Easter Egg Tradition Followed In Many Parts Of The World
“When Yule comes, dole comes,
Cold feet and legs;
When Easter comes, grace comes,
Butter, milk and eggs.”
- an old Easter rhyme
When eggs start appearing in their coats of many colors, and children begin parading home from school with their dainty, moss-filled baskets, we don’t have to look at our calendars to know that it’s Easter once again.
The association of Easter with eggs is one we take for granted, but the connection has intrigued many folklorists. What is it about the egg that makes it such an ideal symbol of this particular holiday?
Imagine for a moment the utter amazement of Stone Age man when he first saw a little chick peep out of a just-hatched egg. After observing life emerge from an apparently inanimate object, primitive people must have imputed the egg with magical powers. As a result, countless creation myths evolved which described how the universe emerged from an enormous cosmic egg.
Because of its life-giving properties, the egg naturally became a symbol of continuing life. The peoples of ancient Egypt, China, Greece and Persia incorporated eggs into their spring and harvest festivals, both celebrations of the renewed life evident in nature at those times.
As recently as 100 years ago, Estonians ate eggs while plowing and Scots placed an egg at the bottom of their sowing basket to insure a good harvest.
The egg’s power to bring forth new life made it a natural symbol of Christ’s resurrection, and in the early years of Christianity parishioners were invited to bring eggs to church to be blessed during the Easter season. These special eggs were then exchanged as gifts.
In Poland, the eggs were traditionally painted red, blue and green, a reminder of the legend that Mary decorated eggs with these colors to amuse the baby Jesus.
But the tradition of coloring eggs began long before the Christian era. Because the life that emerged from the egg was always such a mystery to early man, he was never certain whether a good or an evil force would be released when the egg cracked open.
It was in an attempt to control the outcome that man began to say charms over eggs, paint signs and symbols with positive connotations on them or dye them bright red - a color associated with good luck.
Because the methods and fashions of egg decorating developed independently from one country to the next, the final products have always varied noticeably. Originally, there was a strong tradition of dyeing eggs a solid, bright red, but gradually techniques evolved for painting intricate geometric designs and diminutive paintings on the eggs, particularly in the Ukraine and in Russia.
In the Ukraine, even the humblest peasant women learned to decorate eggs around Easter time, and almost every family had its own designs and secret methods for making its own dyes. After receiving the Easter blessing, the colorful pysanky (as the Ukrainian eggs are called) were prominently displayed in every home as a protection against lightning and fire.
Pysanky designs are often geometric, but many include a wide variety of painted symbols. For example, the sun stands for good fortune, a flower for love and charity and a deer for wealth and prosperity. A wavy line around the egg connotes eternity, while a series of dots represents the tears wept by Mary during the agony of Christ.
The Pennsylvania Dutch have a most unusual way of displaying their brightly colored eggs. Following a tradition brought with them from Germany, they arrange bare branches in a large vase and hang the eggs by string from the branches.
According to folklorist Venetia Newall, author of the fascinating study, “An Egg at Easter” (Indiana University Press), the tradition of making egg trees is practiced as far away as Anchorage, Alaska.
Many amusing games are associated with the Easter egg. One game played throughout Europe involves a hare, which is the sacred beast of Eastre, the Saxon goddess of spring whose name has probably given us the word Easter.
According to tradition, the hare (in America, the rabbit) hides Easter eggs all around the house and the children must find them. “Finders, keepers” is the order of the day, and the best sleuth’s reward is the greatest number of beautifully decorated eggs.
Another game, egg-rolling, is a custom introduced to this country from the British Isles. Some folklorists believe that the game is based on the notion of rolling away the stone from Christ’s tomb.
Surely, the most famous eggrolling takes place each year at the White House, where it has been an annual tradition (except during wartime) since 1879.
It has been estimated that every Easter as many as 100,000 eggs are rolled on the White House lawn. Winners - whose colorful, hardboiled eggs reach the bottom of the hill without cracking - can expect good luck in the year to come.
Eggs, which are so vital to the celebration of Easter, enrich not only the meaning of the holiday but much of the festive fare traditionally served on that day.
Just as egg-decorating techniques vary from country to country, so do recipes for special Easter breads and cakes. In parts of Germany, for example, Easter bread men have eggs for faces or bellies, while in Italy special “corona di nove,” circular pastries, are baked with Easter eggs embedded on top.
In Austria, young children are given nest-shaped cakes filled with eggs as Easter gifts, and in Portugal the holiday is heralded with “folares,” heart-shaped pastries with eggs baked into the dough.
In “An Egg at Easter,” Newall suggests that the custom of baking eggs in pastry and bread began in the Middle Ages, when bread as well as eggs were presented to the feudal lord as a form of tithe.
Other folklorists believe that the preparation of these special pastries dates all the way back to the pagan belief that by making such offerings, the donor and his loved ones were assured prosperity in the coming year.
MEMO: Lorna J. Sass is a culinary historian who wrote the award-winning “Christmas Feasts From History.”