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Show rEsSjNlGPYT People Saw Pledge of Life Everlasting Ever-lasting in the Resurrection of Mythical Osiris. In the resurrec-tion resurrec-tion of Osiris the ancient Egyptians JM saw a pledge of life everlasting jCjKw' beJ'ond tne erave-wT erave-wT The winter sol- ki'vo stice Was the Q-M W period of mourn-trf mourn-trf ) zM inS and lamenta-Ot lamenta-Ot vi" tion for the divine agony of the slain F" Hi Osiris, who in the I a f'm religion of the W Egyptians came Jf t0 earth and re" As. L'M claimed the peo-J peo-J A f$Y pie from savage- xJL lJ I ry, giving them laws, teaching them the worship of the gods, giving his own body to feed his people, and dying that they might live. After the days of mourning came the ceremony of the finding of the body of Osiris and the resurrection of the god, the signal for the beginning of the spring festival of joy throughout the ancient land of the Nile. The resurrection of Osiris as symbolized in the sprouting grain was for the Egyptians an augury of man's immortality. It is from the rich mythology of our Teutonic ancestors that we derive the very name of Easter itself, for the spring festival of Eostre, the goddess of spring, was a period of rejoicing that made the dark forests of northern Europe ring with gladness. With the conversion of the Germanic races to Christianity much of the old ritual of the Eostre worship was retained in the Easter ceremonies and customs of the peasants, where it is found today. The Eastern customs of today had their beginnings so far back in the history of the world that it is impossible impos-sible to trace their origins. The egg and the rabbit are two spring symbols of .reviving nature that are universal and appear to be as popular today as thousands of years ago in ancient India. In-dia. One of the legends is that the god Buddha finding the people starving, transformed himself into a hare that the people might be fed. All of the egg legends, of which there are a hundred hun-dred variants, express the idea of regeneration re-generation that comes with the beginning begin-ning of spring. Our own Indians had many spring customs and rituals similar in many respects to those of the ancients of Asia Minor and Egypt. The old Peruvians Peru-vians and the Aztecs had elaborate spring festivals preceded by fasting, penitence and sacrifice followed by a day or days of joy, and it is significant that in many parts of Europe today Easter is known as the "Day of Joy.' In the less civili.ed parts of Russia, in the Balkans and Asia Minor, and in Sicily the old pagan rites still f!y survive. The heart JrJO) of humanity for yCtY countless ages has throbbed and : thrilled to the in- j'j v spiration of East- N er. Now, as ir the v n. A.r-( past, it voices the "So. V' -'4 highest aspirations VV of mankind. Now, &J T as in the dimming 'r past, men lift their n. hymns of joy to I J heaven in greeting A to the surpassing r mystery of the re- birth of the eanli f and in praise of g.jrjsl the life-giving f0J risen God. cZsf |