Subject: Re: [Edo-Nation] Easter-Its meaning & Its origin
Greetings, thanks and same to you and yours, Dr. Iyi-Eweka.
By the same token, friends, my family and I wish all of you and yours, a very happy Holy week.
Cheers & Blessings!
Richard Yarl & Family
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>
> > 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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