Easter 2025

 Easter

Today we're looking at traditions about Easter eggs.  The drawing above is by the French artist David Gilson from his cartoon series Minet et Matou.  Matou is saying "Give me my eggs, my Minet."

Eggs have been associated with Easter since medieval times if not before.  The Church prohibited eating eggs during Lent, but hens kept laying eggs, leading to a surplus of eggs that suddenly became available to eat on Easter.

Above, some huevos.  That's the Spanish word for eggs, and it also means something else.

Early Christians in Mesopotamia starting dying Easter eggs red to represent the blood of Christ, a practice still followed in Orthodox and Eastern Catholic churches.

In Western Europe, eggs were decorated in other colors.  In medieval England these were called pace-eggs.  Above, a different kind of eggs being dyed.

That was the start our tradition of colorful Easter eggs.

In Eastern Europe and Ukraine, eggs were colored or painted in patterns and designs ...

sometimes quite elaborate.

Nowadays, children are likely to receive chocolate eggs, not real eggs, in an Easter basket.

The Easter basket, lined with artificial straw, was originally supposed to represent a bird's nest where you would find eggs.

We end with a nod to another Easter tradition, the Easter egg hunt.  Look what I found!