Easter eggs- Πασχαλινά αυγά

Easter eggs, also called Paschal eggs, are decorated eggs that are often given to celebrate Easter or springtime. As such, Easter eggs are common during the season of Eastertide. The oldest tradition is to use dyed and painted chicken eggs, but a modern custom is to substitute chocolate eggs, or plastic eggs filled with confectionery such as jelly beans. Eggs, in general, were a traditional symbol of fertility, and rebirth.

In Christianity, the celebration of Eastertide includes Easter eggs symbolizing the empty tomb of Jesus:[3][4][5] though an egg appears to be like the stone of a tomb, a bird hatches from it with life; similarly, the Easter egg, for Christians, is a reminder that Jesus rose from the grave, and that those who believe will also experience eternal life. 

History
Egg with Christian cross, from the Greek Orthodox Monastery, Bolton, Ontario, Canada.

The practice of decorating eggshell is ancient, pre-dating Christian traditions.Ostrich eggs with engraved decoration that are 60,000 years old have been found in Africa. Decorated ostrich eggs, and representations of ostrich eggs in gold and silver, were commonly placed in graves of the ancient Sumerians and Egyptians as early as 5,000 years ago.

The custom of the Easter egg, however, originated in the early Christians of Mesopotamia, who stained eggs red in memory of the blood of Christ, shed at his crucifixion.The Christian Church officially adopted the custom, regarding the eggs as a symbol of the resurrection; in A.D. 1610, Pope Paul V proclaimed the following prayer:


Decoration and symbolism 
In the Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches, Easter eggs are dyed red to represent the blood of Christ, shed on the Cross, and the hard shell of the egg symbolized the sealed Tomb of Christ — the cracking of which symbolized his resurrection from the dead. Easter eggs are blessed by the priest at the end of the Paschal Vigil (which is equivalent to Holy Saturday), and distributed to the faithful. The egg is seen by followers of Christianity as a symbol of resurrection: while being dormant it contains a new life sealed within it.[3][4]

Similarly, in the Roman Catholic Church in Poland, the so-called święconka, i.e. blessing of decorative baskets with a sampling of Easter eggs and other symbolic foods, is one of the most enduring and beloved Polish traditions on Holy Saturday.

During Paschaltide, in some traditions the Pascal greeting with the Easter egg is even extended to the deceased. On either the second Monday or Tuesday of Pascha, after a memorial service people bring blessed eggs to the cemetery and bring the joyous paschal greeting, "Christ has risen", to their beloved departed (see Radonitza).

Easter eggs are a widely popular symbol of new life in Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, and other Central European countries' folk traditions. A batik (wax resist) process is used to create intricate, brilliantly colored eggs, the best-known of which is the Ukrainian pysanka and the Polish pisanka. The celebrated Fabergé workshops created exquisite jewelled Easter eggs for the Russian Imperial Court. Most of these creations themselves contained hidden surprises such as clock-work birds, or miniature ships. A 27-foot (9 m) sculpture of a pysanka stands in Vegreville, Alberta.

There are many other decorating techniques and numerous traditions of giving them as a token of friendship, love or good wishes. A tradition exists in some parts of the United Kingdom (such as Scotland and North East England) of rolling painted eggs down steep hills on Easter Sunday. In the U.S., such an Easter egg roll (unrelated to an eggroll) is often done on flat ground, pushed along with a spoon; the Easter Egg Roll has become a much-loved annual event on the White House lawn. An Easter egg hunt is a common festive activity, where eggs are hidden outdoors (or indoors if in bad weather) for children to run around and find. This may also be a contest to see who can collect the most eggs.

When boiling eggs for Easter, a popular tan colour can be achieved by boiling the eggs with onion skins. A greater variety of colour was often provided by tying on the onion skin with different coloured woollen yarn. In the North of England these are called pace-eggs or paste-eggs, from a dialectal form of Middle English pasche. They were usually eaten after an egg-jarping (egg tapping) competition. When boiling them with onion skins leaves can be attached prior to dying to create leaf patterns. Natural colours are obtained by using various plants:
brown: onion peels
black: oak or alder bark or the nutshell of walnut
golden: the bark of young apple tree or the marigold flower
violet: petals of the mallow flower
green: shoots of young rye or leaves of periwinkle
pink: the juice of beet.
 
Easter egg traditions
An egg hunt is a game during which decorated eggs, real hard-boiled ones or artificial ones filled with, or made of chocolate candies, of various sizes, are hidden for children to find, both indoors and outdoors. When the hunt is over, prizes may be given for the largest number of eggs collected, or for the largest or the smallest egg. Real eggs may further be used in egg tapping contests.

In the North of England at Eastertime, a traditional game is played where hard boiled pace eggs are distributed and each player hits the other player's egg with their own. This is known as "egg tapping", "egg dumping" or "egg jarping". The winner is the holder of the last intact egg. The losers get to eat their eggs. The annual egg jarping world championship is held every year over Easter in Peterlee Cricket Club. It is also practised in Bulgaria, Hungary, Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Lebanon, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Ukraine, and other countries. In parts of Austria, Bavaria and German-speaking Switzerland it is called Ostereiertitschen or Eierpecken. In parts of Europe it is also called epper, presumably from the German name Opfer, meaning "offering" and in Greece it is known as tsougrisma. In South Louisiana this practice is called Pocking Eggs and is slightly different. The Louisiana Creoles hold that the winner eats the eggs of the losers in each round.

The central European Slavic nations (Czechs and Slovaks etc.) have a tradition of gathering eggs by gaining them from the females in return of whipping them with a pony-tail shaped whip made out of fresh willow branches and splashing them with water, by the Ruthenians called polivanja, which is supposed to give them health and beauty.

Egg rolling is also a traditional Easter egg game played with eggs at Easter. In the United Kingdom, Germany, and other countries children traditionally rolled eggs down hillsides at Easter. This tradition was taken to the New World by European settlers, and continues to this day each Easter on the White House lawn. Different nations have different versions of the game.

Egg dance is a traditional Easter game in which eggs are laid on the ground or floor and the goal is to dance among them without damaging any eggs which originated in Germany. In the UK the dance is called the hop-egg.

The Pace Egg plays are traditional village plays, with a rebirth theme. The drama takes the form of a combat between the hero and villain, in which the hero is killed and brought to life, The plays take place in England during Easter.

In some Mediterranean countries, especially in Lebanon, chicken eggs are boiled and decorated by dye and/or painting and used as decoration around the house. Then, on Easter Day, young kids would duel with them saying 'Christ is resurrected, Indeed He is', breaking and eating them. This also happens in Bulgaria, Greece and Cyprus (where the eggs are painted red). In Easter Sunday friends and family hit each other's egg with their own. The one whose egg does not break is believed to be in for good luck in the future.

In Germany, eggs decorate trees and bushes as Easter egg trees, and in several areas public wells as Osterbrunnen.

In Egypt, it's a tradition to decorate boiled eggs during Sham el-Nessim holiday, which falls every year after the Eastern Christian Easter.

Cascarones, a North-Eastern Mexican tradition now shared by many in South Texas, are an emptied and dried chicken egg stuffed with confetti and sealed with a piece of tissue paper. The eggs are hidden in a similar tradition to the American Easter egg hunt and when found the children (and adults) break them over each other's heads. Each year 80 million easter eggs are sold in the UK alone


Τα πασχαλινά αυγά είναι μέρος των Πασχαλινών εθίμων, είτε βαμμένα κόκκινα αυγά, είτε σοκολατένια αυγά.


Παραδοσιακά αυγά
Στην Ελλάδα, τα αυγά αυτά βάφονται κατά κύριο λόγο κόκκινα (αν και δεν είναι ασυνήθιστη ποικιλία χρωμάτων ή και σχεδίων), ενώ σε άλλες χώρες τα αυγά βάφονται σε περισσότερα χρώματα, αρκετές φορές με περίτεχνα σχήματα.

Τα αυγά βάφονται παραδοσιακά τη Μεγάλη Πέμπτη και αρχίζουν να καταναλώνονται την Κυριακή του Πάσχα.
 
Τσούγκρισμα των αυγών
Μέρος του εθίμου των πασχαλινών αυγών είναι και το τσούγκρισμα. Πριν από την κατανάλωσή τους, ιδιαίτερα στο πασχαλινό τραπέζι, ο καθένας διαλέγει το δικό του αυγό και το τσουγκρίζει με αυτό άλλου. Όποιος έχει το αβγό που δεν έσπασε, το τσουγκρίζει στη συνέχεια με το αυγό τρίτου και ούτω καθεξής μέχρι να αναδειχθεί αυτός που έχει το πιο ισχυρό αυγό.

Χαρακτηριστική στιγμή του εθίμου στην πασχαλινή επικαιρότητα είναι το τσούγκρισμα των αυγών των πολιτικών αρχηγών οι οποίοι περνούν την ημέρα του Πάσχα σε στρατιωτικές εγκαταστάσεις. Σε αυτή την περίπτωση (η οποία συνήθως απαθανατίζεται με τηλεοπτική κάλυψη), ο εκάστοτε πολιτικός αρχηγός τσουγκρίζει αυγά με όλο το στρατιωτικό προσωπικό.

Σοκολατένια πασχαλινά αβγά
Μέρος των σύγχρονων πασχαλινών εθίμων είναι και τα σοκολατένια πασχαλινά αυγά, τα οποία συνήθως προσφέρονται σε παιδιά και περιέχουν μικρά παιχνίδια.
Βαφή των αυγών

Σήμερα κυκλοφορούν ειδικές βαφές που δίνουν έντονα ομοιόμορφα χρώματα. Εκτός απο τις βαφές αυτές υπάρχουν και παραδοσιακοί τρόποι βαψίματος όπως με ξερά φύλλα κρεμμυδιού με τα οποία τα αυγά παίρνουν ένα ελαφρύ κεραμιδί χρώμα.