Easter egg
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Easter eggs are specially decorated eggs given to celebrate the Easter holiday or springtime. The oldest tradition is to use dyed and painted chicken eggs, but a modern custom is to substitute chocolate eggs, or plastic eggs filled with confectionery such as jellybeans. These eggsare often hidden, supposedly by the Easter Bunny, for children to find on Easter morning.
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[edit] History
Although claims are made that Easter eggs were originally pagan symbols, there is no solid evidence for this; the one source of information on Eostre, a pagan goddess who may have given her name to the festival, does not mention eggs at all.[1] It is not until the 18th Century that Jakob Grimm theorised a pagan connection to Easter eggs, this time with a putative goddess of his own who he named Ostara, a suggested German version of Eostre.
At the 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 egg was a symbol of new life just as a chick might hatch from the egg. 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. [2] 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.
[edit] Easter egg traditions
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 Spanish dish hornazo (traditionally eaten on and around Easter) contains hard-boiled eggs as a primary ingredient. 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 players egg with their own. This is known as "egg dumping" or "egg jarping". The winner is the holder of the last intact egg. The losers get to eat their eggs. It is also practiced in Bulgaria, Croatia, Serbia, the Republic of Srpska and other countries. They call it tucanje. In parts of Bavaria, Austria and German-speaking Switzerland it is called Ostereiertitschen. In South Louisiana this practice is called Pocking Eggs and is slightly different. The Cajuns hold that the winner eats the eggs of the losers in each round.
[edit] Decorating techniques
Easter eggs are a widely popular symbol of new life in Ukraine and other Slavic countries' folk traditions. A batik-like decorating process known as pysanka produces intricate, brilliantly-colored eggs. The celebrated Fabergé workshops created exquisite jewelled Easter eggs for the Russian Imperial Court. 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 hills on 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 hard-cooked eggs for Easter, a popular tan colour can be achieved by boiling the eggs with onion skin. In the North of England these are called pace-eggs or paste-eggs. They were usually eaten after an egg-jarping (egg-tapping) competition.
Deep-fried chocolate Easter eggs are sold around Easter time in Scottish fish and chips shops.[1] The idea was invented in a northeastern Scottish takeaway as a sequel to the extremely popular deep fried Mars Bar.[citation needed]
[edit] Easter eggs for the visually-impaired
Beeping Easter eggs are Easter eggs that emit various clicks and noises so that the visually-impaired children can hunt for Easter eggs. Some make a single, high-pitched sound and others play a melody.
[edit] Other uses of the term
Easter Egg is also the name given to hidden exploits, media, or features available in console and PC video games, DVDs, or any other interactive media.
 Easter eggs from Croatia |
 Drapanka from Poland |
 Sorbian easter eggs |
 Easter eggs from Vienna |
 American Easter eggs from Washington, United States |
 Belarusian pisanka |
 Candle dripped Easter eggs from South Bend, IN, USA. |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Deep-fried Mars myth is dispelled. BBC News (2006). Retrieved on 2006-04-09.
[edit] External links
