Have you ever wondered about Easter Egg Origin?
Easter eggs are specially decorated eggs given every year to celebrate the Easter holiday or springtime. For centuries, eggs have been part of our easter traditions...they are symbolic of new life and fertility, and are representative of resurrection.
The oldest tradition is to dye easter eggs or paint easter eggs, but newer traditions suggest giving chocolate covered easter eggs candy or plastic filled easter eggs with money or small toys in them.
Easter eggs history is thought to date back to pagan times (they were pagan symbols), although there is no real evidence of this being the original origin of easter eggs.
At Passover Seder, a hard-boiled egg dipped in salt water symbolizes both new life and the Passover sacrifice offered at the Temple in Jerusalem. The ancient Persians painted eggs for Nowrooz, their New Year celebration, which falls on the Spring equinox. This tradition has continued every year on Nowrooz since ancient times.
In Christian times, the easter egg origin has symbolic roots...an egg represents new life because of the chick within it. The Easter egg tradition may have celebrated the end of the privations of Lent--in the West, eggs were forbidden during Lent as well as other traditional fast days. Likewise, in Eastern Christianity, both meat and dairy are prohibited during the fast, and eggs are seen as "dairy" (a foodstuff that could be taken from an animal without shedding its blood). It was also traditional to use up all of the household's eggs before Lent began, which established the tradition of Pancake Day.
Another Orthodox tradition is the presenting of red colored eggs to friends while giving Easter greetings. According to a History channel documentary about Mary Magdalene and her role in Christianity, the custom derives from a biblical event. After the Ascension of Christ, Mary supposedly went to the Emperor of Rome and greeted him with "Christ is risen", whereupon he stated, "Christ has not risen no more than that egg is red" (pointing to an egg on his table). After making this statement it is said the egg immediately turned blood red. She then began preaching Christianity to him. The egg is symbolic of the grave and life renewed by breaking out of it. The red symbolizes the blood of Christ redeeming the world, represented by the egg, and our regeneration through the bloodshed for us by Christ. The egg itself is a symbol of the Resurrection while being dormant it contains a new life sealed within it.
For years, eggs have been embellished and exchanged at Easter, resulting in a rich amount of traditional crafts. Ranging from simply dyed shells to intricate works of art, decorated eggs can add color to the Easter egg hunt or become precious gifts to treasure.
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