On 6th April 2023, Britain celebrated Easter Egg Hunt day. This year, I took part in my first Easter Egg Hunt on 4th April as my company organised it in a scavenger hunter format, and I thought it would be fun as I never understood the reason behind the Easter Egg and the Easter bunny.
I started collecting bunnies and eating Easter eggs since my childhood years as me and my family used to travel to USA during Easter holiday and found the bunnies fascinating. However, I was not curious enough to question the reasons behind, but times changed and now I am very interested in the history behind. Therefore, for me to understand this tradition I needed to start from the beginning, the egg.
The eggs have been depicted as a symbol of fertility since ancient times, during pre-Christian times (early 1st century) was associated with rebirth, and then during medieval times in Europe was associated with the Easter where eggs were prohibited during the fast of Lent.
During this time in England, the children would go door-to-door asking for eggs the last Saturday before Lent, and they would receive special treats. The idea behind this was the introduction of the sweets to the diet as many people give up sweets as their Lenten sacrifice (fasting period).
Although the period of fasting has stopped or reduced in many places, the tradition of the Easter eggs continued evolving. The German protestants evolved the custom and started eating coloured eggs. In some other places, the eggs were decorated with flowers depicting the spring period.
The idea of the Easter bunny bringing Easter eggs dates from the 17th century. The Easter bunny originated in Germany with the idea of the Easter bunny evaluating the behaviour of the children whether they were obedient or disobedient, and bringing gifts to the obedient children on the night before Easter. However, the Easter bunny as depicted in the Northwestern European folklore is a hare.
The early mentioned of a gift-giving bunny dates to 1682 on the essay called “On Easter eggs (De ovis paschalibu)” written by Georg Franck von Franckenau a German physician and botanist. The hare was chosen by the church, as during medieval times was considered to be hermaphrodite. This idea that the hare could reproduce without losing its virginity led to the association with the Virgin Mary, therefore its importance within the medieval church art.
The Easter Egg Hunt is the game celebrating Easter consisting of hiding decorated eggs for children to find. The Easter Egg hunt takes place on Maundy Thursday and traditional consists of hiding decorative boiled eggs or artificial eggs filled with candies. Currently most eggs are artificial eggs made of plastic filled with chocolate or candies of various size.
The earliest Easter egg hunts (EEH) were traced to Martin Luther the protestant Christian reformer by Professor Lizette Larson-Miller, where men hide eggs for the women and children to find. In England, they were introduced by A. E. Housman, an English classical scholar and a poet, during his inaugural lecture in 1892 where he described the German tradition of hiding coloured eggs in the house and garden for the children to find.
This tradition has evolved to the point that new games are created constantly like:
Reward EEH – where there is a prize inside each plastic egg.
Treasure EEH – where you write clues on where to find the next clue until you finished.
Easter egg relay race.
Activity EEH – where each egg contains something to do like a puzzle.
After many years, I am able to understand this tradition and although I understood the reasons behind the Easter Egg hunt, I still think it is design for the entertainment of children.
I started my first Easter Egg Hunt late as I managed to get last minute job and although I was unable to start on time, I decided to see how far I was able to reach on my own regardless of the prize at the end. The hunt was designed to take around 30 minutes.
I was able to complete four clues and after reading clue 5, I stopped the hunt to eat lunch and then off to work. Therefore, I decided to finish the hunt during my afternoon break, however, once I arrived to what I thought was the answer of clue 5, I saw that the QR code with the clue was gone.
Although limited, my experience with the Egg Hunt was positive. I was able to find new places and routes around the company premisses which is always good, but I failed to complete the hunt which makes it limited.
Therefore, I decided to take place every year if possible as this takes place during office hours. My recommendation is to try as it is a good activity to do with friends or the family, if you do it at work you are able to explore your company and make friends. However, if you are only interested in the chocolate Easter Egg at the end of the hunt, then it is more practical to just buy them.
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