The History and Superstitions Surrounding Hot Cross Buns
by Many people eat them, but what is the historical significance behind eating hot cross buns?
Hot cross buns are a sweet yeast-based bread, usually spiced with currants or raisins, and decorated on the top with icing in the shape of a cross. Lots of people make or buy hot cross buns during Easter, but they probably don’t realize the history behind this tradition. Food has always been an important part of Easter. Before Easter became a Christian holiday, the pagans who worshipped the goddess Eostre gave gifts of food, symbols of fertility and rebirth.
Historically, hot cross buns have always been eaten in the spring. They first appear as cakes made by the pagan Saxons to worship Eostre, the god of spring. This is probably where we get the modern-day term “Easter.” Hot cross buns continue to appear throughout history. Archaeologists excavating in Southwestern Italy found two preserved loaves with a cross etched into them dating from 79 A.D.
The Goddess Eostre
In England, hot cross buns are surrounded by superstition. Bread baked on Good Friday wasn’t supposed to grow moldy. It was also believed that keeping a loaf of hot cross buns in your oven would protect the house from fires. Hanging a bun in the house was supposed to keep the house and its inhabitants safe through the year. The reason hot cross buns are still traditionally eaten on Good Friday is probably because London passed a law in 1592 that forbid hot cross buns to be made or bought in bakeries at anytime except Easter, Christmas and burials.
While many of the cakes throughout history had cross markings on them, there isn’t a concrete answer as to what the cross stood for. What can be said is that for each culture that used hot cross buns, the cross represented something pertaining to the religion or ceremony the buns were baked for. Buns baked by the ancient Greeks had the sign of an ox painted on them. It’s been surmised that the cross on the Saxons’ buns represented the perfection of the spring equinox. For Christians, the cross represents the Cross of Jesus.
Today, hot cross buns are eaten by Christians worldwide to remind them of Christ’s sacrifice for us at Easter. While some people eat these buns at Christmas as well (as in 16th century England), hot cross buns are still traditionally associated with springtime and Easter.
Sources:
An A-Z of Food & Drink, John Ayto
Holiday Symbols and Customs, 3rd ed., Sue Ellen Thompson
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