Magical Red Easter Eggs
Easter is one of the most holy days in the Christian religion. For the western world, the holiday falls on this coming Sunday, March 31, but the Orthodox will celebrate it on May 5 this year. Bulgarians call the day Velikden, or “Great Day.”
Rituals and beliefs about eggs are prominent on Easter. In particular, red eggs play an important role. For Christians, the red egg symbolizes Christ’s blood, but the egg also has pagan origins. From ancient times, the egg has been a symbol of birth, resurrection, and eternal life—life and death—with a belief that the world was born from the golden egg, that is, the sun. The parts of the egg represent the four elements. The shell is symbolic of earth, the membrane represents air, the liquid is water, and the yellow yoke is the sun and therefore fire.
Eggs are colored during the day on the Thursday before Easter, usually by a female in the household, or, in some cases, only by the oldest woman. Colored eggs are called perashka in some areas of Bulgaria, the word coming from the Slavonic per for “hail” or “thunder.” Thursdays were once believed to be the days to perform rituals to prevent hailstorms. And so dyeing eggs on the Thursday before Easter is said to come from the fact that Thursday was the day of Perun, the god of thunder.
The first egg is always dyed red. This is a special egg that a hen laid that day, or it may be one a black hen laid. After it’s colored, this egg is set by the family’s ikons until the following Easter to bring health and prosperity. The previous year’s egg is buried in fields to protect the crops from hail. Alternately, the egg may be added to sowing seeds to bring a good harvest, or it may even be broken open and used to make predictions based on how it looks.
Red eggs, in general, are believed to have magical and curative powers. Before using the eggs, including the special one, women take all the red eggs outside and lay them on a red cloth to display them to the sun to receive its powers and energy. Afterwards, red eggs are rubbed against the cheeks or foreheads of children, teenage girls, and young brides so they will be as red and healthy as the eggs, and also for beauty and protection from evil spells.
A Legend
One legend describes how the red egg gained this power. An evil wizard once locked up the sun and water in a deep cave using nine padlocks. People and the land suffered for many years. Forgetting their traditions, people fought with one another. One young man lived alone high on a mountain with his young son and daughter, the man’s wife having been forced into servitude by the wizard. The family barely survived the harsh winter.
In spring, while looking for food, the father wanted to give his children a gift. He carved an egg from wood and dyed it red from the soil. By the time he arrived home, his children were asleep, so he placed the egg by their heads. That night, the father received a warning from Father Easter, a white-bearded old man, that the wizard would come for the man’s children the next day. The old man told the father not to fear, but to clench the red egg when the wizard arrived.
As foretold, the wizard came the next morning in a carriage pulled by a three-headed dragon. The father grabbed his children, trying to protect them. As he did so, the egg rolled around and shone like the sun. The father grabbed the egg and lifted it high. Bright light flooded the land, blinding the wizard and transforming him into a black beetle. With the wizard gone, people were able to break the padlocks and release the sun and water, restoring life to the land. Thereafter, people celebrated the rebirth of nature by dyeing eggs red.
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