From Eggs to Easter: Why the Festival Endured

Carmody, S. A.

KMCS Publishing（2026/02発売）

• 製本 Paperback:紙装版/ペーパーバック版
• 言語 ENG
• 商品コード 9781918259322

Full Description

From Eggs to Easter: Why the Festival EnduresEaster did not begin as a neat story with a single origin. It emerged gradually, shaped by season, belief, practice, and necessity. This book examines how a spring festival survived centuries of change, argument, and adaptation, and why it continues to be recognised even where religious observance has faded.

Drawing on archaeology, early texts, theology, cultural history, and everyday custom, From Eggs to Easter traces the development of Easter from early spring observances through the formation of Christian ritual and into modern secular celebration. It looks closely at where evidence is solid, where it is uncertain, and where later interpretation has blurred the line between history and assumption.

This is not a book of myths presented as fact. It questions popular claims about pagan origins, fertility symbols, and hidden continuity, explaining what can genuinely be supported and what cannot. Eggs, fasting, calendars, saints, councils, and communal marking of time are explored in their proper historical contexts, without romantic reconstruction.

Written for general readers, this book assumes curiosity rather than belief. It explains how Easter functioned socially as well as religiously, how it adapted to different regions and climates, and how repetition turned practical responses to spring into enduring tradition.

Whether Easter is observed in church, marked by food and family, or encountered only through public holidays and chocolate eggs, its persistence is not accidental. This book explains how that endurance was built.

Ideal for readers interested in

·       Cultural and religious history

·       Seasonal festivals and ritual

·       Christianity in historical context

·       Evidence-based exploration of tradition

·       How customs survive beyond belief

Clear, measured, and accessible, From Eggs to Easter: Why the Festival Endures offers a grounded account of a festival that continues to shape calendars, communities, and collective memory.

Contents

Contents

Acknowledgements                           1

Author's Note                              7

Introduction: Why Easter Needs Explaining              9

Part One

Spring, New Life, and Why We Mark the Year             13
Why Eggs and Hares Became Spring Symbols             18
Old Spring Festivals                          23

PART 2                                 31

Passover                                32
Cruci"xion                               39
Resurrection                              49
Why Does Easter Move?                        55

PART 3                                 63

Holy Week                               64
Eggs Again                               72
Hot Cross Buns, Lamb, and Easter Food Traditions           80

PART 4                                 89

Easter in Europe                            90
Easter Beyond Europe                         99
When Easter is a Minority Festival                  107

PART FIVE                              115

The Rise of the Easter Bunny                     116
Eggs Hidden, Found and Celebrated                  125
Chocolate, Commerce and the Victorian Easter            132
Stories, Films, and Fairy Tales and how Easter Learned to Tell

Itself                                  142

Conclusion                              152

APPENDIX A                            157

APPENDIX B                            161

APPENDIX C                            165

A Note on Sources                          169

Select Bibliography                          171

A short request                             175

Also by S. A. Carmody                        177