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Easter, Hunny

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We are in one of the most beautiful seasons, Spring. The season of bloom when all the    gorgeous flowers and trees display their beauty.  A sign, that summer is on it’s way!  I remember when I was young, it was always a super exciting time for me.  It meant the warm weather was coming and school would soon be out for summer break.   A season that holds a very important holiday for many of the Christians around the world, Easter.   Easter is the holiest of all Christian holiday’s and the one that gave birth to the Christian religion.  We celebrate the season with candy, decorating eggs, going to Church, having Easter egg hunts and enjoying a traditional meal with our families.  Many of the children believe the Easter Bunny comes and hides gifts and eggs for them to find in the morning when they wake up, which is so much fun!

WHERE DID IT ALL BEGIN?

We Have so many fun and exciting traditions, but where did they all come from.   Let’s start with the Holiday itself.  For believers, Easter celebrates the day Christ rose from the grave to save mankind.  This resurrection day is the day we celebrate.  This time of the year was also celebrated by the pagans as a celebration of spring!

SO WHAT ABOUT THOSE EASTER EGGS…

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Many cultures love to decorate and display Easter eggs. This was my favorite project as a kid, such a fun turning white eggs into pastel dreams!  I had to do some searching to find out a little bit of history surrounding these eggs and why they are so symbolic.  Here is the scoop in an “eggshell”. hahaha.

Many cultures view the egg as a symbol of life, fertility and rebirth.  Makes total sense.  Eggs were associated with pagan festivals and celebrations of spring. Eggs were symbolic of rebirth and new life, making them a perfect part of the celebration of spring and the new life that comes after winter. It was common for eggs to be decorated for these spring festivals, and common to see these colored eggs given as gifts to friends and family.

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The symbolism of rebirth fit well with the spring holiday of Easter, as it is the celebration of   Jesus’ resurrection. The practice of decorating eggs and giving them as gifts was adopted by Christians and included in the Easter celebrations.

The Iranians have decorated eggs for thousands of years on Nowruz, which is the Iranian New Year that falls on the spring equinox.  Let me just tell you they are simply gorgeous and ornate and super chic.  In addition to the New Year, they also use decorated eggs at wedding ceremonies and they are over the top gorge.

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For Christians, the egg represents the resurrection of Christ.  Orthodox and Eastern Catholics sometimes decorate eggs in red to symbolize the blood that Christ shed on the cross. The shell of the eggs represents the tomb that was sealed and the cracking of it represents Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.  How fascinating!

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Many Christians refrained from eating eggs and meat during Lent, so Easter was a time to finally eat eggs after abstaining for a long period of time. I mean whats Easter Sunday without a delicious omelette right? On Easter morning, especially in the America, eggs are rolled symbolizing the stone being rolled away from the tomb.  In fact, the white house has traditionally held an Easter egg roll the morning after Easter Sunday.  I never knew that.  I thought it was a hunt, but it’s a roll.

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The American Easter egg is much more colorful and many decorate using pastel colored eggs that represent all the gorgeous and fabulous colors of spring.  However, the egg has also evolved into many new trends over the years.

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WHO IS THE EASTER BUNNY?

We all remember that ginormous rabbit at the shopping malls as kids.  Some crazy parents forcing them to wait in a long line only to sit on his lap and smile in our spring outfits and send to grandma so she can place it on her refrigerator next to last years.  Sounds like torture.  Thank goodness my parents never had me do that. I never liked the Easter Bunny at the malls and I would have hated to sit on his lap, but i did love to eat a big chocolate bunny!  YUMMY!!

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Who is the Easter bunny?  I wondered, so I did a little googling and found some interesting info.

So according to my search, the Easter Bunny was said to have arrived in America from Germany in the 1700’s with some German immigrants and settled in Pennsylvania.   Their tradition of laying eggs called “Osterhase”  was brought to the settlement.   The children all made nests so the Easter Bunny could lay it’s colorful eggs.   The role of the bunny was to determine if the kids were behaving or not and gifts are brought the night prior.   Sounds a lot like Santa Claus to me.  Maybe it’s parents way of making their kids behave months after  Christmas.

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AND THAT’S ALL FOLKS

So there you go.   A little bit of history behind the festive and fun holiday.   Now go out, buy some flowers, dye some eggs and spend time with your families.  The best part of any holiday is time spent with people you love.  Happy Easter everyone!

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