posted December 18, 2011 12:21 PM
The Egg.In many countries it was once believed that the universe began with a single primal or cosmic egg; either heaven and earth were two parts of a single egg or the first human sprang from one.
In Peruvian mythology, three eggs were dropped to the earth by the Sun. The golden one gave birth to the nobility. The silver egg gave birth to women, and the copper egg gave birth to peasants. Chinese, Greek, and Roman heroes occasionally sprang from eggs which may have been spat out by dragons, swallowed by their mothers, or hatched by the sun or a bird. Because of these myths, eggs are a symbol of the universe, the creation of the world, beginnings, birth, and rebirth.
Each spring the egg reminds us of the rebirth of nature and the promise of new life in Christ. The egg is also the object of much hope and speculation. We almost always know what type of creature will spring from a particular egg and yet within those parameters there are endless possibilities and variations.
Because "hope which is seen is not hope" (Rom 8:24), Augustine equated the egg and its hidden chick with the virtue of Hope. He based this symbolism on the following passage from the gospel of Luke: "If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!" (Lk 11:11-13).
Augustine believed these verses urged the Christian to seek the three theological virtues of Faith, Hope, and Charity (1 Cor 13:13). 'Faith' was represented by the fish and 'Charity' by the bread (Letters of Augustine, Letter 130).
Ancient Greeks, Egyptians, Chinese, Persians, and Romans exchanged gifts of eggs during their spring holidays as a symbol of nature's resurrection from the seeming death of winter and, in some instances, as a wish that the recipient would live a long life. Such gifts were also offered to fertility goddesses such as Astarte. Hebrews ate a special Paschal egg during their Passover feast.
Eggs were used to symbolize a hope common to many cultures - that of a rebirth into a new life after death. They were found in many pagan and Christian graves and tombs as a symbol of this hope and, in the case of pagans, as nourishment for the deceased on their final journey. In some religions, the egg was a symbol of reincarnation. Christians saw the chick emerging from its shell as a symbol of Christ exiting His tomb on Easter morning. Eggs were blessed, used in Easter ceremonies, hung on altars and tombs and even under the feet of Christ Crucified as emblems of the resurrection. Red eggs were used to remind believers that the new life sprang from the blood of Christ.
For a long time it was forbidden to eat eggs during Lent so Christians began decorating the spring surplus of eggs and giving them as gifts on Easter morning to celebrate the resurrection and the end of the Lenten fast. In Ireland it was customary to eat eggs for breakfast on Easter morning. The Ukrainians made special Easter eggs called pysanky by repeatedly drawing wax designs on raw eggs and then dipping them into a dye bath. It was believed that pysanka-writing was an important weapon against Satan and if pysanky were no longer made the world would be engulfed in evil or simply cease to exist.
In most countries the Easter Rabbit, Hare, or Chick brings baskets of eggs to the children. But in a few Roman Catholic countries, where church bells are not rung from Maundy Thursday until Easter Eve, children may be expecting the bells to come back from Rome bearing Easter eggs. The Easter Hare began delivering eggs when he was still a bird and the companion of the pagan spring goddess, Eostre, from whom we get the name Easter. Apparently he displeased her one day and was changed into a hare.
Egg races, egg rolling, and other egg games are popular at Easter, and in some areas children may go caroling for their eggs. Colorful Easter egg trees were made popular in some parts of America by the Pennsylvania Dutch who improved upon their German ancestors' custom of hanging undyed eggs outside on bushes and trees. The English used to write notes on their Easter eggs. In some countries, eggs are even given to the dead during the Easter season. In Yugoslavia some eggs are dyed black and left on family graves and the Ukranians throw eggshells in rivers in honor of their departed family members.
In Germany a green egg may be carried on Maundy Thursday to ensure good luck during the coming year. Most superstitions surrounding eggs concern those laid on Good Friday. These are believed to stay fresh forever, be an excellent fire extinguisher, and bring good luck or cure whatever ails you if eaten on Easter morning. In addition, decorated Easter eggs may be kept year round to bring good fortune to the home and protect it from evil. They may also be planted in vineyards to protect the vines from bad weather, especially hailstorms.
The eggs of owls, snakes, and toads were used by sorcerers in their wicked spells and it was believed that the only way witches could cross water was in boats made of eggshells. Isaiah compares the plots of the wicked to deadly vipers' eggs. Far from being nourishing, the eggs of the wicked bring death to their eaters (Isa 59:5). It was also thought that snakes could not cross a line made of eggshells.
Romans believed the "lustral egg" was so pure that it had the power of driving away evil spirits and used them in rites of purification. (Lustral means "things associated with ceremonial purification.") The purity of the egg is ascribed to its white (virginal) color and its perfect oval shape which has no entryway for any type of contamination.
ostrich's egg is believed to be the most perfect and lovely one of all and yet "she leaves her eggs on the ground, and warms them in the dust; she forgets that a foot may crush them, or that a wild beast may break them. She treats her young harshly, as though they were not hers...because God deprived her of wisdom, and did not endow her with understanding" (Job 39:14-17).
Gold eggs signify the sun while silver eggs represent the moon. Domestic eggs symbolize prosperity. The doctrine of the Trinity is taught with the use of an egg; yolk, white, and shell are still one egg just as the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are yet one God.
Mosaic law forbade Israelites who found a nest in the wild to eat or keep the mother bird along with her eggs. They could enjoy the eggs as they pleased but the mother was to remain free (Deu 22:6-7). The desolation and abandonment of a city was represented by the fact that wild animals now felt free to lay their eggs in it (Isa 34:15). Job felt it was meet that complaining accompany his afflictions just like salt accompanied egg whites (Job 6:6). The king of Assyria arrogantly boasted that his conquest of the nations was as simple as the gathering of eggs (Isa 10:12-14).
All scripture quotes are from the NKJV Bible.
Symbology of Eggs in Dreams
To see or eat eggs in your dream, symbolizes fertility, birth and your creative potential. It indicates that something new is about to happen.
To find a nest filled with eggs in your dream, signifies some financial gain; the more abundant and bigger the eggs, the more significant the gain.
To see cracked or broken eggs in your dream, denotes that you will suffer from many disappointments and misfortunes. It is indicative of a fragile state in your life and feelings of vulnerability. Alternatively, you may be breaking out of your shell and being comfortable with who you are.
To see bright colored eggs in your dream, symbolizes celebration of a happy event.
To dream of rotten eggs, signifies loss. You may have allowed some situation to take a turn for the worse.
To see fish eggs in your dream, represents an idea that has emerged from your unconscious.
Superstitions and Old Wives Tales about Eggs
* Take an egg to your window; break it over a knife; remember the day
and date. Wish that your true love would come to you. If you go too high,
he will be killed.
Nashua, N.H.
* Put two eggs in front of the open fire on a very windy day, and soon
two men will come in with a coffin. The man at the foot will be your
future husband.
Chestertown, Md. (negro).
* One or more girls put eggs to roast before an open fire, seating
themselves in chairs before it. Each puts one egg to roast, and when her
egg begins to sweat (it will sweat blood), she is to rise and turn it. At
this time the one whom that projector is to marry will come in through a
door or window (all of which must be left open throughout) and take her
vacant chair. If she is to die before she marries, two black dogs will
enter, bearing a coffin, which they will deposit on her chair.
Quaker Neck, Kent Co., Md.
* Boil an egg hard, take out the yolk, and fill its place with salt.
Eat it before going to bed. The one you dream of as bringing you water is
your future husband.
Mansfield, O.
To be done by two girls in silence, going backward as they retire.
Eggs in Medicine
During the 16th and 17th centuries, it was believed that sickness could be transferred from a patient to a "sympathetic object." For example, and egg would be emptied of its contents, filled with blood from a healthy human and returned to a brooding hen. Then needed by a patient, the egg was heated in a hot oven for several hours and then held over the affected part of the diseased body. The sickness allegedly left the body of the patient and entered the egg, preferring the healthy blood in the egg to the diseased blood in the patient.
Egg Divination
These are two forms of divination by eggs. An example of the former was described by the Roman historian Suetonius (c. 98-138 AD). The woman Livia was pregnant and was anxious to know whether she was to be the mother of a boy or girl. She took an egg and kept it in her bosom, at the appropriate temperature, until a chick came forth with a beautiful cockscomb.
The name Oomantia signified the divining method of interpreting the signs or characteristics appearing on eggs. It comes from the custom of pasche or paste eggs (dyeing eggs in the United States), which are stained with various colors and given away at Easter. The well-known custom it described at considerable length by John Brand in Popular Antiquities (2 vols, London, 1813, etc.). The custom was very religiously followed in Russia, and was derived from the Greek Orthodox Church. Gilded and colored eggs were mutually exchanged between men and women, who then kissed one another. If previous ill feelings existed before they soon vanished on these occasions.
"The egg is one of the most ancient and beautiful symbols of new birth, and has been applied to natural philosophy as well as the spiritual creation of man." A.G.H.
Oomancy
________________________________________
A system of divination by the outer and inner forms of eggs. The process was to break an egg into a glass of water, and then to interpret the forms which the white assumed in the water. A.G.H.
The mystical art of divination by eggs [known by such names as oomantia, ooscopy, and ovamancy] dates back to ancient times, and nearly every culture has practiced it in one form or another.
Egg divination has been employed by many to determine the gender of unborn children, and also to determine whether or not a person or animal has been cursed by the power of the evil eye.
Egg divination is quite simple to perform. Usually all that is required is an uncooked hen egg which can be obtained at a supermarket or dairy.
To determine whether or not a pregnant woman will give birth to twins, she [or her fortuneteller] should rub an egg on her belly for a few minutes and then break the egg open into a saucer. If it contains a single yolk, it indicates the birth of only one child; a double yolk indicates the birth of twins. If the yolk is spotted with blood, it is a bad omen which could indicate either a miscarriage or serious complication during childbirth.
If you have a good imagination, you can use the following method of egg divination to predict a future event or to gain an answer to a specific question: Take an uncooked hen egg and prick the top and bottom of it with a pin or needle. Allow three drops of the white of the egg to drip out in a clear drinking glass filled to the brim with cold water. Over the course of the next few hours the egg white will spread through the glass, forming symbolic shapes, letters, and/or numbers which can be interpreted.
This ancient form of egg divination was practiced in Scotland on the eve of the old Druid New Year [Samhain}, in Spain on Saint John's Eve, and in England on the last day of the year.
The Inspection
i. The Patera is turned so that the place where the Fibra Umbilicata [umbilical cord] leaves the Vitellus [yolk] and connects to the Embruon [embryo] is in the Southeast direction.
ii. The shape of the Album [egg-white] should be definite and firm; if it runs then the Gods have refused to give clear Signs. Some Vitium may have been committed.
iii. The Album should divide naturally into two parts, the thicker Album Interius around the Vitellus, and the thinner Album Exterius around that. If these are not distinct, then the Signs cannot be clearly read.
iv. The Vitellus should be uniform and bright of Color and regular of Shape; not being so is an Ill Omen. The Sacrifice should be repeated.
v. Blood in the Vitellus is a Frightful Omen.
vi. The Album should be moderately clear, except for a Bubbles and Pale Features.
vii. The Egg is divided into Parts, Templa, Quadrants and Regions [see below], and the Haruspex must note carefully the Position and Character of every Mark, Bubble or other Feature, and their Number and Configuration. [A little practice will help distinguishing normal features of eggs from those that are significant.]
viii. If the Fibra crosses the Vitellus, it indicates a connection of the Region
Lindaland
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posted December 18, 2011 11:42 AM
posted December 18, 2011 12:21 PM
posted December 18, 2011 02:38 PM
