The Traditions of Easter
As with almost all holidays that have their roots
in Christianity, Easter has been secularized and
commercialized. The dichotomous nature of Easter
and its symbols, however, is not necessarily a
modern fabrication.
Since its conception as a holy celebration in the
second century, Easter has had its non-religious
side. In fact, Easter was originally a pagan
festival.
The ancient Saxons celebrated the return of
spring with an uproarious festival commemorating
their goddess of offspring and of springtime,
Easter. When the second-century Christian
missionaries encountered the tribes of the north
with their pagan celebrations, they attempted to
convert them to Christianity. They did so,
however, in a clandestine manner.
It would have been suicide for the very early
Christian converts to celebrate their holy days
with observances that did not coincide with
celebrations that already existed. To save lives,
the missionaries cleverly decided to spread their
religious message slowly throughout the
populations by allowing them to continue to
celebrate pagan feasts, but to do so in a
Christian manner.
As it happened, the pagan festival of Easter
occurred at the same time of year as the Christian
observance of the Resurrection of Christ. It made
sense, therefore, to alter the festival itself, to
make it a Christian celebration as converts were
slowly won over. The early name, Easter, was
eventually changed to its modern spelling, Easter.
The Date of Easter:
Prior to A.D. 325, Easter was variously
celebrated on different days of the week,
including Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. In that
year, the Council of Nicaea was convened by
emperor Constantine. It issued the Easter Rule
which states that Easter shall be celebrated on
the first Sunday that occurs after the first
full moon on or after the vernal equinox, or
first day of spring. Therefore, Easter must be
celebrated on a Sunday between the dates of
March 22 and April 25. Its date is tied to the
lunar cycle.
The Cross:
The Cross is the symbol of the Crucifixion, as
opposed to the Resurrection. However, at the
Council of Nicaea, in A.D. 325, Constantine
decreed that the Cross was the official symbol
of Christianity. The Cross is not only a symbol
of Easter, but it is more widely used,
especially by the Catholic Church, as a year-
round symbol of their faith.
The Easter Bunny:
The Easter Bunny is not a modern invention.
The symbol originated with the pagan festival of
Easter. The goddess, Eastre, was worshipped by the
Anglo-Saxons through her earthly symbol, the
rabbit.
The Germans brought the symbol of the Easter
rabbit to America. It was widely ignored by other
Christians until shortly after the Civil War. In
fact, Easter itself was not widely celebrated in
America until after that time.
The Easter Egg:
As with the Easter Bunny and the holiday itself,
the Easter Egg predates the Christian holiday of
Easter. The exchange of eggs in the springtime is
a custom that was centuries old when Easter was
first celebrated by Christians.
From the earliest times, the egg was a symbol of
rebirth in most cultures. Eggs were often wrapped
in gold leaf or, if you were a peasant, colored
brightly by boiling them with the leaves or
petals of certain flowers.
Today, children hunt colored eggs and place them
in Easter baskets along with the modern version
of real Easter eggs -- those made of plastic or
chocolate candy.
