Saturday, 30 March 2013

Easter Eggs


Easter eggs are special eggs that are often given to celebrate Easter or springtime. As such, Easter eggs are common during the season of Eastertide. In Christianity, they symbolize the empty tomb of Jesus.[1][2][3]: though an egg appears to be like the stone of a tomb, a bird hatches from it with life; similarly, the Easter egg, for Christians, is a reminder that Jesus rose from the grave, and that those who believe will also experience eternal life.[1][2]

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[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]
In particular, the custom of the Easter egg originated amongst the early Christians of Mesopotamia, who stained eggs red in memory of the blood of Christ, shed at his crucifixion.[8][9] The Christian Church officially adopted the custom, regarding the eggs as a symbol of the resurrection; in A.D. 1610, Pope Paul V proclaimed the following prayer:[8][9]
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 theEaster Bunny. They may also be put in a basket filled with real or artificial straw to resemble a bird's nest.

[edit]Lenten tradition

Orthodox priest blessing Easter baskets at Pascha (Easter) in Lviv, Ukraine
The Easter egg tradition may also have merged into the celebration of the end of the privations ofLent 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 inWestern 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

Main articles: Egg decorating, Pisanka (Polish), Pisanica (Croatian), Pysanka, and Święconka
Blessing of Easter foods (święconka) in Poland
Embroidered Easter eggs. Works by Inna Forostyuk, the folk master from the Luhanskregion (Ukraine)
Decorating
Candle dripped Easter eggs from South Bend, IN, USA made using a PAAS kit.
Easter eggs from the Czech Republicdecorated by boiling with onion skins
Pace eggs.
In the Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches, Easter eggs are dyed red to represent theblood of Christ, shed on the Cross, and the hard shell of the egg symbolized the sealedTomb 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 amemorial 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 Ukrainianpysanka 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 withonion 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]
Real eggs may further be used in egg tapping contests.
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 calledepper, 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.
In Germany, eggs decorate trees and bushes as Easter egg trees, and in several areas public wells as Osterbrunnen.
In Egypt, it's a tradition to decorate boiled eggs during Sham el-Nessim holiday, which falls every year after the Eastern ChristianEaster.
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

Main article: 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 withbeeswax. 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:
  1. One or two would be given to the priest.
  2. Three or four were taken to the cemetery and placed on graves of the family.
  3. Ten or fifteen were given to children or godchildren.
  4. Ten or twelve were exchanged by the unmarried girls with the eligible men in the community.
  5. Several were saved to place in the coffin of loved ones who might die during the year.
  6. Several were saved to keep in the home for protection from fire, lightning and storms.
  7. 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.
  8. At least one egg was placed beneath the bee hive to insure a good harvest of honey.
  9. One was saved for each grazing animal to be taken out to the fields with the shepherds in the spring.
  10. Several pysanky were placed in the nests of hens to encourage the laying of eggs.
An unfinished pysanka bearing thePaschal greeting in Ukrainian "Christ is Risen!" This Easter egg is dyed red, as is done traditionally, in order to represent theblood 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

Vasnetsov Maria Magdalene.JPG
While the origin of Easter eggs can be explained in the symbolic terms described above, asacred 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].
The ancient Zoroastrians painted eggs for Nowruz, their New Year celebration, which falls on the Spring equinox. The tradition continues among Persians of Islamic, Zoroastrian, and other faiths today. The Nowruz tradition has existed for at least 2,500 years. The sculptures on the walls of Persepolis show people carrying eggs for Nowruz to the king.[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]

[edit]See also

[edit]References

  1. ^ 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."
  2. ^ 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.)"
  3. ^ 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."
  4. ^ 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."
  5. ^ 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."
  6. ^ http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/egg-cetera-6-hunting-for-the-world%E2%80%99s-oldest-decorated-eggs
  7. ^ Treasures from Royal Tombs of Ur By Richard L. Zettler, Lee Horne, Donald P. Hansen, Holly Pittman 1998 pgs 70-72
  8. ^ 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.)"
  9. ^ 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."
  10. ^ 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.
  11. ^ "Pocking eggs or la toquette". Creolecajun.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2008-03-20.
  12. ^ "If Your Eggs Are Cracked, Please Step Down: Easter Egg Knocking in Marksville". Retrieved 2008-03-20.
  13. ^ a b "Easter Eggs - Egg Rolling". Inventors.about.com. 2012-04-09. Retrieved 2012-09-24.
  14. ^ "Easter Eggs: their origins, tradition and symbolism". Wyrdology.com. Retrieved 2008-03-15.
  15. ^ Venetia Newall (1971). An egg at Easter: a folklore study. Routledge & K. Paul. p. 344. ISBN 978-0-7100-6845-3.
  16. ^ Tillery, Carolyn (2008-03-15). "Annual Dallas Easter egg hunt for blind children scheduled for Thursday". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved 2008-03-27.
  17. ^ "Traditions of Great Lent and Holy Week". Melkite Greek Catholic Eparchy of Newton. Retrieved 2012-09-24.
  18. ^ 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."
  19. ^ "H2g2 - The Easter Bunny". BBC.com. Retrieved 2012-09-24.
  20. ^ Article on the first Hen egg[dead link]

[edit]External links

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Posted by Seta at 11:34

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