Easter

Sometimes I prepare for a post and then hold onto the information...waiting until the time is right to strike!....or at least until that event comes round again so my posts aren't completely out of season!

This weekend has been Easter, and having had a couple of conversations with various people I noticed that most people don't know anything about Easter. Especially why the date changes every year!

so here it is... Barbies guide to Easter/Spring festival...

The date of Easter changes every year - This seems a little odd to my mind, as Easter in the form it is commonly celebrated in Christian countries, is a celebration of the death and rebirth of jesus - Surely the date of such an event wouldn't change? So why does it? The answer seems to be that instead of out-rightly adopting the pagan celebration at the Spring Equinox (usually accepted as 21 March) the church decided to use this date as a starting point and work from there. Easter Sunday is the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring Equinox. (Anywhere between March 22 and April 25)

Traditions surrounding Easter vary wildly in different countries. I recently saw a TV programme where a guy from the UK visited Mexico during Easter and was often heard muttering "but where's my chocolate eggs?" whilst watching the celebrations. In the UK the majority of people celebrate Easter by buying, and exchanging chocolate eggs. So what is this fascination with eggs at easter? There could be several reasons for this, one is that the pre-christion religions often incorporated eggs in their spring traditions, and this was adopted to enable a smoother transition to Christianity. Other ideas include that eggs are forbidden during lent (along with many other items) so the giving of eggs in the following festival would be considered something to celebrate.

The eggs are delivered by the Easter bunny - Santa Claus in a rabbit suit maybe... - Rabbits and hares are another common symbol among pre-christian traditions in relation to fertility so this connection is - to me at least - fairly obvious.

As always there are many other ideas and beliefs out there that could be included here, but each post would take hours to read!

Regardless, whether you celebrate Easter, Vernal Equinox, Ostara, Passover, or Zombie Jesus Day (I know its a little late for some of those) I wish you peace, joy and chocolate. (because regardless of your faith everyone needs chocolate!)