The most popular pysanka designs are geometric figures. The egg itself is most often divided by straight lines into squares, triangles and other shapes. These shapes are then filled with other forms and designs. One interesting adaptation of the geometric design is the ornament now called "forty triangles" (there are actually 48) or Sorokoklyn.  Its original symbolism has been lost, but it is now taken to symbolize of the forty days of Lent, the forty martyrs, the forty days that Christ spent in the desert, and the forty life tasks of married couples. (So many?  Who knew?)

Geometric symbols include the triangle (the Holy Trinity and the elements of air, fire and water),

    

diamonds (knowledge),

curls (defense or protection),

tripods (man, woman and child or birth, life, and death),

                                                                       

and spirals (the mystery of life and death, as well as divinity and immortality).

Dots, which once represented stars or cuckoo birds’ eggs (a symbol of spring), became symbols of the tears of the blessed Virgin.

Hearts are a fairly common motif in traditional pysanky. Most often, heart shapes are part of a plant motif (leaves or petals), but they can also be found independently.  These hearts are love symbols, and were used in one specific instance––by young women who would write them on the pysanky they wanted to give to the young men they liked, to express their affection for them.   (The pysanka pictured below is an example from Hutsulshchyna of this motif.)

Some Ukrainian sources claim the heart as a Christian symbol, the “Sacred Heart of Jesus.”  This would only apply to some areas of western Ukraine, where the Greek Catholic (Uniate) religion is practiced.

       

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