Sometimes I contemplate big questions. What is existence really? What does Aristotle mean by a good life? And how can I start my second drink without finishing my first? Other times I contemplate something humbler – and what’s humbler than the humble egg?
If I’m feeling peckish, I might think about the egg as food. The egg gives us about 7 grams of protein and, sometimes, breakfast. Poached, scrambled, etc. There is also the church basement staple: Deviled egg. And, of course, the hard-boiled egg is both a quick snack and also an archetype. The hard-boiled egg in human form is tough, cynical, and emotionally impenetrable, much like the snack.
If I’m in an imperial mood, I might contemplate the egg as an object. The Fabergé egg is what I would call the fanciest of eggs. If I were a jewel thief in pictures, I’d take a shot at stealing one.
If I’m feeling metaphorical, I might consider the egg as a lovely, versatile turn of phrase. You can walk on eggshells – meaning you have to be careful. You can get egg on your face – which is bad. You can be an egghead–which is a good insult mostly because no one knows what it means. If someone buys you a round or helps you move, she’s a good egg. The opposite, of course, is a bad egg – a wrong’un, a scoundrel, rotten.
This time of year, I can’t help but contemplate the egg as a symbol. In “A Hero’s Journey,” Joseph Campbell refers to this as the cosmic egg. In many cultures, from Egyptian mythology to Greek Orphic tradition to Hinduism, the cosmic egg is a symbol of rebirth.
A few thousand years later, someone in the Christianity head office decided they wanted in on the egg action and gave their followers… the Easter egg. The Christian Easter egg was not the hidden message or surprise you find in movies or software. The Christian Easter egg is symbolic of Christ’s resurrection—the shell representing the sealed tomb, the breaking symbolizing emergence into new life. In short, this was a very serious egg.
And then came the Germans.
The Germans heard the story of the Easter egg as a symbol of Christ’s resurrection and decided the whole shebang was missing a hare. A hare is like a rabbit but worse in every way. A hare is not as cute as a rabbit. Its feet are not as lucky. And perhaps most importantly, a hare is not as fertile as a rabbit. Nonetheless, the Germans embraced the hare as a symbol of fertility.
Germans then took this symbol of fertility and married it to the symbol of the resurrection. In comedy we call this putting a hat on a hat. In Germany they call it Easter.
So when the Easter hare delivers an egg, this is really Fertility handing over a Resurrection. Got the logic? Any chance you could explain it to me?
I have a few minor physical observations as well: 1) hares are viviparous; eggs are oviparous. In plain English, this means hares don’t lay eggs!; 2) hares get around by hopping; eggs are fragile. No one hops with eggs?! The absence of biology or physics in folklore makes me hopping mad.
I suppose the big takeaway here is that you shouldn’t ask too many questions about eggs. But how do we explain this… to the children? In short, we don’t. The best we can do is distract them. Fill the eggs with candy, hide ‘em, and give the rascals a basket. Then run real fast and try not to get cosmic egg on your face.