LEGENDS Stories about eggs go back to the earliest memories of man.

In Sanskrit, the sacred language of the Hindus, it is written that a cosmic egg contained a spirit that would be born, die and be reborn.

The Egyptians believed that their god, Ptah, created the egg out of the sun and moon. Phoenicians thought that two halves of a very large egg split open producing heaven and earth.

Because of its connections with new life, the egg has been touted as both an aphrodisiac and fertility insurance. Central European peasants rubbed eggs on their plows hoping to improve the crops. The French bride broke an egg on the doorstep before entering her new home to assure a large family.

Back before Nero practiced fiddle pyrotechnics, his consort, Livia, was told to warm an egg on her bosom. When it hatched, the sex of the chick would foretell the sex of her unborn child. All went as predicted and the Emperor Tiberius (as well as an old wives' tale) was born. -see Decorating Eggs, Easter Eggs, Games, Roasted Egg