Easter Traditions
As with almost all "Christian" holidays, Easter has a secular side as well. The dichotomous nature of Easter and its symbols,
however, is not necessarily a modern fabrication.
Easter has always had its
non-religious side. In fact, Easter was originally a pagan festival. It
was co-opted by Christian missionaries starting in the second century
CE.
The ancient Saxons celebrated the return of spring with an uproarious
festival
commemorating their goddess of offspring and of springtime, Eastre.
When the
second-century Christian missionaries encountered the tribes of the
north with their pagan
celebrations, they do what Christian missionaries have always done; they
attempted to convert them to Christianity. They did so, however, in a
clandestine manner.
It would have been dangerous for the very early Christian converts to celebrate their holy
days with observances that did not coincide with celebrations that already existed. To
save lives, the missionaries decided to spread their dogma slowly
throughout the populations by allowing them to continue to celebrate pagan feasts, but to
do so in a Christian manner.
As it happened, the pagan festival of Eastre occurred at the same time of year as the
Christian observance of the Resurrection of Christ. It made sense, therefore, to alter the
festival itself, to make it a Christian observance as pagans were slowly indoctrinated. The
early name, Eastre, was eventually changed to its modern spelling, Easter.
The Easter Bunny is not a modern invention. The symbol originated with the pagan
festival of Eastre. The goddess, Eastre, was worshipped by the Anglo-Saxons through her
earthly symbol, the rabbit.
The Germans brought the symbol of the Easter rabbit to America. It was widely ignored
by other Christians until shortly after the Civil War. In fact, Easter itself was not widely
celebrated in America until after that time.
As with the Easter Bunny and the holiday itself, the Easter Egg predates the Christian
holiday of Easter. The exchange of eggs in the springtime is a custom that was centuries
old when Easter was first celebrated by Christians.
From the earliest times, the egg was a symbol of birth in most cultures. Eggs were
often wrapped in gold leaf or, if you were a peasant, colored brightly by boiling them with
the leaves or petals of certain flowers.
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.
Fonte: http://wilstar.com/holidays/easter.htm
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário