Easter customs and traditions

Easter is the time for holidays, festivals and a time for giving chocolate Easter eggs. But we have to know, that Easter means much more. It is the oldest and the most important Christian Festival, the celebration of the death and coming to life again of Jesus Christ.

Easter is of course an important event in European countries and in America. It simbolise nature’s awakening from winter’s sleep.It is perhaps the single most important day in the Christain ccalendar.

Easter is celebrated every spring. It is always celebrated on a Sunday. Easter has its roots in many traditions gathered from many parts of the globe. The day we celebrate changes every year because it is based on the moon. Easter is celebrated on the Sunday following the first full moon after the spring equinox. This means that Easter can fall as early as March 22 or as late as April 25. This year it is on April 11th.

Many Easter ccustoms come from the Old World. The white lily, the symbol of the resurrection, is the special Easter flower. Rabbits and colored eggs have come from pagan antiquity as symbols of new life. Easter Monday egg rolling, a custom of EEuropean origin, has become a tradition on the lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C.

There are many symbols of Easter:

Rabbits

The first mention of the Easter Bunny and his eggs comes from Germany in the late 1500s. The Easter Bunny is not a modern invention. The symbol originated with the pagan festival of Eastre. Rabbits are reminder of spring and new life. They were the favorite animal of the spring goddess Eastre.

Easter Lilies

In early Christian art the lily is a symbol of purity because of its delicate form and white color. .The lily was adopted as the Easter flower.

Easter Flowers:- Such as daffodil, narcissus and the tulip. Area symbol as they bloom in the spring.

The Cross:- This is tthe symbol for the Christian religion as Jesus was nailed to a cross but then came back to life.

Chicks:- The chicks are born from eggs and are a reminder of spring and Easter

Palm Branches:- These are used as a symbol of peace

Bread:- Unleavened flat bread is eaten to remember Jesus’s sacrifice.

Wine:- Red wine is drunk to remember Jesus shedding His blood for humans.

Fireworks:- These are believed to frighten away evil spirits. They also show that out of darkness ccomes light.

New Clothes

. Wearing new clothes for Easter is a custom common among many Christians. It may have originated from the old practice of having newly baptized Christians wear new white clothes for the Easter celebration. Like many other Easter symbols, the new clothes represent the new life offered through the death and Resurrection of Jesus

Easter eggs.

Easter eggs are a very old tradition going to a time before Christianity. For thousands of years, people thought of eggs as the symbols of new life. People also thought that the Earth itself hatched from a huge egg. So that is why the egg was chosen as the symbol of the resurrection.

The Easter Egg is associated with beliefs of particularly ancient origin. The egg was an important symbol in the mythologies of many early civilizations, including those of India and Egypt.

Over the centuries the symbolic associations of the egg have been more or less forgotten, and modern Easter eggs are valued primarily for their colorful appearance. Eggs of chocolate or other kinds of candy are favorites of the seas

Moreover, the egg was considered the first „gift of nature,“ People present it for each other.. To make it look more like a gift, tthe egg was painted initially red, and in the course of time various decorations were added. The painted egg, as well as being a gift, was like all eggs believed to have magical powers and as such it was widely used in folk magic. It became a means of communication between living and non-living nature, between this and the other world. Eggs were laid on the graves of relatives to gain their favor. Later on, however, the magic function of the ornamental symbols came to be forgotten, and so today even the traditional egg-painters have no explanation for the meaning of certain individual patterns.

.

Exchanging and eating Easter eggs is a popular custom in many countries. In most cases, chicken eggs are used. The eggs are hard-boiled and dyed in various colors and patterns. Many countries have their own traditional patterns. Probably the most famous Easter eggs are those designed in Ukraine and Poland, where Christians decorate the eggs with complicated red, black, and white patterns.

Ornamental egg designers believe in the symbolism of the egg and celebrate the egg by decorating it with superb artistry. Some use flowers and leaves from greeting cards, tiny cherubs, jewels and elegant fabrics, braids aand trims,wax to adorn the eggs. We can also try using the old-fashioned method and color Easter eggs with onion skin. Making your own Easter eggs is a fun way to celebrate Easter. You can decorate your eggs as simple or fancy as you want!

Today, children hunt colored eggs and place them in Easter baskets along with the modern version of real Easter eggs — those made of plastic or chocolate candy.

In many countries, children hunt for Easter eggs hidden about the home. Children play a game in which eggs are rolled against one another or down a hill. The egg that stays uncracked the longest wins. Since 1878, children in Washington, D.C. have been invited to roll eggs on the White House lawn.