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Easter Traditions 4/16/2006 6:40:57 AM
Did you ever wonder why we dye Easter eggs, why they are brought by a rabbit or why hot-crossed buns have crosses? Here is a little bit about the common traditions that we celebrate with this highest of Christian holidays. Not all of them stemmed from Christianity as you might well imagine. Information gathered from the web-sgh
Easter Traditions
The Christian festival of Easter celebrates the resurrection of Christ. Long before this, though, pagans celebrated the changing of the seasons and the renewed life of Earth at this time of year.
Originally Easter was called Pascha after the Hebrew word for Passover, a Jewish festival that happens at this time of year. It was replaced by Easter, a word which is believed to have evolved from Eostre, the name of the Anglo-Saxon goddess of fertility and springtime. The date of Easter is determined, like its pagan festival equivalent, by the lunar calendar.
Seasonal Celebrative Foods
Simnel cake
Lent is the period of 40 days which comes before Easter, beginning on Ash Wednesday. For many Christians, this is a period of fasting and repentance in preparation for Easter, culminating in a feast of seasonal and symbolic foods. In the late 17th century, girls in service brought a rich fruit cake called simnel cake home to their mothers on the fourth Sunday of Lent. The cake was enriched with marzipan and decorated with 11 marzipan balls representing the 12 apostles minus Judas, who betrayed Christ.
Hot cross buns
The Greeks and Egyptians ate small cakes or buns in honour of the respective goddesses that they worshipped. Buns marked with a cross were eaten by the Saxons to honour their goddess Eostre - it is thought the bun represented the moon and the cross the moon's quarters. To Christians, the cross symbolises the crucifixion.
Easter eggs
Throughout history, eggs have been associated with Easter celebrations. In ancient times, the egg was a symbol of fertility and new beginnings. Christians adopted this to represent their Saviour's resurrection.
The tradition of colouring eggs in bright colours - representing the sunlight of spring - goes back to the Middle Ages and is still an important custom for many Christians. In Germany it's traditional to paint eggs green and eat them on Maundy Thursday while in Greek and Slavic cultures eggs are dyed red as a symbol of the blood of Christ.
As time has gone on, the decoration has become more elaborate with colourful patterns, images of flora and fauna, and in some cases delicate gold and silver leaf details. The most famous and ornate of Easter eggs must be the jewelled and enamelled eggs that Fabergé was commissioned to make for the Russian tsars.
Rabbit and lamb
Another traditional symbol of Easter is the rabbit. Known for its fertility, it symbolises new life. The lamb was adopted from the lamb sacrificed at Jewish Passover and for Christians it came to signify Christ's death on the cross
