#13 - Bohemian Easter Whipping + World's Most Expensive Colour
+ Something for Basketball Lovers š
Happy belated Easter š£ and a massive welcome to the >50 new subscribers since the last issue who decided they needed more SPAM in their lives - you truly honour me! Iāll be sure to send innumerous interesting things your way to thank you. š
Following on from last issue where I wrote about Nowruz, the Persian New Year (which starts much more logically with spring), today Iām bringing you a much odder springtime tradition you donāt hear about too often.
š Culture
The Unusual Czech & Slovak Easter Tradition of Whipping Girls
Yes you read that correctly, the most famous Easter tradition in these West Slavic countries is spanking young girls with a stick.
Okay, itās not as bad as it sounds.1
On the morning of Easter Monday, young men across (rural) Czech Republic and Slovakia go through their neighbourhood/village gently flogging women on the buttocks with a whip made from willow twigs and colourful ribbons. The medieval practice, which was probably originally pagan, came from the belief that itād ward away evil spirits and bring health, beauty and fertility to the girl in the following year.
The word for this whip in Czech is pomlĆ”zka (in Slovak itās korbĆ”Ä), which has also become the name of the tradition itself.
PomlĆ”zka comes from the verb pomladit meaning rejuvenate, so it can pretty much be called the ārejuvenatorā in English. š
Oh and the weirdness doesnāt stop there. The boys even get a reward for their spanking too, usually a hand-painted egg, or sweets, or a shot of vodka or slivovitz (plum brandy).
Of course, that isnāt so weird when we remember they (thought they) were doing the girls a favour by warding off spirits and bringing them luck and fertility! And even after times of superstition, getting a whipping was still an indication of a girlās popularity and attractivenessā¦ so many would easily take the discomfort so they could brag the next day to other girls about their ācountā.
But taking even that into account, girls in Czechia seem to have gotten the short end of the stick whip. š
Itās easy to see how some boy/men could have gone overboard and left bad memories for some very young girlsā¦ So while apparently close to 60% of households still do PomlĆ”zka, I think itās good that itās no longer a serious thing like before and mostly just done as a light festive tradition.
What do you think? And what unusual traditions do you have where you live? Would love to hear from you! š
š³ Random Rabbit Hole
Tyrian Purple, the Supreme Colour of Kings
Purple has been associated with royalty since ancient times, mainly due to Tyrian purple, a.k.a. Imperial purple or Royal purple.
This dye, produced by the Phoenician city-state of Tyre during the Bronze Age, was very expensive to make and thus only the wealthiest classes could afford it.
The reason for the expense was that the dye comes from some sea snails in the Murex family2, the extraction of which involved a very difficult process requiring a lot biological knowledge. There were biochemical, enzymatic, and photochemical reactions to consider, as well as reduction and oxidation processes. Timing was also a huge issue, as the dye begins to degrade as soon as the snail is out of the water.
The production process was a closely guarded secret for millennia, making the dye the rarest and most expensive colour in history.
As such, it became a symbol of extreme power and wealth. In Greece, the colour was tightly controlled by legislation so only high-ranking political figures could wear it. The same happened in Rome, where sumptuary laws banned the vast majority of citizens from using it. Senatorsā togas were trimmed in purple and a completely purple one was worn by the person occupying the powerful office of Censor.
In Constantinople, Tyrian purple was only worn by the Byzantine emperors and empresses, and indeed Byzantine empresses gave birth in the Purple Chamber (constructed from igneous porphyry3 rock, which is purple). This is where the term āborn in/to the purpleā originates, describing royal family members born during the reign of their parents (and the idea that only these are true emperors).
When in 1204 Crusaders of the Fourth Crusade sacked Constantinople4, the Byzantine demand for Tyrian purple fell and the industry could no longer be supported. When Constantinople finally fell to the Ottomans, the secret of murex production and dyeing was lost for centuries.
In 1998, after a lengthy trial and error process, a method for creating (true) Tyrian purple was rediscovered. Prices today, just like in ancient times, are unbelievably high.
For thousands of years, Tyrian purple was the most expensive substance in the world. Therefore purple will always symbolise wealth and power, even if itās no longer a pipe dream for the masses.
Thereās also a funny myth about the discovery of Tyrian purple, related to Tyreās Phoenician deity Melqart, a.k.a. the Tyrean Heracles/Hercules.
While walking along the beach one day, Melqartās dog stopped to chew on a murex sea snail that had washed up on shore, staining its mouth with the purple hue. Shortly after Melqart arrives for a rendezvous with his lover, and when she sees the purple stains on the dogās mouth, she requests a garment of the same colour. And so, the journey to uncover the secrets of extracting purple dye beganā¦
Even the divine pursue technological advancement with the ultimate goal of pulling hotties. šš
šØ Art & Music š¶
SLAM DUNK
I recently watched the ā90s anime Slam Dunk with very minimal knowledge about basketball. š Through it, I relearnt the rules of basketball and developed a passion for the sport I didnāt know I could haveā¦
I can definitely see why author Takehiko Inoue was awarded by the Japan Basketball Association with a special commendation on their 80th anniversary, for massively increasing the popularity of basketball among Japanese youth.
The show is hilarious but also depicts very realistically the sport and what the noob protagonist (athletic but moronic self-proclaimed genius Hanamichi Sakuragi) has to go through to develop as a player. This is in stark contrast to the other great sports manga Captain Tsubasa. The animations are beautifully done as well.
Notably itās the 7th best-selling manga series of all time. But as it had a much shorter run than many others5, its sales per volume are even more impressive at an all-time 3rd (behind only Demon Slayer and Dragon Ball!)
Enjoy the famous theme song of the anime series, with the title Kimi ga Suki da to Sakebitai meaning "I Want to Shout āI Like Youāā.
If you have a kid and want them to become a basketball player/lover, you now know what to do. šš
š Devilās Word of the Week
April Fool, n. ā The March fool with another month added to his folly.
Before you goā¦
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And, did you particularly enjoy any of the sections today? Would love to hear from you in the comments!
Thanks for reading!
Prince, of Persia š¦
And we all know a little bit of notoriety does wonders for tourism.
Well, technically itās the Muricidae family and Murex genus.
From the Ancient Greek word porphyra, meaning purple
And then founded the rather short-lived āLatin Empireā
31 volumes over 6 years