Easter Egg Parade
While
we think of Easter eggs as being brightly colored chicken eggs hidden by the
Easter Bunny for children to find, it’s symbolic beginnings were much more
adult. As a symbol of spring in the religion of numerous ancient peoples, the
egg represented fertility, rebirth and even life itself.
From Australia comes the story of how the brogla stole one of the emu’s
eggs, which she threw into the sky. It broke and became the sun.
In Egypt we find eggs carved on pyramids and learn that dyed eggs were
hung in the temples as a symbol of life. The Tahitian god, Ta’aora, lived
inside an egg before the creation of earth.
The Greek creation myth has Eurynome,
in the form of a dove, laying a cosmic egg, which is hatched into earth, moon,
sun, stars and animals. In
China it was customary to give red colored eggs to neighbors to announce
the birth of a child.
From India comes a creation myth where the egg is born of the primeval
sea, and in turn hatches into the god Prajapati,
who then created all things.
Ostara (as she was known to the Germanic tribes of continental
Europe), or Eostre (as she was known to the Anglo-Saxons of present-day England)
was goddess of spring.
One story has her courted by an infatuated god who turned himself into a
rabbit and left her brightly colored eggs as gifts.
And so the Easter Egg has evolved, with influences from many sources.
While some of the Easter Eggs on the following pages will delight
children, they are not to be hidden in grass nests; they belong in places of
honor in your home.
We
hope you enjoy our Easter Egg Parade. Please click on the pictures below
to view a larger, more detailed version, along with contact information.
|
_small.jpg)
