Easter.. who the hell invited the Rabbit?

[cowsmanaut]

posted this on facebook already and thought I'd share it here too. Might be worth discussing, or at the very least will send you on a search to learn more about this wonderful holiday

Well, I'm up very late due to those partying the easter long weekend and being unable to do so quietly enough to allow others to sleep.. I decided to remind myself of the origins of this lovely holiday.

I often have heard many complain about the easter eggs and the easter bunny and how it's a christian holiday etc. However so many seem to forget that these celebrations, many of them were pegan in origin, and that those most heavily celebrated fall on the solstice and equinox which celebrate our change of season. Christmas, easter, halloween.. summer solstice is Midsummer Day and celebrated as the birthday feast of John the Baptist, less recognized, but still falls as summer break for many schools.

Easter has roots in germanic celebration of the vernal equinox. The rabbit and the egg are simply symbols of spring and fertility, as it is the time of mating and the birth of young animals... and no one is more recognized as the rabbit for such activities! these symbols of birth were later adopted as symbols of rebirth for the christian/catholic faith. Well the egg was anyway. As for the name Easter itself comes from Ēostur-monath which is the month of April and Ēostre or ôstarâ a germanic goddess in origin, but currently little is known about her, though her name now is carried by the wiccan faith for the Vernal Equinox.

So how then does this have to do with Christians and Catholics etc? Well, the first council of Nicaea determined that rather than share the date of Passover as was done up to that point, they would move the date to remove their dependence on the Jewish calendar. Despite the fact it was written that Christ shared their meal of passover before his death and ressurection.. after all let us not forget that Jesus was a Jew and subject to their traditions. So, just as his birth was moved to a separate date, so was his death... something that I myself wouldn't want done to me.. but oh well.

So, before you condemn the rabbit, or his little coloured eggs. Do not blame hallmark.. for his origins predate them... and do not assume that this day is about Christ and our sins either, the true date having been moved. The one true thing about this time of year is that it is spring, a renewal of the earth, a time of awakening certainly. When the world itself awakens and all of nature bursts forward. Something that I feel is worth celebration. Far more than a celebration of guilt... don't you think?

For those of you of high faith, this note is not intended as an insult but rather a reminder that this holiday is shared... and that should perhaps be respected?

[Roquen]

No rabbit in France. It's a flying bell that brings the goodies. I think the origin of the magic flying bell must be mushrooms.

[cowsmanaut]

Well the bell too is welcome!

[Sophia]

I often have heard many complain about the easter eggs and the easter bunny and how it's a christian holiday etc. However so many seem to forget that these celebrations, many of them were pegan in origin

Yeah, a while ago (back around Christmas, I'd assume) MW posted a video that pretty much picked apart all of the things and concepts that have been inserted into the traditional Christmas story that had no basis in history or scripture. This kind of thing happens a lot. Over the years, holidays get blurred, mashed together, a church deciding to leverage a tradition that is popular among the people anyway, etc.

Well, the first council of Nicaea determined that rather than share the date of Passover as was done up to that point, they would move the date to remove their dependence on the Jewish calendar. Despite the fact it was written that Christ shared their meal of passover before his death and ressurection.. after all let us not forget that Jesus was a Jew and subject to their traditions. So, just as his birth was moved to a separate date, so was his death... something that I myself wouldn't want done to me.. but oh well.

Well, kind of. You could also look at it as Passover, not Easter, having been moved around, though. Some years (like this one) they still correspond rather well. However, the time of year Passover takes place tended to vary, as the Jewish calendar was lunar and didn't correspond very well to the calendars in use in the western world. It was even less regular back in antiquity, with a decree from various elders required to set the calendar. So, it could also be taken as an attempt to separate Easter from Passover and celebrate it at a consistent time of year-- one corresponding with the Passover during which the death and resurrection of Jesus are believed to have taken place, but not necessarily subsequent ones.

This isn't the last time they played around with the timing, either. When the Julian calendar was abandoned for the Gregorian one, things changed too, which is why the Orthodox churches (which still use the Julian calendar for determining their religious holidays) sometimes celebrate Easter on a different day than western Christians, because they're still applying their calculation to the Julian calendar.

a celebration of guilt

I don't think this is the meaning of Easter at all, even to Christians.

[cowsmanaut]

To me it is a celebration of guilt for too many(not everyone to be sure.. but more than enough), as they seem to be fond of reminding everyone "he died for our sins on this day"... if it's not about guilt I'm not sure what it is. it's like they are saying "you just remember that he died so you could have that chocolate bunny.. so as you enjoy that, remember his suffering... " 0_0.. uh.. wtf??

To be honest, having been raised in this kind of environment, I've owned no less than 3 bibles and went to sunday school and the whole lot, constantly informed by priests how I was a sinner etc. Somehow expected to feel bad for something I did not do and uncertain why I should feel bad about whatever it is I didn't do. The idea of original sin, that one could be a sinner at birth is unacceptable to me. So, when I'm ready to sit down and enjoy a chocolate treat, the last thing I want to hear is "what easter is really about" ie.. Jesus dying for our sins. I'd rather celebrate the flowers and trees that are once again sharing their vibrant colours and succulent smells. Where the whole of nature has come to life, birds, rabbits, deer, even the bears and the skunk.

[Trantor]

Easter was never really that important to me. As a child, I enjoyed looking for little chocolate eggs that my father hid in the garden, and today I enjoy watching my two nieces doing the same thing. It is an opportunity where I meet my parents and my siblings with their families which is nice. Sometimes, it is one of the first opportunities to really be outside and enjoy spring.

As neither me nor my family nor any of my friends I ever had are/were very religious, the whole Christian thing never really meant anything to me. But I think that today, every (sane) Christian knows that it is not so much about the date, but about the symbolic meaning of Jesus' sacrifice and his supposed resurrection. It is the time of the year where Christian people consider the heart of their religion. The whole "guilt" aspect isn't what I think Christianity is or should be about, and I'm quite surprised that you grew up in such circumstances Cows. The ideas that have been fed to you seem strange to me.

[Maven]

Well, Cows, I'm with you on the rabbit thing. However, I agree with Trantor that Easter isn't supposed to be about the death of Christ, it's supposed to be about the resurrection. The guilt of sin is supposed to be swallowed up in the joy of the idea that if we repent and activate the power of the Atonement in our lives, we too can live again.

Around here it's getting to be almost as bad as Christmas and Halloween. It's becoming a holiday where you're supposed to buy expensive easter baskets for your kids and such. Christmas is all about presents, and Halloween is all about candy. Just walk through Walmart--you'll see.

I reject all such garbage. We did Easter egg hunts when the kids were little, but the kids lost interest when they turned 8 or so. The community has a huge Easter egg hunt down at the park every year. We did it once. It was a terrible experience. At the same time an example of service and generosity, and the most blatant scene of selfishness and disrespect I have ever seen. We had many workers and businesses that donated time, money, and material to make it a good experience for the kids. But the second they blew that whistle, it was a race to get the most loot. There were supposed to be areas for each age group to help make it a fair contest, but it only worked passably. I saw grown-ups snatching eggs out from under three-year old kids to put in their own kids' basket. I was so disgusted I vowed I'd never go back.

Any more we get the family together and read the Easter story and try to remember what it's really supposed to be about. Sometimes we color eggs, but it's more of an art/craft project and nice decoration than anything. We certainly don't celebrate the Pagan fertility stuff. The eggs are hard boiled--not gonna hatch no matter who sits on them.

[Maven]

So how then does this have to do with Christians and Catholics etc? Well, the first council of Nicaea determined that rather than share the date of Passover as was done up to that point, they would move the date to remove their dependence on the Jewish calendar. Despite the fact it was written that Christ shared their meal of passover before his death and ressurection.. after all let us not forget that Jesus was a Jew and subject to their traditions. So, just as his birth was moved to a separate date, so was his death... something that I myself wouldn't want done to me.. but oh well.

Hmmm. Not sure this is quite accurate. If they did move the date, they didn't move it very far. And it's still based on the Lunar calendar. It's closer to passover than to the equinox. In fact, this year it falls during the passover.
However, I don't know much about when the passover used to be or if it has been moved. Wouldn't surprise me either way.

[Jan]

The Easter traditions are very strong in the Czech Republic - it's quite surprising given the low religious levels here.

The boys and men make kind of "sticks" (between 20 and 70 cms long) - it's woven from young and thin willow twigs (usually from 8 twigs). On the Eastern Monday morning they go around their towns or villages and delicately "beat" (slightly hit) the bottoms and legs of girls and women. After this, the girls and women give them the coloured eggs. The meaning of this ritual is that the willow twigs or branches are full of life and very elastic in the spring, so by hitting a girl or a woman with it you give her the elasticity and life of the willows for the whole year.

(I have to stress that the "beating" must be really very delicate and symbolic, of course)

[Chaos-Shaman]

Jan, that sounds like a blast, hohohoho, i could just imagine the welts some naughty little boy can do, hehehehe. i guess that's the day they slip some jeans on.

celebrating is fun, during life and death, the whole point is to get together as one, and if we listen, we'll learn all about what it's about, partaking in some way.

[cowsmanaut]

Maven, the easter egg hunt there sounds horrible. I can totally see that happening unfortunately. I've only ever done an in house one where my parents hid them and I went and found them when I woke up. It's then monitored if there is more than one child too. Saying there are 20 eggs so you each get 10, after you've found 10 back off and let the other one find the rest. Though being an only child I was only subject to that rule once while spending easter with my cousins one year.

As for the movement of the date, it is accurate to what has been recorded from the time of the council. The idea was mainly to remove their dependence on their calendar and according to what I read, have it separated from passover.. not so it would be a different month, but rather not be linked to the same day. So now the two dates float around eachother and to most people are unrelated aside from the fact the are near each other. Where as in reality they were the same date according to what was known at the time of the council. The very idea of the council and of what I see still happening today, where they rewrite sections of the bible to suit their latest vision or ideal.. It's simply making up stuff and expecting others to just swallow it. At least the Torah has something to respect in that it's even still written in their original language, untranslated, unchanged. I mean seriously.. it's the same religion.. but they have pushed and segregated themselves from it's roots.

I quite enjoy history, and do not like to discover it's been distorted or over all rewritten. I know it's often the case. For in any war, it's the victor who writes the tale, and writes it to suit their own view. However in general, many accounts are shared as they happened. Only corrected as new proven findings come up.

Anyway, to me, holidays such as easter are to be celebrated in the way you wish. That it is not for others to tell me that easter is not about that... and yes as I said, not all people remind me about the death and sins bit, but instead think about rebirth, and it's those few that respect my view of easter which is a celebration of life in general. As I said, the return of all forms of slumbering animal.. or the birds who went for their vacation in the bahamas As well as the return of leaves and flowers.. So I like what Jan describes as a gift of life and youth I guess in a tree branch. Is not Spring the time to feel a little younger?

[MasterWuuf]

, ...I've owned no less than 3 bibles and went to sunday school and the whole lot, constantly informed by priests how I was a sinner etc. Somehow expected to feel bad for something I did not do and uncertain why I should feel bad about whatever it is I didn't do. The idea of original sin, that one could be a sinner at birth is unacceptable to me. ...

Adamic sin. Strong attitudes have come from this (in my opinion and conviction) error.

Even in the bible, the son is not guilty of the sin of the father, and vice versa.

Easter is a great time for me. I even like the Easter egg hunts. The Whopper Malted Eggs.
Cadbury chocolate eggs. Etc.

Truthfully...I don't plan on eating ANY chocolate egg that ever came from a rabbit.

[cowsmanaut]

One easter, I got a budgie. Was an odd sort of easter hidden surprise.. I was used to the hidden eggs and the chocolate rabbit on the couch. however the odd chirping from my closet was new! Unfortunately he didn't stay with us long.. someone forgot to close all the windows and he flew out. Probably eaten by a crow later.

not that I didn't enjoy the gift while it lasted.

[Bit]

The easter egg is the solution to the problem of what was first: chicken or egg...
No one ever realized that except me!

[Jan]

You are so smart, Bit. So smart. If only I was so smart. If only I was at least as smart as your shoes are.

[Bit]

Hm... but this would be necessary to understand my explanation for the rabbit...

[cowsmanaut]

it would be nice to fully understand the exact origin of the rabbit. The only clues to it's inclusion was the fertility aspect and spring arrival of him. Which I suppose is enough.. but there is no exact literature or renderings of rabbits in any such celebrations.. It's just kind of there.. and has been passed down through generations without any reason why.

[Jan]

See http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/th ... 43550.html

Quotation:

Why have rabbits and eggs become linked with Easter?

Eggs, of course, are ancient symbols of fertility, for very obvious reasons, while the Seder meal incorporates a hard boiled egg as a symbol of new life. The ancient Persians also painted eggs for Nowrooz, their New Year celebration falling on the spring equinox. An egg has also been seen to be associated with the rebirth or resurrection of Christ. The custom of eating them also derives from the fact that they were forbidden during Lent. There are a great many rituals associated with eggs, mainly dating from Mediaeval times in Europe, usually involving decorating, throwing, rolling or hiding eggs for children to find them.

The Easter bunny or rabbit comes from the hare, another ancient, pre-Christian symbol of fertility associated with spring. But it gets even more complicated than that. Anglo-Saxon mythology says Eostara changed her pet bird into a rabbit to entertain a group of children, and the rabbit laid brightly coloured eggs for them.

The chocolate bunny, like the chocolate Easter egg, is a much more recent idea, stemming from 18th and 19th-century middle European confectionery traditions, many of which were adopted in Britain.

[Maven]

The Easter bunny or rabbit comes from the hare, another ancient, pre-Christian symbol of fertility associated with spring. But it gets even more complicated than that. Anglo-Saxon mythology says Eostara changed her pet bird into a rabbit to entertain a group of children, and the rabbit laid brightly coloured eggs for them.

Now THAT'S funny! I can imagine this.

My brother is an amateur magician. He's actually quite good. It's fun to watch whenever he does a show, because the audience always underestimates how good he's going to be. After he bounces a lightning bolt off the ceiling or makes the lady float, they start looking up. When he gets to his dancing cane act, they're usually pretty amazed.

Once he trained his mini rabbit to stick its ear out of the hat at exactly the right time. He got the idea when it happened to him once during a show and the kids LOVED it. He made it part of his routine. He'd pull all sorts of stuff out of the hat, but couldn't seem to find the rabbit. He would turn around and the rabbit would stick its ear out and the kids would laugh and point. He'd turn back around and pull a diaper or an egg or something out and shrug his shoulders. Of course he'd eventually find the rabbit, but I can easily imagine him turning a pet bird into a rabbit, and then having it lay chocolate eggs.

[Jan]

Wow! That sounds fantastic.

And the lightning bolt... yeah!

[MasterWuuf]

The Easter traditions are very strong in the Czech Republic - it's quite surprising given the low religious levels here.

The boys and men make kind of "sticks" (between 20 and 70 cms long) - it's woven from young and thin willow twigs (usually from 8 twigs). On the Eastern Monday morning they go around their towns or villages and delicately "beat" (slightly hit) the bottoms and legs of girls and women. After this, the girls and women give them the coloured eggs. The meaning of this ritual is that the willow twigs or branches are full of life and very elastic in the spring, so by hitting a girl or a woman with it you give her the elasticity and life of the willows for the whole year.

(I have to stress that the "beating" must be really very delicate and symbolic, of course)

Stress:
He hits her softly with the twig...she hands the coloured egg to him.
He hits her more firmly with the twig...she bounces the egg off his head.

Everyone knows, that is where 'hard ball' was introduced.

[Jan]

He hits her more firmly with the twig...she bounces the egg off his head.

Actually, the girls have an opportunity to pour buckets of cold water on the boys. Interestingly, this tradition is being lost (thanks God... ).