The Hunt For New Traditions
- The Mary Word
- Jun 4
- 4 min read
By Stephanie Ma
Easter has long been considered an important holiday, with the 3 day public holiday that we get to relax, the cute easter bunnies and chaotic scramble to collect as many chocolate eggs as we can but most importantly, the important religious significance it holds to the 3 Abrahamic religions. The Easter holiday signifies the 3 day process of Jesus resurrecting from the dead, proving the prophecies from the old testament and giving proof of Jesus’ holy status, engraving his legacy into pages of Christianity.
The word easter derived from the word Eostre and parallels the word Ostara, which both come from the Anglo-Saxon Goddess of spring. Ostara is a Wiccan holiday and celebrates the spring equinox. Ostara was celebrated across Europe in ancient cultures, and whilst some people still celebrate the spring equinox, it’s to honor the astrological aspect of the day. Easter, however, is still celebrated worldwide till this day.
Whilst the Spring Equinox was around before the Advent of Christianity, evidence of celebrations of Easter dates back to around the 2nd century, although celebrations on Sunday date back to the 1st century, which is why many families go to church on Sundays, now, in the 20th century. By the 8th century, christians celebrated Easter in the form of a spring pagan celebration, celebrated near the time of the Jewish Passover, which is why we celebrate Easter with bunnies and associate it with spring. Another thing Easter takes on from the Pagan traditions is the hot crossed buns, made in honor of the Goddess Eostre.
Despite the long history that surrounds Easter, much of which I’m sure I missed, the holiday’s always been a ‘happy’ one, commemorating Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, after he was crucified on the cross. Unfortunately, whilst the Pagan celebrations brought us bunnies, hot cross buns and the association with spring, it took something more sinister along with it.
In places such as the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, there’s a tradition for Easter that also dates back to said Pagan festivals. They call it “Pomlazka” and it's supposed to be the tradition of both boys and girls using willow sticks braided together to hit each other, although that is not the way it’s practiced now, and not the way it’s been practiced for years.
In reality, on Easter, men, of all ages, go around to womens houses and whip them for ‘health’ and ‘longevity’. The tradition also includes getting a bucket of cold water dropped on top of your head as you answer the door, and more often than not, it happens more than once. After it’s over, the women are then encouraged to give the men something, chocolate, or maybe even some hand painted easter eggs, and alcoholic shots for the older men, clouding their drunk minds judgment even furthur.
The entire tradition is completely legal, and in fact, it’s encouraged, though, the whipping is supposed to be light, a little graze, and the buckets of water are only supposed to be small sprinkles, but the bruises that almost all of the girls would have by the end of the day tells a different story. Lucie Ell states in her recounting of the events that “I remember the bruises, I remember the glint of joy some of the men and boys had on their face when they did the deed”, and that “some boys would even carry juniper branches, because they knew it hurt more”.
The Czech Republic has been under scrutiny for a while, due to the way their justice system is, and the sentences they’ve given out for both drastic and minor crimes. Just recently, during the start of the year, a man in The Czech Republic was convicted for repeatedly sexually assaulting his step-daughter and black-mailling her with videos. What was originally a measly 3-year sentence was reduced even further, to a reduced sentence, because, according to a professional, he had ‘no substantial negative impact’ on her, despite the fact she had to be sent to a psych ward. Unfortunately, this isn’t a one-off case, with 66% of men who sexually assaulted women from 2016-2022 were given probation as their punishment.
And for the cherry on top, in 2024, The Czech Republic was attempting to change the way their justice system works, by reducing sentences of criminals, although that relates more to minor crimes, and, weirdly enough, legalizing small amounts of cannabis, more commonly known as marjuana.
It’s hard to change traditions, especially ones that have been rooted into an entire country's lives, but the tradition, however sacred, teaches women to be silent. That it’s okay to let men hurt them if there’s a good enough reason, and in turn, it teaches men that it’s fine to hurt women, or to do something to them even if they’ve told them no because ‘everyone else is doing it’ and if they don’t, they’re ruining the fun. It teaches internalized misogyny, between the older and younger generations, because for the elders of the community, it’s been happening their entire lives, and they’ve learnt to not question it. However, sometimes, we need to question things, and the way they work, otherwise, we’ll get nowhere.
Reference
What you share is informative and useful to me and many others. I will visit often. Please update new articles. If you have more time, please visit: vex3
I love this article sm
BEST ARTICLE EVER
BLOODY HELL !! WELL DOJE