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Show Tinged! if Ibds ? Eostfeir i . t . , , ' , - I if, A. . - A i v Wt. ' ; . -y fevj v ; v At , . .vC;m Article by Margaret Bason Egg rolling, baby chickens, rabbits, turkeys, horses and small children down through the ages have all seemed to dominate the advent of spring and the Easter holidays. Easter is a ' combination of three traditions, those - .,-h ': of the pagan, the Hebrew and the Christian. According to Venerable Bede, an English historian of the 8th century, the word Easter is derived from the Norse Ostara or Eostre. Bede stated in his written records that Eostre means festival of spring at the vernal equinox, March 21. Thus, this established the celebration of some type to the Easter season before the 8th century. The term Eostre was given to, an ancient Anglo-Saxon goddess, originally of the dawn. The above spring festival was held in her honor. It needs to be taken into account at this time that the present day calendar that the Western World uses is somewhat removed from the type of calendar used in the 8th century. In 1582 the Gregorian Calendar was introduced and accepted by many countries. The modern day time setting of Easter time is based ont he Gregorian Calendar. Second on the tradition list is the Hebrew influence on Easter. To the Hebrew, Easter marks the night in Egypt when the angel of death "passed over" the dwellings of the Israelites, so sparing their first born. From this event in history, the Jewish Passover was born or also known as the Jewish Pesach. This tradition is based on the 12th book of Exodus. The Christian celebration of Easter is the third tradition. It is believed by the Christians that the honor to the triumph of Jesus Christs's victory over death, or the resurrection, is noted as Easter. The Church Council of Nicaea A.D. 325 decided Easter should be celebrated on the First Sunday after the first full moon, on or after the vernal equinox. Ironically, it is interesting to discover that although the Jewish and Christian belief differ greatly, the lamb, which the Christians use as a symbol of Christ, developed from the ancient Hebrew Passover the Pascheal Lamb. The spiritual attendance many Christians make on Easter morning to attend Early Easter sunrise services, also is chartered in history. This widespread belief evolved from the Pagan tradition that the people had a custom of going to the hills to "sun dance for joy at dawn." In looking at tradition you also find many symbols of Easter that play a large role in the holiday festivities. Probably the most popular is the Easter Bunny. He is accredited to hiding eggs in the nest and gifts for children. Easter has been a symbol of new life and rebirth through the use of the Easter egg, flowers, deer, roosters, the sun, the cross, the rabbit, the lamb, and fire. The Easter egg by the ancients has been noted as being the symbol of renewed life because in all living creatures, life begins in the egg. The Persians and Egyptians also colored eggs; a custom they adopted from the Christians of Mesopotamia. |