[edit]History
Eggs, in general, were a traditional symbol of fertility,
[4] and rebirth, pre-dating Christian traditions.
[5] The practice of decorating eggshell is ancient. Ostrich eggs with engraved decoration that are 60,000 years old have been found in Africa.
[6] Decorated ostrich eggs, and representations of ostrich eggs in gold and silver, were commonly placed in graves of the ancient Sumerians and Egyptians as early as 5,000 years ago.
[7]
Bless, O Lord! we beseech thee, this thy creature of eggs, that it may become a wholesome sustenance to thy faithful servants, eating it in thankfulness to thee on account of the resurrection of the Lord.
[8][9]
Candy eggs in an Easter basket
Although the tradition is to use dyed or painted chicken eggs, a modern custom is to substitute chocolate eggs, or plastic eggs filled with confectionery such as
jelly beans. These eggs can be hidden for children to find on Easter morning, which may be left by the
Easter Bunny. They may also be put in a
basket filled with real or artificial straw to resemble a
bird's nest.
[edit]Lenten tradition
The Easter egg tradition may also have merged into the celebration of the end of the privations of
Lent in the West. Historically, it was traditional to use up all of the household's eggs before Lent began. Eggs were originally forbidden during
Lent as well as on other traditional
fast days in
Western Christianity (this tradition still continues among the
Eastern Christian Churches). Likewise, in
Eastern Christianity, both meat and
dairy are prohibited during the
Lenten fast, and eggs are seen as "dairy" (a foodstuff that could be taken from an animal without shedding its blood)
[citation needed]. This established the tradition of Pancake Day being celebrated on
Shrove Tuesday. This day, the Tuesday before
Ash Wednesday when Lent begins, is also known as
Mardi Gras, a French phrase which translates as "Fat Tuesday" to mark the last consumption of eggs and dairy before Lent begins.
In the Orthodox Church,
Great Lent begins on
Clean Monday, rather than Wednesday, so the household's dairy products would be used up in the preceding week, called
Cheesefare Week. During Lent, since chickens would not stop producing eggs during this time, a larger than usual store might be available at the end of the fast if the eggs had not been allowed to hatch. The surplus, if any, had to be eaten quickly to prevent spoiling. Then, with the coming of Easter,
Pascha the eating of eggs resumes.
One would have been forced to hard boil the
eggs that the chickens produced so as not to waste food, and for this reason the
Spanishdish
hornazo (traditionally eaten on and around Easter) contains hard-boiled eggs as a primary ingredient. In
Hungary, eggs are used sliced in potato casseroles around the Easter period.
[edit]Decoration and symbolism
Blessing of Easter foods (
święconka) in Poland
Easter eggs from the
Czech Republicdecorated by boiling with onion skins
In the Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches, Easter eggs are dyed red to represent the
blood of Christ, shed on the Cross, and the hard shell of the egg symbolized the sealed
Tomb of Christ — the cracking of which symbolized his resurrection from the dead. Easter eggs are
blessed by the priest at the end of the
Paschal Vigil (which is equivalent to
Holy Saturday), and distributed to the faithful. Each household also brings an Easter basket to church, filled not only with Easter eggs but also with other Paschal foods such as
paskha,
kulich or
Easter breads, and these are blessed by the priest as well.
[citation needed]. The egg is seen by followers of
Christianity as a symbol of
resurrection: while being dormant it contains a new life sealed within it.
[citation needed]
Similarly, in the
Roman Catholic Church in
Poland, the so-called
święconka, i.e. blessing of decorative baskets with a sampling of Easter eggs and other symbolic foods, is one of the most enduring and beloved Polish traditions on Holy Saturday.
During
Paschaltide, in some traditions the Pascal greeting with the Easter egg is even extended to the deceased. On either the second Monday or Tuesday of Pascha, after a
memorial service people bring blessed eggs to the cemetery and bring the joyous
paschal greeting, "Christ has risen", to their beloved departed (see
Radonitza).
Easter eggs are a widely popular symbol of new life in Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, and other
Central European countries'
folk traditions. A batik (wax resist) process is used to create intricate, brilliantly colored eggs, the best-known of which is the Ukrainian
pysanka and the Polish
pisanka. The celebrated
Fabergé workshops created exquisite jewelled Easter eggs for the Russian Imperial Court. Most of these creations themselves contained hidden surprises such as clock-work birds, or miniature ships. A 27-foot (9 m) sculpture of a pysanka stands in
Vegreville, Alberta.
There are many other decorating techniques and numerous traditions of giving them as a token of friendship, love or good wishes. A tradition exists in some parts of the
United Kingdom (such as
Scotland and
North East England) of rolling painted eggs down steep
hillson Easter Sunday. In the U.S., such an
Easter egg roll (unrelated to an
eggroll) is often done on flat ground, pushed along with a
spoon; the Easter Egg Roll has become a much-loved annual event on the
White House lawn. An
Easter egg hunt is a common festive activity, where eggs are hidden outdoors (or indoors if in bad weather) for children to run around and find. This may also be a
contest to see who can collect the most eggs.
When boiling eggs for Easter, a popular tan colour can be achieved by boiling the eggs with
onion skins. A greater variety of colour was often provided by tying on the onion skin with different coloured woollen
yarn. In the North of England these are called pace-eggs or paste-eggs, from a dialectal form of Middle English
pasche. They were usually eaten after an egg-jarping (egg-tapping) competition.
[edit]Easter egg traditions
Hanácké kraslice, Easter eggs from the Haná region, the
Czech Republic, decorated with straw
An
egg hunt is a game during which
decorated eggs, real hard-boiled ones or artificial ones filled with, or made of
chocolate candies, of various sizes, are hidden for children to find, both indoors and outdoors.
[10]
When the hunt is over, prizes may be given for the largest number of eggs collected, or for the largest or the smallest egg.
[10]
In the
North of England, at Eastertime, a traditional game is played where hard boiled
pace eggs are distributed and each player hits the other player's egg with their own. This is known as "
egg tapping", "egg dumping" or "egg jarping". The winner is the holder of the last intact egg. The losers get to eat their eggs. The annual egg jarping world championship is held every year over Easter in Peterlee Cricket Club. It is also practiced in Bulgaria, Hungary, Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Lebanon, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Ukraine, and other countries. They call it
tucanje[who?]. In parts of Austria, Bavaria and German-speaking Switzerland it is called
Ostereiertitschen or
Eierpecken. In parts of Europe it is also called
epper, presumably from the German name
Opfer, meaning "offering" and in Greece it is known as
tsougrisma. In South
Louisiana this practice is called Pocking Eggs
[11][12] and is slightly different. The
Louisiana Creoles hold that the winner eats the eggs of the losers in each round.
The central European Slavic nations (
Czechs and
Slovaks etc.) have a tradition of gathering eggs by gaining them from the females in return of whipping them with a pony-tail shaped whip made out of fresh willow branches and splashing them with water, by the
Ruthenianscalled
polivanja, which is supposed to give them health and beauty.
Egg rolling is also a traditional Easter egg game played with eggs at Easter. In the United Kingdom, Germany, and other countries children traditionally rolled eggs down hillsides at Easter.
[13] This tradition was taken to the
New World by European settlers,
[13][14] and continues to this day each Easter on the White House lawn.
Different nations have different versions of the game.
Egg dance is a traditional Easter game in which eggs are laid on the ground or floor and the goal is to dance among them without damaging any eggs
[15] which originated in Germany. In the UK the dance is called the hop-egg.
The
Pace Egg plays are traditional village plays, with a rebirth theme. The drama takes the form of a combat between the hero and villain, in which the hero is killed and brought to life, The plays take place in England during Easter.
In some
Mediterranean countries, especially in
Lebanon, chicken eggs are boiled and decorated by dye and/or painting and used as decoration around the house. Then, on
Easter Day, young kids would duel with them saying 'Christ is resurrected, Indeed He is', breaking and eating them. This also happens in
Greece (where the eggs are painted red). In Easter Sunday friends and family hit each other's egg with their own. The one whose egg does not break is believed to be in for good luck in the future.
Cascarones, a North-Eastern Mexican tradition now shared by many in South Texas, are an emptied and dried chicken egg stuffed with confetti and sealed with a piece of tissue paper. The eggs are hidden in a similar tradition to the American Easter egg hunt and when found the children (and adults) break them over each other's heads.
[edit]Pysanky
Eggs from
Bukovina, a region near the Ukraine
A pysanka is a Ukrainian Easter egg, decorated using a wax-resist (
batik) method. The word comes from the verb
pysaty, "to write", as the designs are not painted on, but written with
beeswax. Pysanky are typically made to be given to family members and respected outsiders. To give a pysanka is to give a symbolic gift of life, which is why the egg must remain whole. Furthermore, each of the designs and colors on the pysanka is likely to have a deep, symbolic meaning. Traditionally, the designs are chosen to match the character of the person to whom the pysanka is to be given.
At one time, in a large family by Holy Thursday 60 or more eggs would have been completed by the women of the house. (The more daughters a family had, the more pysanky would be produced.) The eggs would then be taken to the church on Easter Sunday to be blessed, after which they were given away. Here is a partial list of how the pysanky would be used:
- One or two would be given to the priest.
- Three or four were taken to the cemetery and placed on graves of the family.
- Ten or fifteen were given to children or godchildren.
- Ten or twelve were exchanged by the unmarried girls with the eligible men in the community.
- Several were saved to place in the coffin of loved ones who might die during the year.
- Several were saved to keep in the home for protection from fire, lightning and storms.
- Two or three were placed in the mangers of cows and horses to ensure safe calving and colting and a good milk supply for the young.
- At least one egg was placed beneath the bee hive to insure a good harvest of honey.
- One was saved for each grazing animal to be taken out to the fields with the shepherds in the spring.
- Several pysanky were placed in the nests of hens to encourage the laying of eggs.
An unfinished pysanka bearing the
Paschal greeting in Ukrainian "Christ is Risen!" This Easter egg is dyed red, as is done traditionally, in order to represent the
blood of Christ
Everyone from the youngest to the oldest received a pysanka for Easter. Young people were given pysanky with bright designs; dark pysanky were given to older people.
A bowl full of pysanky was invariably kept in every home. It served not only as a colorful display, but also as protection from all dangers. Some of the eggs were emptied, and a bird’s head made of wax or dough and wings and tail-feathers of folded paper were attached. These “doves” were suspended before icons in commemoration of the birth of Christ, when a dove came down from heaven and soared over the child Jesus.
[edit]Easter eggs for the visually impaired
Beeping Easter eggs are Easter eggs that emit various clicks and noises so that visually impaired children can easily hunt for Easter eggs.
Some beeping Easter eggs make a single, high-pitched sound, while other types of beeping Easter eggs play a melody.
[16]
Since 2008, the International Association of Bomb Technicians and Investigators (IABTI) have sponsored a nationwide charity campaign in the U.S., building beeping Easter eggs every year for visually impaired children.
[edit]Easter eggs from different countries
[edit]Legends
[edit]Christian traditions
While the origin of Easter eggs can be explained in the symbolic terms described above, a
sacred tradition among followers of
Eastern Christianity says that
Mary Magdalene was bringing cooked eggs to share with the other women at the tomb of Jesus, and the eggs in her basket miraculously turned brilliant red when she saw the risen Christ. The egg represents the boulder of the tomb of Jesus.
[17]
A different, but not necessarily conflicting legend concerns Mary Magdalene's efforts to spread the
Gospel. According to this tradition, after the
Ascension of Jesus, Mary went to the Emperor of Rome and greeted him with "Christ has risen," whereupon he pointed to an egg on his table and stated, "Christ has no more risen than that egg is red." After making this statement it is said the egg immediately turned blood red.
[18]
[edit]Parallels in other faiths
The egg is widely used as a symbol of the start of new life, just as new life emerges from an egg
[dubious – discuss] when the chick hatches out
[citation needed].
There are good grounds for the association between
hares (later termed
Easter bunnies) and eggs, through folklore confusion between hares' forms (where they raise their young) and
plovers' nests.
[19]
There are also parallels (though no direct connection) between the easter egg tradition and the celebration of Passover in Judaism, notable because in Christian tradition, Christ was celebrating Passover with his disciples on the evening before Good Friday
[citation needed]. An egg is one of the components of a traditional Seder plate, a traditional centerpiece of the Passover meal
[citation needed]. The tradition of hiding easter eggs for children to find is also similar to another Passover tradition, whereby the head of the household hides a piece of matza (the "afikomen") during the meal
[citation needed]. After the meal, the children search the home for the afikomen, and are rewarded once it is found
[citation needed].
[edit]Variations in popular culture
Easter eggs have inspired the form of many similar objects both precious and mundane, including
chocolate eggs, monuments, and the famous
Fabergé eggs.
[20]
Foil-wrapped chocolate Easter eggs.
Easter eggs from
Vienna, Austria
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[edit]See also
[edit]References
- ^ a b Anne Jordan (5 April 2000). Christianity. Nelson Thornes. "Easter eggs are used as a Christian symbol to represent the empty tomb. The outside of the egg looks dead but inside there is new life, which is going to break out. The Easter egg is a reminder that Jesus will rise from His tomb and bring new life. Orthodox Christians dye boiled eggs red to represent the blood of Christ shed for the sins of the world."
- ^ a b The Guardian, Volume 29. H. Harbaugh. 1878. Retrieved 7 April 2012. "Just so, on that first Easter morning, Jesus came to life and walked out of the tomb, and left it, as it were, an empty shell. Just so, too, when the Christian dies, the body is left in the grave, an empty shell, but the soul takes wings and flies away to be with God. Thus you see that though an egg seems to be as dead as a stone, yet it really has life in it; and also it is like Christ's dead body, which was raised to life again. This is the reason we use eggs on Easter. (In olden times they used to color the eggs red, so as to show the kind of death by which Christ died,-a bloody death.)"
- ^ Gordon Geddes, Jane Griffiths (22 Jan 2002). Christian belief and practice. Heinemann. Retrieved 7 April 2012. "Red eggs are given to Orthodox Christians after the Easter Liturgy. They crack their eggs against each other's. The cracking of the eggs symbolizes a wish to break away from the bonds of sin and misery and enter the new life issuing from Christ's resurrection."
- ^ David Leeming (2005). The Oxford Companion to World Mythology. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 10 March 2013. "For many, Easter is synonymous with fertility symbols such as the Easter Rabbit, Easter Eggs, and the Easter lily."
- ^ Frank A. Salamone (2004). Routledge Encyclopedia of Religious Rites, Rituals and Festivals. Berkshire Publishing Group. Retrieved 7 April 2012. "The Easter egg predates the Christian celebration of Easter. The eggs are a symbol of rebirth."
- ^ http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/egg-cetera-6-hunting-for-the-world%E2%80%99s-oldest-decorated-eggs
- ^ Treasures from Royal Tombs of Ur By Richard L. Zettler, Lee Horne, Donald P. Hansen, Holly Pittman 1998 pgs 70-72
- ^ a b c Donahoe's Magazine, Volume 5. T.B. Noonan. 1881. Retrieved 7 April 2012. "The early Christians of Mesopotamia had the custom of dyeing and decorating eggs at Easter. They were stained red, in memory of the blood of Christ, shed at His crucifixion. The Church adopted the custom, and regarded the eggs as the emblem of the resurrection, as is evinced by the benediction of Pope Paul V., about 1610, which reads thus: "Bless, O Lord! we beseech thee, this thy creature of eggs, that it may become a wholesome sustenance to thy faithful servants, eating it in thankfulness to thee on account of the resurrection of the Lord." Thus the custom has come down from ages lost in antiquity.)"
- ^ a b c Vicki K. Black (1 Jul 2004). Welcome to the Church Year: An Introduction to the Seasons of the Episcopal Church. Church Publishing, Inc. "The Christians of this region in Mesopotamia were probably the first to connect the decorating of eggs with the feast of the resurrection of Christ, and by the Middle Ages this practice was so widespread that in some places Easter Day was called Egg Sunday. In parts of Europe, the eggs were dyed red and were then cracked together when people exchanged Easter greetings. Many congregations today continue to have Easter egg hunts for the children after services on Easter Day."
- ^ a b A. Munsey Pu Frank a. Munsey Publishers (2005-03). The Puritan April to September 1900. Kessinger Publishing. p. 119. ISBN 978-1-4191-7421-6.
- ^ "Pocking eggs or la toquette". Creolecajun.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2008-03-20.
- ^ "If Your Eggs Are Cracked, Please Step Down: Easter Egg Knocking in Marksville". Retrieved 2008-03-20.
- ^ a b "Easter Eggs - Egg Rolling". Inventors.about.com. 2012-04-09. Retrieved 2012-09-24.
- ^ "Easter Eggs: their origins, tradition and symbolism". Wyrdology.com. Retrieved 2008-03-15.
- ^ Venetia Newall (1971). An egg at Easter: a folklore study. Routledge & K. Paul. p. 344. ISBN 978-0-7100-6845-3.
- ^ Tillery, Carolyn (2008-03-15). "Annual Dallas Easter egg hunt for blind children scheduled for Thursday". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved 2008-03-27.
- ^ "Traditions of Great Lent and Holy Week". Melkite Greek Catholic Eparchy of Newton. Retrieved 2012-09-24.
- ^ Terry Tempest Williams (Sep 18, 2001). Leap. Random House Digital, Inc.. Retrieved 7 April 2012. "After the Ascension, she traveled to Rome and was granted entrance to the court of Tiberius Caesar. At dinner, she told Caesar that Jesus had risen from the dead. He did not understand. To explain, Mary Magdalene picked up an egg from the table. Caesar responded by saying that a human being could no more rise from the dead than the egg in her hand turn red. The egg turned red."
- ^ "H2g2 - The Easter Bunny". BBC.com. Retrieved 2012-09-24.
- ^ Article on the first Hen egg[dead link]
[edit]External links
