Monday, October 24, 2011

Easter Eggs

After attacking another Chocolate Easter Egg, I began wondering where exactly the Easter Egg originated from and how different countries had different traditions surrounding them and I discovered some really interesting stuff!

The egg is, of course, the most well known symbol of new life, fertility and the start of a new beginning and indeed in all cultures, it remains true that "All life comes from an egg" and it is regarded as a representation of the universe and the continuation of life. So here we can see the original idea of Easter as a religious festival.

What was more entertaining were the many different traditions and customs that have arisen through the ages and how each culture decorates their eggs according to the customs that have been handed down for centuries.

* In Persia, Greece, Rome and ancient Egypt they have been dyed and eaten

* In Germany, the eggs are pierced at the end and the yolk blown into a bowl. The now empty egg is dyed and hung from a tree as decoration.

* Armenian's decorate their eggs with pictures of Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and other religious icons.

* Austrians attach ferns and other plants to the egg. After they are boiled, the plants are removed and a white pattern is revealed on the shell.
* In England, boys and men would go out on Easter Eve and travel the town begging for eggs before performing an Easter play.
* Belgium believes that the Bells of Rome bring the Easter Bunny and the eggs together. Because all the bells are in Rome, they have the "Stille Zaterdag" or the Silent Saturday.
* Norwegians have an interesting way of celebrating Easter. After going skiing in the mountains or decorating eggs for the baskets, they turn to solving murders. All of the media have murder stories and the people try to solve the mysteries. TV, books, even milk cartons have some sort of murder story that needs to be solved.

* Americans have a well known tradition as well. They travel to Washington DC to roll decorated wooden eggs on the lawn of the White House and then pretend the Easter Bunny hid them.

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