A centuries-old symbol of rebirth
In the weeks around Easter and Passover, there seem to be eggs everywhere, dyed bright shades, painted, molded into chocolate, and on the Seder table -- as though the early spring has gone egg-mad.
That's nothing new. Eggs were considered the perfect sign of spring and rebirth by pagans, who thought the bursting forth of a baby chick from an egg represent ed the earth coming alive again after a long, dark winter. Eggs were buried under ancient foundations to ward off evil. Greeks, Romans, Chinese, and Persians all thought of the oval egg as the symbol of the universe, and dyed and exchanged them much as children do today.
Both Christians and Jews adopted the egg as a sign of rebirth. The resurrection of Christ is likened to the life coming from the egg, and Passover tables would be incomplete without the life symbol of an egg. By the Middle Ages, the elaborate decoration of eggs was embraced by royalty. Supposedly the English King Edward I in 1290 paid for 450 eggs to give as Easter gifts, each covered with gold leaf.-- ALISON ARNETT 