example, they will decorate eggs with a thousand holes in the shape of a flower.

Besides being eaten or used as decoration, Slovenian Easter eggs were often given by girls to boys as a symbol of affection. They also served interesting purposes during old rituals.

Peasants in the north and southeast would often make a circle of blessed Easter eggs around their homes for good luck. Some of them would even stick the eggshells in the ceiling to keep away cockroaches. Styrian Slovenes, on the other hand, thought that spreading eggshells around their homes was a good way to keep away snakes, not roaches. In Lower Carniola, Easter eggs would be fed to hens, in the hope that they would then lay more eggs.

On the Saturday before Easter, people in Slovenia will gather for blessings and the next day, families will sit down for their Easter morning breakfast. Occasionally they will also play games then involving Easter eggs. This can include such things as hiding the eggs, or egg duels, where two people hit their eggs together in the hope of cracking the egg of their opponent.

Slovenes will also decorate their homes with colourful palms for the Easter holidays. These are known as "butara," a word that literally means "bundle." They will often be blessed on Palm Sunday, and then placed in the home for the holiday.

In the end, regional differences still exist in Slovenia today, making Easter there a surprisingly diverse celebration.