Odd and special Hungarian Easter traditions

Girls used to be whipped instead of the now customary watering? Get to know the traditional roots of the Hungarian Easter celebration!

Is the egg brought by the Easter bunny a new-age urban custom? What about old traditions like Good Friday morning pálinka drinking, Pilate burning, border detour, or Easter whipping? We gathered these forgotten festive folk customs for a joyful Easter weekend.

• Do you know the origin of these Hungarian Easter traditions?
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Hungarian customs surrounding the days of Easter are often thought to be entirely Christian, but thats definitely not the case. As it will become very apparent later on, Hungarian customs have strong pagan roots that were later moulded to fit the Christian standards. There are a few modern, western influences as well that make our celebration on the surface very similar to commercially well-known Easter.

As early as the third century, there are records of how the Hungarian ancestors celebrated Easter. For example, traditionally, one shall not be sweep on Easter morning because then you are sweeping luck from our lives. It is also forbidden to shake or dust the blanket, as this will bring us bad luck. Its also believed that a squirrel crossing our path is a sign of bad luck.

Anyone who wears a new outfit on Easter will be lucky all year round. On the other hand, if you wear something inside out, you should brace yourself for a period of bad luck!

On the Friday before Easter, also known as Good Friday, several unique habits are customary. It was believed that feeding peppercorn or chilis to our gander or rooster that day ensures that the birds have a prolific summer.

Pálinka for breakfast

It was believed that whoever drinks pálinka, a distilled spirit made out of various fruit, on Good Friday morning and falls asleep somewhere in the summer, the snakes will not crawl into their mouth. But in the countryside of Szeged and Subotica, the girls went to wash and comb under the willow tree on Good Friday because then their hair could become beautiful – according to hellovidek.