Eggs as Symbols

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 41, 4 March 1937, Page 12

Eggs as Symbols

Assodated with Ancient Deities

JfROM the days of primitlvo Christianity the coloured egg has symbolised the Resurrectlon, but it far antedates Christianlty and its use to the early spring as a symbol of the renewal of life is pagan. In ancient Persia the followers of Zoroaster, or Zarathustra as he calls himself to the Zend-Avesta, were taught to believe to two great deities contendtog for the egg of the universe. Ahura-Mazda was the power of good, or the god of light. Angro-Main-yus was the devil, or the power of evil, and these( two contended for possession of the world symbolised by the egg. The Red Egg a Symbol. nrOROASTRIANS have been called sun ■ worshippers by modern commentators, but the statement is considered toaccurate, Although Zoroastrians stood or knelt to awe at dawn, they did so, not in wqrship of the sun as literally a deity, but as the greatest symbol of light. So their priests built sacred flres to signify the spiritual meaning of light. Then, at the spring of the year, a§ the hours Qf sunlight began to increase, they celebrated the victory of light over darknes? r-day over night— by giving and receiving an egg, a§ the symbol of the world, for which the powers of good and evil contended. They coloured their eggs red to symbolise bloOd as the life force. The Parsees continue this custom to the present day. Zoroaster is undated to the sense that archaeological authorities cannot seem to agree within a few centuries as to the dates of his life. Ancient Greek writers place him somewhere between 5000 and 6000 before the Trojan War, but modern critics suppose him to have lived some time between 500 and 1000 years before Christ. * * * A T any rate, the coloured egg, as a symbol of new life, goes back far into antiquity. Festivals of spring were celebrated by the ancient Phoenicians, The Romans celebrated their Hilaria on March 25. The Greeks sang their Jouloi or song of gratitude, at the same season. The ancient Houli of Hindustan and the Persian festival of spring were celebrated at the same time of the year, and even ancient China had its festival of gratitude to Tien. In the old Norse sagas the earth was symbolised by an egg, and eggs were used in the worship of Baal. The giving and receiving of coloured eggs has been fcraced to the ' days of

Abraham. The Jews used the egg ae a symbol of new life when they fled from Egypt, and so it became a part of the Passover feast. From the earliest tlmes the dyes los colouring have been made from logwood, onion skins, pieces of coloured rags and furze flowers, and the colours produced have been yellow, violet, pink, red, gold and green. The Rabbit, Also. 'JHE connection of the hare, or rabbit, with spring festivals also datea far back of ihe Christian era. Indeed It goes back to the festival of the Chaldean goddess Istar, whose name is very similar to our word "Easter." This goddeas, j mentioned to the Bible as the "Astaroth of the Phoenicians"— the Astarte of the Greeks— represented the prtociple of reproduction in Na,ture . Ancient statues and bas-reliefs sometimes represent her as seated on a throne holding to her hand an egg (emblem of life) while beneath crouches a rabbjt (emblem of fertility). * • * Many interesting national customs have to do with the Easter egg. Bayard Taylor, in his "Byways of Europe," gives an account of an Eastern custom to Andorra, the little rqpublio situated te the heart of the Pyrenees, between France and Spain, which has enjoyed an independent existence since the days of Charlemagne. Taylor says; "Before Easter, the unmarried people make bats, which are won by whoever, on Easter morning, can first catch the other and ery out: 'It is Easter, the eggs are mine!' Tricks, falsehoods and deceptions of all ktods are permitted. Afterward, they all assemble in public, relate their tricks, eat their Easter eggs and the day dth songs and dances." MJTHEN the Dutch settled to New Amsterdam, the spring festival was a great time for merriment. Peter Stuyvesant was an earnest promoter of festivities, and in those times there was a custom of cracking eggs. This cracking of eggs was known in many countries. One person held one egg and another the other, and the two struck the eggs together. The winner was the one whose egg did not crack and the cracked egg was surrendered to the possessor of the whole one. The Dutch to New Amsterdam boiled and orpamented the eggs so that they were both good to mt to look at.