Let’s Learn About Easter

Hey everyone

Easter has a very long history, both traditional and non-traditional. Let’s have a look at the traditional side of this very “sweet” holiday.

The name Easter comes from the Anglo Saxon goddess of spring and fertility, Easter or Eostrae. This very sweet holiday falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon which happens on or after the spring equinox.

Easter Sunday marks the start of Eastertide or more commonly known as the Easter season. Eastertide ends on the 50th day after Easter which is also known as Pentecost Sunday. Easter is also linked to a Jewish holiday, this holiday is called Passover. Passover is essentially the last supper. Jesus has given this holiday a new significance and he identifies the bread he ate with his apostles, as his body and the drinking of red wine was his blood. The link between these two very important holidays is seen at the last supper which occurred the night before Jesus was arrested. There is a period that is prior to Easter and holds a great significance to the Western Christians, this period is called Lent. Lent starts on Ash Wednesdays and happens for 40 days, excluding Sundays. The reason why Sundays are not included is because on the christian calendars, Sundays are counted as feast days. The last week of lent is called Palm Week and ends with Lazarus Saturday, this is the day before Palm Sunday. On Palm Sunday, Jesus’s followers commemorate his arrival into Jerusalem. They greet him by laying palm leaves across the road.

A traditional Easter dinner is lamb, because it was used as a sacrificial animal in Jewish traditions, and lamb is also normally used for food during passover. The saying “Lamb of God” is referring to the sacrificial nature of Jesus’s death.

Now that we have learnt about the traditional part of Easter, we can now talk about the non-traditional part of Easter.

Most people do focus on both the traditional and the non-traditional celebrations, but a lot of these people tend to focus on the non-traditional side of things. Examples of these non-traditional celebrations are: Egg Hunts, Egg Decorating and Egg Rolling. Almost everything around us has a hidden meaning to it that we do not know about, Easter eggs have a whole new meaning to them than just sugary treats we eat to sweeten up our day. The eggs represent fertility and birth in pagan traditions. A lot of people, mainly children, like to participate in the Annual White House Easter Egg Roll, the objection of this game is to roll Easter eggs down the Capitol Hill, this is apparently the most famous easter tradition.

Now the moment you have all been waiting for, the most well known part of Easter, is when a character jumps around to different houses carrying a basket filled with chocolate eggs and other delicious sweet treats that make you feel sick throughout the whole Easter season, but the sickness is worth it because Easter wouldn’t be the same without it. This character is the one and only EASTER BUNNY.

Nobody really knows what the exact origins of the Easter Bunny traditions are, some historians do believe that the Easter bunny arrived in America in the 1700s with German immigrants.

These days, Easter is not only a traditional holiday, but it is also a commercial event, marked by greeting cards, candies and other gifts.

Easter is a time of year, when families come together and share a meal and play games with Easter eggs, then they eat the Easter eggs for desert.

I hope you all enjoyed these facts about Easter and all appreciate the History behind it, I certainly enjoyed researching the History.