Easter is my favorite time of year, although I confess that most of my affection for the holiday is strictly candy-related. Every year, I anxiously await the moment (usually in February or so) when stores roll out the Cadbury candy eggs, the marshmallow Peeps, and the ubiquitous chocolate bunnies. I gorge myself for a few weeks and then stockpile for the rest of the year. I don’t know who originally had the idea to celebrate Easter by eating rabbit-shaped candy, but if you ask me, they deserve their own holiday.
Easter isn’t just about candy, though. It’s the holiest holiday of the year for Christians in general and Catholics in particular. It is marked by solemn religious rituals as well as fun family-oriented traditions. As a kid, I always got an Easter basket full of goodies, but I never really stopped to think about the origins of the traditions we uphold. Why does Easter conjure up images of bunnies and lambs? Was there a part of the bible where Jesus blessed the little children by hiding jellybeans under their pillows? And what’s the deal with all the pastel-colored eggs?
Eggs-quisite Eggs
In the early days of Christianity, the Easter holiday was scheduled in order to coincide with the spring festival celebrating the pagan goddess Eostre, the Anglo-Saxon goddess of the dawn and vernal equinox. Eggs, as a symbol of fertility and rebirth, are an ancient symbol of renewal and new life. Some Christians also interpret eggs as a representation of the rock that sealed Jesus’ tomb.
In Medieval times, eggs were forbidden during Lent, the period of fasting that precedes Easter. Any eggs laid during this time were hard-boiled and preserved for later. Once the holiday arrived, people celebrated by decorating their eggs and giving them as gifts, especially to children. Today, egg-decorating traditions vary by geographic region. American children dip their eggs in springlike pastel colored dyes, while Slavic people decorate theirs with gold and silver leaf. Greeks dye their eggs a bright crimson red to symbolize the blood of Jesus.
