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Easter
Party Ideas: the role of the woman in the Easter
Celebration.
 Another
level of symbolism is that the egg represents birth,
Creation, the elements, and the world itself, with
the shell representing the firmament, the vault of
the sky where the fiery stars lie; the thin membrane
symbolizing air; the white symbolizing the waters;
and the yolk representing earth. Painted red, eggs
are a demonstration that the salvation and re-birth
of the world comes through Christ's Blood and
Resurrection. Old legend has it that St. Mary
Magdalen went to Rome and met with the Emperor
Tiberius to tell him about the Resurrection of
Jesus. She held out an egg to him as a symbol of
this, and he scoffed, saying that a man could no
more rise from the dead than that egg that she held
could turn scarlet. The egg turned deep red in her
hands, and this is the origin of Easter eggs, and
the reason why Mary Magdalen is often portrayed
holding a scarlet egg.
Because of this legend and all of the egg's
symbolism, and because eggs are special because they
were once forbidden during Lent, Christians make
great use of them on this day, eating them,
decorating them, and decorating with them. Red is
the classic color to use when dying eggs to be
eaten, but other colors are more often used these
days (pastels being the most
common
in the United States).
Another Easter folk custom -- one known all over
Europe -- is that of watching the sun "dance" in joy
for the risen Lord on Easter morning. The sun,
already a symbol of Christ, is especially a symbol
of Him as it rises and pierces the dawn on Easter
Sunday. In the olden days, most people would go to a
hilltop in the morning -- at dawn, just as the sun
was rising like Christ rising from His tomb -- and
wait to see if they could see the spectacle,
sometimes watching the reflection of the sun in a
lake or in a bucket of water. But a basin of water
on an eastward-facing windowsill served (and serves)
just as well. Of course, parents might
surreptitiously give the basin a tiny shake to cause
the waves that make the "miracle" manifest! (And, of
course, too, God can well make the sun truly dance
without our help!)
-- but, as said, all of these fun things need to be
kept in check so that the focus of the day isn't
lost. I strongly, strongly urge your telling your
children the story of Moses and the Passover (Exodus
2-12), and their being types of -- their
foreshadowing -- Christ and the hope of salvation
through the Blood of Christ as evidenced by the
Resurrection.
Some, such as the French, attribute the candy to the
bells that flew away on Maundy Thursday to return on
Easter, bringing candy with them. Children will get
up early in the morning to see what sorts of candies
the bells have left, looking up to the skies to see
if they can catch a glimpse of them flying away
first -- only to be told by parents that they're a
little too late. 
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