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{{Short description|Decorated egg}}
{{about|special eggs painted around Easter|a secret message hidden in media|[[wikipedia:Easter egg (media)|Easter egg (media)]]}}
{{More citations needed|date=February 2020}}
[[File:Bg-easter-eggs.jpg|thumb|Decorated Easter eggs]]
[[File:Unfinished pysanka.jpg|thumb|Easter egg of the Ukrainian variety with the [[wikipedia:Paschal greeting|Paschal greeting]] "Christ is Risen!" ]]
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'''Easter eggs''', also called '''Paschal eggs''',<ref>[http://www.holycrossonline.org/our_parish/lenten_resource_center/articles/legend-of-paschal-eggs.pdf The Legend of Paschal Eggs (Holy Cross Antiochian Orthodox Church)]</ref> and '''Egg of Easter''' are [[wikipedia:egg|egg]]s that are sometimes [[wikipedia:Egg decorating|decorated]]. They are usually used as gifts on the occasion of [[wikipedia:Easter|Easter]]. As such, Easter eggs are common during the season of [[wikipedia:Eastertide|Eastertide]] (Easter season). The oldest tradition is to use dyed and painted chicken eggs, but a modern custom is to substitute chocolate eggs wrapped in coloured [[wikipedia:foil (metal)|foil]], hand-carved wooden eggs, or plastic eggs filled with [[wikipedia:confectionery|confectionery]] such as [[wikipedia:chocolate|chocolate]]. However, real eggs continue to be used in [[wikipedia:Central Europe|Central]] and [[wikipedia:Eastern Europe|Eastern Europe]]an tradition.

Although eggs, in general, were a traditional symbol of fertility and rebirth,<ref name="fertility">{{cite book|url= https://archive.org/details/oxfordcompaniont0000leem|url-access= registration|page= [https://archive.org/details/oxfordcompaniont0000leem/page/111 111]|title= The Oxford Companion to World Mythology|publisher= [[wikipedia:Oxford University Press|Oxford University Press]]|author= David Leeming|quote=For many, Easter is synonymous with fertility symbols such as the Easter Rabbit, Easter Eggs, and the Easter lily.|year=2005|access-date =10 March 2013}}</ref> in [[wikipedia:Christianity|Christianity]], for the celebration of Eastertide, Easter eggs symbolize the [[wikipedia:empty tomb|empty tomb]] of [[wikipedia:Jesus|Jesus]], from which Jesus was [[wikipedia:resurrection of Jesus|resurrected]].<ref name=Meaning>{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=mzKVPZthGHUC&q=easter+egg+Christian&pg=PA51|title= Christianity|publisher= [[wikipedia:Nelson Thornes|Nelson Thornes]]|author= Anne Jordan|quote=Easter eggs are used as a Christian symbol to represent the empty tomb. The outside of the egg looks dead but inside there is new life, which is going to break out. The Easter egg is a reminder that Jesus will rise from His tomb and bring new life. Orthodox Christians dye boiled eggs red to make red Easter eggs that represent the blood of Christ shed for the sins of the world.|date=5 April 2000|isbn= 9780748753208|access-date =7 April 2012}}</ref><ref name=Symbolism>{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=hPMVAAAAYAAJ&q=easter+egg+empty+tomb&pg=PA119|title= The Guardian, Volume 29|publisher=H. Harbaugh|quote=Just so, on that first Easter morning, Jesus came to life and walked out of the tomb, and left it, as it were, an empty shell. Just so, too, when the Christian dies, the body is left in the grave, an empty shell, but the soul takes wings and flies away to be with God. Thus you see that though an egg seems to be as dead as a stone, yet it really has life in it; and also it is like Christ's dead body, which was raised to life again. This is the reason we use eggs on Easter. (In days past some used to color the eggs red, so as to show the kind of death by which Christ died,-a ''bloody'' death.)|year=1878|access-date =7 April 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Wn-38NunUnAC&q=easter+egg+Christian&pg=PT120|title= Christian belief and practice|publisher=[[wikipedia:Heinemann (publisher)|Heinemann]]|author= Gordon Geddes, Jane Griffiths|quote=Red eggs are given to Orthodox Christians after the Easter Liturgy. They crack their eggs against each other's. The cracking of the eggs symbolizes a wish to break away from the bonds of sin and misery and enter the new life issuing from Christ's resurrection.|date=22 Jan 2002|isbn= 9780435306915|access-date =7 April 2012}}</ref> In addition, one ancient tradition was the staining of Easter eggs with the colour red "in memory of the [[wikipedia:blood of Christ|blood of Christ]], shed as at that time of his crucifixion."<ref name=Meaning/><ref name="Ellis1877">{{cite book|title=Popular antiquities of Great Britain|access-date=26 March 2016|year=1877|language=en|page=[https://archive.org/details/observationsonp02unkngoog/page/n119 90]|author=Henry Ellis|author-link=Henry Ellis (librarian)|url=https://archive.org/details/observationsonp02unkngoog|quote=[[wikipedia:Thomas Hyde|Hyde]], in his Oriental Sports (1694), tells us one with eggs among the Christians of Mesopotamia on Easter Day and forty days afterwards, during which time their children buy themselves as many eggs as they can, stain them with a red colour in memory of the blood of Christ, shed as at that time of his crucifixion. Some tinge them with green and yellow.}}</ref>

This custom of the Easter egg, according to many sources, can be traced to [[wikipedia:early Christians|early Christians]] of [[wikipedia:Mesopotamia|Mesopotamia]], and from there it spread into Eastern Europe and Siberia through the Orthodox Churches, and later into Europe through the Catholic and Protestant Churches.<ref name="Ellis1877"/><ref name="Thompson2013">{{cite book|last=Thompson|first=Kenneth|title=Culture & Progress: Early Sociology of Culture, Volume 8|date=21 August 2013|publisher=[[wikipedia:Routledge|Routledge]]|language=en |isbn=9781136479403|page=138|quote=In Mesopotamia children secured during the 40-day period following Easter day as many eggs as possible and dyed them red, "in memory of the blood of Christ shed at that time of his Crucifixion"--a rationalization. Dyed eggs were sold in the market, green and yellow being favorite colors. The use of eggs at Easter seems to have come from Persia into the Greek Christian Churches of Mesopotamia, thence to Russia and Siberia through the medium of Orthodox Christianity. From the Greek Church the custom was adopted by either the Roman Catholics or the Protestants and then spread through Europe.}}<!--|access-date=26 March 2016--></ref><ref name=History/><ref name=Itihaas/> Other sources maintain  that the custom arose in western Europe during the Middle Ages as a result of the fact that [[wikipedia:Western Christianity|Western Christians]] were prohibited from eating eggs during [[wikipedia:Lent|Lent]], but were allowed to eat them when Easter arrived.<ref name="Gainsford2018"/><ref name="D'Costa"/>

==History==
The practice of [[wikipedia:Egg decorating|decorating eggshells]] is quite ancient,<ref name="pre-Christian">{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=S5BZAAAAYAAJ&q=decorating+eggs+pre-Christian|title= Wycinanki and pysanky: forms of religious and ethnic folk art from the Delaware Valley|publisher= University of Pittsburgh|author= Neil R. Grobman|quote=During the spring cycle of festivals, ancient pre-Christian peoples used decorated eggs to welcome the sun and to help ensure the fertility of the fields, river ...|year=1981|access-date =18 April 2014}}</ref> with decorated, engraved [[wikipedia:ostrich egg|ostrich egg]]s found in Africa which are 60,000 years old.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/egg-cetera-6-hunting-for-the-world%E2%80%99s-oldest-decorated-eggs |title=Egg Cetera #6: Hunting for the world's oldest decorated eggs &#124; University of Cambridge |publisher=Cam.ac.uk |date=2012-04-10 |access-date=2013-03-31}}</ref> In the [[wikipedia:Prehistoric Egypt|pre-dynastic period]] of [[wikipedia:Egypt|Egypt]] and the early cultures of [[wikipedia:Mesopotamia|Mesopotamia]] and [[wikipedia:Crete|Crete]], eggs were associated with death and rebirth, as well as with kingship, with decorated ostrich eggs, and representations of ostrich eggs in gold and silver, were commonly placed in graves of the ancient Sumerians and Egyptians as early as 5,000 years ago.<ref>Treasures from Royal Tombs of Ur By Richard L. Zettler, Lee Horne, Donald P. Hansen, Holly Pittman 1998 pgs 70-72</ref> These cultural relationships may have influenced early Christian and Islamic cultures in those areas, as well as through mercantile, religious, and political links from those areas around the Mediterranean.<ref name=Green>{{cite journal|last=Green|first=Nile|journal=Al-Masaq: Journal of the Medieval Mediterranean|volume=18|issue=1|year=2006|title=Ostrich Eggs and Peacock feathers: Sacred Objects as Cultural Exchange between Christianity and Islam|quote=This article uses the wide dispersal of ostrich eggs and peacock feathers among the different cultural contexts of the Mediterranean – and beyond into the Indian Ocean world – to explore the nature and limits of cultural inheritance and exchange between Christianity and Islam. These avian materials previously possessed symbolic meaning and material value as early as the pre-dynastic period in Egypt, as well as amid the early cultures of Mesopotamia and Crete. The main early cultural associations of the eggs and feathers were with death/resurrection and kingship respectively, a symbolism that was passed on into early Christian and Muslim usage. Mercantile, religious and political links across the premodern Mediterranean meant that these items found parallel employment all around the Mediterranean littoral, and beyond it, in Arabia, South Asia and Africa.}}</ref>

[[File:Red Paschal Egg with Cross.JPG|thumb|right|Red-coloured Easter egg with [[wikipedia:Christian cross|Christian cross]], from the Saint Kosmas Aitolos Greek Orthodox Monastery]]
According to many sources, the Christian custom of Easter eggs was adopted from Persian tradition into the [[wikipedia:early Christians|early Christians]] of [[wikipedia:Mesopotamia|Mesopotamia]], who stained them with red colouring "in memory of the blood of Christ, shed at His [[wikipedia:Crucifixion of Jesus|crucifixion]]".<ref name="Thompson2013"/><ref name="Williams2016">{{cite book|last=Williams|first=Victoria |title=Celebrating Life Customs around the World|date=21 November 2016|publisher=[[wikipedia:ABC-CLIO|ABC-CLIO]]|language=en |isbn=9781440836596|page=2|quote=The history of the Easter egg can be traced back to the time of the advent of Christianity in Mesopotamia (around the first to the third century), when people use to stain eggs red as a reminder of the blood spilled by Christ during the Crucifixion. In time, the Christian church in general adopted this custom with the eggs considered to be a symbol of both Christ's death and Resurrection. Moreover, in the earliest days of Christianity Easter eggs were considered symbolic of the tomb in which Jesus's corpse was laid after the Crucifixion for eggs, as a near universal symbol of fertility and life, were like Jesus's tomb, something from which new life came forth.}}</ref><ref name="Ellis1877"/><ref name=History>{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=TinZAAAAMAAJ&q=easter+egg+Christians+Mesopotamia&pg=PA558|title= Donahoe's Magazine, Volume 5|publisher=T.B. Noonan|quote=The early Christians of Mesopotamia had the custom of dyeing and decorating eggs at Easter. They were stained red, in memory of the blood of Christ, shed at His crucifixion. The Church adopted the custom, and regarded the eggs as the emblem of the resurrection, as is evinced by the benediction of Pope Paul V., about 1610, which reads thus: "Bless, O Lord! we beseech thee, this thy creature of eggs, that it may become a wholesome sustenance to thy faithful servants, eating it in thankfulness to thee on account of the resurrection of the Lord." Thus the custom has come down from ages lost in antiquity.)|year=1881|access-date =7 April 2012}}</ref><ref name=Itihaas>{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=CRvzTM0kev4C&q=In+many+countries+the+name+of+the+Christian+feast+we+call+Easter&pg=PA96|title= Welcome to the Church Year: An Introduction to the Seasons of the Episcopal Church|author=Vicki K. Black|publisher= Church Publishing, Inc.|quote=The Christians of this region in Mesopotamia were probably the first to connect the decorating of eggs with the feast of the resurrection of Christ, and by the Middle Ages this practice was so widespread that in some places Easter Day was called Egg Sunday. In parts of Europe, the eggs were dyed red and were then cracked together when people exchanged Easter greetings. Many congregations today continue to have Easter egg hunts for the children after services on Easter Day.|date= 1 Jul 2004|isbn= 9780819219664}}</ref>  The [[wikipedia:Christian Church|Christian Church]] officially adopted the custom, regarding the eggs as a symbol of the [[wikipedia:resurrection of Jesus|resurrection of Jesus]], with the [[wikipedia:Roman Ritual|Roman Ritual]], the first edition of which was published in 1610 but which has texts of much older date, containing among the Easter Blessings of Food, one for eggs, along with those for lamb, bread, and new produce.<ref name=History/><ref name="Itihaas" /> {{quotation|Lord, let the grace of your blessing + come upon these eggs, that they be healthful food for your faithful who eat them in thanksgiving for the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you forever and ever.<ref>[http://www.ewtn.com/library/prayer/roman2.txt The Roman Ritual. Part XI, Blessings and other sacramentals]</ref>|author=|title=|source=}}

Sociology professor Kenneth Thompson discusses the spread of the Easter egg throughout [[wikipedia:Christendom|Christendom]], writing that "use of eggs at Easter seems to have come from Persia into the Greek Christian Churches of Mesopotamia, thence to Russia and Siberia through the medium of Orthodox Christianity. From the Greek Church the custom was adopted by either the Roman Catholics or the Protestants and then spread through Europe."<ref name="Thompson2013"/> Both Thompson, as well as British orientalist [[wikipedia:Thomas Hyde|Thomas Hyde]] state that in addition to dyeing the eggs red, the early Christians of Mesopotamia also stained Easter eggs green and yellow.<ref name="Ellis1877"/><ref name="Thompson2013"/>

Peter Gainsford maintains that the association between eggs and Easter most likely arose in western Europe during the Middle Ages as a result of the fact that Catholic Christians were prohibited from eating eggs during Lent, but were allowed to eat them when Easter arrived.<ref name="Gainsford2018"/><ref name="D'Costa"/>

Influential 19th century [[wikipedia:folkloristics|folklorist]] and [[wikipedia:philology|philologist]] [[wikipedia:Jacob Grimm|Jacob Grimm]] speculates, in the second volume of his ''[[wikipedia:Deutsche Mythologie|Deutsche Mythologie]]'', that the [[wikipedia:folk custom|folk custom]] of Easter eggs among the continental Germanic peoples may have stemmed from springtime festivities of a [[wikipedia:list of Germanic deities|Germanic goddess]] known in Old English as [[wikipedia:Ēostre|Ēostre]] (namesake of modern English ''Easter'') and possibly known in Old High German as *''Ostara'' (and thus namesake of Modern German ''Ostern'' 'Easter'). However, despite Grimm's speculation, there is no evidence to connect eggs with Ostara.<ref name="D'Costa"/> The use of eggs as favors or treats at Easter originated when they were prohibited during Lent.<ref name="Gainsford2018">{{cite web |last1=Gainsford |first1=Peter |date=26 March 2018|title=Easter and paganism. Part 2 |url=http://kiwihellenist.blogspot.com/2018/03/easter-and-paganism-2.html |website=Kiwi Hellenist |access-date=28 November 2019}}</ref><ref name="D'Costa"/> A common practice in England in the medieval period was for children to go door-to-door begging for eggs on the Saturday before Lent began. People handed out eggs as special treats for children prior to their [[wikipedia:Fasting#Christianity|fast]].<ref name="D'Costa">{{Cite web |url=https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/anthropology-in-practice/beyond-ishtar-the-tradition-of-eggs-at-easter/ |title=Beyond Ishtar: The Tradition of Eggs at Easter |last=D'Costa |first=Krystal |website=Scientific American |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180328170422/https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/anthropology-in-practice/beyond-ishtar-the-tradition-of-eggs-at-easter/ |archive-date=28 March 2018 |url-status=live |access-date=28 March 2018}}</ref>

Although one of the Christian traditions are to use dyed or painted chicken eggs, a modern custom is to substitute chocolate eggs, or plastic eggs filled with [[wikipedia:candy|candy]] such as [[wikipedia:jelly bean|jelly bean]]s; as many people give up sweets as their [[wikipedia:Lenten sacrifice|Lenten sacrifice]], individuals enjoy them at Easter after having abstained from them during the preceding forty days of [[wikipedia:Lent|Lent]].<ref name="Shoda2014">{{cite book |last1=Shoda |first1=Richard W. |title=Saint Alphonsus: Capuchins, Closures, and Continuity (1956-2011) |date=2014 |publisher=Dorrance Publishing |isbn=978-1-4349-2948-8 |page=128 |language=en}}</ref> These eggs can be hidden for children to find on Easter morning, which may be left by the [[wikipedia:Easter Bunny|Easter Bunny]]. They may also be put in a [[wikipedia:basket|basket]] filled with real or artificial straw to resemble a [[wikipedia:bird nest|bird's nest]].

==Traditions and customs==
{{Main|Egg decorating||Pisanica (Croatian)|Pysanka|Święconka}}
[[File:Uskršnja košarica2.jpg|thumb|Croatian [[wikipedia:Easter basket|Easter basket]]]]
[[File:Święcone2007.jpg|thumb|left|Blessing of Easter foods in [[wikipedia:Poland|Poland]]]]
[[File:Pasxalina abga.jpg|thumb|Red coloured Easter eggs]]

===Lenten tradition===
The Easter egg tradition may also have merged into the celebration of the end of the privations of [[wikipedia:Lent|Lent]] in the West.
Historically, it was traditional to use up all of the household's eggs before Lent began.
Eggs were originally forbidden during [[wikipedia:Lent|Lent]] as well as on other traditional [[wikipedia:fasting|fast]] days in [[wikipedia:Western Christianity|Western Christianity]] (this tradition still continues among the [[wikipedia:Eastern Christian Churches|Eastern Christian Churches]]). Likewise, in [[wikipedia:Eastern Christianity|Eastern Christianity]], meat, eggs, and [[wikipedia:dairy|dairy]] are all prohibited during the [[wikipedia:Great Lent|Lenten fast]].

This established the tradition of [[wikipedia:Shrove Tuesday|Pancake Day]] being celebrated on [[wikipedia:Shrove Tuesday|Shrove Tuesday]]. This day, the Tuesday before [[wikipedia:Ash Wednesday|Ash Wednesday]] when Lent begins, is also known as [[wikipedia:Mardi Gras|Mardi Gras]], a French phrase which translates as "Fat Tuesday" to mark the last consumption of eggs and dairy before Lent begins.

In the Orthodox Church, [[wikipedia:Great Lent|Great Lent]] begins on [[wikipedia:Clean Monday|Clean Monday]], rather than Wednesday, so the household's dairy products would be used up in the preceding week, called [[wikipedia:Cheesefare Week|Cheesefare Week]].

During Lent, since chickens would not stop producing eggs during this time, a larger than usual store might be available at the end of the fast. This surplus, if any, had to be eaten quickly to prevent spoiling. Then, with the coming of Easter, the eating of eggs resumes.  Some families cook a special meatloaf with eggs in it to be eaten with the Easter dinner.

One would have been forced to hard boil the [[wikipedia:boiled egg|eggs]] that the chickens produced so as not to waste food, and for this reason the [[wikipedia:Spain|Spanish]] dish [[wikipedia:hornazo|hornazo]] (traditionally eaten on and around Easter) contains hard-boiled eggs as a primary ingredient.
In [[wikipedia:Hungary|Hungary]], eggs are used sliced in potato casseroles around the Easter period.

===Symbolism and related customs===
Some Christians symbolically link the cracking open of Easter eggs with the [[wikipedia:empty tomb|empty tomb]] of Jesus.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/12170383/When-is-Easter-2016-What-are-the-dates-for-Good-Friday-Easter-Sunday-and-Easter-Monday.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160224015808/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/12170383/When-is-Easter-2016-What-are-the-dates-for-Good-Friday-Easter-Sunday-and-Easter-Monday.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=24 February 2016|title=When is Easter 2016? What are the dates for Good Friday, Easter Sunday and Easter Monday|last=Allen|first=Emily|date=25 December 2016|newspaper=[[wikipedia:The Daily Telegraph|The Daily Telegraph]]|language=en|access-date=26 February 2016|quote=Eggs illustrate new life, just as Jesus began his new life on East Sunday after the miracle of his resurrection. When eggs are cracked open they are said to symbolise an empty tomb.}}</ref>

In the Orthodox churches, Easter eggs are [[wikipedia:blessing|blessed]] by the priest at the end of the [[wikipedia:Paschal Vigil|Paschal Vigil]] (which is equivalent to [[wikipedia:Holy Saturday|Holy Saturday]]), and distributed to the faithful. The egg is seen by followers of [[wikipedia:Christianity|Christianity]] as a symbol of [[wikipedia:Resurrection of Jesus|resurrection]]: while being dormant it contains a new life sealed within it.<ref name=Meaning/><ref name="Symbolism"/>

Similarly, in the [[wikipedia:Roman Catholic Church|Roman Catholic Church]] in [[wikipedia:Poland|Poland]], the so-called [[wikipedia:święconka|święconka]], i.e. blessing of decorative baskets with a sampling of Easter eggs and other symbolic foods, is one of the most enduring and beloved Polish traditions on Holy Saturday.

During [[wikipedia:Paschaltide|Paschaltide]], in some traditions the Pascal greeting with the Easter egg is even extended to the deceased. On either the second Monday or Tuesday of Pascha, after a [[wikipedia:memorial service (Orthodox)|memorial service]] people bring blessed eggs to the cemetery and bring the joyous [[wikipedia:paschal greeting|paschal greeting]], "Christ has risen", to their beloved departed (see [[wikipedia:Radonitza|Radonitza]]).

In [[wikipedia:Greece|Greece]], women traditionally dye the eggs with onion skins and vinegar on Thursday (also the day of [[wikipedia:Communion rite|Communion]]). These ceremonial eggs are known as kokkina avga. They also bake [[wikipedia:tsoureki|tsoureki]] for the Easter Sunday feast.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dominiquesvillas.co.uk/en/blog/index.cfm/kalo-paska-happy-easter|title=Kalo Paska - Happy Easter|first=Natalie|last=Wagstaff|access-date=2014-12-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141226123024/http://www.dominiquesvillas.co.uk/en/blog/index.cfm/kalo-paska-happy-easter|archive-date=2014-12-26|url-status=dead}}</ref> Red Easter eggs are sometimes served along the centerline of tsoureki (braided loaf of bread).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nola.com/food/index.ssf/2014/04/todays_easterpassover_recipe_f_1.html|title=Today's Recipe from Our Files: Greek Easter bread, Tsoueki}}</ref><ref>Red and Butter, Martha Stewart magazine</ref>

In [[wikipedia:Egypt|Egypt]], it is a tradition to decorate boiled eggs during [[wikipedia:Sham el-Nessim|Sham el-Nessim]] holiday, which falls every year after the [[wikipedia:Eastern Christianity|Eastern Christian]] [[wikipedia:Easter|Easter]].

Coincidentally, every Passover, Jews place a hard-boiled egg on the Passover ceremonial plate, and the celebrants also eat hard-boiled eggs dipped in salt water as part of the ceremony.

===Colouring===
[[File:Ostereier - Easter eggs.jpg|thumb|Easter eggs before and after colouring]]
[[File:Urządzenie podgrzewające kolorowy wosk do malowania pisanek - detal.jpg|thumb|Heated wax paint used to decorate traditional Easter Eggs in the Czech Republic]]
The dyeing of Easter eggs in different colours is commonplace, with colour being achieved through boiling the egg in natural substances (such as, [[wikipedia:onion|onion]] peel (brown colour), [[wikipedia:oak|oak]] or [[wikipedia:alder|alder]] bark or [[wikipedia:walnut|walnut]] nutshell (black), [[wikipedia:beet|beet]] juice (pink) etc.), or using [[wikipedia:artificial colouring|artificial colouring]]s.

A greater variety of colour was often provided by tying on the onion skin with different coloured woollen [[wikipedia:yarn|yarn]]. In the North of England these are called pace-eggs or paste-eggs, from a dialectal form of Middle English ''pasche''. [[wikipedia:Edward I of England|King Edward I]]'s household accounts in 1290 list an item of ‘one shilling and sixpence for the decoration and distribution of 450 Pace-eggs!’,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Pace Egging|url=https://www.historic-uk.com/CultureUK/Pace-Egging/|access-date=2021-02-16|website=Historic UK|language=en-GB}}</ref> which were to be coloured or gilded and given to members of the royal household.<ref>{{Cite web|title=How did giving these become a Yorkshire tradition at Easter?|url=https://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/18371517.history-behind-easter-pace-eggs-yorks-castle-museum/|access-date=2021-02-16|website=York Press|language=en}}</ref> Traditionally in England, eggs were wrapped in [[wikipedia:onion|onion]] skins and boiled to make their shells look like mottled gold, or wrapped in flowers and leaves first in order to leave a pattern, which parallels a custom practised in traditional [[wikipedia:Scandinavia|Scandinavian]] culture.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Hall|first=Stephanie|date=2017-04-06|title=The Ancient Art of Decorating Eggs {{!}} Folklife Today|url=https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife/2017/04/decorating-eggs/#:~:text=In%20some%20regions%20solid-color,a%20symbol%20of%20Christ's%20blood.|access-date=2021-02-16|website=blogs.loc.gov}}</ref> Eggs could also be drawn on with a wax candle before staining, often with a person’s name and date on the egg.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|title=How did giving these become a Yorkshire tradition at Easter?|url=https://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/18371517.history-behind-easter-pace-eggs-yorks-castle-museum/|access-date=2021-02-16|website=York Press|language=en}}</ref> Pace Eggs were generally eaten for breakfast on [[wikipedia:Easter|Easter Sunday]] breakfast. Alternatively, they could be kept as decorations, used in egg-jarping ([[wikipedia:egg tapping|egg tapping]]) games, or given to [[wikipedia:Pace Egg play|Pace Eggers]]. In more recent centuries in England, eggs have been stained with coffee grains<ref name=":2" /> or simply boiled and painted in their shells.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Pace Egging: A Lancashire Tradition|url=https://www.timetravel-britain.com/articles/history/pace-egging.shtml|access-date=2021-02-16|website=www.timetravel-britain.com}}</ref>

In the Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches, Easter eggs are dyed red to represent the [[wikipedia:blood of Christ|blood of Christ]], with further symbolism being found in the hard shell of the egg symbolizing the sealed [[wikipedia:Holy Sepulchre|Tomb of Christ]] — the cracking of which symbolized his resurrection from the dead. The tradition of red easter eggs was used by the [[wikipedia:Russian Orthodox Church|Russian Orthodox Church]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tripsavvy.com/red-in-russian-culture-1502319|title=In Russia the Color Red Represents More Than You Know|website=TripSavvy|access-date=2019-03-19}}</ref> The tradition to dying the easter eggs in an Onion tone exists in the cultures of [[wikipedia:Armenia|Armenia]], [[wikipedia:Georgia (country)|Georgia]], [[wikipedia:Belarus|Belarus]], [[wikipedia:Russia|Russia]], [[wikipedia:Czech Republic|Czechia]], [[wikipedia:Romania|Romania]], and [[wikipedia:Israel|Israel]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-dye-easter-eggs-with-onion-skins-holiday-projects-from-the-kitchn-217489|title=How To Dye Easter Eggs with Onion Skins|website=Kitchn|language=en|access-date=2019-03-19}}</ref> The colour is made by boiling onion peel in water.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rbth.com/russian-kitchen/327928-how-to-paint-easter-eggs|title=How to paint Easter eggs with onion, coffee and beets (PHOTOS)|last=Sorokina|first=Anna|date=2018-03-29|website=www.rbth.com|language=en-US|access-date=2019-03-19}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.eastbook.eu/en/2015/03/28/the-easter-tradititons-in-belarus/|title=The Easter Traditions in Belarus|last1=DONORSGrajewski|first1=DONORS GOLDEN|last2=rzej|date=2015-03-28|website=Eastbook.eu|language=en-US|access-date=2019-03-19|last3=Asia|first3=Hołdys|last4=Tomasz|first4=Horbowski|last5=Wojciech|first5=Jakóbik|last6=Kostek|last7=rzej|last8=Paweł|first8=Lickiewicz|last9=Filip|first9=Lachert|archive-date=2019-03-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190329074423/https://www.eastbook.eu/en/2015/03/28/the-easter-tradititons-in-belarus/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Patterning===
When boiling them with onion skins leaves can be attached prior to dying to create leaf patterns. The leaves are attached to the eggs before they are dyed with a transparent cloth to wrap the eggs with like inexpensive muslin or nylon stockings, leaving patterns once the leaves are removed after the dyeing process.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.seriouseats.com/2010/04/how-to-dye-easter-eggs-naturally-without-a-box-onion-skins-beets-cabbage.html|title=How to Dye Easter eggs naturally without a box onion skins beets cabbage|publisher=seriouseats.com|access-date=<!-- 2014 -->}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://natashaskitchen.com/2013/03/19/natural-easter-eggs-3-ways/|title=Natural Easter Eggs 3 Ways!/ with nylon stockings|publisher=natashaskitchen.com|access-date=<!-- 2014 -->}}</ref> These eggs are part of [[wikipedia:Easter custom|Easter custom]] in many areas and often accompany other traditional [[wikipedia:Easter food|Easter food]]s. [[wikipedia:Passover|Passover]] [[wikipedia:haminados|haminados]] are prepared with similar methods.

[[wikipedia:Pysanky|Pysanky]]<ref>[[wikipedia:Pysanka|Culture – Pysanky]], [http://www.ukrainiandirectory.org/index.htm Ukrainian International Directory]</ref> are Ukrainian Easter eggs, decorated using a wax-resist ([[wikipedia:batik|batik]]) method. The word comes from the verb ''pysaty'', "to write", as the designs are not painted on, but written with [[wikipedia:beeswax|beeswax]].

Decorating eggs for Easter using wax resistant batik is a popular method in some other eastern European countries.

=== Use of Easter eggs in decorations ===
In some [[wikipedia:Mediterranean|Mediterranean]] countries, especially in [[wikipedia:Lebanon|Lebanon]], chicken eggs are boiled and decorated by dye and/or painting and used as decoration<ref>{{Cite web|title=Osterdeko - fünf Ideen rund um das Osterei {{!}} Anton Doll Holzmanufaktur|url=https://www.antondoll.de/blog/osterdeko-fuenf-ideen-rund-um-das-osterei|access-date=2020-08-18|website=www.antondoll.de}}</ref> around the house. Then, on [[wikipedia:Easter Day|Easter Day]], young kids would duel with them saying 'Christ is resurrected, Indeed, He is', breaking and eating them. This also happens in [[wikipedia:Georgia (country)|Georgia]], [[wikipedia:Bulgaria|Bulgaria]], [[wikipedia:Cyprus|Cyprus]], [[wikipedia:Greece|Greece]], Macedonia, [[wikipedia:Romania|Romania]], Russia, Serbia and Ukraine. In Easter Sunday friends and family hit each other's egg with their own. The one whose egg does not break is believed to be in for good luck in the future.

In Germany, eggs decorate trees and bushes as [[wikipedia:Easter egg tree|Easter egg tree]]s, and in several areas public wells as [[wikipedia:Osterbrunnen|Osterbrunnen]].

There used to be a custom in [[wikipedia:Ukraine|Ukraine]], during Easter celebrations to have ''[[wikipedia:krashanky|krashanky]]'' on a table in a bowl with wheatgrass. The number of the ''krashanky'' equalled the number of departed family members.<ref>Yakovenko, Svitlana 2017, “The Magical Dyed Egg – Krashanka” in [http://sovabooks.com.au/the-book-about-ukrainian-easter/ ''Traditional Velykden: Ukrainian Easter Recipes''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170326225539/http://sovabooks.com.au/the-book-about-ukrainian-easter/ |date=2017-03-26 }}, Sova Books, Sydney</ref>

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<gallery>
File:Pysanky2011.JPG|Ukrainian Easter eggs
File:Sorbische Ostereier.jpg|Easter eggs from [[wikipedia:Sorbs|Sorbs]]
File:Marguciai2. 2007-04-21.jpg|Easter eggs from [[wikipedia:Lithuania|Lithuania]]
File:Sleepingbeauty.jpg|Perforated egg from [[wikipedia:Germany|Germany]], Sleeping Beauty
File:Egg dekorerte.jpg|Norwegian Easter eggs
File:Ostereier-Griechenland.JPG|Easter eggs from [[wikipedia:Greece|Greece]]
File:Pisanki ażurowe.jpg|Perforated eggs
File:Oeuf de paque.JPG|Easter eggs from [[wikipedia:France|France]]
File:White House Easter Egg Roll.jpg|American Easter egg from the [[wikipedia:White House|White House]] [[wikipedia:Washington, D.C.|Washington, D.C.]]
File:Oeufs.jpg|Pace eggs boiled with onion skins and leaf patterns.
File:Red and blue Easter eggs.jpg|Easter eggs decorated with straw
File:04 Easter eggs at a Cultural Miner's House in Sanok.JPG|Easter egg from [[wikipedia:Poland|Poland]]
File:Washi Egg Japan US 2.png|[[wikipedia:Washi eggs|Washi egg]] from Japan

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== Easter egg games ==
[[File:Easter Egg Hunt (5623253840).jpg|thumb|Eggs hidden for an [[Egg hunt|Easter egg hunt]]]]

===Egg hunts===
An [[wikipedia:egg hunt|egg hunt]] is a game in which [[wikipedia:decorated egg|decorated egg]]s, which may be hard-boiled chicken eggs, [[wikipedia:chocolate|chocolate]] eggs, or artificial eggs containing [[wikipedia:candy|candies]], are hidden for children to find. The eggs often vary in size, and may be hidden both indoors and outdoors.<ref name="puritan">{{cite book| author= A. Munsey Pu Frank a. Munsey Publishers| title= The Puritan April to September 1900| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=yWRr8MnGI7EC&pg=PA119| date= March 2005| publisher= Kessinger Publishing| isbn= 978-1-4191-7421-6| page= 119 }}</ref> When the hunt is over, prizes may be given for the largest number of eggs collected, or for the largest or the smallest egg.<ref name=puritan/>

The central European Slavic nations ([[wikipedia:Czechs|Czechs]] and [[wikipedia:Slovaks|Slovaks]] etc.) have a tradition of gathering eggs by gaining them from the females in return of whipping them with a pony-tail shaped whip made out of fresh willow branches and splashing them with water, by the [[wikipedia:Ruthenians|Ruthenian]]s called ''polivanja'', which is supposed to give them health and beauty.

[[wikipedia:Cascarón|Cascarones]], a Latin American tradition now shared by many US States with high Hispanic demographics, are emptied and dried chicken eggs stuffed with confetti and sealed with a piece of tissue paper. The eggs are hidden in a similar tradition to the American Easter egg hunt and when found the children (and adults) break them over each other's heads.

In order to enable children to take part in egg hunts despite visual impairment, eggs have been created that emit various clicks, beeps, noises, or music so that visually impaired children can easily hunt for Easter eggs.<ref>{{cite news |last= Tillery |first= Carolyn |title= Annual Dallas Easter egg hunt for blind children scheduled for Thursday |work= [[wikipedia:The Dallas Morning News|The Dallas Morning News]]
| date= 2008-03-15 |url= http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/DN-elfocus_15met.ART.North.Edition1.462ecab.html |access-date= 2008-03-27}}</ref>

===Egg rolling===
[[wikipedia:Egg rolling|Egg rolling]] is also a traditional Easter egg game played with eggs at Easter. In the United Kingdom, Germany, and other countries children traditionally rolled eggs down hillsides at Easter.<ref name="inventors">{{cite web|url=http://inventors.about.com/od/estartinventions/a/easter_2.htm |title=Easter Eggs - Egg Rolling |publisher=Inventors.about.com |date=2012-04-09 |access-date=2012-09-24}}</ref> This tradition was taken to the [[wikipedia:New World|New World]] by European settlers,<ref name="inventors"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wyrdology.com/festivals/easter/egg-rolling.html|title=Easter Eggs: their origins, tradition and symbolism|publisher=Wyrdology.com|access-date=2008-03-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517013408/http://www.wyrdology.com/festivals/easter/egg-rolling.html|archive-date=2008-05-17|url-status=dead}}</ref> and continues to this day each Easter with an [[wikipedia:Easter egg roll|Easter egg roll]] on the [[wikipedia:White House|White House]] lawn. Different nations have different versions of the game.

===Egg tapping===
[[File:Eierkippen.jpg|thumb|left|Eggs after an egg tapping competition (red wins)]]
In the [[wikipedia:North of England|North of England]], during Eastertide, a traditional game is played where hard boiled ''pace eggs'' are distributed and each player hits the other player's egg with their own. This is known as "[[wikipedia:egg tapping|egg tapping]]", "egg dumping", or "egg jarping". The winner is the holder of the last intact egg. The annual egg jarping world championship is held every year over Easter in [[wikipedia:Peterlee|Peterlee]], [[wikipedia:Durham, England|Durham]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hutchinson |first1=Pamela |title=Egg jarping: when hard-boiled eggs come to blows |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/shortcuts/2012/apr/08/egg-jarping-hardboiled-eggs-blows |access-date=14 June 2019 |work=The Guardian |date=8 April 2012}}</ref>

It is also practiced in Italy (where it is called ''scuccetta''), Bulgaria, Hungary, Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Lebanon, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia (where it is called ''turčanje'' or ''trkanje''), Ukraine, Russia, and other countries. In parts of Austria, Bavaria and German-speaking Switzerland it is called ''Ostereiertitschen'' or ''Eierpecken''. In parts of Europe it is also called ''epper'', presumably from the German name ''Opfer'', meaning "offering" and in Greece it is known as ''tsougrisma''. In South [[wikipedia:Louisiana|Louisiana]], this practice is called pocking eggs<ref>{{cite web |title=Pocking eggs or la toquette |url=http://creolecajun.blogspot.com/2008/03/pocking-eggs-or-la-toquette.html|publisher=Creolecajun.blogspot.com |access-date=2008-03-20}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=If Your Eggs Are Cracked, Please Step Down: Easter Egg Knocking in Marksville |url=http://www.louisianafolklife.org/LT/Articles_Essays/creole_art_egg_knocking.html |access-date=2008-03-20}}</ref> and is slightly different. The [[wikipedia:Louisiana Creole people|Louisiana Creoles]] hold that the winner eats the eggs of the losers in each round.

In the Greek Orthodox tradition, red eggs are also cracked together when people exchange Easter greetings.

=== Egg dance ===
[[wikipedia:Egg dance|Egg dance]] is a traditional Easter game in which eggs are laid on the ground or floor and the goal is to dance among them without damaging any eggs<ref name="newall">{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/eggateasterfolkl00newa|url-access=registration|title=An egg at Easter: a folklore study|publisher=Routledge & K. Paul|year=1971|isbn=978-0-7100-6845-3|page=[https://archive.org/details/eggateasterfolkl00newa/page/344 344]|author=Venetia Newall}}</ref> which originated in Germany.

=== Pace egg plays ===
The [[wikipedia:Pace Egg play|Pace Egg play]]s are traditional village plays, with a rebirth theme. The drama takes the form of a combat between the hero and villain, in which the hero is killed and brought back to life. The plays take place in England during Easter.[[File:Osterstrauss 08.jpg|thumb|In some countries like Sweden, Norway, Poland and Germany eggs are used as a table decoration hanging on a tree-branch]]

==Variants==

===Chocolate eggs===
According to some accounts, chocolate eggs may have first appeared in [[wikipedia:Bayonne|Bayonne]] as an holiday treat produced by Spanish-Jewish immigrants for Christians during [[wikipedia:Lent|Lent]].<ref>On the Chocolate Trail: A Delicious Adventure Connecting Jews, Religions, History, Travel, Rituals and Recipes to the Magic of Cacao
Deborah R. Prinz, Deborah Prinz
Jewish Lights Publishing, 2013</ref> 

Chocolate eggs were introduced to the court of [[wikipedia:Louis XIV|Louis XIV]] in Versailles and in 1725 the widow Giambone in [[wikipedia:Turin|Turin]] started producing chocolate eggs by filling empty chicken egg shells with molten chocolate.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Caramia |first1=G |last2=Degl'Innocenti |first2=D |last3=Mozzon |first3=M |last4=Pacetti |first4=D |last5=Frega |first5=NG |title=[The role of eggs in the diet: nutraceutical and epigenetic aspects]. |journal=La Pediatria Medica e Chirurgica : Medical and Surgical Pediatrics |date=NaN |volume=34 |issue=2 |pages=53–64 |doi=10.4081/pmc.2012.1 |pmid=22730629|doi-access=free }}</ref> In 1873 [[wikipedia:J.S. Fry & Sons|J.S. Fry & Sons]] of England introduced the first chocolate Easter egg in Britain. Manufacturing their first Easter egg in 1875, [[wikipedia:Cadbury|Cadbury]] created the modern chocolate Easter egg after developing a pure cocoa butter that could be moulded into smooth shapes.<ref name="Easter">{{cite news |title=Amazing archive images show how Cadbury cracked Easter egg market |url=https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/nostalgia/easter-2015-amazing-archive-images-8963621 |access-date=21 May 2019 |work=Birmingham Mail}}</ref>

In Western cultures, the giving of chocolate eggs is now commonplace, with 80 million Easter eggs sold in the UK alone. Formerly, the containers Easter eggs were sold in contained large amounts of plastic, although in the United Kingdom this has gradually been replaced with recyclable paper and cardboard.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wasteconnect.co.uk/page.aspx?ID=36d6a9bc-a62a-4809-98cf-49dae76f2626|title=The End of Egg-cessive Easter Waste??
|publisher=Waste connect |access-date=15 April 2014}}</ref>
<gallery>
File:Osterei Verzierung, March 2010.jpg|Chocolate Easter egg
 File:Easter-Chocolate-egg-bunny.jpg|Chocolate Easter egg bunny
File:Easter egg with candy.jpg|Easter egg with candy.
File:Gladys as a Chocolate Easter Bunny.jpg|[[wikipedia:Gladys the Swiss Dairy Cow|Gladys]] as a Chocolate [[wikipedia:Easter Bunny|Easter Bunny]] with Easter eggs
File:Kinder eggs.jpg|[[wikipedia:Kinder Surprise|Kinder Surprise]] Egg, manufactured by Italian company [[wikipedia:Ferrero SpA|Ferrero SpA]]
</gallery>

===Marzipan eggs===
In the Indian state of Goa, the [[wikipedia:marzipan#Asia|Goan Catholic version of marzipan]] is used to make easter eggs. In the Philippines, mazapán de pili (Spanish for "pili marzipan") is made from pili nuts.

<gallery>
File:Marzipan easter eggs.jpg|Marzipan easter eggs
</gallery>

===Artificial eggs===
The [[wikipedia:Faberge eggs|jewelled Easter eggs]] made by the Fabergé firm for the two last Russian [[wikipedia:Tsars|Tsars]] are regarded as masterpieces of decorative arts. Most of these creations themselves contained hidden surprises such as clock-work birds, or miniature ships.

In Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, and other [[wikipedia:Central Europe|Central Europe]]an countries' [[wikipedia:folklore|folk traditions]], Easter eggs are carved from wood and hand-painted, and making artificial eggs out of [[wikipedia:porcelain|porcelain]] for ladies is common.<ref name=Anderson>Anderson, F.L.M., 1864, Seven Months' Residence in Russian Poland in 1868, London:Macmillan and Co.</ref>{{rp|45}}

Easter eggs are frequently depicted in sculpture, including a {{convert|27|ft|m|0|order=flip|adj=mid}} sculpture of a pysanka standing in [[wikipedia:Vegreville|Vegreville]], [[wikipedia:Alberta|Alberta]].

<gallery>
File:Fabergé egg Rome 05.JPG|[[wikipedia:Fabergé egg|Fabergé egg]]
File:Huevo de chocolate en Bariloche (Argentina).jpg|Giant easter egg, [[wikipedia:Bariloche|Bariloche]], Argentina
File:Vegreville Pysanka.jpg|Giant pysanka from [[wikipedia:Vegreville|Vegreville]], [[wikipedia:Alberta|Alberta]], Canada
File:Zagrebacko uskrsnje jaje 4 050409.jpg|Giant easter egg or ''pisanica'' in [[wikipedia:Zagreb|Zagreb]], [[wikipedia:Croatia|Croatia]]
File:Easter egg sculpture in Gogolin 2014 P01.JPG|Easter egg sculpture in [[wikipedia:Gogolin|Gogolin]], Poland
File:Oul uriaş din Suceava2.jpg|Giant easter egg in [[wikipedia:Suceava|Suceava]], Romania
</gallery>

==Legends==
[[File:Vasnetsov Maria Magdalene.JPG|thumb|upright|[[wikipedia:Maria Magdalene|Maria Magdalene]], 1899 by [[wikipedia:Viktor M. Vasnetsov|Viktor M. Vasnetsov]], depicted as one of the [[wikipedia:Myrrhbearers|Myrrhbearers]].]]

===Christian traditions===
While the origin of Easter eggs can be explained in the symbolic terms described above, among followers of [[wikipedia:Eastern Christianity|Eastern Christianity]] the [[wikipedia:legend|legend]] says that [[wikipedia:Mary Magdalene|Mary Magdalene]] was bringing cooked eggs to share with the other women at the tomb of Jesus, and the eggs in her basket miraculously turned bright red when she saw the risen Christ.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.melkite.org/Lent.htm |title=Traditions of Great Lent and Holy Week |publisher=Melkite Greek Catholic Eparchy of Newton |access-date=2012-09-24 |archive-date=2012-01-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120122031726/http://www.melkite.org/lent.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

A different, but not necessarily conflicting legend concerns Mary Magdalene's efforts to spread the [[wikipedia:Gospel|Gospel]]. According to this tradition, after the [[wikipedia:Ascension of Jesus|Ascension of Jesus]], Mary went to the Emperor of Rome and greeted him with "Christ has risen," whereupon he pointed to an egg on his table and stated, "Christ has no more risen than that egg is red." After making this statement it is said the egg immediately turned blood red.<ref name=Mary>{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=kBGKYE26y50C&q=egg+turned+red&pg=PA167|title= Leap|publisher=[[wikipedia:Random House Digital, Inc.|Random House Digital, Inc.]]|author= Terry Tempest Williams|quote=After the Ascension, she travelled to Rome and was granted entrance to the court of Tiberius Caesar. At dinner, she told Caesar that Jesus had risen from the dead. He did not understand. To explain, Mary Magdalene picked up an egg from the table. Caesar responded by saying that a human being could no more rise from the dead than the egg in her hand turn red. The egg turned red.|date=Sep 18, 2001|isbn= 9780679752578|access-date =7 April 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Newall |first1=Venetia |title=An egg at Easter: a folklore study |date=1971 |page=216 |url=https://archive.org/details/eggateasterfolkl00newa/page/216|quote=In Russian tradition an egg, which she held in her hand, turned red, as a proof of the Resurrection. }}</ref>

Red Easter eggs, known as ''kokkina avga'' (κόκκινα αυγά) in Greece and ''krashanki'' in [[wikipedia:Ukraine|Ukraine]], are an [[wikipedia:Easter|Easter]] tradition and a distinct type of Easter egg prepared by various [[wikipedia:Orthodoxy#Christianity|Orthodox Christian]] peoples.<ref>[http://www.patheos.com/blogs/orthodixie/2006/04/red-eggs-at-pascha-easter.html Red eggs at Pascha Easter]{{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180405112224/http://www.patheos.com/blogs/orthodixie/2006/04/red-eggs-at-pascha-easter.html|date=2018-04-05}} he Most Useful KNOWLEDGE for the Orthodox Russian-American Young People,” compiled by the Very Rev’d Peter G. Kohanik, 1932-1934.</ref><ref>[http://www.stdgocunion.org/easteregg.html Easter Egg] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141221072635/http://www.stdgocunion.org/easteregg.html |date=2014-12-21 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://greekfood.about.com/od/festivalsholidays/a/easter.htm|title=Your Guide to the Food and Traditions of Greek Orthodox Easter}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://oca.org/questions/liturgicalyear/red-easter-eggs|title=Red Easter Eggs - Questions & Answers}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Graham |first1=Stephen |title=With the Russian pilgrims to Jerusalem |date=1905 |page=245 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=osu.32435064816259&view=1up&seq=249}}</ref> The red eggs are part of [[wikipedia:Easter custom|Easter custom]] in many areas and often accompany other traditional [[wikipedia:Easter food|Easter food]]s. [[wikipedia:Passover|Passover]] [[wikipedia:haminados|haminados]] are prepared with similar methods.
Dark red eggs are a tradition in Greece and represent the blood of [[wikipedia:Christ|Christ]] shed on the cross.<ref>[http://greekfood.about.com/od/greekcookingtips/ht/redeggs.htm Red eggs] About.com</ref> The practice dates to the early Christian church in [[wikipedia:Mesopotamia|Mesopotamia]].<ref name=History/><ref name=Itihaas/>
In Greece, superstitions of the past included the custom of placing the first-dyed red egg at the home's [[wikipedia:iconostasis|iconostasis]] (place where icons are displayed) to ward off evil. The heads and backs of small lambs were also marked with the red dye to protect them.

===Parallels in other faiths===
[[File:Noruz1387.jpg|thumb|upright|Eggs at the Iranian [[wikipedia:Nowruz|Nowruz]]]]

The egg is widely used as a symbol of the start of new life, just as new life emerges from an egg when the chick hatches out.<ref name="fertility" />

Painted eggs are used at the Iranian spring holidays, the [[wikipedia:Nowruz|Nowruz]] that marks the first day of [[wikipedia:Spring (season)|spring]] or [[wikipedia:Equinox|Equinox]], and the beginning of the year in the [[wikipedia:Persian calendar|Persian calendar]]. It is celebrated on the day of the astronomical [[wikipedia:Northward equinox|Northward equinox]], which usually occurs on March 21 or the previous/following day depending on where it is observed. The painted eggs symbolize fertility and are displayed on the Nowruz table, called [[wikipedia:Haft-Seen|Haft-Seen]] together with various other symbolic objects. There are sometimes one egg for each member of the family. The ancient [[wikipedia:Zoroastrians|Zoroastrians]] painted eggs for Nowruz, their New Year celebration, which falls on the [[wikipedia:Spring equinox (Northern Hemisphere)|Spring equinox]]. The tradition continues among Persians of [[wikipedia:Islam|Islam]]ic, [[wikipedia:Zoroastrian|Zoroastrian]], and other faiths today.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://theotheriran.com/2016/03/26/photos-painted-eggs-across-tehran/|title=Photos: Painted eggs across Tehran|date=2016-03-26|work=The other Iran|access-date=2018-04-02|language=en-US}}</ref> The Nowruz tradition has existed for at least 2,500 years. The sculptures on the walls of [[wikipedia:Persepolis|Persepolis]] show people carrying eggs for Nowruz to the king.{{Citation needed|date=April 2010}}

The [[wikipedia:Neopagan|Neopagan]] holiday of [[wikipedia:Wheel of the Year#Vernal Equinox (Ostara)|Ostara]] occurs at roughly the same time as Easter. While it is often claimed that the use of painted eggs is an ancient, pre-Christian component of the celebration of Ostara, there are no historical accounts that ancient celebrations included this practice, apart from the [[wikipedia:Old High German lullaby|Old High German lullaby]] which is believed by most to be a modern fabrication. Rather, the use of painted eggs has been adopted under the assumption that it might be a pre-Christian survival. In fact, modern scholarship has been unable to trace any association between eggs and a supposed goddess named Ostara before the 19th century, when early folklorists began to speculate about the possibility.<ref name=Winick2016>Winick, Stephen. [https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife/2016/04/ostara-and-the-hare/ Ostara and the Hare: Not Ancient, but Not As Modern As Some Skeptics Think]. ''Folklife Today'', 28 Apr 2016. Accessed 8 May 2019 at https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife/2016/04/ostara-and-the-hare/</ref>

There are good grounds for the association between [[wikipedia:hare|hare]]s (later termed [[wikipedia:Easter bunny|Easter bunnies]]) and [[wikipedia:bird egg|bird egg]]s, through folklore confusion between hares' forms (where they raise their young) and [[wikipedia:plover|plover]]s' nests.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A18190677 |publisher=BBC.com|title=H2g2 - The Easter Bunny|access-date=2012-09-24}}</ref>

In [[wikipedia:Judaism|Judaism]], a hard-boiled egg is an element of the [[wikipedia:Passover Seder|Passover Seder]], representing festival sacrifice. The children's game of hunting for the [[wikipedia:afikomen|afikomen]] (a half-piece of matzo) has similarities to the Easter egg hunt tradition, by which the child who finds the hidden bread will be awarded a prize. In other homes, the children hide the afikoman and a parent must look for it; when the parents give up, the children demand a prize for revealing its location.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{commons category-inline|Easter eggs}}

[[Category:Culinary arts]]