Czech Easter is a fun holiday

This year, Easter Monday falls on April 9. This day is traditionally a public holiday in Czech Republic since there are many things one has to do on this day!

Everything starts the day before – so on Sunday. Czech girls decorate Easter eggs to give them to boys on Easter Monday. Easter eggs are painted hard-boiled eggs and then hand decorated. Boys make a special handmade whip, in Czech called pomlazka, and decorate it with colored ribbons at the end. This whip consists of eight, twelve, or even twenty-four willow twigs, depending on the skills of the boy. Surprisingly enough, the more twigs, the more difficult it is to braid the whip. They are usually from half a meter to two meters long!

On Easter Monday it gets more interesting. In the morning, boys walk from door to door to spank the girls on the legs with their whip. It is to say, that the whipping is rather symbolic. The symbolism is easily traced from the Czech name of the Easter whip – pomlazka, which comes from the world pomladit or “make younger” in English.

It is believed that the freshness, youth and strength of the twigs is passed to the women on this day. Every woman thus wants to be whipped in order to keep her health and beauty during the whole next year. Unvisited females can even feel offended. It is therefore almost a duty for all boyfriends and husbands to whip their loved ones with Easter whip!

The boys accompany the whipping with a special Easter carol, usually asking for an egg or two. The girls “reward” them with an Easter egg or tie a ribbon on their whip. The more eggs or ribbons boys have, the better.

For older boys or for men the treat, instead of eggs, is a shot of a harder alcohol, mostly home-made brandy. And of course, the point is to visit possibly all girls in the town! So around noon, groups of happy men can be seen in the streets singing Easter carols and chasing girls.

In the afternoon, girls can get revenge by pouring a bucket of cold water on any male.

Easter traditions are especially practiced in villages and small towns. You will not see many boys with Easter whips walking through the streets of Prague. It is understandable – Prague is a big city and people don’t open their doors to strangers.

But everyone in Prague celebrates Easter. Girls decorate Easter eggs; bake a special Easter cake in shape of a lamb, and boys from family or friends whip girls with bought Easter whips since boys from big cities usually don’t know how to make it.

So if you are a man, don’t forget to whip all girls around you, otherwise their beauty will fade away! And an advice for females, have an Easter egg or two ready to “reward” them.

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