Easter Sunday Origins and Celebrations
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Easter Sunday passed, and with it the last celebration of the worldwide holiday for the Western world and just one week later, for the whole Orthodox world. It started out and is still celebrated as a way to honor the resurrection of Jesus on the third day. It is always celebrated on the first Sunday of April for the Western world, and always is seen as a day of prayer for the whole Christian world. It is often celebrated with the coloring of eggs, and marks the start of Lent, the next month usually giving something up. The red egg is often symbolized with new life and rebirth, primarily stemming from multiple theories. It evolved from the act of celebrating new rebirth through smaller customs and eventually expanded too, as it is today. It started in the 15th century, when Christianity became one of the biggest religions, specifically in Europe and the Northern Americas. Because of this widespread religion, it generally became a part of the USA’s life from the 1800s, where hundreds of thousands of immigrants came over from Europe.
There isn’t a general consensus on where Easter came to light. There are reasons where it can be originated from, especially the act of eggs being symbolized within the Chrisitan culture. It started out as a pagan holiday that honored the spring equinox, a celebration of the symbolism of light that springtime brings them. But along with Valentine’s Day, the general evolution of the Easter holiday stems from multiple sources, and how exactly it spread to hunting for eggs is something scientists can’t quite agree on. Various records cite the naming of Easter, both an Anglo-Saxon naming, but also the first mention of it in a German book from 1791.
The book was written by Georg Franck von Franckenau, a professor of Medicine at Heidelberg University in his book “Sayre Medicare” published in 1722. This cites the mention of an “eater is” who would bring young children’s eggs in the middle of the night. There are also references to the minor Anglo-Saxon goddess named Eostre, who was a goddess of the dawn/and or spring. This, compared with the act of giving eggs and the similarity of the German hare brought over here from the German immigrant in the 18th and 19th ion transformed into the traditions we now know.
These came into what the eggs are known as today, with Easter being deemed a national holiday. Even if it is a religious holiday for those who honor Christianity, in Western culture, it’s normally seen as a household or family adornment as well. Different communities offer different activities for little kids, typically easter hunts that hide a variety of various prizes hidden around. There are a variety of different traditions as well, sometimes narrowing in on specific families and what they think. Also associated with easters are smaller ducks, which relate to the symbolization of rebirth within the eggs from Christianity culture. Often plastic eggs and ducks, it’s widely commercialized throughout western culture, often supplied by Mid-March at bigger retail stores.
Easter may come and is founded originally on the Pagan traditions and solely celebrated in Churches – it’s become so widespread that any age can enjoy it. Whether it’s simply Easter hunts for younger generations or a faith that older people take to heart to start lent, Easter has always been a holiday known for announcing the arrival of a new light and signifying the arrival of a new dawn.
References:
https://www.sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2017/04/13/origins-of-easter.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_egg#Symbolism_and_related_customs
