The
egg
appears
as
a
symbol
in
the
theogonies
of
many
people,
creating
a
correspondence
between
cultures
very
distant
from
each
other and without any starting point being known.
Most
of
these
cosmogonic
myths,
imagine
the
universe
originated
by
an
egg
where
in
its
interior
lies
the
primordial
matter
from
which
all
manifestation develops.
A
scholastic
question
like
“which
one
was
the
first:
the
chicken
or
the
egg”,
does
not
manifest
anything
else
that,
the
duality
is
within
the
unit.
In
ancient
Greece,
the
followers
of
the
Orphic
mystery
religion,
believed
that
Phanes,
the
first
androgynous
progenitor,
had
been
born
from
the
Cosmic
egg,
from
which
the
gods
and
later
men
descended.
Alchemy
refers
to
the
philosophical
egg
as
the
generator
of
life
that
is
inside
the
athanor,
and
in
philosophical
alchemy,
the
athanor
resides
inside
each
one of us.
The
Easter
egg
is
a
pre-Christian
tradition
that
suggests
the
idea
of
resurrection
or
renewal;
hence
its
symbolic
force
alluding
to
the
awakening
of
nature
in
spring,
when
the
sun
is
at
its
highest
point
on
the horizon.
One
of
these
ancient
Easter
rituals,
consisted
of
painting
the
eggs
with
certain
symbols
and
making
them
roll
on
the
ground
to
promote
an
abundant
harvest
and
the
renewal
of
all
the
vegetation.
In
Germanic
countries
this
tradition
developed,
and
they
decided
to
make
the
eggs
of
a
highly
decorated
chocolate
and
giving
them
as
a
present
to
people
and family members to wish them health and abundance.
Towards
the
18th
century
in
Orthodox
Russia,
the
gift
of
the
Easter
egg
became
general,
especially
in
aristocratic
circles
where
they
were
made
of
gold,
silver
or
delicate
porcelain,
and
always
dedicated
to
exhibit
the
social position of the one who offered them.
A
remarkable
example
of
these
eggs
can
be
seen
in
the
town
of
Ordino
in Andorra.
On
the
Corpus
Christi
festival
here
in
Catalonia,
we
have
a
tradition
that
seems
to
date
back
to
the
17th
century
and
that
consists
of
laying
an
empty
egg
on
the
spout
of
a
fountain,
this
tradition
originating
in
Barcelona,
does
not
seem
to
have
any
specific
symbolism
other
than
an
entertainment and visual show
THE EGG