A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day....04-07-04...Easter Traditions

Aquamarine, dutchess

[dutchess]

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day

Free Republic made its debut in September, 1996, and the forum was added in early 1997.   Over 100,000 people have registered for posting privileges on Free Republic, and the forum is read daily by tens of thousands of concerned citizens and patriots from all around the country and the world.

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day was introduced on June 24, 2002. It's only a small room in JimRob's house where we can get to know one another a little better; salute and support our military and our leaders; pray for those in need; and congratulate those deserving. We strive to keep our threads entertaining, fun, and pleasing to look at, and often have guest writers contribute an essay, or a profile of another FReeper.

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~ Billie, Mama_bear, dansangel, Dutchess, Aquamarine,

Easter is not only a holiday but a season unto itself.

To many religious people, it marks a time of miracles and a reaffirming of faith.

To those with a more secular view of the world, it is a celebration of the end of winter, a time to look toward the warmth of the coming summer and a chance to shed the heavy, dour clothing of the winter for the bright colors of spring.

Easter traditions and symbols are well known: the Easter Bunny, Easter eggs and Easter baskets have become hallmarks of this spring festival. Yet there is more to them than meets the eye.

Angel Of Joy

Click on title to hear music

On Friday, we will be posting the Stations of the Cross which will run through the Holy Weekend. But today we've teamed up to present what we have dubbed the "Easter Fun Thread".

We will touch upon both the origins of Easter and Easter traditions. And we also have some Easter music to entertain you as you read along.

So, sit back, grab some jelly beans, post some Easter fun graphics and ENJOY. And please feel free to share some of your Easter traditions with us.~~~~~dutchess and Aquamarine~~~~~~~

ORIGINS OF EASTER

Though identified in modern times as a Christian Holy Day, Easter, the ancient celebration of spring, has roots far deeper than any one belief or culture. It reminds us that there is always a chance to plant our dreams anew; that the cold of winter will pass; and, that in the course of humankind, you can always plant again.

Long before Easter became the holiday it is today, the spring festival was celebrated by the people around the world. Although associated with the sun and the Vernal Equinox, the celebration was originally based on the lunar calendar. The name Easter is derived from the Saxon Eostre (which is synonymous with the name of the Phoenician Goddess of the Moon, Astarte), a Germanic goddess of spring and the deity who measured time.

Curiously, a Jewish festival, Purim, also celebrated in the spring, has as it central character and heroine, Esther who, as queen, kept the evil Haman from killing her people.

As Christianity grew and spread throughout the world, it was common practice to adopt, modify, convert or take over existing non-Christian festivals, sacred locations and even names, and assimilate them into the Christian theology.

Because Eostre, also know as Ostara, was the goddess of spring and her symbolism dealt with renewal and rebirth, the Christian belief in the resurrection of Christ fit well with these themes.

Christ The Lord Is Risen Today

Click on title to hear music

The connection between Christ's Resurrection and Jewish Passover, which, in addition to the dramatic story of the flight from Egypt, also contains elements of a spring celebration, made the merging of the two religious traditions easily accomplished.

Why does Easter always fall on a Sunday? In 325 AD, the council of Nice issued an edict that read, in pertinent part, "Easter was to fall upon the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the Vernal Equinox; and if said full moon fell on a Sunday, the Easter should be the Sunday after."

The Easter celebration was coordinated with older, pre-Christian celebrations of spring. The direct relationship to Sunday as the day sacred to the Sun, the ultimate symbol of life, is obvious; yet the subtle connections to the earlier celebrations of the time of planting and the Moon are of equal importance in determining the day of the Easter celebration.

Easter Traditions Old and New

Many of our Easter traditions date back to ancient times. Lambs, chicks and baby creatures of all kinds are all associated with spring, symbolizing the birth of new life. Here are just a few of how these traditions were started.

The Easter Egg

One of the best-known Easter symbols is the egg, which has symbolized renewed life since ancient days. The egg is said to be a symbol of llife because in all living creatures life begins in the egg. The Persians and Egyptians also colored eggs and ate them during their new year's celebration, which came in the spring.

A Polish folktale tells of the Virgin Mary giving eggs to soldiers at the cross while she pleaded with them to be merciful. As her tears dropped they spattered droplets on the eggs mottling them with a myriad of colors.

Today many people still color Easter eggs and decorate them with fancy patterns and symbols. The sun symbolized good fortune, the rooster, fulfillment of wishes; the deer, good health, the flowers, love and charity.

It has become a modern custom to decorate the eggs and hide them for children to find during Easter. The birth of the Easter Egg Hunt. Other egg-related games also evolved like egg tossing and egg rolling.

The Whitehouse Egg Roll

Easter festivities don't end on Easter Sunday - at least not in Washington DC, that is. Since 1878, the annual White House Egg Roll occurs on the Monday after Easter, canceled in the past only by bad weather and a couple World Wars. Actually, the annual egg roll (the act of rolling a hard cooked egg across the lawn) began as early as the mid-1870's; it was held first on Capitol Hill - until our Congress banned it. It seems the popular event did much damage to the Capitol lawn, and our distinguished leaders had no room in their budgets for repairing the landscaping.

In 1878, the first year the ban was enforced (it took effect in 1877 but it rained that year), then President Rutherford B. Hayes was approached by young lads and lasses about rolling eggs on the South Lawn of the White House. Being a shrewd politician, he smilingly agreed and, with his wife Lucy at his side, cheerfully greeted the crowds who had been turned away at the Capitol. The White House lawn became their new egg rolling site, officially sanctioned by the President himself. Today, this public event continues with additional egg games, an appearance by the official White House Easter Bunny, and all participants receive a wooden egg, with signatures of the President and First Lady. For a special preview of this year's Egg Roll and fun pictures from last year click to the Whitehouse web page Whitehouse Eggroll site

Easter Parade

Click on title to hear music


The Easter Bunny: Beloved Easter Symbol

Of all the symbols of Easter, none is more beloved than the Easter Bunny. And, of all the symbols of this season, none has a more varied, unique and universal background than this floppy-eared chocolate confection deliveryman.

The Advent of the Easter Bunny

The Easter bunny has its origin in pre-Christian fertility lore. The Hare and the Rabbit were the most fertile animals known and they served as symbols of the new life during the Spring season. The bunny as an Easter symbol seems to have it's origins in Germany, where it was first mentioned in German writings in the 1500s. The first edible Easter bunnies were made in Germany during the early 1800s. These were made of pastry and sugar.

The Easter bunny was introduced to American folklore by the German settlers who arrived in the Pennsylvania Dutch country during the 1700s. The arrival of the "Oschter Haws" was considered "childhood's greatest pleasure" next to a visit from Christ-Kindel on Christmas Eve. The children believed that if they were good the "Oschter Haws" would lay a nest of colored eggs. The children would build their nest in a secluded place in the home, the barn or the garden. Boys would use their caps and girls their bonnets to make the nests . The use of elaborate Easter baskets would come later as the tradition of the Easter bunny spread through out the country.

The Easter Basket

The Easter Basket shows roots in Catholic custom. Baskets filled with breads, cheeses, hams and other foods for Easter dinner were taken to mass Easter morning to be blessed. This evolved in time to baskets filled with chocolate eggs, jelly beans, toys and stuffed bunnies for children left behind by the Easter Bunny.

The Easter Parade, Bonnets and Finest Clothing

In the early days of the church, the newly baptized wore white robes for the baptismal ceremony and during Easter week. Others wore new clothes at Easter to represent their participation in Christ's new life. After Easter mass, medieval worshippers, dressed in their new clothes, formed a procession through the streets, lead by a crucifix. Later, the custom of walking to or from church on Easter Sunday, bedecked in new clothes and Easter bonnets, evolved into the Easter parade. Begun in 1860, New Jersey's Atlantic City Easter Parade featured finely clothed citizens strolling along the boardwalk, and New York City soon sported its now famous Fifth Avenue Easter Parade. Similar parades sprung up across the country, many with prizes for best dress and bonnets, and the frillier the bonnet, the better. Few Easter parades still exist in modern times, and the Easter bonnet is largely a fashion relic of the past.

The Easter Lily

White and pure, the lily was the medieval symbol of purity and the Virgin Mary. Blooming in spring and being so pristine, the lily became the flowering representation of Easter and the resurrection of Christ. Earlier Greek mythology, though, relates the lily as milk which fell to the earth from Juno, queen of the Greek gods, as she nursed her son Hercules; the Milky Way galaxy was believed to be the milk that spilled but did not fall to earth.

Easter is a special time to renew our faith, but it is also a time to bond with family and share those rich traditions that we can pass on from generation to generation. In today's busy world we sometimes lose sight of the family traditions.We hope that this will spark a glow and help you enter this week with a smile on your face.

~~~~~dutchess and Aquamrine~~~~~~~

THIS WEEK'S THREADS 04-05-04...Military Monday 04-06-04...In Your Easter Bonnet

Opinions by our own 'King of Ping' The guy's good, folks!

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[FreeTheHostages]

Easter tea is served . . .

[FreeTheHostages]

OK, picture this picture from a stranger on the web, only my niece has longer hair, and suppose a yellow dress, and fuzzy feathery pink bunny ears.

[dutchess]

No, I didn't get a picture of her in her bunny ears. Oh, I wish I had!!

Giz: Now why did you go and give "mom" ideas!!!!

[dutchess]

Oh yum...tea and cake. Thanks!

[Billie]

Hope the weather is perfect for your camping trip, Gail! Cute "Aqua" bunny!

[SpookBrat]

A very pretty thread as always. What I remember about Easter was going to San Antonio to the "Shoe Box" for shoes. I got lost in Wonderland Mall. I remember my hats and my Easter dresses and my white gloves. I also remember Russell Stover. :)

[Billie]

How beautiful those daffodils are! And what a strange-looking 'bunny' LOL!

(Is there poison oak in that flower bed? Stay clear, hear?!)

[SpookBrat]

I know I forgot to ping someone. I only have 45 seconds left to be online this afternoon. Pant, pant, pant....

I just got an email from my Aunt Jil and wanted to let you know my cousin George is going into Iraq tomorrow. Please keep him lifted up before the throne of our loving Father. Here is my aunt's email. Also, I have George's address if anyone wants it. He confessed before Christmas that he was a little scared about going, so please pray for courage and comfort for him.

He called today and said they were FOUR football fields from Iraq. They are moving in to Iraq tomorrow. The plan is to travel 6 hours and camp doing this for 3 days. They will drive through downtown Baghdad to a place approximately 20 miles north of Baghdad. It looks like the group he will be with is located in the lower part of the red zone or red triangle they show on t.v. I was told today not to watch any news again. I know it is the best advice Gee could give. However, I am writing to ask all to be praying for these men and women going in, for their safety now and in the future. Also, pray they all come home safely, if it is God’s will.

God bless you all today. :) Hope you're having a good one.

[dixie sass]

I love "daffy"dils! The Dogwood is in full bloom and the Wisteria is giving off the most delightful scent! It's spring in the low country and the Azaleas are in full bloom!

[dixie sass]

Maybe she'll wear them for you Sunday and you can get a picture then!

[dixie sass]

How pretty! Chocolate Gateau, please

[dixie sass]

Lol, okay - got it fixed in my imagination. She is a precious child!

[dixie sass]

Awwwww, Gizzzzzzzz, aren't you the cutest little thing!!!!

[Pippin]

Hi, FREEZIE!

I'll take the chocolate cake with my tea please :O)

[Pippin]

(((Spookie)))!

[SAMWolf]

Prayers for George's safety. Be sure to let him know his service is appreciated by us back here.

[Lakeside]

I was afraid of that. Just after I posted the link some of the posters had warned him that he might be putting soldiers' lives at risk so bogdan asked that the thread be removed.

It's too bad because he had his brother on sat-phone from one of the places of resistance( I believe Faluja) getting a play by play. The gist of it was that despite what we were hearing on the news here, our guys were handling the situation quite well an had everything well in hand.

[Pippin]

Hi, (((Sam)))!

[dutchess]

((((((Pipster))))))) So glad to have you back as a regular poster!

[dutchess]

Prayers for your cousin George. If he's not already on our military prayer post will be sure to add him. Prayers for your aunt too.