Why eggs?
- During Lent, the week before Easter, it is forbidden to eat meat, eggs, and dairy. However, chickens still lay eggs without regard to human holidays. As a result, the eggs would have to be boiled to prevent them from spoiling. Eggs boiled in hot water with flowers dyes the eggs various colors. In particular, red was used to represent the blood of Christ and green was used to represent the new foliage of spring.
Why chocolate?
- The modern chocolate you’re familiar with (known as “eating chocolate”) wasn’t invented till 1847. Even after its invention, chocolate makers couldn’t get it to be molded in the complex shape of an egg. Once that was accomplished, chocolate eggs became very popular, considering how much more delicious they are than their real counterparts. However, the decoration of real eggs remains a very important part of traditional Easter celebrations in many European countries.
Whether you celebrate Easter for religious reasons, just for fun, or not at all, we can all agree that it is a holiday formed from a diverse array of beliefs and cultures.
Kavya Seth