Easter is the principal festival of the Christian church, a celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day after his Crucifixion. So where do the colored eggs fit in?
The egg was a widely used premodern and pre-Christian symbol of fertility and restoration. European “Pagans” (a term used to refer to people who practiced a variety of non-Christian traditions) viewed eggs as a symbol of the regeneration that comes with springtime. Early Christians borrowed this image and applied it not to the regeneration of the earth but rather to Jesus Christ. This was also extended to the new life of the faithful followers of Christ.
The tradition of dyeing and decorating Easter eggs is ancient, and its origin is obscure, but it has been practiced in both the Eastern Orthodox and the Western churches since the Middle Ages. The church prohibited the eating of eggs during Holy Week, but chickens continued to lay eggs during that week, and the notion of specially identifying those as Holy Week eggs brought about their decoration. The egg itself became a symbol of the Resurrection. Just as Jesus rose from the tomb, the egg symbolized new life emerging from the eggshell. In the Orthodox tradition, eggs are painted red to symbolize the blood that Jesus shed on the cross. The egg-coloring tradition has continued even in modern secular nations. In the United States, for example, the White House Easter Egg Roll has been held, with some interruptions, on the Monday following Easter since 1878.
Eggs represent new life and rebirth, and it's thought that this ancient custom became a part of Easter celebrations
Easter celebrations
Easter traditions include sunrise services or late-night vigils, exclamations and exchanges of Paschal greetings, flowering the cross, the wearing of Easter bonnets by women, clipping the church, and the decoration and the communal breaking of Easter eggs (a symbol of the empty tomb).
https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Easter_traditions
The egg itself became a symbol of the Resurrection. Just as Jesus rose from the tomb, the egg symbolized new life emerging from the eggshell. In the Orthodox tradition, eggs are painted red to symbolize the blood that Jesus shed on the cross. The egg-coloring tradition has continued even in modern secular nations.
From a Christian perspective, Easter eggs are said to represent Jesus' emergence from the tomb and resurrection. Decorating eggs for Easter is a tradition that dates back to at least the 13th century, according to some sources.
The answer may lie in combining iconography. Eggs, just like the rabbit, have long been considered an ancient symbol of fertility, rebirth and new life, all associated with the springtime celebration of Easter! From a Christian perspective, Easter eggs represent Jesus' resurrection and his emergence from the tomb.
Why do we hide eggs at Easter? In many pre-Christian societies eggs held associations with spring and new life. Early Christians adapted these beliefs, making the egg a symbol of the resurrection and the empty shell a metaphor for Jesus' tomb.
German tradition held that the bunny would carry colored eggs, candy, and sometimes toys in its basket to give to good children. From pagan beginnings, the bunny and the eggs are now associated with the Christian holiday of Easter.
According to History.com, Easter eggs represent Jesus' resurrection. However, this association came much later when Roman Catholicism became the dominant religion in Germany in the 15th century and merged with already ingrained pagan beliefs. The first Easter bunny legends were documented in the 1500s.
The tradition of eating and gifting chocolate at Easter dates back centuries ago when Christian Europeans began exchanging eggs as symbols of rebirth during Lent season.
Early Christians in Mesopotamia dyed eggs in the period after Easter. The practice was adopted by the Orthodox Churches, and from there it spread into Western Europe. Eggs represent new life and rebirth, and it's thought that this ancient custom was absorbed into Easter celebrations.
Given the symbolism of new life and rebirth, it was only natural to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus at this time of the year. The naming of the celebration as “Easter” seems to go back to the name of a pre-Christian goddess in England, Eostre, who was celebrated at beginning of spring.
In commemorating the Resurrection of Jesus, Easter also celebrates the defeat of death and the hope of salvation. Christian tradition holds that the sins of humanity were paid for by the death of Jesus and that his Resurrection represents the anticipation believers can have in their own resurrection.
Sometime in the 1600s, the Germans converted the pagan rabbit image into Oschter Haws, a rabbit that was believed to lay a nest of colored eggs as gifts for good children. Since males don't lay eggs, one would surmise the 'Easter Bunny' must then be female.
The Easter Bunny is a rabbit that delivers presents and eggs to children on Easter. The tradition goes back a very long way just like the ones about Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy. His real name is Peter Cottontail, just like how Santa's real name is either Saint Nicholas or Kris Kringle.
Throughout history, people have given each other eggs at spring festivals to celebrate the new season. Eggs represent new life and rebirth, and it's thought that this ancient custom became a part of Easter celebrations.
It actually has nothing to do with the biblical Easter (obviously). It dates back to 13th Century Germany where they worshiped gods and goddesses including the goddess Eostra, who was the goddess of fertility. Since rabbits are very fertile and eggs represent fertility, that's how the bunnies and eggs came into play.
Easter is an important Christian festival - it's when Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Bible says that Christ died on a cross on a day called Good Friday. According to the Bible, Jesus was then resurrected and came back to life on Easter Sunday.
The practice dates to the early Christian church in Mesopotamia. In Greece, superstitions of the past included the custom of placing the first-dyed red egg at the home's iconostasis (place where icons are displayed) to ward off evil. The heads and backs of small lambs were also marked with the red dye to protect them.
After the forty-day Lenten season concludes and Eastertide begins, eggs may be consumed again, giving rise to various Christian game traditions such as egg tapping, in which the "hard eggshell represented Christ's sealed tomb, and the cracking represented Christ's resurrection."
In many ancient cultures, giving eggs in spring represented rebirth, fertility and new beginnings. From ancient historical records, we know that Persians, Romans and Greeks gave eggs as gifts. Even the Ancient Egyptians got in on the act.
The idea of an egg-giving hare went to the U.S. in the 18th century. Protestant German immigrants in the Pennsylvania Dutch area told their children about the "Osterhase" (sometimes spelled "Oschter Haws"). Hase means "hare", not rabbit, and in Northwest European folklore the "Easter Bunny" indeed is a hare.
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