An Egg Is For Life; Not Only For Easter

An Egg Is For Life; Not Only For Easter

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At this particular time of year everyone is almost certainly thinking about eggs - the chocolate, Easter egg kind that are customarily bought in big cardboard boxes and plastic packaging or at times wrapped in brightly coloured foil. Ive had eggs on my mind most of this year for a very singular reason.

My 7 year old sons teacher (who will remain nameless) apparently spent the whole of his Christmas holidays building his own chicken coop in his garden and when back to school in January he decided to share his chicken raising appreciation with every small boy in grade 2a. He doesnt have his own offspring.

So weve had the chicken coop, a pre-constructed one, I might add, for 5 weeks at this point and we have a mixed-breed family of 5 laying hens. A hen produces an average of 300 eggs a year, as a result we also have a great deal of eggs, which is almost certainly why they are uppermost in my mind.

The egg has long been a emblem of rebirth, the life phase and fertility. Curiously its symbolic dominance is rivaled only by that of the cock. It is the gift of the egg to craft a new life that made it so mystifying to pagan believers. People used to believe the earth was formed like an egg and early myths thought the golden egg yolk, symbolized the sun, which in turn was viewed as a source of life. As eggs embody the very essence of life, they have all through the centuries been imbued with mystical properties of being able to divine the future.

Historically diverse cultures have their own traditions and beliefs in relation to eggs. In Egypt eggs were hung in the temples to encourage fertility, in Germany farm workers used to daub their farming implements with egg whilst digging the land, as they believed the egg would help the soil to be more fertile. Some people shunned consuming eggs or destroying them at all, for fear of harming productiveness.

As Europe became Christian, eggs became a sign of Easter and the rising again of The lord. In the past, Christians gave up eggs for Lent, the 40 days that Christ was in the wilderness. But even though people didnt consume them, the hens kept producing them! So people would hard-boil and adorn them which helped preserve them longer and eat as part of the holiday celebrations. The egg is also part of the Jewish Passover holiday that takes place in the Spring, representing sacrifice and rebirth.

It is thus in the Spring, when everything is coming back into life after the winter, that the egg is most directly associated.

In 1996 The International Egg Commission promoted the first World Egg Day; countries take part each year on the second Friday in October in an international crusade to market the egg and its health benefits.


The entire chicken rearing experience is beneficial, in spite of my original objections to the children. Im a very keen cook who enjoys fine, fresh ingredients and we all appreciate the difference in taste we are getting from our eggs. Eggs are so versatile and should be the star of your cooking and baking all year round, adapting your culinary use of them to the time of year.

This year for Easter were doing something special. Weve bought a selection of novelty egg cups to sit our freshly laid eggs in, once the little ones have decorated them. Well wrap them basically in brown paper and present them as gifts. However I wont insult your intelligence by pretending that eggs are any substitute for chocolate.

Happy Easter!

About the Author:

Jamie Ogilvie has recently ventured into keeping chickens. To read more about eggs, raising chickens, buy novelty egg cups and other unusual egg related gifts and cookware visit EggsarenotjustforEaster



Article Originally Published On: http://www.articlesnatch.com


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