Do you know why eggs are so closely associated with Easter?

Question

or are you just ignorant?

Answer 1

Decorated eggs are much older than Easter, and both eggs and rabbits are age-old fertility symbols. The Passover Seder service uses a hard-cooked egg flavored with salt water as a symbol both of new life and the Temple service in Jerusalem. The Jewish tradition may have come from earlier Roman Spring feasts.

Easter egg origin stories abound—one has an emperor claiming that the Resurrection was as likely as eggs turning red (see Mary Magdalene); more prosaically the Easter egg tradition may have celebrated the end of the privations of Lent. In the West, eggs were seen as "meat", which would have been forbidden during Lent. 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). Another Orthodox tradition is the presenting of red colored eggs to friends while giving Easter greetings. This custom had its beginning with Mary Magdalene. After the Ascension of Christ, she went to the Emperor of Rome and greeted him with "Christ is risen", as she gave him a red egg. 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. 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 and other countries.

Answer 2

When Christianity became the dominant religion it was trying to replace pagan beliefs. In order to get common people to accept Christianity they thus modified pagan festivals into Christian festivals. For an example: historical evidence shows that Jesus was probably born sometime between March and June (I can't remember it exactly, and unfortunately I can't quote a source atm), and yet Jesus's birth is celebrated on 25th December. Why? It's because on the 25th of December pagans celebrated the Winter Solstice, and so that was replaced with Christmas.

So, back to the original question, and there was a pagan festival in Spring (probably celebrating the coming of spring), which had eggs associated with it as spring is a time of birth. So when Easter was created, it adopted the pagan giving of eggs.


So I'm not ignorant either.

Answer 3

Eggs and rabbits are symbols of fertility and spring. They have nothing to do with Easter except that Easter usually happens in the spring.

Easter eggs and bunnies are another example of popular culture trying to take religion out of holy days.

Popular culture consistently tries to "steal" holy days and make them secular holidays.

This happens with Christmas, Easter, Mardi Gras (the day before Lent starts), Halloween (the eve of All Saints Day), St. Valentine's Day, and St. Patrick's day.

Popular culture lets you celebrate the holidays as long as they take all religion out of them hence Easter eggs and bunnies.

When was the last time you heard a religious Christmas carol in a shopping mall?

It is an ongoing effort to keep God and faith involved in these holy days.

With love in Christ.

Answer 4

There are different views as always but I will add that coloring eggs at Easter time was thought of and created for children . a game for them . finding the eggs.. and eggs are used in many foods prepared for Easter dinner

Answer 5

Before eggs became so closely associated with Easter, Romans, Gauls, Chinese, Egyptians, and Persians used eggs during their rite-of-spring festivals. Eggs represented the earth's rebirth: winter was over, and the earth was bursting forth with life--just as eggs do.

With the advent of Christianity, eggs' symbolism changed from representing nature's rebirth to representing humanity's rebirth.

Answer 6

Eggs with Easter is cultural - UK and parts of the US for example - but places like Poland or Italy - Eggs aren't commonly associated with Easter

For the UK - I believe it stems from two origins

1) Easter - time of Spring - Eggs being symbolic of "new life"
2) They were used as paintable decorations during the 19thC onwards at around the time of Easter

Answer 7

Delve into the history and origins of the Christian festival of Easter and you come up with a few surprises. For instance, Easter eggs do not owe their origins to Christianity and originally the festival of Easter itself had nothing to do with Christianity either. A closer look at the history of both Easter and the Easter Egg reveals a much earlier association with pagan ritual and in particular, the pagan rites of spring, dating back into pre history.

For us, the ancient rites celebrating the Spring Equinox are most obviously associated with the mysterious Druids and places like Stone Henge, but most ancient races around the world had similar spring festivals to celebrate the rebirth of the year. The Egg, as a symbol of fertility and re-birth, has been associated with these rites from the earliest times.

In fact, the festival of Easter is a classic example of the early Christian church adapting an existing pagan ritual to suit their own purposes. The Saxon spring festival of Eostre, was named for their goddess of dawn, and when they came to Britain in about the 5th century AD, the festival came with them along with re-birth and fertility rituals involving eggs, chicks and rabbits. When the Saxons converted to Christianity and started to celebrate the death and the resurrection of Christ, it coincided with Eostre, so that's what the early church called the celebration, Eostre or Easter in modern English.

The actual date that Easter falls on every year is governed by a fairly complex calculation related to the Spring Equinox. The actual formula is: The first Sunday after the first full moon following the Spring Equinox is Easter Sunday or Easter Day. This formula was set by Egyptian astronomers in Alexandra in 235ad, and calculated using the same method as the Jews have traditionally used to calculate the feast of the Passover, which occurred at about the same time as the crucifixion.
As well as adopting the festival of Eostre, the Egg, representing fertility and re-birth in pagan times, was also adopted as part of the Christian Easter festival and it came to represent the 'resurrection' or re-birth of Christ after the crucifixion and some believe it is a symbol of the the stone blocking the Sepulchre being 'rolled' away.

In the UK and Europe, the earliest Easter eggs were painted and decorated hen, duck or goose eggs, a practice still carried on in parts of the world today. As time went by, artificial eggs were made and by the end of the 17th century, manufactured eggs were available for purchase at Easter, for giving as Easter gifts and presents.

Easter eggs continued to evolve through the 18th and into the 19th Century, with hollow cardboard Easter eggs filled with Easter gifts and sumptuously decorated, culminating with the fabulous Faberge Eggs. Encrusted with jewels, they were made for the Czar's of Russia by Carl Faberge, a French jeweller. Surely these were the 'ultimate' Easter gift, to buy even a small one now would make you poorer by several millions of pounds.

I guess I'm not ignorant.

Answer 8

Of all the symbols associated with Easter the egg, the symbol of fertility and new life, is the most identifiable. The customs and traditions of using eggs have been associated with Easter for centuries
Originally Easter eggs were painted with bright colors to represent the sunlight of spring and were used in Easter-egg rolling contests or given as gifts. After they were colored and etched with various designs the eggs were exchanged by lovers and romantic admirers, much the same as valentines. In medieval time eggs were traditionally given at Easter to the servants. In Germany eggs were given to children along with other Easter Gifts.

Different cultures have developed their own ways of decorating Easter eggs. Crimson eggs, to honor the blood of Christ, are exchanged in Greece. In parts of Germany and Austria green eggs are used on Maundy Thursday (Holy Thursday). Slavic peoples decorate their eggs in special patterns of gold and silver

Austrian artists design patterns by fastening ferns and tiny plants around the eggs, which are then boiled. The plants are then removed revealing a striking white pattern. The Poles and Ukrainians decorate eggs with simple designs and colors. A number of eggs are made in the distinctive manner called pysanki (to design, to write)

Pysanki eggs are a masterpiece of skill and workmanship. Melted beeswax is applied to the fresh white egg. It is then dipped in successive baths of dye. After each dip wax is painted over the area where the preceding color is to remain. Eventually a complex pattern of lines and colors emerges into a work of art

In Germany and other countries eggs used for cooking where not broken, but the contents were removed by piercing the end of each egg with a needle and blowing the contents into a bowl. The hollow eggs were dyed and hung from shrubs and trees during the Easter Week. The Armenians would decorate hollow eggs with pictures of Christ, the Virgin Mary, and other religious designs

Eggs play an important part in Easter sports. The Romans celebrated the Easter season by running races on an oval track and giving eggs as prizes. Two traditional Easter egg games are the Easter Egg Hunt and the Easter Egg Roll
On Easter morning the children of the house join in a search to locate the eggs that the Easter Bunny had hidden while they where asleep. The searching might continue though out the house with the older children helping the youngest. Sometimes prizes of candy are awaiting the child finding the most eggs

Easter egg hunts can are also part of a community's celebration of holiday. The eggs are hidden in public places and the children of the community are invited to find the eggs

The rules of an Easter Egg Roll are to see who can roll an egg the greatest distance or can make the roll without breaking it, usually down a grassy hillside or slope

Maybe the most famous egg rolling takes place on the White House Lawn. Hundreds of children come with baskets filled with brightly decorated eggs and roll them down the famous lawn, hoping the President of the United States is watching the fun.

Answer 9

Yes.

The egg represents the rock that covers the cave that the corpse of Jesus was laid then when the rooster squaked amazingly that rock was placed aside which til recent days remains a mystery.They say it's because of a heavy earthquake that caused that rock to roll but there's no record proving such an incident in history.

The egg also represents rebirth,forgiveness of sins that sets the spring season where everything looks afresh yet again..a new beginning.

Answer 10

No, because the EASTER bunny hides the eggs for all the good little kids to find. It represents the newness of life, spring,etc.