Talk:Easter egg

The "Origin and folklore" section contains a fair amount about the alleged goddess Ēostre:

The pre-Christian Saxons had a spring goddess called Eostre, whose feast was held on the Vernal Equinox, around 21 March^{[citation needed]}. Her animal was the spring hare^{[citation needed]}. Some believe that Ēostre was associated with eggs and hares,^[1] and the rebirth of the land in spring was symbolised by the egg. Ēostre is only known from the writings of Bede Venerabilis, a seventh-century Benedictine monk. Bede mentions the pagan worship of Ēostre among the Anglo-Saxons as having died out before he wrote about it. Bede's De temporum ratione attributes her name to the festival, but does not mention eggs at all.^[2]

Given how little we know about Eostre--our only source for the existence of such a goddess is Bede, and he says nothing more than that she was honored in a month named for her, and that that month later gave its name to Easter--this seems unwarranted. All the actual connections between Eostre and easter eggs are marked with fact-check tags; according to the article on Eostre, these connections are all 19th-century speculation.

I suggest removing the references to Esotre from the article. If people want to know about the etymology of "Easter" (and speculations about the goddess), they'll find the info they need from the Easter page. -- Narsil (talk) 23:09, 29 March 2010 (UTC)

And, hearing no objections... -- Narsil (talk) 19:24, 30 March 2010 (UTC)

I object strenuously, post-hoc. Can this be reinstated please. (R Clarke) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 62.189.169.182 (talk) 20:26, 9 April 2012 (UTC)

So I'm kinda half-reading, half skimming the article, when I come upon this caption on an image: "Candle dripped Easter eggs from Ord Mantell and South Bend, IN, USA". Being a Sci-Fi dork and a Star Wars fan, I immediately recognized 'Ord Mantell' as a planet from the Star Wars Expanded Universe. Granted, my first thought was 'What? Is there someplace real called that or is it just Vandalism?' Cursory examination turned up no such real place. In fact, Ord Mantell is an active redirect to it's entry in the List of Star Wars Planets. Probably why our vandal didn't link it.

Some slightly more involved searching turned up the exact page revision where it appeared: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Easter_egg&diff=281414284&oldid=281334142

21:11 April 10th, 2009. I pulled it out of the article at 21:46 April 9th, 2010.

A guy adds a nonexistent planet to an image caption, in addition to the original, actual location that was listed... and it survives unremoved for 364 days, 15 minutes; 23.75 hours short of one year. In all that time, it would appear that not one single person that read, edited, or removed vandalism from the article checked that out at all. Nobody tried to link it, nobody tried to look up the article for it, nobody, in fact, bothered to try verifying it at all.

That Vandal has probably been laughing his ass off every single time he checks the page and sees it's still there. He's probably fair disappointed it missed 1 year by that narrow of a margin too.

-Graptor 208.102.243.30 (talk) 22:02, 9 April 2010 (UTC)

It´s very interesting the different forms of celebrating Easter in the different parts of the world. The chocolate eggs are a significant symbol established in speaking English countries. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Wikiteresa (talk • contribs) 21:08, 11 March 2011 (UTC)

My wife and I happened to be in Greece during Greek Easter a few years ago and in a number of places we heard the following story for the Easter Egg tradition. Apparently, when the women went to Jesus' tomb on the Sunday morning, they went there after first collecting eggs as they had done on every other morning. But on this morning, the eggs had miraculously become coloured red. Yes, I recognize that this is hardly a "verified" story by any encyclopaedic definition. Old_Wombat (talk) 09:29, 13 March 2011 (UTC)

The second sentence reads as such:

The egg is a pagan symbol of the rebirth of the Earth in celebrations of spring and was adopted by early Christians as a symbol of the resurrection of Jesus.

The source for this sentence is here. I question the validity of this sentence and its source. The source provides absolutely no attribution as to who wrote it, what their qualifications are, and exactly where their information comes from. (Plus the source includes "Easter songs and fingerplays" for preschool!) 67.233.245.55 (talk) 00:49, 22 April 2011 (UTC)

Under the Easter egg traditions section, there is a list of countries where egg tapping is practised. After that list, an editor has added 'They call it tucanje'. The languages spoken in that list of countries differ and that word seems (from my checking) to apply to very few of them. Tucanje is a word in Croatian, but not in Bulgarian - the correct term there is чукане/чукване (с яйца), transliterated as chukane/chukvane (s yaitsa), meaning literally knocking/tapping (with eggs). That's why I added a {{Who?}} to that sentence.

Options here are to either remove that phrase, or add (in brackets) the translations for each language by native speakers, similarly to Egg decorating in Slavic culture. The second option is my preferred. The Z ^UKBG (talk) 11:32, 8 July 2011 (UTC)

Could somebody please clarify the following part of the article: "During Paschaltide, in some traditions the Paschal greeting with the Easter egg is even extended to the deceased." I cannot see how the Paschal greeting is extended to the deceased, especially if an Easter egg is meant to be involved. This is very confusing and should be improved upon. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.28.150.243 (talk) 21:51, 11 January 2012 (UTC)

I did considerable rearrangement to the article just now - I didn't take anything out but a picture of some Cadbury eggs, though. The idea was to clarify how the Lent tradition gives a real explanation for egg eating on Easter, then proceed from there, marginalizing the non-Christian traditions which so far haven't been very convincingly linked to Easter by anything I've read here. Wnt (talk) 22:10, 4 April 2012 (UTC)

• I"m not sure why "marginalizing the non-Christian traditions" seemed warranted to you, and reading this talk page makes it clear that several others have also attempted to hide the pagan origins of Easter eggs. Often, as implied by your comment there, the reason for doing this is for lack of "convincing" sources as to these links. Here are some, thus:
  • Barnett, James H. "The Easter Festival: A Study in Cultural Change." American Sociological Review 14.1 (1949): 62–70. Link.
  • Newall, Venetia. "Easter Eggs." The Journal of American Folklore 80.315 (1967): 3–32. Link.
• Those are two I found with a quick Google Scholar search. There are no doubt many others. But to "[marginalize] the non-Christian traditions" seems to deny an important part of the Easter egg story. I hope this action will be rectified. 152.3.68.5 (talk) 18:28, 9 April 2012 (UTC)

Discussion moved by Grotte from User talk:Grotte

Hej Grotte. Tycker du att man målar på ägg i Sverige? Jag bor själv i Sverige och jag tycker mig förstå att det ingalunda målas ägg här i Sverige på påsken, utan köpes i godisaffären och ges bort i stora påskägg gjorda av papp. Alternativt hängs det i påskriset eller serveras och ställs fram på bordet, i detta fall inslagna i färglada stanniolpapper. Dina ägg, på din bild (som jag förstod att du själv tog) verkade vara målade äkta hönsägg. Jag kan inte hålla med om att detta ger en rättvis bild av de rådande omständigheterna i dagsläget i Sverige, med tanke på att denna wikipedia är en encyklopedi. I en encyklopedi, som dessutom många läser världen över, borde stå en korrekt återgivning av det statistiskt riktiga sakläget. Ett uppslagsverk bör ge en korrekt och sanningsenligt bild över de rådande förhållandena i det subjekt som behandlas. Det kan möjligen funnits en viss tradition av äggmålning i Skåne och Halland, men det generella bruket är att äta ägg och att göra som ovan. Här följer ett citat ordagrant återgiven från den motsvarande artikeln på den svenska wikipedia:

”Traditionen att skänka ägg lever kvar, men idag handlar det främst om godisfyllda pappägg.” Vänligen beakta detta, och om du trots allt envisas med att ha kvar bilden i artikeln, så denna under-skrift ” Easter eggs from Sweden”, även om det möjligen kan vara tekniskt korrekt (det vill säga att de visserligen är ägg, och var troligen målade och antagligen har befunnits på ett bord, någonstans i Sverige) så speglar de inte de verkliga förhållandena som råder i landet. Man kan bara förundras ibland vilka underliga uppgifter hittar man då och då på den engelska wiki-pedian, angående svenska förhållanden. Som till exempel i artikeln List of soups

Fruktsuppa Dessert A Swedish fruit soup, on dried fruit such as raisins and prunes.

Aldrig hört talas om Fruktsoppa, (jag antar att detta ord syftar till det) på plommon och russin. M.v.h. Hafspajen (talk) 16:22, 5 February 2013 (UTC)

Målade ägg till påsk är väl inget konstigt, det förekommer i Sverige. Det säljs speciell färg http://www.pandurohobby.se/Katalog/95-Sasonger/9520-Pask/952015-Aggtillbehor/1/248871-Aggfarg-5-ml-6-st-marmorering osv. Att ha pappägg med godis eller som pynt gör väl inte att man inte kan ha färgade hönsägg. Varför skulle det ena utesluta det andra? Man äter nog bara de färgade äggen, man ger inte bort dem, vilket man kanske gjorde förr, men man färgar ägg i Sverige likväl. Sök på färga ägg och liknande i google så får du se, det verkar inte vara något som inte förekommer precis. Så att det skulle vara missvisande att ha med det kan jag inte hålla med om. Det är ju inte så att precis alla i Sverige måste göra något för att det skall få nämnas i wikipedia.

Fruktsoppa hittar du nog i en vanlig kokbok, även om det inte är den modernaste efterrätten. Är det typiskt svenskt är det väl det. Det behöver inte vara fel med att ha med det i den listan.

Detta gäller ju inte precis saker som inte förekommit på 1000 år.

Det andra målade äggen och sakerna som finns på bilderna i artikeln om påskägg, har du någon uppfattning om hur vanligt det är att folk gör sådana? Jag skulle kunna tänka mig att det är något som förekommer betydligt mer sällan än att folk färgar ägg i Sverige.

Grotte (talk) 16:51, 5 February 2013 (UTC)

Det är inte vanligt att måla ägg i Sverige. Man brukar inte måla ägg, så som man skaffar julgran och äter risgrynsgröt på julen, så som man dansar kring midsommarstången och så som man äter sill och potatis och går omkring med kransar i håret. Det vill säga, det är ingen tradition. Det har inte rötter i den svenska påsk traditionen. Alla äter hamburgare, men det är inte någon tradition. Alla köper och äter pizza, men det är inte någon svensk tradition heller. Man äter kinamat men man är inte kines för det. Jag pesonligen gillar målade ägg, men det blir inte svensk tradition för det.

Visst finns det fruktsoppa. Typiskt svenskt, som du säger. Men du är ouppmärksam, det är ingen bra egenskap det. För att de skriver fruktsuppa, med u , s u ppa , så skriver man inte på svenska. Hafspajen (talk) 19:27, 5 February 2013 (UTC)

Det är vanligt att måla ägg i Sverige och det är en svensk tradition. Man har hållit på med det sedan 1700-talet sådär i Sverige. Och sen när är det bara traditioner det skall stå om på wikipedia, och vad skulle "ha rötter i den svenska påsk traditionen" betyda? Jag anmärker inte på folks stavning, inte ens sär skrivning, fast man inte skriver så på svenska. Är det felstavat så korrigera det. Grotte (talk) 19:46, 5 February 2013 (UTC)

"Jag anmärker inte på folks stavning, inte ens sär skrivning,...?" Då borde du inte skriva på en Encyclopedia, unge man, om du inte bryr dig om vad som är rätt och fel. Det tycker jag verkligen, och då har vi inte mer att diskutera.Hafspajen (talk) 13:37, 7 February 2013 (UTC)

I won't add a new section of just one sentence, but I think I'd be nice to include something to the effect of: "'Easter Eggs' in video games are surprising often humorous elements put into a game that don't serve any real purpose. A lot of times they include things outside the universe of the game, other games, or simply a message to the player from the developer. They generally go unnoticed hence the usage of the term since players hunt for them." — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.63.2.246 (talk) 01:56, 6 August 2013 (UTC)

Agree with the above thought on adding Easter eggs in this context. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.223.207.98 (talk) 05:36, 26 November 2018 (UTC)

Well, thanks, now everything is said twice, twice. Remove duplicate pictures, duplicate text and fringe theory about the sacred sacred tradition among followers of Eastern Christianity. Due to merger now we have text that say the same thing that is already in article. Hafspajen (talk) 16:23, 10 December 2014 (UTC)

In Christianity the sacred tradition is about the authority of Church - passed on in the Church from one generation to the next without addition, alteration, or subtraction. Hafspajen (talk) 16:29, 10 December 2014 (UTC)

Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just added archive links to one external link on Easter egg. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add {{cbignore}} after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add {{nobots|deny=InternetArchiveBot}} to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:

• Added archive https://web.archive.org/20081016010630/http://www.mieks.com:80/Faberge2/1885-Hen-Egg.htm to http://www.mieks.com/Faberge2/1885-Hen-Egg.htm

When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true to let others know.

This message was posted before February 2018. After February 2018, "External links modified" talk page sections are no longer generated or monitored by InternetArchiveBot. No special action is required regarding these talk page notices, other than regular verification using the archive tool instructions below. Editors have permission to delete these "External links modified" talk page sections if they want to de-clutter talk pages, but see the RfC before doing mass systematic removals. This message is updated dynamically through the template {{source check}} (last update: 5 June 2024).

• If you have discovered URLs which were erroneously considered dead by the bot, you can report them with this tool.
• If you found an error with any archives or the URLs themselves, you can fix them with this tool.

Cheers. —^{cyberbot II}_{Talk to my owner:Online} 00:26, 26 August 2015 (UTC)

I have done some overhaul on the article to reflect a number of issues. Specifically I was looking to address:

• the heavy WP:UNDUE bias on Christian symbolism for Easter eggs
• the complete lack of any mention of pre-christian history for Easter eggs, despite scholarly articles existing saying the contrary
• the lack of mention for Eostre and links asserted by Joseph Grimm and Bede for decorated eggs
• the poorly sourced and contradictory information about Christian symbolism for eggs (a newspaper Q&A article and a GCSE textbook are do not make reliable sources!)
• the large amount of WP:SYNTH which meant the article was strongly suggestive of a Christian origin for eggs
• Poorly sourced (and fairly unlikely) claims IN THE LEDE that easter eggs originated in Christian mesopotamia
• the scattergun galleries, with a number of poor quality pictures, not related to sections they are in
• the huge amount of repetition and contradicatory information at different points in the article

I hope we can work to improve this article signficantly. I would ask that you don't wholesale revert it, but work to bring it in to standard WP structures.

OwainDavies ^(about)_(talk) edited at 08:13, 26 March 2016 (UTC)

Dear User:Owain.davies, thank you for reaching out to me via my talk page and here. I am happy to work with you on this article to improve it. One thing that we must keep in mind here is that this article is about Easter/Paschal eggs, not about how eggs were used in other cultures or religions. While it's okay to have some information regarding these practices, it should not be the focus of the article. The fact that Easter eggs originated among early Christians in Mesopotamia is well known and there are plenty of academic sources to confirm this (e.g. Routledge). I will add these to the article. Joseph Grimm's speculation is merely a theory and it does not belong in the lede. This is something that is, in fact, unlikely, as some modern scholars have disputed the claim. What we can put in the lede, however, is Nile Green's claim that the early Christian custom may have arisen due to contact with surrounding cultures. I agree with you on the "scattergun galleries" and will leave your reorganization of that. However, adding a new heading titled "Christian tradition" is misleading because that makes it appear that other customs, such "Decoration" and "Egg tapping" are not practiced in Christian cultures. As a result, I'm going to rework that. I will honor your request not to wholesale revert your changes in the spirit of collaboration. However, I'm going to ask you to work with good edits that I will bring to the article in order to improve it. I hope this helps and look forward to your thoughts. With regards, Anupam^Talk 19:29, 26 March 2016 (UTC)

As user Skeptonomicon points out above, the sources do not actually support the assertion they are used to support; none of the sources even specify how old the Christian custom is in Mesopotamia (the only source that mentions "early Christians" is from 1881!), and hint at no evidence that the custom already existed in the early Christian period (i. e., in antiquity) – Kenneth merely speculates about an origin in Persia (which, however, it should be noted, would also mean that there is nothing Christian about the custom originally, only that the origin would lie in pre-Christian Persia!). Rather, the custom appears to be attested first in 1694, significantly later even than the attestation of the custom in the Roman Ritual (1610)! This is exactly the same kind of stretching and over-interpretation of the evidence that champions of pre-Christian (European) pagan origins of customs are accused of by Christians all the time. Clearly, there is a pro-Christian bias here, as scepticism is applied unequally; if Grimm's assertions are dismissed as speculation, so should the assertions of early Christian origin, because they are supported by no evidence, thus there is no "fact that Eastern eggs originated among early Christians in Mesopotamia" that is well known; it looks very much like an anti-Grimmian counter-speculation by pro-Christian scholars. In short, the origins of the Christian custom of painting Easter eggs are lost in the mists of history, as the case for an early Christian origin is just as flimsy as the one for a pagan origin. It is POV to present the Mesopotamian speculation as plain fact, rather than yet another hypothetical suggestion. --Florian Blaschke (talk) 17:17, 17 April 2017 (UTC)

@Bloodofox: Can I have your input here? I've tagged the statement. The assertion of a Mesopotamian origin of the Easter egg custom should definitely be toned down here and in related articles. --Florian Blaschke (talk) 17:20, 17 April 2017 (UTC)

I should caution that you seem to be framing your contentious claims as a WP:BATTLEGROUND, with your use of locutions such as "champions of pre-Christian (European) pagan origins" and "pro-Christian scholars". In addition, WP:CANVASSING other editors here who might agree with you is generally not encouraged. That being said, the article properly notes that eggs were used by adherents of pre-Christian cultures and then consequently discusses how Paschal/Easter eggs were used by early Christians in their celebration of Pascha/Easter. It also mentions that this custom entered Christianity "from Persia into the Greek Christian Churches of Mesopotamia", with support of an academic source, per Wikipedia's policy of WP:RS. I have added an additional source published by another academic press, ABC-CLIO, which states:

The history of the Easter egg can be traced back to the time of the advent of Christianity in Mesopotamia (around the first to the third century), when people use to stain eggs red as a reminder of the blood spilled by Christ during the Crucifixion. In time, the Christian church in general adopted this custom with the eggs considered to be a symbol of both Christ's death and Resurrection. Moreover, in the earliest days of Christianity Easter eggs were considered symbolic of the thomb in which Jesus's corpse was laid after the Crucifixion for eggs, as a near universal symbol of fertility and life, were like Jesus's tomb, something from which new life came forth.

If you have a reliable source in which someone claims to refute the Mesopotamian origin of Easter eggs, we can gladly include that in the article . I hope this helps. With regards, Anupam^Talk 21:42, 17 April 2017 (UTC)

Because of the issue of the overload of images, perhaps it is wise we have a discussion section to discuss any changes in regards to images. A section where people may propose replacing/ adding images to this article. For that very reason, I have created this section.SecretName101 (talk) 23:55, 28 March 2017 (UTC)

A cute image that will likely not be added however, would be this one of the Clinton family cat Socks (cat) at the White House with a bunch of easter eggs:

SecretName101 (talk) 23:57, 28 March 2017 (UTC)

So, the Jewish antecedents of Easter are well noted throughout the main article, but especially here and here. Given that the date, name, and many major symbols of Easter were explicitly borrowed from Jewish Passover whole-cloth, I don't understand how the Easter Egg article fails to discuss the importance of hardboiled eggs to to the Passover Seder and how that may have influenced the adoption of egg symbolism into Easter holiday traditions -- with the exception of a few, unsourced throwaway lines at the very end of the article. Like, the Christians and pagans weren't the only ones kicking around Mesopotamia at the beginning of the millenium, influencing early Christian doctrine.

Can someone add more balance to this article by incorporating this history more fully and with citations?

EmmeDave (talk) 19:46, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

I have been meaning to mention something about this here for a while. I used to think that Easter eggs originated in Mesopotamia as this article claims, but Peter Gainsford, a New Zealand classicist, has written an excellent and detailed article investigating the sources for the idea that Easter eggs originated in Mesopotamia which refutes this idea. Gainsford found that the earliest source mentioning Easter eggs in Mesopotamia is the book De Ludis Orientalibus ("On Eastern Games") by Thomas Hyde, published in 1694. There are no earlier sources recording Easter eggs in Mesopotamia before Hyde. Gainsford concludes that the idea of Easter eggs in Mesopotamia prior to the 1600s probably originates from people hearing the word "Mesopotamia" and automatically thinking "ancient Mesopotamia." He notes that there is evidence for Easter eggs in western Europe from long before the earliest evidence of Easter eggs in Mesopotamia, indicating the association of eggs with Easter actually originated in western Europe.

Concerning the origins of Easter eggs, Gainsford notes that scholars who study the Middle Ages generally conclude that Easter eggs most likely originated in western Europe during the Middle Ages as a result of the fact that eggs were forbidden during Lent, but, when Easter arrived, medieval Catholic Christians were permitted to eat eggs again. Because eggs were suddenly back on the menu on Easter Sunday, the tradition arose of blessing eggs for Easter. Thus, eggs became associated with Easter. Gainsford quotes a passage from the medievalist L. Gougaud in support of this. This actually makes a lot of sense. It seems that the association of eggs with Easter most likely originates not from paganism or from Christian symbolism, but rather from medieval prohibitions on which foods people were allowed to eat during Lent. —Katolophyromai (talk) 05:06, 28 November 2019 (UTC)

User:Katolophyromai, I have no objection if Peter Gainsford's theory is added in the article as one view of how Easter Eggs originated. I do object to the removal of the Mesopotamian origins view, since it is well-sourced to publications by ABC-CLIO and Routledge, both academic presses, among other references. We cannot allow the viewpoints expressed by one author in his own blog article to be the sole theory represented here. As such, I have attributed the claim you added by Peter Gainsford and have restored the information that was removed. To me, this seems to be a good WP:COMPROMISE. I hope this helps. With regards, Anupam^Talk 01:37, 14 January 2020 (UTC)

Article in it's entirety is slanted toward Christianity and removes most of the pre-Christian and Pagan roots of the Easter Egg rituals. This has been mentioned numerous times in Talk and no corrective action has been previously taken. The goes against the neutrality principals of Wikipedia by pushing a POV from one primary religion. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Drumblog (talk • contribs) 18:47, 4 April 2021 (UTC)

Maybe because its about Christianity? BritishToff (talk) 01:47, 23 March 2022 (UTC)

It is titled "Easter" egg, and Easter is a Christian entity. Nonetheless, there is a section Parallels in other faiths which, methinks, more than suffices to address your concern.

Therefore, I move that the NPOV hatnote be removed! Vincent J. Lipsio (talk) 18:33, 7 April 2022 (UTC)

In light of the consensus here to remove the templates, I have done so. I too agree that the article is well-sourced and written. With regards, Anupam^Talk 08:07, 14 April 2022 (UTC)

I thank you. Vincent J. Lipsio (talk) 16:52, 14 April 2022 (UTC)

This article is disgraceful. I doubt most children stuffing their faces with Easter Eggs think about Jesus or any other facet of Christianity. Frankly, this is probably the most biased and contrived nonsense of an article I have seen on Wikipedia. 2603:6080:A204:309A:A87B:2D1E:8823:27E8 (talk) 14:44, 17 April 2022 (UTC)

We don't write for "children". We write for general audiences. (CC) Tbhotch^™ 17:19, 17 April 2022 (UTC)

The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion:

• Kinder eggs.jpg

Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 04:22, 7 February 2023 (UTC)