OCR Text |
Show oe (yinSofism of faster ' " f 1 HPT A $ I W ' - ' W i -4 r , 5 1 ' J v , it U- . ' I M VP t -hi-t-- VK :- ': '.-V : V f v ."' Li 'isk ! ' ,;v, ,.- ;i ; f ,' V ' , V V - x . rl-sT r r f)sn)t2 r 1:: lL , h3PT -- wR - H ""? " jir-Jg; "1& various trinkets. But the modern child, favoring z " something useful as well as ornamental, prefers 'J- - an Easter egg which he can first admire and N, v t , then eat. . ( , , ' 4 The lily, as a symbol of Easter, has a double ' " ' t' signilieanee. It is one of the earliest spring f " ' v ' - ' ' " flowers. It typifies the rebirth of nature after ' ' the long winter sleep. In its dry, brown bulb "j ' , ' 1 v life lies ci(irmiint during the winter and then , tfX " " i r"1 when spring comes, this life begins to stir. w " 1 'f " v , J cr Xf pS , - First it pushes out the tender green leaves, and ' K ' v "J f t tnen tlie 1,,1,ls appear. Finally the white blossom ti L w . , , '"l. "V-J, 1 V comes forth in all its glory as the perfect em- kS1 " , ' blem of resurrected life. V .Vs'' rj' Its otl,or si-''i(i" is a religious one, its V,u'Nj; 4 1 s''f v V - " ' t - i , snow-white purity being emblematic of the flaw- I ' Z iZT - V'1. .; . 4 less life of Christ whose resurrection from the if, "iffi J , ' , ' ' tomb we commemorate on Easter day. In fact, i'0'Jf;.1t. A"' AiK S-' ' 2" I no other (lower has a place In the religious life V'C' " ' ' ' ''r '- an, literature of the Christian world to com- ' 'TtlStCvt ' " ' ' ' 1 ' r , ' Z i? Pare to the lily. Yet its glory Is not so new as i? r?T'' " 4 j t ' ' ' J Christianity,-ancient though the beginnings of kl '.ycK-gji t!,nt rellKlm -v spem t0 us- fcimnroftil issr. -t rSTrr.,, .-.......n..... .U-y..i to.um The Greekg aIu the Rolmins prlzed lt above various trinkets. But the modern child, favoring something useful as well as ornamental, prefers an Easter egg which he can first admire and then eat. The lily, as a symbol of Easter, has a double significance. It is one of the earliest spring flowers. It typifies the rebirth of nature after the long winter sleep. In its dry, brown bulb life lies dormant during the winter and then when spring comes, this life begins to stir. First it pushes out the tender green leaves, and then the buds appear. Finally the white blossom comes forth in all Its glory as the perfect emblem em-blem of resurrected life. Its other significance Is a religious one, its snow-white purity being emblematic of the flawless flaw-less life of Christ whose resurrection from the tomb we commemorate on Easter day. In fact, no other (lower has a place In the religious life and literature of the Christian world to compare com-pare to the lily. Yet Its glory Is not so new as Christianity, ancient though the beginnings of that religion may seem to us. The Greeks and the Romans prized it above all flowers and in their earlier civilizations It had already come to symbolize purity and virtue. It was because of the place lilies had won In the popular esteem that they found place In the early paintings of the Virgin. The angel Gabriel was depleted carrying them in annunciation annuncia-tion pictures and it is because of this that the most beautiful of these (lowers, Lllitim condl-dam, condl-dam, most used at Easter, Is called the madonna Illy. The custom of wearing new clothes at Easter time was both pagan and Christian In origin. Nature bedecked herself in fresh and attractive attrac-tive raiment and It was thought only fitting that the people, too, should signalize the great change. The Christian conception of "newness of life" here and hereafter was symbolized appropriately appropriate-ly by the white robes worn on the occasion of their baptism by converts to the faith. These robes also had reference to the garb of the angels seen nt Christ's tomb. During Inter years Ihe custom of donning new clothes on Easter Sunday became such a ixed and universal one that nonobservanoe was considered not only to be a sign of eccentricity, but also a forerunner of bad luck. One does not commonly think of fire as an Master symbol, yet tires and the burning of elllgles were features of Easier celebrations In some purls of the world, lionllres were lighted in Great Britain In the early spring to honor the sun, while In Alliens Judas was burned in clllgy on Easier Sunday. Such olllgios ulso were burned elsewhere and the practice continued con-tinued for many years, although It Is a custom that has not been followed for a long time and never was universal. The custom of sending Easter cards Is one 'hat has grown tremendously, particularly In ory recent years. Cards are of every slyle and 'Anil, and range1 from plain, Inexpensive ones to 'hose which represent considerable hand labor and art- cosily In proportion. I'crhaps nothing associated with Easier Is a belter example of Christian adaptation of a pagan symbol than the eating of hot cross buns Hi Ihe Good Friday, preceding Easier, In Egypt, where the moon goddess was believed be-lieved to have horns representing tin- crescent moon, sacred caki-s were ofl'i-red to her, each ealte cut willi horns. The Greeks adopted the Egypt bin cusloni, anil they also offered horned cakes lo (hi! moon goddess on Ihe altar where Ihe ox, her sacred animal, was saerlllced. In fact, the custom of eating cross-marked cakes In honor of Hit- sun or moon god, especially espe-cially at Hit' time of the spring equinox, was found by the early Christ Ian missionaries In many purls of the world, especially llrllaln, Mexico and Peru. It has been suggested that the crossina rk on Ihe cakes was Intended to represent Ihe four phases of. tin- moon, but In Ho- Christian symbolism, Ibis mark, of course, represents the cross upon which the Christ died. OCj by Wi'Hlorli NwWMlmlHir Union.) 1 "3y ELMO SCOTT WATSON 'I ! VI f .TH the possible exception of Christ-Jl Christ-Jl 'J L. mas, there Is no other red letter day A-? in our calendar which has assoc. nted ?"jT i J with it so many -different symbols as lif has Easter. Back of all these syin-bols, syin-bols, of course, is the one essential , fact tnat Faster day is the anniver-i5ig5 anniver-i5ig5 sary of the resurrection of Jesus, and pfc5 the spirit of Easter is the reassur-VswVl reassur-VswVl ance that there is life after death. I y that the soul of man is immortal. But even though Easier is a Christian Chris-tian festival it has its parallels in paganism and the symbolism of Easter shows a curious mixture mix-ture of the Christian and the pagan. To the Christian conscious of the true meaning and religious significance of Easter, it Is a matter for regret that many persons are seemingly more familiar with the pagan symbo's, which have become associated with Easter incidentally, incident-ally, than they are with the true symbols of that day. However, the association of some of these familiar Easter symbols, pagan though they may have been In origin with a Christian festival, has a certain Inherent interest. The association of the egg with Plaster goes back to certain beliefs of the ancients. Eggs had been associated with the worship of Ash-toreth, Ash-toreth, of the Astarte of the Phoenicians. Isis of the Egyptians, Diana of the Greeks and Romans Ro-mans and Eostre, whom the Teutons worshipped In the spring. Incidentally, the name Easier Is said by some to be derived from the name of this Teutonic goddess, although others as sort that it was named for an old pagan spring festival in honor of the sun's new birth In the east. The Egyptians regarded Ihe egg as an emblem of the recreation of things and of man's regeneration. regen-eration. Then, too, the egg with Its life germ destined to produce a living creature when wanned by the mother hen Is easily associated with the Idea of the earth blossoming forth under the warm rays of the sun In the spring, both closely uk In to the general Idea of resur rectlon. Since the Resurrection of Christ occurred In the Kprlng, It Is easy to see how the symbols of the egg and all revived life In the springtime spring-time came to be associated with this event In the history of Christianity. The egg as a Bymbol was taken over by Ihe Hebrews as an emblem ol Ibeir delivery from bondage and next the early Christians took II over as their symbol of the Resurrection. Thi! iiHKociation of the rabbit or hare with Easter has Its foundations In the ancient belief In European and Asiatic countries that the hare Ih the symbol for the moon. The moon Is the "open eyed watcher of the night," and the bare 1h n noelunial animal. The young of the bare fire born wllh their eyes open and are said never to clon! tbem. Slnee tb' date of Easter Is gov trued by Uk; moon, It Is easily seen how the rabbit, which is the symbol for the moon, came to be an Easter symbol also. The more Intimate association of the rabbit and the egg Is probably due to a pretty little legend which comes from Germany. It Is as fol lows : "It was a lovely day in early springtime and Mrs. Rabbit was hurrying along the woodland path, taking some wild flowers to a sick wood-chuck wood-chuck friend. Suddenly she came upon a lot of loose feathers in the path. She looked about her and then discovered a nest full of eggs. "'Oh, dear me,' exclaimed Mrs. Bunny, 'a fox must have stolen the mother chicken. And there are her eggs, getting chilled. I'll Just sit on them to keep them warm.' So saying, she put down her baskets and sat upon the nest. "Imagine Mrs. Rabbit's surprise, when she got up from the nest, the next morning and found that a family of chicks had hatched from the eggs. 'Since their mother Is gone I presume I shall have to take care of the poor little things,' .said the tender-hearted Mrs. Rabbit. This she did. Ever since then the rabbit lias been associated with Easter and Easter eggs." In some parts of northern Germany the child-ten child-ten hang eggs on trees similar to Christmas trees and candy favors, gifts and all sorts of Easter novelties are placed on the tree around which the children gather, and sing happy songs on Easter morning. Peasants In other European countries were accustomed to hang festoons of eggs tiver the chimney piece and to hand them down as heirlooms, for Ibi'.v were regarded as treasures to be kept and not as baubles to be destroyed or thrown awav. In England, under the old ecclesiastical laws, rent was payable In Easier ergs; games were played with them (a fact which was probably the forerunner of Easier "egg-rollings," such as that observed each year on the While House lawn in Washington), especially by the children In north England. Still another association ol the egg with Easier lay in the fact that It was contrary to .religious tenets to eat eggs during Lent, but when Easter marked the end of that period they were the first lleshly nourishment aft or the fast to sanctify the body. The custom of dyeing Easier eggs goes back for many centuries. Peasants In the European countries dyed them red, as a symbol of Christ's blood, but the lords and ladles covered theirs wllh gold leaf. Later more elaborate decorations decora-tions were used. Sometimes they bore ('lipids and love knots, (laming hearts anil the signs of the zodiac. Sometimes they were halved and the shells hinged logelher with ribbon and lined wllh gilt paper and religious pictures. Among the Venetians It, was Ihe custom lo give II friend a gift egg bearing the giver's portrait, ami many oilier variations on egg decoration were loiiiinon In I'raiiee, Spain and Belgium. Half a century ago Easter eggs were made of porcelain. Ivory, mot her ol' pearl, broire. silver, sil-ver, or gold In the form of lillle cases to hold |