Easter Egg Legends

At Easter, when eggs symbolize renewed life after death, we are more interested in decorating them than debating which came first - the chicken or the egg.

The tradition of painting eggs at Easter has many sources depending to whom you ask. Some believe the idea originated with Simon of Cyrene, an egg merchant who put down his basket of produce to assist Jesus with carrying the cross to Calvary. Upon returning for his basket, according to the legend, Simon discovered the eggs had been miraculously colored.1

Another legend coming from Romania, tells how Mary, the Mother of Jesus, stood by his cross through the long hours of the afternoon of Good Friday. She was said to have had with her a basket of eggs, which she set on the ground near the cross. The eggs reddened as blood from the wounds of Jesus dropped on them. Upon this happening, Jesus was said to have told those nearby, "From now on, you, too, shall paint eggs in red to remember my crucifixion, as I did today."2

In Polish legends it is said, that Mary gave eggs to the soldiers at the cross and asked them to be less cruel to her son. As she spoke, she wept, and her tears fell on the eggs, spotting them with brilliant color.3

According to La vern Rippley's book, "Of German Ways," Easter eggs are offered to the Lord to ask his blessings on crops. Another tale found in Rippley's book explains how German lovers often exchanged eggs painted with coded pledges of love and faithfulness.

"In older times, a girl could give just one egg, and that meant the courtship was on the rocks, or she could present six eggs which indicated to her lover that it was time to be getting married," states Rippley.

Another legend coming from the Ukraine states, that Mary gathered the eggs into her kerchief and went to the palace of Pontius Pilate to beg for the body of her Son so that she may give him a proper burial. Along the way, she gave her eggs to each child she met. Finally arriving at Pilate's house, Mary fainted and the eggs from her kerchief rolled all over the world. From that day, it became the custom for people everywhere to decorate eggs and give them to one another at Easter.4

According to my online friends, Ukranian legend says that, "the more eggs made, the tighter the chains on a great evil entity; but if the number of eggs falls, his chain becomes looser, and the greater amount of unhappiness will spread though humanity."

Easter eggs, as they are known around the world, come in all shades and designs. Without a doubt, in this writer's opinion, the Ukranian pysanky is the most beautiful of all.

The Ukranian pysanky, a traditional Easter egg, requires both patience and a steady hand.
Using a heated stylus, known as a kystka, pysachok, or pysal'tse, melted wax is applied to the surface of a room temperature egg so that intricate designs can be set into the various layers of dye. Each egg requires a minimum of six dye baths beginning with yellow and followed by orange, light blue, light green, bright red, and black, respectively. In between each dye bath, beeswax is applied to the egg, using the stylus, so that yellow areas remain yellow, orange areas remain orange, red areas remain red, and so on. These beeswax lines are removed after the final dye has been applied revealing the finished masterpiece.

References:
1Easter Eggs, retrieved from http://fullhomelydivinity.org/eggs.htm, 28 March 2009, 3:45 p.m.

2Easter Eggs, retrieved from http://fullhomelydivinity.org/eggs.htm, 28 March 2009, 3:45 p.m.

3Easter Eggs, retrieved from http://fullhomelydivinity.org/eggs.htm, 28 March 2009, 3:45 p.m.

4Easter Eggs, retrieved from http://fullhomelydivinity.org/eggs.htm, 28 March 2009, 3:45 p.m.