Painted eggs tradition. Why is it customary to paint eggs at Easter, and where did this tradition come from. Easter History and Traditions

28.09.2019

At Easter it is customary to paint eggs different colors, but among the multi-colored eggs, the central place belongs to bright red eggs. Why?

History has preserved this tradition for us. According to one of the most popular versions, which is followed by many Christians, it is believed that it was Mary Magdalene who initiated this tradition.

After the resurrection of Jesus Christ, his disciples and followers dispersed to different countries, everywhere proclaiming the joyful news that there is no longer any need to be afraid of death. She was defeated by Christ, the Savior of the world. He resurrected Himself and will resurrect everyone who will believe Him and will love people just as He loved.

Mary Magdalene dared to come with this message to the Roman emperor Tiberius himself.

According to the law, if a poor person got into an audience with Caesar, he had to donate at least an egg. So she brought an ordinary egg and, with a story about Christ, handed the egg to the emperor, who laughed and answered her in the spirit that, just as this egg cannot turn red, the deceased cannot rise again. And right there, before his eyes, the egg began to bleed and turned dark red ... Since then, on the day of the Holy Resurrection of Christ, we give each other red-colored eggs with the words: “Christ is Risen!” and we hear in response from the recipient of the gift: "Truly Risen!".

The egg has always been a symbol of life: in a strong shell there is life hidden from the eyes, which in due time will break out of lime captivity in the form of a small yellow chicken.

Speaking about this legend, it is worth noting that there are no records in any Christian source that describe this event, so this version is not considered official, but many believers are very fond of this beautiful story. According to them, it is she who explains why do they paint eggs for easter.

According to another, less magical version, Mary Magdalene simply brought an ordinary egg as a gift to the emperor. It turned out to betray the gift look by painting it red, she also wrote two letters on it, which symbolized the beginning of the expression “Christ is Risen”. This is how the first Easter egg appeared.

Another legend explains the tradition egg coloring on Easter because the Virgin Mary, entertaining the baby Christ, also painted eggs. And we do this, remembering that Easter is a rebirth, a new life and bright, pure joy.

There is a legend that says that after the execution of Christ, the Jews gathered for a meal consisting of fried chicken and boiled eggs. The diners mentioned that in three days Jesus Christ would be resurrected, to which the owner of the house objected: “This will happen only after the fried chicken comes to life and the eggs turn red.” And at the same moment, the chicken came to life, and the eggs changed color.

According to this legend egg coloring is a symbol of people's faith in the miracle of the resurrection of Christ, a symbol of overcoming doubts, in memory of the Day of Resurrection. It is also believed that the red color of the egg symbolizes the color of the blood of Christ, who gave his life to save people.

Scientists also have their own version of the origin of the tradition of painting eggs among Christians. Why paint eggs for Easter? In their opinion, they adopted this tradition from the early cults, this is not surprising, because we know many holidays that were originally pagan, and then became Christian.

And in fact, custom of dyeing eggs found in many pre-Christian beliefs, including the Slavs. Let's try to figure out why, or rather, how they could have this tradition. We already know that the ancient pagans used an egg as a symbol of fertility, and in the spring, when people celebrated the awakening of nature from sleep and the beginning of a new agricultural season, they decorated eggs in every possible way in order to get a good harvest in the coming year.

With the advent of Christianity, these customs were mixed up and in addition to the many rituals that are performed on Easter, people also began to paint eggs.

Some scholars even believe that the legend of Magdalene appeared to justify the Christian church, which began to observe pagan rites. And even now, some clergy with radical views are very negative about this custom and cannot understand why they paint eggs for Easter. Some of them even try to ban this tradition among their parishioners, they say: "Compliance with pagan rituals for a Christian is a great sin!" -, but this tradition has long been part of the Christian religion and believers rarely take such statements seriously.

Also, some scholars believe that Easter tradition of painting eggs generally has no religious grounds, and explain the emergence of this tradition as follows. The fact is that during Lent people ate a lot of eggs and so that they did not spoil for a long time they had to be boiled, but painted in order to somehow distinguish boiled eggs from raw ones.

Pysanka researchers note that pysanky reflect the archaic ideas of the Slavs about the universe, and, apparently, pysanka existed among the Slavs before the adoption of Christianity. In early church documents, in particular the Poznań Sinoiada charter of Andrey Laskarzh, who denounced the pagan survivals of the Slavs, it is considered a mortal sin during Easter time “... to give eggs and other gifts ...”.

After all, the egg is not only a symbol of life, fertility and the spring rebirth of nature. Long before Christ, the egg was considered a prototype of the universe itself. The very shape of the egg - an oval - among the Greeks symbolized a miracle.

The custom of dyeing eggs is also associated with the name of the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius. It is believed that on the day he was born, one of his mother's hens laid an egg marked with red dots. This was interpreted as a sign that the future emperor was born. Over time, it became a custom for the Romans to send colored eggs to each other as a congratulation.

But why did the egg become one of the proofs of the Resurrection of the Son of God?

In ancient times the egg was given magical significance. In graves, mounds, ancient burials dating back to the pre-Christian era, eggs are found, both natural and made of various materials (marble, clay, etc.). During excavations in Etruscan tombs, carved and natural ostrich, chicken eggs, sometimes even painted, were found. All the mythologies of the world keep legends associated with the egg as a symbol of life, renewal, as the source of the origin of everything that exists in this world.

For example, even the ancient Egyptians every spring, along with the flood of the Nile, they exchanged painted eggs, hung them in their sanctuaries and temples. In Egyptian mythology, the egg represents the potentiality of life and immortality - the seed of being and its secret.

The egg - a universal symbol of the creation of the world and creation - is also mentioned in Indian "Vedas"(the golden egg from which Brahma hatched). In India, all birds that lay eggs are called "twice-born", since hatching from an egg means a second birth.

In the East it was believed that there was a time when chaos reigned everywhere, and this chaos was in a huge egg in which all forms of life were hidden. The fire warmed the shell, giving the egg the warmth of creation. Thanks to this divine fire, a mythical creature, Panu, appeared from the egg. Everything weightless became Heaven, and everything solid became earth. Panu connected Heaven with Earth, created wind, space, clouds, thunder, lightning. To heat the earth that appeared, Panu gave her the Sun, and to remind her of the cold - the Moon. Thanks to Pan, the Sun warmed the earth, the Moon shone, planets and stars were born.

Since antiquity the egg served as a symbol of the spring sun, bringing with it life, joy, warmth, light, the rebirth of nature, deliverance from the shackles of frost and snow - in other words, the transition from non-existence to existence. Once upon a time it was customary to offer an egg as a simple small gift to the pagan gods, to give eggs to friends and benefactors on the first day of the New Year and on birthdays. Rich, wealthy people, instead of colored chicken eggs, often offered golden or gilded eggs, symbolizing the sun. The ancient Romans had a custom at the beginning of a festive meal to eat a baked egg - this was symbolically associated with the successful start of a new business. It is interesting that the Russian landowners of the 18th century also started the day with a soft-boiled egg - it was believed that the liquid yolk for breakfast contributes to the good absorption of the rest of the food during the day, “lubricates” the stomach.

For our ancestors the egg served as a symbol of life. It contains the embryo of a solar bird - the Rooster, which woke up the morning.

Piero della Francesca at the Altar of Monte Feltro(Milan, Brera, XV century) depicted an ostrich egg above the Madonna and Child. Here it serves as an additional attribute of the legend about the miraculous birth of the God-man Jesus and points to a world that rests on the Christian faith. The Byzantine theologian and philosopher John of Damascus emphasized that heaven and earth are like an egg in everything: the shell is the sky, the chaff is the clouds, the squirrel is water, and the yolk is the earth. From the dead matter of the egg, life arises; it contains the possibility, idea, movement and development. According to legend, even the dead, the egg gives the power of life, with the help of the egg, they feel the spirit of life and gain lost strength. There is a primordial belief that thanks to the miraculous power of the egg, you can make contact with the dead, and they seem to come to life for a while. If you put a painted egg on the grave - the first one received for Easter - the deceased will hear everything that is said to him, that is, as if returning to life and to what pleases or saddens the living.

Orthodox symbols The Easter egg is rooted in the millennial traditions of the religions of many peoples of the world. At the same time, in Orthodoxy, it receives a significant semantic addition: the egg in it, first of all, is a symbol of bodily re-creation in Christ, a symbol of the jubilant joy of the Resurrection from the dead, the victory of Life over death. Russian folk legends tell that at the time of the Resurrection of Christ, the stones on Golgotha turned into red eggs. The Orthodox symbolism of the egg also has its roots in the pre-Christian beliefs of the Slavs, who since ancient times have been characterized by the cult of ancestors, the veneration of the immortal souls of the dead, who were considered sacred personalities.

The first written evidence of painted eggs for Holy Easter we meet in a manuscript made on parchment and belonging to the tenth century, from the library of the monastery of St. Anastasia, not far from Thessalonica in Greece. At the end of the church charter given in the manuscript, after prayers for Easter, it was also necessary to read a prayer for the blessing of eggs, cheese, and the abbot, kissing the brethren, was to distribute eggs to them with the words: "Christ is Risen!". According to the manuscript "Nomocanon Photius" (XIII century), the abbot can punish that monk who does not eat a red egg on Easter day, because such a monk opposes the apostolic traditions. Thus, the custom of giving eggs for Easter dates back to the apostolic times, when Mary Magdalene was the first to give believers an example of this joyful gift.

As you can see, there are many scientific assumptions and fictional legends, each of which does not have a “solid” conclusion, therefore it is impossible to say unequivocally ,

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This tradition dates back many centuries, and most people take it for granted without even thinking why it is done. In fact, it is even older than the Easter holiday itself, and its history goes far into the mists of time. Historians can only speculate why eggs are dyed for Easter, and there are several versions of this.

The modern explanation of why eggs are dyed for Easter these days, which many Christians adhere to, is as follows: there is one beautiful ancient legend about Mary Magdalene, who brought the news of the Resurrection of Christ to Tiberius. Since it was impossible to come to the court of the emperor without offerings, and Mary Magdalene had no opportunity not only to bring luxurious gifts, but also simply to make a gift, she took an ordinary chicken egg with her. When the emperor listened to her message, he mockingly said that he would believe that a dead person could be resurrected only when an ordinary egg turns red, well, even that. A miracle happened - the egg immediately turned red. By the way, there is no description of such a story in Christian sources, and this version is not considered official, but is very loved by believers. It is to this story, in their opinion, that the tradition of painting eggs for Easter dates back.

According to another, less miraculous version of the same legend, Mary Magdalene simply gave the emperor a red-painted egg with an inscription formed from the first two letters of the sentence "Christ is risen" - and this was the first Easter egg.

Unbiased researchers are inclined to believe that Christians adopted this tradition from earlier cults. Indeed, it is in many pre-Christian beliefs, in particular, among the Slavs. Why do they paint eggs? In pagan cults, the egg was a symbol of fertility, and in the spring the Slavs also had a big holiday dedicated to the awakening of nature and the beginning of the fertile season, and eggs, as its symbol, were decorated in every possible way. Over time, these holidays merged and got mixed up among the poorly educated segments of the population. Perhaps the aforementioned legends appeared to justify the fact that believing Christians began to observe pagan rites on the largest Christian holiday. By the way, some clergymen with radical views do not welcome this even today, not understanding why they paint eggs for Easter. Some of them even say that it is sinful and try to forbid parishioners from dyeing eggs. But this tradition has taken root so much and has become part of Christian culture that believers meet such statements with bewilderment.

There is also a more prosaic explanation of why eggs are dyed for Easter. Perhaps this was due to the fact that during a long fast it was impossible to eat them, and so that they did not deteriorate, they were boiled by adding various herbs, for example, so as not to confuse boiled eggs with colored ones.

In fact, is it worth considering why eggs are painted for Easter - no matter where the roots of this tradition come from, the main thing is that it is very beautiful and popular. Why paint eggs for Easter? To decorate the festive table, to make it fun, to congratulate each other - that's the right answer. Many folk amusements are associated with colored eggs - which of us did not play with them in childhood, testing the egg for strength? And how happy it was to win someone else's egg, and it doesn't matter at all whether we liked to eat them or not. They also appear in many beliefs and rituals. In particular, sometimes for successful construction and the future well-being of residents, many such traditions were laid in the foundation of a house under construction, and each nation has its own. In general, painting eggs is fun and beautiful, no matter what the history of this ceremony is.

Today it is impossible to imagine a bright Easter holiday without traditional Easter cakes with sweet powder and colored eggs. It is they who must be consecrated in the church and be the first to taste, and break the fast after Great and strict Lent.

But few people know where the tradition of painting eggs for Easter came from and why they chose this particular product among many other options. Today, instead of traditional painted eggs, you can see them in special stickers that children love very much. After all, the egg from all sides is in pictures that the child likes to look at for a long time. It would be nice to tell your child where the tradition of dyeing and sanctifying eggs came from, and to find out about it yourself.

Easter traditions: why did you choose an egg?

There are a huge number of opinions about when they started painting eggs for Easter and who introduced this custom. Among them there are both Christian versions, and pagan and even quite everyday ones. For example, in ancient times, so that eggs would not disappear during the 40-day Great and Strict Lent, they were boiled. But in order not to confuse them with raw ones, they were dyed in onion peel, or any other natural dye. After that, such eggs could easily be stored for a long period of time.

According to legend, Mary Magdalene, who is highly revered in the Christian faith, having learned about the resurrection of Christ, decided to tell this good news to Tiberius, the Roman emperor. In those days, it was customary to come to the emperor with a gift, but having nothing but an egg, the saint presented it as a gift. At the words of Mary, the emperor only burst out laughing and said that it was easier for this egg to turn red than for Christ to break out of the shackles of death. As soon as he said these words, the egg immediately turned red, so people began to paint the eggs red, which is interpreted as a sign and proof that Christ conquered death.

There is also a tradition that speaks of the Jews gathered for a meal after the execution of Jesus Christ. At the table, one of the Jews reminded the companions that in exactly 3 days, Christ must rise again. But the other only laughed at these words and, in turn, objected that this would happen before the cooked chicken lying in front of them came to life and the boiled eggs on the table turned red. In a moment, the eggs turned scarlet, and the chicken turned from fried to live.

The third version says that even in infancy, Christ played with such eggs, which the Virgin Mary herself painted as toys for him.

The Easter egg in Russia has always had great meaning, since life was born in it. After consecration, it was laid out on overgrown oats, wheat or lettuce, which were grown specifically for this. Throughout the Easter week (week), it was customary to give such eggs to each other, go to visit with them and put them on the festive table.

The consecrated eggs were kept for a whole year, until the next Easter, and they never spoiled.. In Optina Hermitage there was a monk who, among two others, was killed on Easter. Every Easter he broke his fast with last year's egg, as proof that Christ is indeed Risen!

Why are Easter eggs painted red and how to do it?

There are a large number of ways to color eggs, both artificial dyes and natural ones. Eggs that had a color in one color were called eggs or galunks. In order to give the egg a natural red tint, you must use the peeled onion husk, with which our grandmothers also dyed eggs. To get a different color, it was necessary to use a variety of decoctions from the corresponding plants.

Today, you can buy a huge number of dyes that can give the egg a variety of colors. But you shouldn’t get too carried away with them, because all artificial colors can not in the best way affect the well-being of your loved ones, especially children. If you want to spice up your Easter basket in some way, you should pay attention to special stickers for eggs, which have become very popular in recent years. But the most traditional Easter egg is the red boiled one.

Why did this particular color become traditional, and not some other? The fact is that it is the red color that symbolizes the blood of the Savior, who suffered for our sins and was crucified on the cross. By painting the eggs red, we seem to honor his memory.

To give the egg a traditional red color, you need to take the onion peel of 5-6 large or medium onions, place it in a container with water and boil it together with the eggs for 7-8 minutes. The onion peel will not only give a beautiful red tint to the eggs, evenly covering them from all sides, but will also strengthen the shell. That is why, when dyeing eggs with natural dyes, you rarely see cracked shells or leaking protein.

To give the egg a different shade, such as purple, make a beetroot decoction.

It is necessary to grind the beets (you can cut them into cubes), place them in a container with water and put raw eggs there so that the water barely covers them. Also boil for 7-8 minutes and remove to cool completely.

For a blue tint, you need to boil the cabbage, but only red. We do everything in the same way as with beets. Only chopped cabbage needs to be boiled until it turns completely white. So she will give her natural colors to the water, which will color the eggs in the color we need.

What day is it customary to paint eggs for Easter?

For the bright holiday of Easter, housewives always prepare in advance. General cleaning is carried out in the house, all the accumulated rubbish for the year is thrown away, everything is washed and ironed. Since Easter always takes place in the spring, it is also a period of renewal and new hopes. On this holiday, some special joyful and bright spirit is always felt, which kindles the eyes of people in a new way.

The last week of Great Lent is the most strict. And all the main preparations fall on Maundy Thursday. It is on this day that it is customary to wash yourself with the first rays of the rising sun, bake Easter cakes and paint eggs. On Good Friday, Orthodox Christians abstained from food, fervently prayed to the Lord and did not do any housework, devoting all their free time to prayer.

After the consecration of Easter, the first thing they did when they came home was a festive meal. People broke the fast with the consecrated Easter cake and an egg. There is such a game when people took eggs and beat them against each other. Whoever kept the egg intact could count on a good year. Such games remain especially popular among children.

As you prepare for the Easter holiday, remember that your thoughts must remain pure and joyful.. It is necessary to think not only about the festive table, but also take care of your soul and pray again for yourself and your loved ones. After all, everyone is rewarded according to his faith.

Christ is risen!

How to color eggs for Easter

Easter History and Traditions

How eggs are dyed for Easter - what color and why was last modified: July 8th, 2017 by Bogolub

And if Mary Magdalene had not gone to the emperor with good news? What if Tiberius had not mentioned the color red? And would the egg become an Easter symbol if the myrrh-bearing woman took a bread cake or a coin as a gift? Why and why are eggs painted for Easter? Is it possible to paint them in other colors and with what? Read more in the article.

Easter is a celebration of the victory of life over death, a day when extraordinary miracles happen and the egg just symbolizes one of the miracles that happened on the day of the resurrection of Christ. Even in the era of communist atheism, people dyed eggs for Easter, often without the slightest idea where this tradition came from. It’s just beautiful, interesting, and for children it’s a rather funny process. And only believers knew the whole history of the Easter tradition, which does not disappear and is passed on to the next generations.

And Mary Magdalene came to Tiberius...

One of the main stories that explains the origin of the tradition is connected with the coming of Mary Magdalene to the Emperor Tiberius. Then there was a custom - who visits the palace of the emperor, had to bring a gift. Its value was not specified, so ordinary people were allowed to bring something inexpensive.

And Mary Magdalene came to Tiberius, and brought him joyful news - Christ is Risen, to which the emperor laughed and said - the dead do not rise from non-existence, but if your truth is, so be the white egg brought by you, red. At the same moment, the egg in the hands of Mary Magdalene turned red, and the emperor and everyone who watched this miracle believed in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

In general, if you give favorable conditions to an egg, do not cook scrambled eggs from it, then you get a living creature, it is considered as a symbol of life, also Jesus Christ, when they put him in a cave, Mary Magdalene came, and the body was gone. It is Christ Risen! Also with eggs for Easter, that's why. Since then, it has become traditional to paint eggs for Easter, which has acquired a completely different meaning and has become the victory of life over death.

At first, eggs were dyed only red, symbolizing the shed blood of Christ, and much later they began to decorate the Easter table with them, painted in other colors - yellow, blue, green, purple. Whether someone once accidentally painted an eggshell with some natural dye, or someone intentionally wanted to experiment, it doesn’t matter. Now eggs are dyed with purchased dyes or in the old fashioned way - natural, from what is in the house. But not everyone knows how to paint eggs for Easter and what color.

Types of natural dyes

Onion peel - from yellow to brown, depending on the strength of the broth.
Blueberries - from blue to deep purple.
Cherry bark and twigs are red.
Turmeric is pale yellow to deep orange.
Birch leaves, strong tea or coffee are dyed brown.
Leaves of nettle, spinach, parsley - in green.
Beetroot is a permanent dye that will give all shades of beetroot - from pink to deep red.
Red cabbage, contrary to logic, will turn the shell blue.
The juice of dark grapes is lilac.

And there are many other plants that contain one or another natural dye - carrots, paprika, raspberries.

Easter egg types

Often, craftsmen do not just paint, but create real masterpieces. From this came the types of Easter eggs:

krashenki - simply painted in one or two colors;
pysanky - with an applied abstract pattern or biblical scenes;
drapanki - a painted testicle on which a drawing is scratched with a needle;
specks - eggs are not stained monolithically, but with spots. This is often done with wax.

In addition to natural chicken eggs for Easter, they sometimes give a souvenir egg made of wood, birch bark, beads, bone, and fabric.

The egg has always been a symbol of life. If you think about it, the term itself everywhere and always personifies the birth of a new life. And not without reason it became a symbol of Easter as a symbol of eternal life.

What they give on the Bright Sunday of Christ, what, how and why they paint eggs for Easter - you now know. The main thing is that they be sanctified, and faith lives in the soul.

Easter is the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, the most important, bright and significant holiday in Christianity. The sinless Son of God shed his blood, rose from the tomb, conquered death in order to give people eternal, new life, free from grief and sin.

This victory has been symbolized by painted eggs for hundreds of years, becoming an obligatory attribute of breaking the fast, a family feast and a ritual offering by Christians on the bright day of the manifestation of God's mercy.

Stories and legends

The custom of painting eggs for Easter is characteristic of Orthodox Christians in all countries of the world and originates from pagan times.

The egg among the Slavs has always symbolized the beginning of life, fertility, spring rebirth, in order to appease the gods, they dipped them in blood and sacrificed propitiation to the spirits. Testicles, painted red, were considered a talisman of the family, a guarantee of health, good luck and security.

The Christian history of the ancient pagan rite is first mentioned in a 10th-century manuscript kept in the monastery of St. Anastasia in Greece. It sets out the church charter, according to which, after blessing the Easter gifts prepared for the meal, the hegumen had to distribute painted bird eggs to the brethren with the words: “Christ is Risen!”.

In Russia, on the Bright Sunday of Christ, the Orthodox from ancient times exchanged such a greeting, kissed each other with a triple kiss and gave testicles consecrated in the church.

Easter eggs - natural, wooden, bone, carved - the master gave to the servant, the boss to the subordinate, the rich to the beggar. Eggs on this day clearly symbolized the unity of the Orthodox people and the equality of all before the one God, who does not look at faces, but looks into the treasury of the human heart.

All good Mary Magdalene to the Roman ruler

The Bible and Holy Scripture do not mention the rite of coloring eggs. The stories and legends that arose on the basis of the Gospel do not have direct confirmation, but the tradition of making the egg a symbol of the holiday has confidently entered the list of Easter rituals.

The most famous legend tells of Mary Magdalene, who, having first seen the resurrected Savior, began to preach about him in Rome even before the Apostle Paul. Mary Magdalene presented an egg to the Roman emperor Tiberius with the words: “Christ is Risen!”, - in response, the ruler of Rome objected that it is impossible for a dead person to become alive again.

Immediately after these words, the white chicken egg turned red right in his hands, confirming the good news of Mary about the great event of that time.

Miracle at mealtime

Another story about why believers paint eggs for the holiday tells about the meal of the Jews in Palestine after the execution of Jesus Christ.

One of those present at the table remembered the promise of Christ to rise on the third day after his death. To these words, another companion replied that such a miracle could only happen if the fried chicken on the platter came to life and the boiled eggs turned red.

In a moment, everything happened exactly with the words of the doubting Jew.

Egg Trader's Nobility

The Lutheran Church adheres to its version of colored eggs, which has a direct connection with biblical events. The legend tells of the most tragic moment in Scripture, namely, the procession of the Savior to Golgotha.

The cross that Jesus carried to the place of his execution to the cries of the crowd was very heavy. An egg dealer passing by, seeing the suffering and pain of the convict, rushed to his aid. He left the basket with his fragile goods on the side of the road, and when he returned, he saw that all the eggs had turned bright red.

Believing in Divine intervention, the merchant did not carry them to the market, but distributed them to relatives and friends, telling about the miracle that had happened.

Stones of Faith of St. Peter the Apostle

One of the disciples of the son of God on earth, who later became an apostle and founder of the Christian church, was Peter. After the ascension of Christ to heaven, Peter, along with other brothers, walked around Judea and talked about their faith. In one city, evil people did not want to accept their testimony and started throwing stones to kill the first Christians.

And then a miracle happened: the flying stones began to turn into red chicken eggs, without harming Peter and his comrades. Then the throwers stopped persecuting the "heretics" and humbly accepted Christianity.

Why were eggs only dyed red in the past?

There are many legends, stories and traditions that introduce where the tradition of painting eggs came from. They may have biblical roots and not have a religious origin, have a mythological and purely everyday character.

All of them are united by one thing - the red color of the shell from bright scarlet to dark crimson, symbolizing the blood of Christ shed on Golgotha in the name of atonement for the sins of all people. In memory and recognition of God's great mercy and love, Christians paint eggs in the color of the blood of their Savior.

The non-Christian historical version tells of a prophecy received by the mother of the great commander and emperor Marcus Aurelius. On the day of his birth, one of the domestic hens at the court laid an unusual testicle with red dots.

The Romans were distinguished by great superstition in various miracles and predictions, therefore the words of the court broadcaster about the great fate of the child, which became prophetic, laid the foundation for the custom of giving colored eggs to each other for the holidays.

In addition, the crimson color always indicated belonging to the highest nobility, and only representatives of royal dynasties wore clothes made of red matter.

How are eggs colored?

For Easter, eggs are dyed, boiled in any broth, after allowing it to stand for some time. This method was used in antiquity and they prefer to use it now, since it is the “grandmother's” method that remains the highest quality and safest for health.

To give the egg bright saturated colors will help:

onion peel, cherry bark - red, brown, orange;
turmeric - yellow color of gold, a symbol of wealth;
beets - the pink color of purity and innocence;
hibiscus, blue cabbage - blue radiance of hope and kindness;
brilliant green - a marbled green hue, symbolizing rebirth.

Before Easter, a huge selection of artificial dyes, stickers, and translations appears on sale, but natural dyes remain traditionally in demand. Their advantage lies in the fact that they not only color the shell, but also strengthen it.

How long does an Easter egg keep?

Eggs began to be painted from the beginning of the Great 40-day fast in Orthodoxy, since church rules forbade eating them at that time.

So that they do not deteriorate and so that they can later be distinguished from fresh raw ones, the eggs were boiled in onion peel, smeared with sunflower oil and stored until the bright day of Christ.

According to Orthodox tradition, a consecrated egg should be kept behind icons for a year until the next Great Sunday, as it has healing and magical properties.

An Easter egg, like an ordinary one, does not need to be eaten after the expiration date of storage, but with the observance of precautionary measures, it can retain its attractiveness for a long time and become a clear symbol of eternal divine life in the house.