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I love that the Christians had to steal all the pre-Christian holidays to use for themselves. I have a very special version of the overlap of spring fertility rites and an unrelated Christian resurrection rite, as seen thru the eyes of a six-year old:
At this time of year Jesus Christ rolls away the stone, comes out of his tomb, and if he sees his shadow we'll have 6 more weeks of winter.
So are you doing carrot cake and meditating on the question of how the Cadbury Bunny can lay all those eggs so fast every year, or are you waiting for May Day?
O Eostre Bunny, pleeeeeease bring back the orange eggs 'cuz they are my favorites!
Not going to argue with the stolen aspect, however the true Eostara occurs at the equinox.
Now as I understand things, the Easter Bunny hides eggs because he does not want anyone one to know he's been fooling around with chickens.
This year I did not need to color any eggs. My chickens provide me with pinkish, brown and blue-green eggs naturally.
Also- a mystery of the holiday is, why an Easter Ham?
That seems like an oxymoron to me.
Not going to argue with the stolen aspect, however the true Eostara occurs at the equinox.
Now as I understand things, the Easter Bunny hides eggs because he does not want anyone one to know he's been fooling around with chickens.
This year I did not need to color any eggs. My chickens provide me with pinkish, brown and blue-green eggs naturally.
Also- a mystery of the holiday is, why an Easter Ham?
That seems like an oxymoron to me.
I would dearly love to find someone who did circles for the major events in the calander and Estore, also called Ostra is wonderful. Part of the stuff on my alter comes from one I went to in California. As winter is only now showing signs of leaving, I plan an outside dedication to spring with some plants and a few things not plants ceremonially added when it gets here. Too cold now except for occasional really warm days before the next front.
But I love the symbolism of this spring and completely ignored 'easter'.
The ham? I think its because people get stuck with the big 20 pound turkey in November and then in December and do not want to face another turkey until later. And if you can buy a farm cured ham and cook it at home properly (not the precooded warm it up in the oven variety) the taste is wonderful.
Aside from farm areas, bunnies are generally not bought as meat here. And you kind of lose the symbolism about the multipacation factor in bunny kind if its dinner.
Tired of turkey....lol. If we would eat what the pilgrims ate that day, we would not be tired of turkey. Duck and venison should be on the menu.
My equinox celebrations are not rooted (no pun intended) in the old European wheel of the year. I'm more a free flying type.
My Spring ritual this year was to make a list of things that need to be done before summer and I put the list up for all to see (there are 5 capable bodies in my home).
I tend to do more focused on the Moon Cycles than anything else. I did a 'growth' ritual for a small group of fellow artist this past full moon (Wednesday).
Our weather here is getting better, but not sure yet what the rain will be like. We just had a 'storm' and it was a cold one which is unusual. We get lots of rain, but temps are usually warmer.
I have yet to plant anything as well since I don't want everything to get soggy. Plus I'm still letting the chickens roam the yard and they would eat anything that is young and tender. Eventually I will have a greenhouse and all this wont be a problem.
Easter can be fun. I'm all in favor of the Christians having a good time every now and again. Good food, family together, not a lot of expensive gift giving, what's not to like (except that disgusting torture spectacle that they seem to enjoy).
Even the outdoor sunrise Easter service is a good deal.. Gets them outdoors at a pretty time of day and lets them experience a little nature.
I'm not against anyone celebrating the resurrection in what ever manner they choose.
It actually amuses me. Eating ham on a day celebrating a Jew, eating 'deviled eggs' and a church hosting an Easter egg hunt.
Easter can be fun. I'm all in favor of the Christians having a good time every now and again. Good food, family together, not a lot of expensive gift giving, what's not to like (except that disgusting torture spectacle that they seem to enjoy).
Even the outdoor sunrise Easter service is a good deal.. Gets them outdoors at a pretty time of day and lets them experience a little nature.
I consider 'christmas' a family holiday. Celebrate the spirit of family, renewal, and care. I can go to a 'christmas' gathering fine since its not really religious at all. If its got mangers and little plastic sheep and babies and all that, naw.....
I'm going to do yule candle window plate for my window and can do all the rest of it pretty much the same. Hoping the home improvements are DONE before that before that this year.
The medieval church nomes who moved the christan holidays to December and spring equinox did know what they stood for...
I thought Easter was more of a name 'adaptation' and not really a holiday moved to another date merge.
Easter and Eostara do not fall on the same day. I think I recall hearing something about Easter's date being figured by the Jewish calendar, first full moon after Passover (or equinox), something like that....going to look that up.
^^^ First Sunday after the first full moon after the first day of spring/vernal equinox.
Eastern Rite/Orthodox Churches have a different system, based on the Julian calendar. Our Easter was March 31 this year, calculated as above, theirs is May 5. Odd to have NO Easter in April this year.
I thought Easter was more of a name 'adaptation' and not really a holiday moved to another date merge.
Easter and Eostara do not fall on the same day. I think I recall hearing something about Easter's date being figured by the Jewish calendar, first full moon after Passover (or equinox), something like that....going to look that up.
I'm sure nobody thought to write down the date Jesus woke from the dead, and they just tacked it onto bunny-rabbit day. Why not?
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