Happy Easter to all of you !

by Yvette Depaepe
Published the 17th of April 2022

'Flower power !' by Ben Goossens

The Easter bunny, the coloured eggs, the bells of Rome, all are ancient traditions celebrating Easter.
What is the origin of those Easter symbols ???

Easter eggs
Easter eggs are specially decorated eggs given out to celebrate the Easter festival. The custom of the Easter egg originated in an early Christian community. They stained eggs red in memory of the blood of Christ. The oldest tradition is to use dyed chicken eggs, but a modern custom is to substitute eggs made from chocolate, or plastic eggs filled with candy such as jelly beans.
Easter eggs are a widely popular symbol of new life in many folk traditions.

Easter bunny
Because many Protestants countries also wanted to remember the joy of Easter eggs, they came up with the Easter Bunny, Most likely, the choice of this animal has its origins in paganism, since ancient times the hare is also a symbol for fertility and for the beginning of spring.

The idea of an egg-giving hare came to the U.S. in the 18th century. Protestant German immigrants in the Pennsylvania Dutch area told their children about the “Osterhase”. Hase means "hare", not rabbit, and in Northwest European folklore the "Easter Bunny" indeed is a hare. According to the legend, only good children received gifts of coloured eggs in the nests that they made in their caps and bonnets before Easter.

The bells of Rome
According to a catholic tradition in France, Belgium and some parts of the Netherlands,
Easter bells bring us chocolate and sugar eggs from Rome. They leave for Rome on Maundy Thursday and come back the night before Easter. They are represented like church clocks with wings. They drop the eggs in gardens and on balconies. An enthusiastic quest on Easter morning is part of this tradition.

Have fun and enjoy the quest for sweet eggs !!!

'Together' by Christophe Kiciak