Easter Egg – Painted Ovals And The Ancient Art Of Napping

Easter eggs—painted, hidden, and occasionally chocolate—have a surprisingly long and symbolic history. Settle in as we explore their ancient roots, cultural twists, and mild holiday chaos… all delivered in the most sleep-friendly tone possible.

Transcript

Welcome to the I Can't Sleep Podcast, Where I bore you to sleep with my soothing voice. Plus, You get to learn a little, And hopefully sleep a lot. I'm your host, Benjamin Boster. Tonight's episode is about Easter eggs. Easter eggs, Also called Paschal eggs, Are eggs that are decorated for the Christian holiday of Easter, Which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. As such, Easter eggs are commonly used during the season of Eastertide, Easter season. The oldest tradition, Which continues to be used in Central and Eastern Europe, Is to dye and paint chicken eggs. Although eggs in general were a traditional symbol of fertility and rebirth, In Christianity, For the celebration of Eastertide, Easter eggs symbolized the empty tomb of Jesus, From which Jesus was resurrected. In addition, One ancient tradition was the staining of Easter eggs with the color red in memory of the blood of Christ, Shed as at the time of his crucifixion. This custom of the Easter egg, According to many sources, Can be traced to early Christians of Mesopotamia, And from there it spread into Eastern Europe and Siberia through the Orthodox churches, And later into Europe through the Catholic and Protestant churches. Additionally, The widespread usage of Easter eggs, According to the medievalist scholars, Is due to the prohibition of eggs during Lent, After which, On Easter, They are blessed for the occasion. A modern custom in some places is to substitute chocolate eggs wrapped in colored foil, Hand-carved wooden eggs, Or plastic eggs filled with confectionery such as chocolate. The practice of decorating eggshells is quite ancient, With decorated, Engraved ostrich eggs found in Africa, Which are 60, 000 years old. In the pre-dynastic period of Egypt and the early cultures of Mesopotamia and Crete, Eggs were associated with death and rebirth, As well as with kingship, With decorated ostrich eggs, And representations of ostrich eggs in gold and silver were commonly placed in graves of the ancient Sumerians and Egyptians as early as 5, 000 years ago. These cultural relationships may have influenced early Christian and Islamic cultures in those areas, As well as through mercantile, Religious, And political links from those areas around the Trinitarian symbolism as shell, Yolk, And albumen are three parts of one egg. According to many sources, The Christian custom of Easter eggs started among the early Christians of Mesopotamia, Who stained them with red coloring in memory of the blood of Christ shed at His crucifixion. The Christian Church officially adopted the custom regarding the eggs as a symbol of the resurrection of Jesus, Was the Roman ritual, The first edition of which was published in 1610, But which has texts of much older date, Containing among them Easter blessings of food, One for eggs, Along with those for lamb, Bread, And new produce. Here's the blessing. Lord, Let the grace of your blessing come upon these eggs, That they be healthful food for your faithful who eat them in thanksgiving for the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who lives and reigns with you forever and ever. Sociology professor Kenneth Thompson discussed the spread of the Easter egg throughout Christendom, Writing that use of eggs at Easter seems to have come from Persia into the Greek Christian churches of Mesopotamia, Thence to Russia and Serbia from the medium of Orthodox Christianity. From the Greek church, The custom was adopted by either the Roman Catholics or the Protestants, And then spread through Europe. Both Thompson as well as British Orientalist Thomas Hyde state that in addition to dyeing the eggs red, The early Christians of Mesopotamia also stained Easter eggs green and yellow. Peter Gainsford maintains that the association between eggs and Easter most likely arose in Western Europe during the Middle Ages, As a result of the fact that Catholic Christians were prohibited from eating eggs during Lent, But were allowed to eat them when Easter arrived. Influential 19th century folklorist and philologist Jacob Grimm speculates, In the second volume of his Deutsche Mythologie, That the folk custom of Easter eggs among the continental Germanic peoples may have stemmed from springtime festivities of a Germanic goddess known in Old English as Eostre, Namesake of modern English Easter, And possibly known in Old High German as Ostara, And thus namesake of modern German Ostern Easter. However, Despite Grimm's speculation, There is no evidence to connect eggs with a speculative deity named Ostara. The use of eggs as favors or treats at Easter originated when they were prohibited during Lent. A common practice in England in the medieval period was for children to go door to door begging for eggs on the Saturday before Lent began. People handed out eggs as special treats for children prior to their feast. Although one of the Christian traditions are to use dyed or painted chicken eggs, A modern custom is to substitute chocolate eggs or plastic eggs filled with candy, Such as jelly beans. As many people give up sweets as their Lenten sacrifice, Individuals enjoy them at Easter, After having abstained from them during the preceding 40 days of Lent. These eggs can be hidden for children to find on Easter morning, Which may be left by the Easter bunny. They may also be put in a basket filled with real or artificial straw to resemble a bird's nest. While the practice of giving away Easter eggs is to this day popular, It was briefly banned in 1916's Hungary in the Eastern Egg Act due to the scarcity caused by the ongoing war, And the ban was only lifted when the war ended. The contemporary news reports emphasized, However, That the latulash was still legal to practice. The Easter egg tradition may also have merged into the celebration of the end of the privations of Lent. Traditionally, Eggs are among the food's forbidden fast days, Including all of Lent, An observance which continues among the Eastern Christian churches, But has fallen into disuse in Western Christianity. Historically, It has been traditional to use up all the household's eggs before Lent began. This established the tradition of Pancake Day being celebrated on Shrove Tuesday. This day, The Tuesday before Ash Wednesday when Lent begins, Is also known as Mardi Gras, A French phrase which translates as Fat Tuesday, To mark the last consumption of eggs and dairy before Lent begins. In the Orthodox Church, Great Lent begins on Clean Monday, Rather than Wednesday, So the household's dairy products would be used up in the preceding week, Called Cheese Fare Week. During Lent, Since chickens would not stop producing eggs during this time, A larger-than-usual store might be available at the end of the fast. This surplus, If any, Had to be eaten quickly to prevent spoiling. Then, With the coming of Easter, The eating of eggs resumes. Some families cook a special meatloaf with eggs in it to be eaten with the Easter dinner. To avoid waste, It was common for families to hard-boil or pickle eggs that their chickens produced during Lent. And for this reason, The Spanish dish Hornazo, Traditionally eaten on and around Easter, Contains hard-boiled eggs as a primary ingredient. In Spain, It is common for Godparents to give a Easter Mona to their Godchildren during Easter period. In Hungary, Eggs are used sliced in potato casseroles around the Easter period. Some Christians symbolically link the cracking open of Easter eggs with the empty tomb of Jesus. In the Orthodox churches, Easter eggs are blessed by the priest at the end of the Paschal Vigil, Which is equivalent to Holy Saturday, And distributed to the faithful. The egg is seen by followers of Christianity as a symbolism of resurrection. While being dormant, It contains a new life sealed within it. Similarly, In the Roman Catholic Church in Poland, The so-called Swięcanka, His blessing, I. E. Blessing of decorative baskets with a sampling of Easter eggs and other symbolic foods, Is one of the most enduring and beloved Polish traditions on Holy Saturday. During Paschal Tide, In some traditions, The Paschal greeting with the Easter egg is even extended to the deceased. On either the second Monday or Tuesday of Pascha, After a memorial service, People bring blessed eggs to the cemetery and bring the joyous Paschal greeting, Christ has risen to their beloved departed. In Greece, Women traditionally dye the eggs with onion skins and vinegar on Thursday, Also the day of Communion. These ceremonial eggs are known as Kokkina Avga. They also bake Tzureki for the Easter Sunday feast. Red Easter eggs are sometimes served along the centerline of Tzureki, Braided loaf of bread. In Egypt, It is a tradition to decorate boiled eggs during Sham el-Nasim holiday, Which falls every year after the Eastern Christian Easter. Coincidentally, Every Passover, Jews place a hard-boiled egg on the Passover ceremonial plate, And the celebrants also eat hard-boiled eggs dipped in salt water as part of the ceremony. The dyeing of Easter eggs in different colors is commonplace, With color being achieved through boiling the egg in natural substances, Such as onion peel for brown color, Oak or alder bark or walnut nutshell for black, Beet juice for pink, Etc. , Or using artificial colorings. A great variety of color was often provided by tying on the onion skin with different colored woolen yarn. In the north of England, These are called paste eggs, From a dialectal form of Middle English pasca. King Edward I's household accounts in 1290 list an item of one shilling and sixpence for the decoration and distribution of 450 paste eggs, Which were to be colored or gilded and given to members of the royal household. Traditionally in England, Eggs were wrapped in onion skins and boiled to make their shells look like mottled gold, Or wrapped in flowers and leaves first in order to leave a pattern, Which parallels a custom practiced in traditional Scandinavian culture. Eggs could also be drawn on with a wax candle before staining, Often with a person's name and date on the egg. Paste eggs were generally eaten for breakfast on Easter Sunday breakfast. Alternatively, They could be kept as decorations, Used in egg-jerping, Egg-tapping games, Or given to paste eggers. In more recent centuries in England, Eggs have been stained with coffee grains or simply boiled and painted in their shells. In the Orthodox and Eastern Catholic churches, Easter eggs are dyed red to represent the blood of Christ, With further symbolism being found in the hard shell of the egg, Symbolizing the sealed tomb of Christ, The cracking of which symbolized his resurrection from the dead. The tradition of red Easter eggs was used by the Russian Orthodox Church. The tradition to dyeing the Easter eggs in an onion tone exists in the cultures of Armenia, Bulgaria, Georgia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, Chechnya, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, And Israel. The color is made by boiling onion peel in water. When boiling them with onion skins, Leaves can be attached prior to dyeing to create leaf patterns. The leaves are attached to the eggs before they are dyed with a transparent cloth to wrap the eggs with, Like inexpensive muslin or nylon stockings, Leaving patterns once the leaves are removed after the dyeing process. These eggs are part of Easter custom in many areas, And often accompany other traditional Easter foods. Passover hamedados are prepared with similar methods. Pisanki are Ukrainian Easter eggs, Decorated using a wax resist method. The word comes from the verb pisati, To write, As the designs are not painted on, But written with beeswax. Lithuanians create intricately detailed marguce using a hot wax application and dipping method, And also by dipping the eggs first, And then etching designs into the shells. Decorating eggs for Easter using wax resistant batik is a popular method in some other Eastern European countries. In some Mediterranean countries, Especially in Lebanon, Chicken eggs are boiled and decorated by dye and or painting, And used as decoration around the house. Then on Easter day, Young kids would duel with them saying, Christ is resurrected, Indeed he is, Breaking and eating them. This also happens in Georgia, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, North Macedonia, Romania, Russia, Serbia, And Ukraine. On Easter Sunday, Friends and family hit each other's eggs with their own. The one whose egg does not break is believed to be in for good luck in the future. In Germany, Eggs decorate trees and bushes as Easter egg trees, And in several areas public wells as Osterbrunnen. There used to be a custom in Ukraine during Easter, Celebrations to have krashenki on a table in a bowl with wheatgrass. The number of the krashenki equaled the number of departed family members. An egg hunt is a game in which decorated eggs, Which may be hard-boiled chicken eggs, Chocolate eggs, Or artificial eggs containing candies, Are hidden for children to find. The eggs often vary in size and may be hidden both indoors and outdoors. When the hunt is over, Prizes may be given for the largest number of eggs collected, Or for the largest or the smallest egg. Some Central European nations, Czechs, Slovaks, Etc. , Have a tradition of men gathering eggs for women in return for whipping them with an Easter whip and splashing them with water. The ritual is traditionally believed to preserve the woman's health and beauty. Cascarones, A Latin American tradition now shared by many U. S. States with high Hispanic demographics, Are emptied and dried chicken eggs stuffed with confetti and sealed with a piece of tissue paper. The eggs are hidden in a similar tradition to the American Easter egg hunt, And when found, The children and adults break them over each other's heads. In order to enable children to take part in egg hunts despite visual impairment, Eggs have been created that emit various clicks, Beeps, Noises, Or music, So that visually impaired children can easily hunt for Easter eggs. Egg rolling is also a traditional Easter egg game played with eggs at Easter. In the United Kingdom, Germany, And other countries, Children traditionally rolled eggs down hillsides at Easter. This tradition was taken to the New World by European settlers, And continues to this day each Easter with an Easter egg roll on the White House lawn. Rutherford B. Hayes started the tradition of the Easter egg roll at the White House. The Easter Monday egg roll was normally held at the United States Capitol. However, By the mid-1870s, Congress passed a law forbidding the Capitol's grounds to be used for the activity due to the toll it was taking on the landscape. The law was enforced in 1877, But the reign that year cancelled all outdoor activities. In 1878, Hayes was approached by many young Easter egg rollers who asked for the event to be held at the White House. He invited any children who wanted to roll eggs to come to the White House in order to do so. The tradition still occurs every year on the South Lawn of the White House. Now there are many other games and activities that take place, Such as egg picking and egg ball. Different nations have different versions of the Easter egg roll game. In the north of England during Eastertide, A traditional game is played where hard-boiled paste eggs are distributed and each player hits the other player's egg with their own. This is known as egg-tapping, Egg-dumping, Or egg-jarping. The winner is holder of the last intact egg. The annual Egg-Jarping World Championship is held every year over Easter in Peterley, Durham. It is also practiced in Italy where it is called Scucetta. Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Lebanon, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia where it is called Turčanje or Turkanje, Ukraine, Russia, And other countries. In parts of Austria, Bavaria, And German-speaking Switzerland, It is called Österreiterchen or Eierbecken. In parts of Europe, It is also called Epper, Presumably from the German name Opfer, Meaning offering, And in Greece it is known as Tungrisma. In South Louisiana, The practice is called Pocking Eggs and is slightly different. The Louisiana Creoles hold that the winner eats the eggs of the losers in each round. In the Greek Orthodox tradition, Red eggs are also cracked together when people exchange Easter greetings. Egg Dance is a traditional Easter game in which eggs are laid on the ground or floor, And the goal is to dance among them without damaging any eggs, Which originated in Germany. The Pace Egg Plays, Or traditional village plays, Was a rebirth theme. The drama takes the form of a combat between the hero and villain, In which the hero is killed and brought back to life. The plays take place in England during Easter. Chocolate eggs first appeared at the court of Louis XIV in Versailles. And in 1725, The widow Jambon Anne Turin started producing chocolate eggs by filling empty chicken eggshells with molten chocolate. In 1873, J. S. Fry and Sons produced the first hollow chocolate egg, Making a smooth paste that would be poured into egg molds. Manufacturing their first Easter egg in 1875, Cadbury created the modern chocolate Easter egg after developing a pure cocoa butter that could be molded into smooth shapes. In Western cultures, The giving of chocolate eggs is now commonplace, With 80 million Easter eggs sold in the UK alone. Formerly, The container's Easter eggs were sold in contained large amounts of plastic, Although in the United Kingdom, This has gradually been replaced with recyclable paper and cardboard. In Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, And Paraguay, Hollow chocolate eggs known as ovos de pascua or huevos de pascua, Easter eggs, Are popular and are commonly sold around Easter in supermarkets. Variations of this dessert-containing filling such as pistachio cream, Hazelnut cream, Furundu, Or doce de lite are known as ovos de pascua de coler, Spoon Easter eggs, Or ovos de coler, Spoon eggs. In the Indian state of Goa, The Goan Catholic version of marzipan is used to make Easter eggs. In the Philippines, Marzipan de pili, Spanish for pili marzipan, Is made from pili nuts. The jeweled Easter eggs made by the Faberge firm for the two last Russian tsars are regarded as masterpieces of decorative arts. Most of these creations themselves contain hidden surprises, Such as clockwork birds or miniature ships. In Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, And other Central European countries' folk traditions, Easter eggs are carved from wood and hand-painted, And making artificial eggs out of porcelain for ladies is common. Easter eggs are frequently depicted in sculpture, Including an 8-meter sculpture of a pisanga standing in Vegreville, Alberta. While the origin of Easter eggs can be explained in the symbolic terms described above, Among followers of Eastern Christianity, The legend says that Mary Magdalene was bringing cooked eggs to share with the other women at the tomb of Jesus, And the eggs in her basket miraculously turned bright red when she saw the risen Christ. A different, But not necessarily conflicting, Legend concerns the Mary Magdalene's efforts to spread the Gospel. According to this tradition, After the ascension of Jesus, Mary went to the emperor of Rome and greeted him with, Christ is risen, Whereupon he pointed to an egg on his table and stated, Christ has no more risen than that egg is red. After making this statement, It is said the egg immediately turned blood red. Red Easter eggs, Known as kokkina of Ga in Greece and krashanki in Ukraine, Are an Easter tradition and a distinct type of Easter egg prepared by various Orthodox Christian peoples. The red eggs are part of Easter custom in many areas, And often accompany other traditional Easter foods. Passover amylodos are prepared with similar methods. Dark red eggs are a tradition in Greece and represent the blood of Christ shed on the cross. The practice dates to the early Christian church in Mesopotamia. In Greece, Superstitions of the past include the custom of placing the first dyed red egg at the iconostasis, Place where icons are displayed, To ward off evil. The heads and backs of small lambs were also marked with the red dye to protect them. The egg is widely used as a symbol of the start of new life, Just as new life emerges from an egg when the chick hatches out. Painted eggs are used at the Iranian spring holidays, The Nowruz that marks the first day of spring or equinox, And the beginning of the year in the Persian calendar. It is celebrated on the day of the astronomical northward equinox, Which usually occurs on March 21st or the previous following day depending on where it is observed. The painted eggs symbolize fertility and are displayed on the Nowruz table called haftsin together with various other symbolic objects. These are sometimes one egg for each member of the family. The ancient Zoroastrians painted eggs for Nowruz, Their new year celebration, Which falls on the spring equinox. The tradition continues among people Persians of Islamic, Zoroastrian, And other faiths today. The Nowruz tradition has existed for at least 2, 500 years. The sculptures on the walls of Persepolis show people carrying eggs for Nowruz to the king.

Reviews

I’m late (past Easter) listening to this but it was the right mix of interesting and dull! Or maybe it was the voice? 😁😁😂😂😂

Thank you Benjamin!

Darn, I'll try again tonight, I wanted to hear some of it. I heard about red Easter eggs. Great timing, Ben. Thanks!