from Francis X. Weiser's The Easter Book
(Harcourt Brace Co., 1954):
In most countries the eggs are stained in
plain vegetable dye colors. Among the
Chaldeans, Syrians, and Greeks, the
faithful present each other with crimson
eggs in honor of the blood of Christ. In
parts of Germany and Austria, green eggs
alone are used on Maundy Thursday, but
various colors are the vogue at Easter.
Some Slavic peoples make special patterns
of gold and silver. In Austria artists design
striking patterns by fastening ferns and tiny
plants around the eggs, which show a white
pattern after the eggs are boiled. The Poles
and Ukrainians decorate eggs with plain
colors or simple designs and call them
krasanki . Also a number of their eggs
are made every year in a most distinctive
manner with unusual ornamentation. These
eggs are called pysanki from pysac : to write/
design. Each is a masterpiece of patient
labor, native skill, and exquisite workmanship.
Melted beeswax is applied with a stylus to
the fresh white eggs, which are then dipped
in successive baths of dye. After each dipping,
wax is painted over the area where the preceding
color is to remain. Gradually the whole complex
pattern of lines and colors emerges into something
fit for a jeweler's window. No two pysanki are
identical. Symbols must used are the sun (good
fortune), rooster or hen (fulfillment of wishes),
stag or deer (good health), flowers (love or charity).
At Easter the pysanki are first blessed by the priest
and then distributed among relatives, friends, and
benefactors. These special eggs are saved from
year to year like symbolic heirlooms, and can be
seen seasonally in Ukrainian settlements and shops
in the United States of America.