DID YOU
KNOW?
INSPIRING BOOKS
This book was the key which opened the doors of heaven for
me. Victoria Finlay's excellent book, 'COLOR - a natural history
of the palette' describes all kinds of colours. The author
travelled all across the world to find the origin of paints and
the way she tells their stories...just amazing.
I started to read it in Hungarian a few weeks ago but I couldn't
read the whole at once- this is a special dessert I taste every
night before I fall asleep and I always dream about distant
countries and bright colours around me... not only is it
interesting but also it's full of important facts-important
means 'Oh-my-god-I-wanna-travel-toindia/italy/vietnam/china/australia-and-mine-all-the-stonesand-see-what-she-saw-and-meet-the-people-she-met'....
I'm sure you all realised that I'm into this wonderful book. If
you have ever been interested in any parts of the world of if
you want to know more about Indian cows' pee or how an
insect changed the world of chatolics and how the war of
Vietnam influenced the colour 'yellow'...then hurry up to the
nearest bookstore and get one of them. You won't mind! –Lili
Stamler
One third of
the 15
million
Hungarian
speakers live
outside
Hungary,
mostly in
Romania.
SPRINKLING WATER
The old tradition is shown on the first two
pictures. These photos here show folk
costumes that people wear just for special
occasions today. Today women wear casual
dresses for sprinkling, not folk costumes.
Also, men sprinkle with cologne, not with
water.
EASTER CUSTOMS IN HUNGARY
Easter Monday is also known as Ducking Monday in Hungary.
Sprinkling, the very popular custom of Easter is observed on
Monday. On this day, boys playfully sprinkle perfume or perfumed
water on girls. Until some time back, young men used to pour
buckets of water over young women’s heads. In the present time,
they spray perfume, cologne or just plain water, and then ask for a
kiss and a red egg. This is a very interesting tradition of Easter in
Hungary, followed since a long time.
A related Hungarian custom is egg painting. Easter eggs are
beautifully decorated for the ceremonious occasion. The traditional
methods of painting the eggs are still followed by people in the
country. The patterns range from simple to intricate, and make the
egg look very attractive. The folk patterns are drawn on the eggs by
using molten wax. Eggs are also painted. The painting liquid is
traditionally made from onion skin, green walnut, wild pear or any
other vegetable that yield natural color.
PAGE 6
Hungarian Easter Habits- beautifully portrayed by
the colourful pictures.