Greetings, thanks and same to you and yours, Dr. Iyi-Eweka.
By the same token, friends, my family and I wish all you and yours, a very happy Holy week.
Cheers!
Richard Yarl & Family
<><><><><><><><><><>>
> From: Ademola Iyi-eweka <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: 2002/03/30 Sat AM 08:43:40 CST
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: [Edo-Nation] Easter-Its meaning & Its origin
>
> Happy Easter everybody.
>
> Iyi Eweka.
>
>
>
>
> Organization: Ile Asa Abalaye (A Yoruba-World Museum of Science & Culture)
> X-MSMail-Priority: Normal
> X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2600.0000
> From: "Omo Oba" <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Fri, 29 Mar 2002 08:46:27 -0800
> Subject: [Edo-Nation] Easter-Its meaning & Its origin
> Reply-To: "Omo Oba" <[log in to unmask]>
>
> The Easter Page -- Traditions, History, and Dates of
> Easterhttp://wilstar.com/holidays/easter.htm
>
>
>
> The Traditions of Easter
> As with almost all "Christian" holidays, Easter has been secularized and
> commercialized. The dichotomous nature of Easter and its symbols, however,
> is not necessarily a modern fabrication. >
> Since its conception as a holy celebration in the second century, Easter ha
> had its non-religious side. In fact, Easter was originally a pagan festival.
>
> The ancient Saxons celebrated the return of spring with an uproarious
> festival commemorating their goddess of offspring and of springtime, Eastre.
> When the second-century Christian missionaries encountered the tribes of th
> north with their pagan celebrations, they attempted to convert them to
> Christianity. They did so, however, in a clandestine manner.
>
> It would have been suicide for the very early Christian converts to
> celebrate their holy days with observances that did not coincide with
> celebrations that already existed. To save lives, the missionaries cleverly
> decided to spread their religious message slowly throughout the populations
> by allowing them to continue to celebrate pagan feasts, but to do so in a
> Christian manner.
>
> As it happened, the pagan festival of Eastre occurred at the same time of
> year as the Christian observance of the resurrection of Christ. It made
> sense, therefore, to alter the festival itself, to make it a Christian
> celebration as onverts were slowly won over. The early name, Eastre, was
> eventually changed to its modern spelling, Easte.
>
> The Date of Easter
>
> Prior to A.D. 325, Easter was variously celebrated on different days of the
> week, including Friday, Saturday, and Snday. In that year, the Council of
> Nicaea was convened by emperor Constantine. It issued the Easter Rule which
> states that Easter shall be celebrated on the first Sunday that occurs after
> the first full moon on or after the vernal equinox. However, a caveat must
> be introduced here. The "full moon" in the rule is the ecclesiastical full
> moon, which is defined as the fourteenth day of a tabular lunation, where
> day 1 corresponds to the ecclesiastical New Moon. It does not always occur
> on the same date as the astronomical full moon. The ecclesiastical "vernal
> equinox" is always on March 21. Therefore, Easter must be celebrated on a
> Sunday between the dates of March 22 and April 25.
>
> The Lenten Season
>
> Lent is the forty-six day period just prior to Easter Sunday. It begins on
> Ash Wednesday. Mardi Gras (French for "Fat Tuesday") is a celebration,
> sometimes called "Carnival," practiced around the world, on the Tuesday
> prior to Ash Wednesday. It was designed as a way to "get it all out" before
> the sacrifices of Lent began. New Orleans is the focal point of Mardi Gras
> celebrations in the U.S. Read about the religious meanings of the Lenten
> Season.
>
> The Cross
>
> The Cross is the symbol of the Crucifixion, as opposed to the Resurrection.
> However, at the Council of Nicaea, in A.D. 325, Constantine decreed that the
> Cross was the official symbol of Christianity. The Cross is not only a
> symbol of Easter, but it is more widely used, especially by the Catholic
> Church, as a year-round symbol of their faith.
>
> The Easter Bunny
>
> The Easter Bunny is not a modern invention. The symbol originated with the
> pagan festival of Eastre. The goddess, Eastre, was worshipped by the
> Anglo-Saxons through her earthly symbol, the rabbit.
>
> The Germans brought the symbol of the Easter rabbit to America. It was
> widely ignored by other Christians until hortly after the Civil War. In
> fact, Easter itself was not widely celebrated in America until after that
> time.
>
> The Easter Egg
>
> As with the Easter Bunny and the holiday itself, the Easter Egg predates the
> Christian holiday of Easter. The exchange of eggs in the springtime is a
> custom that was centuries old when Easter was first celebrated by christians.
> From the earliest times, the egg was a symbol of rebirth in most cultures.
> Eggs were often wrapped in gold leaf or, if you were a peasant, colored
> brightly by boiling them with the leaves or petals of certain flowers.
>
> Today, children hunt colored eggs and place them in Easter baskets along
> with the modern version of real Easter eggs -- those made of plastic or
> chocolate candy.
>
> Copyright © 1998-2001 by Jerry Wilson. Get permission to reprint this article.
>
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