Sunday, February 28, 2010
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Thursday, February 25, 2010
The Origins Of Easter
The Origins of Easter
When you think about Easter what springs to mind? You probably think of chocolate eggs, the Easter Bunny or if you're religious maybe the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. Most people if pressed will say that Easter is a Christian holiday, but this couldn't be further from the truth. Read on to discover the real origins of Easter.
Pagan Origins?
There is little doubt that the celebration of Easter is in no way Christian. Like many other holidays it has been 'Christianized' but it is in fact a Pagan holiday. The word Easter is not in the bible, and eggs and bunnies are not Christian emblems. In fact what we now celebrate as Easter is the ancient pagan festival of Eostar, also known as Spring Equinox, Vernal Equinox, Rites of Spring or Eostra's Day. Further proof, if it were needed, comes in the actual date that Easter is held each year. The date Easter is celebrated is tied directly to the Spring Equinox (the first Sunday after the full moon after the Vernal Equinox). If it is as the Church says, a celebration of the day Christ was executed and subsequently resurrected, then why is the date not fixed, and instead tied in with the phase of the moon. So, if the event itself is of Pagan origin what of it's traditional iconography....
The Easter Bunny
What of the Easter Bunny? His origins are fairly easy to tie down. The rabbit, or to be more correct the hare, is the Pagan symbol for Spring or the rebirth of the sun. It's not surprising that ancient people would choose this symbol to represent fertility and rebirth as the rabbit is one of the most prolific breeders in the animal kingdom. A female rabbit is able to conceive a second litter of offspring whilst still pregnant, and birth both separately. In addition to this they produce several litters a year, and become sexually mature at a very young age. The phrase 'to breed like rabbits' is as you can see very apt.
Easter Eggs
The egg is again tied in with rebirth and fertility in ancient Pagan belief. In their Spring festival it symbolizes the world egg laid by the Goddess and split open by the heat of the Sun God, hatching the world. An interesting side note as to why the Easter Bunny carries eggs in a basket is believed to originate in the ancient belief that hares laid eggs (the Easter Bunny originally being a hare). This come from the fact that hares raise their young above ground in a hollow or hare form. This happens to resemble a lapwing nest, as lapwings also nest at ground level. So in the Spring, eggs would be found in what looked like hare forms, giving rise to the belief that the hare laid eggs in the Spring.
Christian Takeover
When Christianity started to spread throughout Europe the local Pagans still wanted to celebrate their own holidays. The solution to this was to basically replace the Pagan holidays with a new Christian version, it being much easier to gently change the belief structure than to ban the original holiday and impose a new one on a different day. This gently circumvented the peoples' natural opposition to change. Indeed Some Christians don’t celebrate Easter, believing that the Christian takeover of this pagan holiday resulted in an unacceptable adoption of Pagan themes, beliefs, and practices. Many other Christian holidays can be shown to have similar Pagan roots.
Conclusion
No matter what your personal belief I hope you found this investigation into the origins of Easter interesting, and it will add to the enjoyment of the Easter holiday for you.
Resource Box
We would like your opinion. What do you think? -- Is Easter a pagan festival that astronomically marks the exact day of the start of Spring or a Christian festival that marks the resurrection? Take our origins of Easter poll and add your opinion too. Take a look at our language of rabbits t-shirts and other products if you want to look extra cool this Easter ;)
When you think about Easter what springs to mind? You probably think of chocolate eggs, the Easter Bunny or if you're religious maybe the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. Most people if pressed will say that Easter is a Christian holiday, but this couldn't be further from the truth. Read on to discover the real origins of Easter.
Pagan Origins?
There is little doubt that the celebration of Easter is in no way Christian. Like many other holidays it has been 'Christianized' but it is in fact a Pagan holiday. The word Easter is not in the bible, and eggs and bunnies are not Christian emblems. In fact what we now celebrate as Easter is the ancient pagan festival of Eostar, also known as Spring Equinox, Vernal Equinox, Rites of Spring or Eostra's Day. Further proof, if it were needed, comes in the actual date that Easter is held each year. The date Easter is celebrated is tied directly to the Spring Equinox (the first Sunday after the full moon after the Vernal Equinox). If it is as the Church says, a celebration of the day Christ was executed and subsequently resurrected, then why is the date not fixed, and instead tied in with the phase of the moon. So, if the event itself is of Pagan origin what of it's traditional iconography....
The Easter Bunny
What of the Easter Bunny? His origins are fairly easy to tie down. The rabbit, or to be more correct the hare, is the Pagan symbol for Spring or the rebirth of the sun. It's not surprising that ancient people would choose this symbol to represent fertility and rebirth as the rabbit is one of the most prolific breeders in the animal kingdom. A female rabbit is able to conceive a second litter of offspring whilst still pregnant, and birth both separately. In addition to this they produce several litters a year, and become sexually mature at a very young age. The phrase 'to breed like rabbits' is as you can see very apt.
Easter Eggs
The egg is again tied in with rebirth and fertility in ancient Pagan belief. In their Spring festival it symbolizes the world egg laid by the Goddess and split open by the heat of the Sun God, hatching the world. An interesting side note as to why the Easter Bunny carries eggs in a basket is believed to originate in the ancient belief that hares laid eggs (the Easter Bunny originally being a hare). This come from the fact that hares raise their young above ground in a hollow or hare form. This happens to resemble a lapwing nest, as lapwings also nest at ground level. So in the Spring, eggs would be found in what looked like hare forms, giving rise to the belief that the hare laid eggs in the Spring.
Christian Takeover
When Christianity started to spread throughout Europe the local Pagans still wanted to celebrate their own holidays. The solution to this was to basically replace the Pagan holidays with a new Christian version, it being much easier to gently change the belief structure than to ban the original holiday and impose a new one on a different day. This gently circumvented the peoples' natural opposition to change. Indeed Some Christians don’t celebrate Easter, believing that the Christian takeover of this pagan holiday resulted in an unacceptable adoption of Pagan themes, beliefs, and practices. Many other Christian holidays can be shown to have similar Pagan roots.
Conclusion
No matter what your personal belief I hope you found this investigation into the origins of Easter interesting, and it will add to the enjoyment of the Easter holiday for you.
Resource Box
We would like your opinion. What do you think? -- Is Easter a pagan festival that astronomically marks the exact day of the start of Spring or a Christian festival that marks the resurrection? Take our origins of Easter poll and add your opinion too. Take a look at our language of rabbits t-shirts and other products if you want to look extra cool this Easter ;)
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
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Saturday, February 20, 2010
The Origins Of St Patrick's Day
The Origins of St. Patrick's Day
The modern St. Patrick's day is traditionally looked upon as an excuse to over indulge in drink and food. It has become associated with green beer, wearing of green, excess and drunkenness. However the traditional celebration was far removed from its modern day incarnation. Just what are the Origins Of St. Patrick's Day?
Who Was This Patrick Fellow?
It is generally accepted that the man who became St. Patrick was born around AD 387, and was a Catholic missionary in Ireland during the second half of the 5th century. The details of his life that are universally accepted to come from two authenticated letters that were written by him. When he was around 14 he was captured by Irish raiders in Britain and taken to Ireland as a slave, where he remained until he escaped and returned to his family 6 years later. On his return to Britain he entered the church, and later returned to Ireland as an ordained Bishop. That's about it - that's all that is known factually other than he spent his life working in the north and west of Ireland, but little detail of this time exists. He is said to have died on the 17th of March AD 460 and this is where the date of St. Patrick's day comes from. Whether this is true or even if this was the same Patrick is unclear.
The Legend of St. Patrick
Many stories surround St. Patrick. One of the most often told is that he banished the snakes from Ireland. The origin of this story is most likely a reference to his attempts to drive Pagan Druids from Ireland, their symbol being a serpent. It is unlikely that there were ever actually any snakes in Ireland. The colour green probably comes from the three leafed shamrock, which was used by the Catholic ministers in Ireland to teach the concept of the Holy Trinity to the people.
St. Patrick's Day
St Patrick's day is held on the 17th of March; the supposed date of St. Patrick's death. On this day, after church services, the people of Ireland were allowed to feast, and was the only day in the 40 day Lent period that Irish catholics were allowed to eat meat and drink. No wonder it became popular!
Modern St. Patrick's Day
The modern St. Patrick's day is very much a North American invention, originally brought to the USA by Irish immigrants. Over the years it has become a day to celebrate to excess and wear green clothes and make everything green. It's now a day where everyone, regardless of their place of birth, becomes just a little bit Irish. I hope you have learned a little of the the True Origin of St. Patrick's Day and this will add something to your enjoyment of this 17th of March as you drink your green beer.
There are many ways to celebrate this St. Patrick's day. Find out more on the origin and modern celebration from http://www.squidoo.com/OriginsOfStPatricksDay and if you want to stand out from the crowd take a look at these unique St. Patrick's Day Gifts .
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