POPULAR SUPERSTITIONS. 93 



of the religion and heathen doctrines of the Greeks and Romans 

 rests upon writings which existed previous to the rise of Chris- 

 tianity. The Teutonic races forsook their ancestral faith slowly, 

 the transition lasting from the fourth to the eleventh century. 

 Christianity was not popular ; the faith was clothed in a new 

 language, and it aimed at supplanting the time-honored indige- 

 nous gods, and their worship was an important part of the peo- 

 ple's traditions, customs, and constitution.* 



One of the most conspicuous characteristics of the Teutonic 

 race is a devout attachment to ancestral customs and beliefs, a 

 trait which among the less intelligent and truly illiterate becomes 

 proportionately intensified. It is more than probable that to this 

 trait may be attributed the preservation of fragments of myths 

 and folklore, as well as remarkable adherence to old-world formulae 

 relating to witchcraft and folk medicine, relics of customs and 

 superstitions which are probably contemporary with the birth of 

 the human race itself. 



We are all familiar with the custom of having eggs served at 

 Easter breakfast, and also that of children receiving presents of 

 dyed eggs ; sometimes toy rabbits or hares, made of soft, fluffy 

 goods and stufl^ed with cotton or sawdust, were also given as 

 presents. Children were told that the hare laid the eggs, and 

 nests were prepared for the hare to lay them in. The custom 

 obtains as well in South Germany. The figure of a hare is placed 

 among the Easter eggs when given as a present. 



The association of the hare with Easter observances was much 

 more common in former times, and in England it was customary 

 for the hare to be eaten at such times. Hare-hunting as an Easter 

 custom began to fall into disuse about the middle of the last cen- 

 tury. 



The use of eggs as a sacred emblem of the renovation of man- 

 kind after the Flood was held by the Egyptians, and the Jews 

 adopted it to suit the circumstances of their history as a type of 

 their departure from the land of Pharaoh. The egg suggests a 

 resurrection to life of a vital principle which may for an indefinite 

 period have lain dormant. Hutchinson, in his History of Nor- 

 thumberland, says : 



" It was used in the feast of the Passover as part of the furni- 

 ture of the table with the Paschal Lamb. The Christians have 

 certainly used it on this day as retaining the elements of future 

 life for an emblem of the resurrection. It seems as if the egg was 

 thus decorated for a religious trophy after the days of mortifica- 

 tion and abstinence were over and festivity had taken place ; and 

 as an emblem of the resurrection of life, certified to us by the 



* Grimm. Teutonic Mythology. 



