Who prefers their eggs red?
Easter is celebrated differently across Europe and I was amused by the idea of an Easter Bunny bringing eggs – Why?
As I looked into it I found that eggs are a common theme in many countries. Once upon a time hard-boiled eggs were stained with wet leaves but now we paint them with pretty coloured patterns.
In Greece they prefer them red as symbols of the blood of Christ.
What happens next?
Lots of people race them!
In some parts of the UK people gather to roll them down hills. In Germany the race is along a track made of sticks. On the White House lawn in Washington, DC the eggs are pushed through the grass with wooden spoons.
What do you do?
Do you hang them on trees (indoors or outdoors) as in Austria and Germany? Do you display them in in a basket or hide them for children to find?
But what is it with Easter Bunnies bringing Eggs?
This seems to be a combination of two Spring fertility ideas.
The word “Easter” is said to be connected with the Babylonian and Assyrian goddess of love and fertility “Ishtar”, or “Eostre” an Anglo-Saxon goddess of Spring. Certainly many Christian festivals are modelled on pagan celebrations – in this case of Spring and fertility.
The Easter Bunny is said to be derived from the Hare, which was once thought to reproduce without loss of virginity- the virgin birth.