Why do we have easter eggs?

Posted on 22. Mar, 2010 by Iwind in History

To understand why we have Easter eggs, you need to first understand something about the history of man, along with his religious beliefs and customs. This is necessary because the easter egg has come to us through a convoluted history, mostly as a religious symbol.

In almost every culture, eggs are a symbol of fertility and birth or rebirth. Some very ancient cultures insisted that the entire universe was hatched from an egg. In Latin, the ancient proverb, “Omne vivum ex ovo” translates as, “All life comes from an egg.” It is interesting to note that this proverb was believed at a time when no one knew that even human beings evolve from an egg state.

Early Pagans,the word means “farmer”, used eggs in ceremonies that welcomed the new growing season(spring) and rebirth of the world. Some called it Eostre, named after the Germanic Goddess, Ostara. It is conjectured that this practice died out for the Pagans before the 7th century. Ancient Zoroastrians used eggs in their New Year’s celebrations, which fell at the time of the Spring Equinox, March 21st.

When the early Christian church wanted to gain popularity among the Pagan people, they began to absorb the rites and ceremonies followed by the Pagans. When it came time to absorb Eostre, the rebirth symbolism of the egg was convenient for depiction of the resurrection of Christ. From that time on, the celebration of Easter became a Christian representation of the birth, death and resurrection of Christ. As with the rolling away of the stone that covered Christ’s tomb, the egg shell is broken away and the new life emerges.

It is not difficult to understand why people saw eggs being a symbol of life. When you watch the miracle of a baby chick emerging from the egg shell, it is hardly any wonder that people, especially the ancients, saw life as beginning with the egg.

Typically, as winter ends and springs starts, eggs became quite prized by early civilizations. After a long cold winter of stored foods, a fresh egg from a newly laying hen could be seen as quite a prize to anyone. Around springtime, when the Earth began to revive and people began to celebrate it, symbols often became gifts. Hence the idea of decorating the eggs.

Decorating the eggs began as a way to enhance the quality and beauty of a Springtime gift. If you could afford it, you could decorate an egg in gold leaf. If not, you could dye the egg with plant dyes. Eventually, egg decorating became an art form, particularly in Slavic countries like Russia, Romania and Poland. Wax resistance techniques were developed to create intricately decorated eggs. The famous Faberge eggs, decorated in jewels, come from the same region.

So to sum it up, why do we have easter eggs? We have Easter eggs because people found it necessary and helpful to welcome the new year as a sign of hope and abundance, and the egg fit neatly into that symbolism.

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