The Origins of Easter Celebrations

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Origins of Easter Celebrations

Held on a Sunday between March 22 and April 25.

By Mary Bellis, About.com Guide

 

 

The meaning of the many different customs observed during Easter Sunday have been buried with time.

Their origins lie in both pre-Christian religions and Christianity.

In one way or another all the customs are a "salute to spring" marking re-birth.

 

The white Easter lily has come to capture the glory of the holiday.

The word "Easter" is named after Eastre, the Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring.

A festival was held in her honor every year at the vernal equinox.

 

People celebrate Easter according to their beliefs and their religious denominations.

Christians commemorate Good Friday as the day that Jesus Christ died and Easter Sunday as the day that He was resurrected. Protestant settlers brought the custom of a sunrise service, a religious gathering at dawn, to the United States.

 

 

Who is the Easter Bunny?

 

Today on Easter Sunday, many children wake up to find that the Easter Bunny has left them baskets of candy.

He has also hidden the eggs that they decorated earlier that week.

Children hunt for the eggs all around the house.

Neighborhoods and organizations hold Easter egg hunts, and the child who finds the most eggs wins a prize.

 

The Easter Bunny is a rabbit-spirit.

Long ago, he was called the "Easter Hare", hares and rabbits have frequent multiple births so they became a symbol of fertility.

The custom of an Easter egg hunt began because children believed that hares laid eggs in the grass.

The Romans believed that "All life comes from an egg."

Christians consider eggs to be "the seed of life" and so they are symbolic of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

 

Why we dye, or color, and decorate eggs is not certain.

In ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome and Persia eggs were dyed for spring festivals.

In medieval Europe, beautifully decorated eggs were given as gifts.

 

In England, Germany and some other countries, children rolled eggs down hills on Easter morning, a game which has been connected to the rolling away of the rock from Jesus Christ's tomb when he was resurrected.

British settlers brought this custom to the New World.

 

 

Dolly Madison - Queen of Egg Rolling

 

In the United States in the early nineteenth century,

Dolly Madison, the wife of the fourth American President, organized an egg roll in Washington, D.C.

She had been told that Egyptian children used to roll eggs against the pyramids so she invited the children of Washington to roll hard-boiled eggs down the hilly lawn of the new Capitol building!

The custom continued, except for the years during the Civil War.

In 1880, the First Lady invited children to the White House for the Egg Roll because officials had complained that they were ruining the Capitol lawn.

It has been held there ever since then, only canceled during times of war.

The event has grown, and today Easter Monday is the only day of the year when tourists are allowed to wander over the White House lawn.

The wife of the President sponsors it for the children of the entire country.

The egg rolling event is open to children twelve years old and under.

Adults are allowed only when accompanied by children!

 

 

Easter Parades

 

Traditionally, many celebrants bought new clothes for Easter which they wore to church.

After church services, everyone went for a walk around the town.

This led to the American custom of Easter parades all over the country.

Perhaps the most famous is along Fifth Avenue in New York City.

 

Good Friday is a federal holiday in 16 states and many schools and businesses throughout the U.S. are closed on this Friday.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What Does the Easter Bunny Have To Do With Easter?

 

By Lauren Effron

updated 8:47 a.m. PT, Fri., April 2, 2010

 

There's no story in the Bible about a long-eared, cotton-tailed creature known as the Easter Bunny.

Neither is there a passage about young children painting eggs or hunting for baskets overflowing with scrumptious Easter goodies.

 

And real rabbits certainly don't lay eggs.

So why are these traditions so ingrained in Easter Sunday?

And what do they have to do with the resurrection of Jesus?

Well, nothing.

 

Bunnies, eggs, Easter gifts and fluffy, yellow chicks in gardening hats all stem from pagan roots.

They were incorporated into the celebration of Easter separately from the Christian tradition of honoring the day Jesus Christ rose from the dead.

 

According to University of Florida's Center for Children's Literature and Culture, the origin of the celebration -- and the Easter bunny -- can be traced back to 13th century, pre-Christian Germany, when people worshiped several gods and goddesses.

The Teutonic deity Eostra was the goddess of spring and fertility, and feasts were held in her honor on the Vernal Equinox.

Her symbol was the rabbit because of the animal’s high reproduction rate.

 

Spring also symbolized new life and rebirth; eggs were an ancient symbol of fertility.

According to History.com, Easter eggs represent Jesus' resurrection.

However, this association came much later when Roman Catholicism became the dominant religion in Germany in the 15th century and merged with already ingrained pagan beliefs.

 

The first Easter bunny legend was documented in the 1500s.

By 1680, the first story about a rabbit laying eggs and hiding them in a garden was published.

These legends were brought to the United States in the 1700s when German immigrants settled in Pennsylvania Dutch country, according to the Center for Children's Literature and Culture.

 

The tradition of making nests for the rabbit to lay its eggs in soon followed.

Eventually, nests became decorated baskets and colorful eggs were swapped for candy, treats and other small gifts.

 

So while you're scarfing down chocolate bunnies (hey, I hear chocolate is good for you!) and marshmallow chicks this Easter Sunday, think fondly of this holiday's origins and maybe even impress your friends at your local Easter egg hunt.

 

Happy Easter!

 

Image credits:

Courtesy of Ian O'Neill, Library of Congress 

Courtesy of Jan Pashley, Illustration / Design

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.janpashley.co.uk/about-me 

http://inventors.about.com/od/estartinventions/a/easter.htm

http://www.allaboutjesuschrist.org/origin-of-the-easter-bunny-faq.htm

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36149164/ns/technology_and_science-science/

http://news.discovery.com/history/what-does-the-easter-bunny-have-to-do-with-easter.html