ALT-2 Easter
Spring March 21- April 30
Winter is not on its last legs, it is well and throughly defeated
How Easter is celebrated around the world. Before we delve into that subject, first we should look at the origins of the holiday! The roots of modern Easter are explicitly related to sacrifice of Christ, but many traditions outside the realm of Christianity, have there own various forms of celebrating the return of spring.The date of Easter is not set. It falls on the first Sunday following the full moon either on or after the spring Equinox.
In Orthodox Christianity the date of Easter is determined by the date of Passover. The Anglo Saxons word for march was that of Estor-Monath meaning the (month of openings). Which in turn was named in honor of the Saxon Goddess of the dawn Eoster. rituals related to this Deity are not well know except that her focus was on new beginnings and fertility which we see symbolized in the Easter egg itself and in the bunny (Or hare). In pagan celebrations of Ostara the egg is that of creation and rebirth, its yolk is the god of the sun its skin colored in white represents the maiden goddess. these two gods were said to have married during the spring Equinox! now that we no a Little about Easter how do we celebrate it?
I would like to start with my family's we celebrate not unlike most, but with a middle eastern flair and we are all of different religious background's , Catholic ,Wiccan all the way up to atheist which makes for quite a conversation at times. The smell of Food cooking comes to mind. my mom nana and I rolling up grape leaves to be cooked my fiance making Arabic bread for the first time. My Dad sneaking into the kitchen to steal a piece of lamb before Supper. The kids are hunting for colored eggs as they did in olden days and I am collecting flowers for my alter waiting for my Aunt and Uncle Johnny to come over. This year however we celebrated Easter quite differently with friends from California were we had a ham dinner and even a Pinata.
Other cultures such as the Hindu celebrate the arrival of spring with a lovely festival: Holi, "the festival of color". Pure White Lilly's adorn church alters to symbolize the annunciation and the immaculate conception and eggs are given in all sorts of colors or they are red to symbolize the blood of Christ. Or to mark the new years first day as is done in Iran. The Tsars of Russia, like Alexander the 3rd gave his wife a Faberge egg. But however we celebrate Easter around the world,I think its best when we add love!
