Easter Traditions and Symbols: The Meaning of the Easter Egg and Why the Candle is the Light of Spring

For many of us, Easter means decorated eggs, ham, "boba" (a type of Easter cake), and family at the table. But we rarely think about why it's an egg, why it's a candle, and what all of this means deeper than just a "festive decoration." And there's much more meaning here than meets the eye.

Lithuanian Easter stands on two legs: one is Christian, the other is pagan-ancestral. And it is this double layer that makes our traditions so rich.

Easter before Christianity: when everything began with the earth

Lithuania was the last European country to officially adopt Christianity in 1387. But old forms of belief persisted for a couple of centuries afterward. Therefore, our Easter customs retain an incredible number of pre-Christian traces of spring celebration – such as you won't find anywhere else in Europe.

The word "Velykos" (Easter) may be related to vėlės – the souls of the dead. Ancient Lithuanians believed that on the spring equinox, the souls of ancestors rose from the earth and wandered until the first spring thunder – the work of Perkūnas (Thunder God) – calmed them. Good Friday was called Vėlių Velykėlės – the small Easter of ancestors. Families visited cemeteries and left eggs for the dead.

The spring equinox marked the farmers' New Year. It was a cosmic turning point: Perkūnas, the god of light, took over from Vėlinas, the god of the underworld. Women ran through villages singing, announcing spring. People bathed in rivers, swung on swings – all of this was meant to awaken the earth from its winter slumber. Ethnologist Dr. Laimutė Anglickienė from Vytautas Magnus University notes that the origins of Easter, as in all agrarian societies, are associated with the rebirth of nature, and the Christian understanding only became more firmly established in Lithuania in the 18th-19th centuries.

Margutis – not a decoration, but a miniature cosmos

The word "margutis" comes from margas – colorful, patterned. But a margutis was never just a beautiful egg. It was a sacred object.

Archaeologists found artificial decorated eggs made of stone, clay, and bone on Gediminas Hill in Vilnius, dating back to the 11th-13th centuries. The first written mention is from 1549, when Martynas Mažvydas, the author of the first printed Lithuanian book, mentions the giving of decorated eggs.

Gifted margučiai were never eaten. They were kept in chests or behind sacred images. Eggs were buried under the threshold of houses for protection, in stables to guard animals, in fields for harvest, in gardens for fruit trees. In the late 19th century, farmers would leave a margutis in the first spring furrow as an offering to Žemyna – the Earth Mother.

What do the patterns on a margutis mean?

All traditional margutis patterns are created from just three basic wax points – a dot, a droplet, and S-curves. But these three elements create an entire mythology.

Saulutė (sun) – the most common symbol. A circle with rays or dots, signifying the life-giving sun, the eternal cycle of time. You'll find similar motifs on ancient Lithuanian distaffs, pottery, and iron crosses.

Žalčiukas (grass snake) – an S-shaped curve, symbolizing the beginning and continuity of life. In Baltic mythology, the grass snake was a sacred household creature, the animal of the Sun goddess. It was kept near the stove, fed milk, and believed to bring wealth. Killing it brought misfortune. The word gyvybė (life) itself is related to gyvatė (snake) – the symbolism of life is encoded in the language itself.

Eglutė (fir tree) symbolizes the eternally green tree of life – the World Tree, connecting heaven, earth, and the underworld. Paukščio pėdelė (bird's footprint) may be one of the oldest margutis symbols – it is associated with the Bird Goddess, whom archaeologist Marija Gimbutienė identified in figurines dating back to 5000 BC.

Cosmologically, the margutis itself is divided into two parts by an ornamental band: the top is heaven, the bottom is the underworld. On Easter, the pointed end (heaven's side) is struck first, and on the second day, the blunt end (earth's side) – symbolizing that in life, you see heaven first, and only at the end, the underworld.

And the colors? Red – the most important: life, fertility, warmth. The first spring egg had to be red. Green – rebirth, love. Black – the color of Žemyna, the soil from which everything grows. Yellow – strengthening sun, wealth. Blue – water, sky, wisdom.

In February 2025, the tradition of decorating eggs with wax in the Alytus region was officially inscribed in the Lithuanian Register of Intangible Cultural Heritage – the strongest state-level recognition of this tradition.

Fire and light: Easter symbol across Europe

The margutis is not the only Easter symbol with deep roots. Fire and candlelight on Easter night unite all of Europe.

In Greece, on Holy Saturday, the patriarch brings two bundles of 33 beeswax candles – one for each year of Christ's life – into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. The fire spreads from hand to hand, is brought to Athens by flight, and distributed to churches throughout the country. At midnight, each church is plunged into darkness until the priest proclaims: "Come, receive the light." The flame travels from candle to candle until the entire church is illuminated.

In Germany, on Holy Saturday evening, huge Easter bonfires – Osterfeuer – burn, originating from pre-Christian Saxon fire rituals. Ashes were scattered on meadows to improve the harvest – a direct equivalent to the Lithuanian tradition of burying margučiai in fields.

In Finland and Sweden, Easter has its own unique fire tradition – bonfires are burned to ward off witches, and children dressed as "Easter witches" go door-to-door with decorated pussy willow branches.

And in Spain, during Holy Week processions, thousands of penitents carry huge candles through the streets, children collect dripping wax as a souvenir, and saetas – religious hymns – emanate from balconies.

Easter Candle: where beeswax becomes theology

There is one Easter ceremony that directly connects beeswax, fire, and the meaning of resurrection – it is the Easter Vigil and the Paschal (Easter) candle.

A new fire is lit in the dark church. From it, the great Easter candle is lit and carried in procession. Raised three times, "Lumen Christi" – the Light of Christ – is proclaimed. From it, the flame passes to each believer until the entire building is illuminated.

This tradition dates back at least to the 4th century. And here's the most important detail: according to church tradition, the Easter candle must be made of pure beeswax. Not for just any reason. Pure beeswax symbolizes the body of Christ, the wick's thread – the human soul, and the flame – divinity. In the Easter Vigil prayer Exsultet – one of Christianity's most beautiful hymns – it is directly stated: "Receive this candle... the work of bees and the hands of your servants... nourished by melting wax, which mother bees have created for this precious fire."

In Lithuania, fire also held a special place. On Holy Saturday, young people would go to church to bring back consecrated fire – they would carry it in a smoldering woven basket. All Easter dinner had to be cooked over this sacred fire.

And beeswax in Lithuania is not just candle material. Ancient Lithuanians had the bee goddess Austėja – the patroness of blossoms, bees, and pregnant women. Bees were called God's holy little bugs. You could neither buy nor sell them – only give them as gifts. The person who gave bees and the person who received them became bičiuliai – and this word in Lithuanian means a close friend. Bičiulystė – friendship – begins with bees.

The same beeswax that ancient people used to decorate eggs and offer to Austėja now nourishes the Easter Vigil flame in churches all over the world.

A tradition that is reborn

During the Soviet era, Easter was called "Spring Festival," churches became warehouses, and teachers and civil servants risked their jobs if they attended services. But Easter had one peculiarity: the first day always fell on a Sunday – a day off. Families celebrated behind closed doors, and egg decorating remained as "folk art," not as a religious act.

Today we see a true revival of crafts. Over 1200 certified artisans participated in the Kaziukas Fair in Vilnius in 2026. The Dzūkija wax decorating tradition is officially recognized as heritage. More and more people are choosing natural materials – onion skins instead of chemical dyes, beeswax instead of paraffin.

This is not nostalgia. It is a living culture that is finding a new form.

Margutis and flame – one story

When you look closer, the margutis and the candle tell the same story: life breaking through a closed shell, light being born from darkness, spring emerging from winter's grip.

The beeswax used by the women of Dzūkija to decorate eggs is the same material that feeds the Easter Vigil candle. Austėja's – the bee goddess's – protected bees create the wax that becomes both the margutis pattern and the candle's light. The egg hides life. The candle illuminates it.

Therefore, an egg-shaped beeswax candle – "Margutis" – is more than just a decoration. It is two of the oldest Lithuanian Easter symbols combined into one object: the cosmic egg and the sacred flame, the earth goddess and the bee goddess, the darkness before dawn and the light that fills it.

You can find all Matėja Easter decoration collections here, and handmade candles here.