The story behind Easter eggs

Story behind Easter eggs (Photo: iStock)

Every year, we look forward to different traditions and holidays which we celebrate. We have those holidays which we celebrate as a country like Labor Day and we also have a number that are celebrated worldwide like Christmas and Easter.

When we look at these worldwide celebrations like Easter, we often don't pause and think about what we are actually celebrating, where these traditions came from, and what they mean to us. These are holidays that we have been enjoying since our childhood and naturally, we carried them forward to date.

Right now, the world is looking forward to Easter. For some, this means that the Easter bunny decorations should be put up and the famous egg hunts preparations should be underway. But, the real question here is, where did the connection between Easter and decorated eggs originate? And who is the Easter bunny anyway?

These are some of those questions we should be asking ourselves so we can understand the traditions we are participating in. If you're curious about Easter eggs, here's a short breakdown:

• Easter eggs aren't originally a Christian concept

Easter is a holiday that's mostly connected with Christianity. You will even see decorated eggs in churches during this time and some will even go as far as hosting egg hunts around this season.

Although this tradition of Easter eggs and the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ are now considered to be the same thing, they aren't.

The roots of Easter eggs are connected to pagan traditions and they're meant to celebrate eostre/ishtar, who is an ancient goddess.

• The eggs symbolize rebirth

The egg is a central part of Easter celebrations and it carries a lot of symbolic meaning. According to the pagan traditions, this eggs would show a new life of the spring season.

Modern Christianity adopted this symbol of the egg to mean the resurrection of Christ. They have connected this meaning of new life of the cracked egg to mean that Jesus rose from the dead.

• The tradition of coloring eggs shows the bloom of spring

One the things that people often do during Easter is to decorate eggs. They're dyed and painted different types of patterns and this also has its roots in pagan traditions.

Initially, these eggs would be dyed in the blood of sacrifices as part of their rituals and this tradition has evolved into what we see today.

Today they are dyed all sorts of colors to represent the bloom of spring that comes after winter.

• Egg hunts are meant to symbolize the empty tomb

The egg hunt is probably one of the main highlights for people who celebrate Easter. It's a game where hardboiled eggs, chocolate eggs or other types of decorated eggs are hidden in different spots for kids to find.

It is said that as theses traditions were absorbed into Christianity, this activity of egg hunts came up. The hiding of the eggs is meant to symbolize the tomb then when they're found, it's a celebration of the empty tomb that was discovered.

• The Easter bunny is a sign of fertility

The Easter bunny is also a huge part of these traditions. In pagan beliefs, this bunny that lays eggs symbolizes fertility and it's celebrated in honor of eostre/ishtar.

The bunny was originally a hare but the concept of a bunny has become more popular with this holiday, also for commercial purposes.

And although these traditions are enjoyed and celebrated by Christians, once again, this is not a Biblical concept but rather very pagan in its meaning and nature.