Red Easter Eggs

 Celtic tradition connects the bunny and eggs to both spring and Easter,  Both the hare and eggs are signs of fertility, birth and the season of spring not only in Celtic tradition but others as well.

You’ll see the basket of decorated eggshells I brought back carefully and lovingly from Latvia and Hungary. The big red egg is from Greece.  Why red you ask?

I had a chance to visit Greece many years ago over Greek Easter and kept seeing red Easter egg decorations everywhere. I was perplexed and kept asking: “why red?”. But no one I asked knew its origin. They just shrugged and said it was just known that the eggs should be red. I was compelled to bring home the souvenir red egg you see above. I bring it out every year, but only came across the answer to “why red?” recently.

Easter is a week later in Greece because they follow the Eastern Orthodox calendar. That is a clue to why the red egg is a tradition there. The Eastern Orthodox Church honors Mary Magdalene as a saint and always has. It was only the Roman Catholic Church that removed the Gospel of Mary from the New Testament and perverted her story, making her a prostitute. The color of red went from sacred to a sign of prositution (red light districts, red doors) in the West but not the East.

The Mary Magdalene story of the red egg is a key part of her legacy and sainthood. To this day, red eggs are handed out at Orthodox Easter services. As the story goes, Mary Magdalene came from an influential family and was therefore granted an audience with Emperor Tiberius in Rome after Christ’s Resurrection. She wanted him to denounce Pontius Pilate for his role in the trial and crucifixion of Jesus. As she told of His resurrection from the dead, she held up an egg to him and proclaimed that Christ had  Risen just as a chick breaks out of an egg. It is said that the emperor was not impressed. He said it was impossible. He said there was as much chance of a human being returning to life from the dead as there was of the egg in her hand turning red. At that point, the egg turned red.

Whatever your religion, tradition or interest in symbology, may springtime bless you with its wonders and may you celebrate it in joy.