Symbolism of the egg. the egg symbolizes Genesis the perfect
microcosm. a universal symbol for the
mystery of original creation. it encloses nascent life to emerge from it. It
embodies the idea of rebirth and rejuvenation in the cycle of life, reflected
also in its shape, with neither beginning nor end.
Life bursting from the primordial silence. Few simple
natural objects have such an self-explanatory yet profound meaning and the body
of myth and folklore that surrounds the egg is huge.
In many creation myths ranging from Egypt and India to Asia
and Oceana a cosmic egg sometimes fertilized by a serpent but more often laid
in the primordial waters by a giant bird gives form to chaos and from it
hatches the sun symbolized by the Golden yolk the division of earth and Sky and
life and all forms.
Creation symbolism is strengthened by the egg shape to
testicles and by the sexual duality of
eggs yolk and white in the region of the Congo the yellow yolk stood for Female
warmth while the white stood for male sperm.
Ancient Egypt, an egg was revered as the origin of the
world. One version of the creation myth mentions the cosmic egg hatching the
‘bird of light’. aspect within the Ogdoad is the Cosmic Egg, from which all
things are born. Life comes from the Cosmic Egg; the sun god Ra was born from
the primordial egg in a stage known as the first occasion
In Hindu myth the cosmic tree girls from the Golden egg
witch board brahma.
Similarly, the egg is linked with resurrection, the Phoenix dying,
and fire rose from its own egg. The God Dionysus was shown carrying egg as a
symbol of his rebirth.
Associated in pre-Christian times with the promise and hope
of spring, the egg took a readymade place in Christian Easter ceremonies as a
symbol of resurrection.
The eggs white purity
embodies the miracle of life contained within its blank shell, One such connotation found in literature “Madonna and
the child, circa 1450, in which an egg
symbolizes the Immaculate Conception of Mary.
In Jewish custom at the Seder meal eaten at Passover the egg
is a symbol of promise and traditionally eggs are the first food offered to a
Jewish mourner.
In folklore throughout the world the egg is a symbol
suggesting luck wealth and health. Magical eggs are Golden or silver and are
often guarded by Dragons.
From eggs are born
gods and heroes. In one Greek myth Helen of Troy came from an egg that had
fallen from the moon.
Alternatively, she was born from an egg laid by Leda Queen
of Sparta after she had coupled with a Swan which was the God Zeus in disguise.
In Dogon mythology (West Africa): "In the beginning,
Amma, alone, was in the shape of an egg: the four collar bones were fused,
dividing the egg into air, earth, fire, and water, establishing also the four
cardinal directions.
This number 8 would
be significant as its represents the 4 Ogdoad pairs Kuk and Kauket, Huh and
Hauhat, Nun and Naunet, Amun and Amaunet.
Within this cosmic egg was the material and the structure of
the universe, and the 266 signs that embraced the essence of all things.
In Later Kemetic mythology is it revealed that in inside the
great egg is the the God Ra.
Once upon a time, before there was land, fish, animals, or
human life, there was the great expansion of primordial waters that encompassed
the Universe. Nothing existed in these
primordial waters since the beginning of time, until a great egg appeared in
the water. This egg contained a living
God by the name of Ra. Once his egg
hatched, he burst forth into the Universe and took his place as its great
ruler.
In this scenario we also see the significance of Ra as
representing the number 9 which is the number of Completion. As Amma was 1 the
beginning, he was 9 the completion and thus a new stage of life is entered. The
egg containing all the elements from start to finish for it is the cycle of
life.
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