What is the origin of Easter Eggs

asks Mayastar:
A. Like many customs associated with this Christian celebration,�Eater eggs have�their roots in pagan traditions. (The word Easter comes from the Saxon goddess of dawn, Eostre, who had a hare's head - hence the Easter bunny.) The egg was a symbol for rebirth and the arrival of spring. The Christians banned�eggs during Lent - any eggs laid during�Lent were hard-boiled and painted red (for the blood of Christ) and given as gifts on Easter Sunday. Later, eggs also came to symbolise the oval stone that was rolled away from the tomb of Jesus.

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Q. When did they turn to chocolate
A. Not until 1985, when John Cadbury sold the first chocolate Easter eggs in this country. They caught on fast - this year we'll have eaten about 17,000 tons of them.

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Q. What about hot cross buns, where do they come from
A. Again, from the pagans, but the origins are lost in the mists of time. It could be that the buns were first eaten to celebrate the Roman goddess, Diana - the four lines representing the pagan symbol for the moon. Or they may date back to the sacrificial ox, killed at the feast of Eostre: lines were carved into the ritual bread to mark the animal's horns.

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Q. Were they banned, too
A. No, the Church wisely sanctified them by insisting on the addition of a dough cross and the condition that they were baked on Good Friday.

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Q. What about the Easter lamb
A. That was borrowed by the Christians from the Jewish Passover custom. From the 9th century, the main course of the Pope's Easter Sunday dinner was a roast paschal lamb, which became a symbol of innocence and sacrifice.

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Q. ...and the yummy Simnel cake
A. This cake is often made at Easter, although it is associated with Lent, Mothering Sunday and Christmas, too. The word 'simnel' comes from the Latin 'simila', or fine flour. The original recipe was for a bread, but it developed into a cake as other ingredients became available. Now it is a rich fruit cake covered with marzipan and decorated by 11 marzipan balls which are said to represent 11 apostles who were loyal to Christ.

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Q. What do other countries eat at Easter

• Italy - breads shaped like rabbits with hard-boiled eggs hidden in the stomachs
• Greece - plaited loaves with dyed red eggs between the strands
• Russia - tall Easter breads with icing on top
  Scandinavia - coffee breads and cakes
• France - agneau pascal, a meringue-topped, lamb-shaped biscuit
• Spain - hornazo, an olive oil bread with spicy sausages and eggs through it.

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By Sheena Miller