Jutrowna Woda – Osterwasser – Easter Water

Easter Water is an old folk custom with its roots in pre-Christian times when water was considered the symbol of life and fertility.

The Easter custom developed into one designed for the young unmarried women of the community, who would gather together in the wee hours of Easter morning, well before sunrise, each carrying an earthenware jug. The girls would walk in silence to the nearest creek or stream and fill their containers with the spring water, then silently return to their homes. Of course, the young men of the community would hide and surprise the young women, trying to trick them into speaking. If the women would speak the water would lose its healing power and turn into blabber water. At daybreak, the water was sprinkled on the sleeping members of the household so that all would be insured of beauty, health and good luck for the rest of the year.

This custom continued to be practiced in Texas as late as the 1940’s, with the responsibility for gathering and sprinkling the water falling to the mother of the household.