Easter is undoubtedly one of the high points of the year for the Czechs, even though only about one third of the people in reportedly the second most atheist country in the world know about the Christian background of the festival. This is still true even after 2016 when Good Friday (or “Great Friday” in Czech), one of the most important Christian holidays of the year, became an official Czech national holiday. For most Czechs it is just an extra day off when they don’t need to work. Interestingly enough, many people seem to take it also as an excuse to eat and drink a lot, even though for the Christians it is a day of strict fasting.
For many people Easter is more of a “welcome the spring” festival. This is partly due to the fact that the communist government which ruled the country for more than 40 years was actively promoting only this meaning of the festival in order to suppress the religious one.
That is probably why many Czech see Easter Monday as the main day of Easter celebrations, even though traditionally and internationally the Easter Sunday is more important – as the day commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. But “barbaric” Czech Easter is not about that… As you will see in the following lines. What makes us call it “barbaric” then?
Have you ever seen something like this? Yes, it’s a whip. And yes, it’s for whipping. And no, it is not a prop from a bizarre kinky adult movie. It is used by Czech kids (and adults as well) on Easter Monday. Czechs usually call it “pomlázka”, which has probably something to do with the fact that using it is believed to keep the girls (on whose buttocks it is used) young. In some regions people also call it “tatar”, which seems much more appropriate, as Tatars were invaders from the east considered “barbaric”. And what else should be labeled as “barbaric” if not whipping poor girls with a willow stick on Easter Monday?
And that is still not the whole story. The whipping is also considered to be a ritual to keep the girls fertile. That is symbolized by the decorated eggs (“kraslice”) which the girls have to give the whip-bearing guys as a reward. Yes, as a reward for hitting them.
However, traditions evolve in time (and with age), so nowadays the grown-up whip-bearers get rewarded not with eggs, but rather with a shot of “slivovice”. So don’t be too surprised if you keep meeting groups of drunk guys in the streets on Easter Monday, on this day it is difficult to stay sober!
PS: Being whipped is not the worst thing that can happen to girls on this day… In some regions cold water bucketing is preferred!
VESELÉ VELIKONOCE!