ALT-2 The Traditions of Easter
Easter in the Christian faith is a time of rejoicing and reaffirmation; the celebration of life after death. Around the world Christians Churches hold sunrise services, people dress in their finest clothes and children receive baskets filled with candy. Easter is a time for the followers of Christ to celebrate his resurrection.
Symbols of Easter include eggs, baskets, lilies, crosses, bunnies, chicks, and lambs. Each has a tradition and a meaning. The lily is the symbol of purity; the cross reminds us of the crucifixion of Christ and his victory over death. The lamb comes from the Jewish faith and Passover or Hebrew Pesach, where the lamb was sacrificed in the Temple of Jerusalem.
The ancient Egyptians considered the rabbit a symbol of birth and new life. The tradition of the Easter Bunny bringing eggs in a basket comes from Germany. According to legend, a poor woman dyed some eggs and hid them in a nest for her children to find. As the children came upon the eggs and reached down to pick them up, a rabbit jumped out from the nest startling the children, and hopped off. Hence the legend of a rabbit leaving eggs born.
The Ancient of Persia and Egypt also believed the earth was hatched from a giant egg.
The early Christians of Mesopotamian were the first to dye eggs and use them as gifts at Easter time. According to legend Simon of Cyrene was an egg merchant at the time of Christ. The Roman soldiers forced the merchant to abandon his eggs on the side of the road, to help Christ carry the cross to Calvary. When Simon returned he found his eggs had turned colors, and eggs would forever be colored at Easter time.
In Germany eggs are dyed green on Thursday before Easter Sunday and carried around for good luck. In many other European countries eggs are dyed red to represent the joy over the resurrection of Christ.
In France the church bells do not ring from Good Friday until Easter Sunday. Children are told the bells fly to Rome, returning on Sunday, dropping colored eggs along the way for children to find.
The early colonist brought their Easter traditions along with them to America. Using roots, berries, herbs and flowers they dyed their eggs naturally with the plant materials they found in their new home.
The first chocolate eggs appeared in France and Germany in the 1800’s. It was not until the 1900’s with the invention of the modern method of making chocolate that chocolate eggs were massed produced and became popular around the world.
Easter history and traditions our link to the past.
