Easter egg

History

In the Kalevala, great Finnish tradition delivers, the world was born from egg. The habit of Easter egg was noted at the Christian Copte S as of the end of the 10th century. In France, the texts which speak about this tradition relate to the Alsace and go back to the 15th century. It was said that Louis XIV made bless large gilded egg baskets which it gave to the courtiers and his servant. The tradition would have made of the king the recipient of largest egg of the kingdom. It is however allowed that the origin of Easter eggs dates from the introduction of the Lent. The Church prohibits the egg consumption for this forty days period. It thus acted at the conclusion fasts it to consume the eggs which had accumulated during the Lent, by normally eating them for most recent and by cooking them then by decorating them for oldest.

{Note. One can as think as this rationalization of the ritual of Easter eggs by the Lent makes it possible to drive back the idea that the egg had a liturgical role among first Christians, with the manner of egg on Seder Pascal of the Judaism… If the Westerners discover the rite of eggs at the coptes of Alexandria only at the time of the Crusades, it is because the Roman Church had made it prohibit in Ve and VIe centuries, but it had been an original rite jacobite. With evidence the fact that the XVIIe century the opening of the Christian catacombs of Rome of IIIe century made it possible to find there thousands of egg shells and especially testimonys on the fact that Roman torturers inserted sometimes eggs of extreme stone in the throat of the Christian martyrs; it is clear that they aimed at the martyriser by their own symbol of the Nativity.}

At the catholic , the bells cease sounding as from Friday which precedes Easter, known as “Good Friday”, as a sign of mourning for the death of the Christ. One hears them again at the end of taken care of Easter, which precedes the Easter Day itself. The tradition claims that the bells do not sound any more because they left to Rome. They return in the night, charged with chocolate eggs which they pour in the gardens. The following day, the children will seek the sugar refineries which are dissimulated there. Before the democratization of the Chocolate, the eggs natural and were decorated by the children. With egg the hen is associated, which one now finds in the form of statuette in Chocolat. The confectioneries are not limited now any more, formally, with the shape of egg but can be true sugar and chocolate sculptures and represent sometimes characters or objects which do not have any bond with the model of origin.

“Hunting for eggs” is an old tradition. Certain communes organize huntings for eggs for the adults the weekend of Easter: in a limited space (in general a wood), it is necessary to discover the maximum of eggs before a hour given. All the eggs are not worth, and some make it possible to gain interesting batches.

Decoration

The eggs are also a symbol used in the orthodoxe countries. They symbolize the resurrection of the Christ and her exit of the tomb, as the chick leaves egg. They are painted in red and are decorated with sharp reasons. They have all the sizes and are often out of wood or out of polished stone, some are true works of Article It is of tradition to exchange some with its close relations the Easter Day, while being greeted by the invocation “Christ is ressuscity! ”.

In Alsace, in Germany, Swiss and Austria, in the majority of the Länder, the eggs of Easter are brought by hare of Easter ( Osterhase ). There are no bells, very few hens but much rabbits in all the possible and conceivable forms. Here one of the origins of this legend:

“an old woman without money to buy eggs for his/her small children then decides to paint some. She hides them in her garden. She calls then the children and invites them to seek their surprises. Suddenly, a rabbit jumps of a small nest of brushwood where were the eggs. A child shouts very filled with wonder: “The rabbit left eggs painted for our surprise of Easter! ”

In fact, the rabbit, very prolific in spring, is probably a symbol of fruitfulness former to Christianity. It should be noted that in Bavaria, the hare is replaced by a cock, in Thuringe it is a fox, in the area of Hanover, it is a cuckoo, with the the Tyrol it is the hen and in Westphalia it is the fox.

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