why do we color easter eggs?

Answers to why do we color easter eggs

Each year children eagerly anticipate the tradition of coloring Easter eggs into bright or pastel colors. Easter is considered a Christian holiday, but the tradition of coloring Easter eggs is a common practice among the religious and the non-religious. In America, the Easter egg hunting rituals of filling an Easter egg basket with pastel-colored eggs planted by the Easter bunny are largely secular traditions, like Santa Claus. However, Easter eggs play an important tradition in the Christian religion as well, especially among the orthodox.

Why do we color eggs at Easter?
According to the American Egg Board, the giving of colored eggs at spring festivals was common among many ancient cultures. The Chinese exchanged red eggs as a celebration of spring as early as 1,000 B.C. The Persians, Egyptians, and Romans all revered the egg as powerful. The goddess Eostre, or Ostara, has most commonly been tied to the now celebrated Easter. The putative Germans reportedly worshipped her, but historians disagree as to whether this goddess was truly the origin of egg-coloring traditions and spring festivals. Regardless of where the tradition began, egg coloring and giving in the spring has been practiced for centuries.

Another reason might be attributed to the early Christians, many of whom were Jews, who observed Passover. During the Passover Seder, hard-boiled eggs are dipped in salt water. This symbolizes new life and the Passover sacrifice.

Popular legend (although not official Biblical canon) has it that after the resurrection, Mary Magdalene went to Tiberius Caesar and over dinner told him that Christ had risen. Tiberius told her a man could no sooner rise from the dead than the egg in his hand turn red, at which point of course the egg turned red. Christians began exchanging red eggs then, along with the phrase "Christ is risen", and the modern easter egg hunt is said to be derived from this tradition.

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