Easter eggs

There are two theories about the origin of Easter eggs.

The first legend is about the Virgin Mary of Magdalene. She suddenly saw two people standing beside them, wearing dazzling clothes and in tears. When she came home, she painted what she saw on the Easter eggs before giving them to Jesus' disciples. The disciples also used pigeons to spread information. The second legend is that Saint Defan was stoned to death by the enemy to commemorate him.

Another legend says that the man who carried the cross for Jesus was an egg seller. One day, he saw many beautiful painted Easter eggs in the basket, so he passed the news on to people.

Easter egg custom is the main holiday custom of western egg culture in the new year season. Its origin may be the "Easter Egg Festival custom" in ancient Egypt, and its main contents include "painting eggs", "giving eggs", "eating eggs" and "comparing eggs", which are different due to factors such as age, region and belief.

Easter eggs are special decorative eggs when western countries celebrate Easter. Traditionally, dyed eggs are generally used. Modern custom is usually to replace it with egg-shaped chocolate. Eggs are usually hidden in advance and then let the children look for them. It is a symbol of Easter and a way to express friendship, care and wishes. Christians compare Easter eggs to "the beginning of a new life", symbolizing "Jesus rose from the stone tomb".

Before the birth of Jesus Christ, it was very popular to use eggs to symbolize the resurrection of life. Western Europeans believe that an egg has two lives, the first is "rebirth" and the second is "rebirth", which symbolizes the meaning of resurrection. Whenever Easter comes, relatives and friends will exchange Easter eggs to show their blessings. From the folk to the royal family, Easter eggs have become an indispensable thing, and the Christian egg culture with Easter eggs as a symbol has also developed into the most influential egg culture in the world today.

Little sheep/yeanling

Lamb is the symbol of Easter, because Christians regard Jesus as "the lamb of God", and Jesus is sent by God as the victim of the crimes of the world. At the same time, Jesus is considered as a "good shepherd" and a sheep (man) to look after. On the Jewish Passover (similar to the Spring Festival in China), the lamb is of great significance: when Jews were slaves in Egypt, in order to get rid of the iron fist rule of Pharaoh, God ordered them to wipe the blood of the lamb on the door, and the angel of death would pass through this man's house and let them leave the slave land and regain their freedom. Passover is a celebration of freedom and God's promise. Early Christians regarded the Lord Jesus as the lamb of Passover.

lily

Lily symbolizes holiness and purity. People like to use lilies that bloom around spring and Easter to represent the holiness of Jesus Christ. In addition, the lily shaped like a trumpet seems to be loudly preaching the good news of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Cross, nail

On Easter, many people will draw Easter-related patterns on boiled eggs. For example: crosses, nails, lilies, rabbits, etc. Decorate with colorful colors. Then exchange with each other to remind Jesus of his resurrection. Some people also like to play the game of finding eggs. Adults first hide the eggs in the garden grass and let the children find them. Whoever finds an egg must tell the meaning of the pattern on it. For example, the cross means that Jesus died on the cross for us, and the nail reminds us that Jesus Christ was crucified.

Resurrection rabbit (rabbit)

According to the ancient European legend, the hare is an animal that doesn't close its eyes all day. They can observe other animals around them in the dark, so rabbits represent the bright moon in the dark. In addition, the calculation of Easter is based on the full moon in spring, so the hare with strong fertility in spring is regarded as the symbol of Easter. After this custom was introduced to the United States, Americans also gave the rabbit a lovely name, calling it Easter Bunny!

Easter bell

In France and Italy, except for four days from the day before Good Friday, Easter bells can be heard everywhere all year round. There is no bell to remind us of Jesus' death, but the bell will ring again on Easter to remind us that Jesus Christ has risen.

American Easter custom

Easter is a traditional American religious festival, which is celebrated on the first Sunday after the full moon at the vernal equinox every year. This festival was established by Christianity to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus. According to the New Testament, Jesus was crucified and rose on the third day. As for the date of Easter, there is endless debate within the Christian church, which has caused great confusion. It was not until A.D. 325 that the priests' assembly decided to celebrate this festival in a unified time, which has continued to this day. Easter celebrations in the United States not only retain the tradition of the Christian church, but also have national characteristics.

During the festival, according to traditional customs, people cooked eggs and painted them red, representing the blood shed by Jesus after suffering and the happiness after resurrection. Adults and children get together and play games with eggs. They roll the eggs on the ground or on the slope, and the person who breaks the eggs finally wins. The winner can get all the players' eggs. This activity is very common. Even the White House organizes this game on Easter, but it just rolls eggs on the lawn. It is believed that eggs rolling back and forth on the ground can make the devil tremble and suffer. This custom has a long history. Eggs are the symbol of Easter, which indicates the arrival of new life. Christians regard it as a symbol of Jesus and believe that a new life will be born from it. Another symbol of Easter is the rabbit. Because of its powerful reproductive ability, people regard it as the expression of new life. During the festival, adults will vividly tell children that Easter eggs are born by rabbits. Many families will also put some eggs on the garden lawn for children to play the game of finding eggs. Easter rabbits and eggs have also become popular commodities in festivals. Shopping malls also sell all kinds of rabbit and egg-shaped goods. Large and small food stores and candy stores are full of rabbits and eggs made of chocolate. These "rabbit eaters" are cute and have eggs of different shapes. They taste sweet and are good gifts for friends. American food at Easter is very special, mainly mutton and ham. Legend has it that once, in order to test Abraham's loyalty, God ordered him to kill his only son Isaac as a sacrifice. Abraham was in great pain. Finally, he decided to do what God wanted. Just as he raised his knife to his son, God sent an angel to stop him. Abraham accidentally found a ram and offered it as a sacrifice to God. Since then, it has become a custom to sacrifice sheep to God. The habit of eating ham is said to have been brought by British immigrants. At first, the British used ham to show their contempt for Jewish taboo meat. Now, it has developed into a traditional food to commemorate Jesus.