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Welcome to Animated CyberKisses |
The egg has, during the span of history, represented mystery, magic, medicine, food
and omen. It is the universal symbol of Easter celebrations throughout the world and
has been dyed, painted, adorned and embellished in the celebration of its special symbolism.
Before the egg became closely entwined with the Christian Easter, it was honored during many
rite-of-Spring festivals. The Romans, Gauls, Chinese, Egyptians and Persians all cherished the egg as
a symbol of the universe. From ancient times eggs were dyed, exchanged and shown reverence.
The egg is nature's perfect package and represents the rebirth of the earth. The long, hard winter
was over; the earth burst forth and was reborn just as the egg miraculously burst forth with life.
The egg, therefore, was believed to have special powers.
It was buried under the foundations of buildings to ward off evil;
pregnant young Roman women carried an egg on their persons to foretell the sex
of their unborn children. French brides stepped upon an egg before crossing the
threshold of their new homes. More
Traditions
With the advent of Christianity the symbolism of the egg changed to represent, not
nature's rebirth, but the rebirth of man. Christians embraced the egg symbol and
likened it to the tomb from which Christ rose.
The Easter egg is venerable indeed. While the gaily colored
cardboard ones and rich
chocolate ones that we enjoy are quite recent in origin, the real egg, decorated with
colors or gilt, has been acknowledged as a symbol of continuing life and resurrection
since pre-Christian spring celebrations. Given as gifts by the ancient Greeks, Persians,
and Chinese at their spring festivals, the egg also appears in pagan mythology,
where we read of the Sun-Bird being hatched from the World
Egg. in some pagan customs,
the Heaven and Earth were thought to have been formed from two halves of an egg. As the
egg was an obvious symbol to early Christians of Jesus' Resurrection, it was felt to be a
most appropriate and holy part of the Eastertide celebration. Even as early as the Middle
Ages, eggs were colored to be given as gifts at Easter; Edward I's accounts for 1290 include
the expense of purchasing hundreds of eggs to be distributed to his household.
In the 17th century, pope Paul V blessed the humble egg in a prayer to be
used in England, Scotland, and Ireland:
"Bless, O Lord, we beseech Thee, this Thy creature of eggs, that it may
become a wholesome sustenance to Thy faithful servants, eating in
thankfulness to Thee, on account of the Resurrection of Our
Lord." Forbidden during the solemn fast of Lent, eggs were
reintroduced on Easter Sunday, both as part of the feasting
and as gifts for family, friends, and servants.
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