Easter Wishes
 

Hi Folks,

Wishing everyone a very Happy Easter wherever you are.
:thumbsup:

Re: Easter Wishes
 

I have got me cross ready and i am off to moan!!!!!!!! Or I shall be looking for eggs in the garden.
Can I ask, why does a bunny leave eggs! Surely it should be an Easter chicken!
love to all

mary x x

Re: Easter Wishes
 

damn no wonder was very busy in denia today, so many cars on the road. but happy easter ;)

Re: Easter Wishes
 

Happy Easter everyone :D

Re: Easter Wishes
 

This should explain it all...:thumbup: .

The Pagan origins of the Easter Bunny
Have you ever wondered where the celebration of the Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Christ acquired its unusual name and odd symbols of colored eggs and rabbits?

The answer lies in the ingenious way that the Christian church absorbed Pagan practices. After discovering that people were more reluctant to give up their holidays and festivals than their gods, they simply incorporated Pagan practices into Christian festivals. As recounted by the Venerable Bede, an early Christian writer, clever clerics copied Pagan practices and by doing so, made Christianity more palatable to pagan folk reluctant to give up their festivals for somber Christian practices.

In second century Europe, the predominate spring festival was a raucous Saxon fertility celebration in honor of the Saxon Goddess Eastre (Ostara), whose sacred animal was a hare.

The colored eggs associated with the bunny are of another, even more ancient origin. The eggs associated with this and other Vernal festivals have been symbols of rebirth and fertility for so long the precise roots of the tradition are unknown, and may date to the beginning of human civilization. Ancient Romans and Greeks used eggs as symbols of fertility, rebirth, and abundance- eggs were solar symbols, and figured in the festivals of numerous resurrected gods.

Pagan fertility festivals at the time of the Spring equinox were common- it was believed that at this time, when day and night were of equal length, male and female energies were also in balance. The hare is often associated with moon goddesses; the egg and the hare together represent the god and the goddess, respectively.

Moving forward fifteen hundred years, we find ourselves in Germany, where children await the arrival of Oschter Haws, a rabbit who will lay colored eggs in nests to the delight of children who discover them Easter morning. It was this German tradition that popularized the 'Easter bunny' in America, when introduced into the American cultural fabric by German settlers in Pennsylvania.

Many modern practitioners of Neo-pagan and earth-based religions have embraced these symbols as part of their religious practice, identifying with the life-affirming aspects of the spring holiday. (The Neopagan holiday of Ostara is descended from the Saxon festival.) Ironically, some Christian groups have used the presence of these symbols to denounce the celebration of the Easter holiday, and many churches have recently abandoned the Pagan moniker with more Christian oriented titles like 'Resurrection Sunday.'

Re: Easter Wishes
 

Excerlent, thanks for that, I shall tell my 6 year old!

love

mary x x x

Re: Easter Wishes
 

Happy Easter everybody ,

And what a blinding start to the easter break :) lovely hot sunny day reached 17 c T shirt all day , lovely .
And rumour has it will be like it all weekend , mind you weird start to the day had to scrape ICE !! Yes ice of the windscreen this morning , now weird that is , but what a lovely day once that sun got up :thumbup:

So anyways ,dont eat to much choccy , and enjoy the break..

Re: Easter Wishes
 

[F]HAPPY EASTER [/FONT]to each and everyone of you. I have already started my egg, couldn't wait so I ate the contents but I'm saving the rest for Sunday.:lol:

Re: Easter Wishes
 

Happy Easter to all!!
Always interesting to hear about the origins of the various feasts and festivities.
Anyway off to practice my fire jumping skills, soon be Beltane!!:eek: :eek: :eek:

Re: Easter Wishes
 

Happy Easter All

Re: Easter Wishes
 

Happy Easter... Don't know why, but Mercadona was like a Tesco on a Christmas Eve yesterday, never seen it as crowded, and nearly all the checkouts open, again a first. Must be all the tourists arriving for Easter, and they have to stock up as the shops aren't open till Saturday.:ohmy:

Re: Easter Wishes
 

:rofl: :rofl: :thumbup:

Re: Easter Wishes
 

Easter is a very big and important holiday for the Spanish people. Even considered of greater importance than Christmas for some.

Happy Easter folks ;)

Re: Easter Wishes
 

Happy Easter to everyone....don´t eat too much choccie

Heard a funny tale on GMTV this morning, a teacher was telling the class about the meaning of Easter, at the end of the lesson she asked what they had learnt, a little boy aanswered" Jesus died on a Hot cross bun"

Re: Easter Wishes
 

This is so weird. Was just sent to me and I needed to share but didn't know where to post it, so decided this was the most appropriate thread.....with an Easter theme and all :)

http://z.about.com/d/puzzles/1/0/E/S/021.jpg

It says look at a light coloured surface (after staring at the dots).....but if you just close your eyes and wait a few minutes, the effect is the same.