Welcome to Easter! Christianity began on Easter. Three days after Christ was buried in a sealed tomb, his tomb was checked to see if anyone had disturbed it. While it was obvious that no one had been in the tomb since it was sealed, someone had left the tomb. Jesus's body was gone. He had risen from the dead.
Many traditions that are celebrated during Easter started long before Easter was a holiday. Many of them were celebrations of the seasons changing from Winter to Spring. The Celts, who lived in Europe from 2000 BC to 100 BC, were of a religion called Druidism which believed in good and evil spirits. They believed that the evil spirits captured the Sun in the Winter, and so they lit huge bonfires to scare the evil spirits into letting the sun go. Germany and Belgium still practice this tradition. In ancient Greece, they explained the change in seasons with this story: the goddess Demeter's daughter was kidnapped while she was picking Narcissus, which is a kind of flower. She was allowed to visit Demeter during the Spring and Summer. During that time, Demeter was very happy, and she made the flowers bloom. In the Fall and Winter, when her daughter was taken away from her, she was sad, and all the flowers died. Narcissus are used during Easter in many parts of the world.
Easter used to be celebrated at the same time as the Jewish holiday Passover, because Jesus was crucified during Passover. In 325 AD, men in Nicaea, which is now called Turkey, decided that Easter should be on a different day. They chose the Sunday after the first full moon following the vernal equinox. Easter used to be called "Pesach" which means Passover. Countries all over the world still use that basic word. The French call it "Paques," The Spanish say "Pascua," to Italians it is "Pasqua," Norwegians call it "Paaske," the Dutch say "Paach," the Swedish use the word "Pask," and the Greek say "Pascha." The English word "Easter" comes from the goddess of spring, Eostre. They used that name because when they were recruiting other people to join the Christian religion, the recruits would already know of the Easter celebration.
Germany had a legend about an old woman who liked to give children candy on Easter. One year she hid eggs in the garden. The kids who were searching saw a rabbit hop by, and they thought he had brought the eggs. When Germans came to America, they brought the tradition with them.
In Christ's time, people walked many miles on dusty roads in sandals. It was a sign of courtesy and respect for a servant to wash the feet of guests. The night before Jesus was crucified, he washed the feet of his disciples. He was showing them that he was their servant, and that he respected them. Queen Elizabeth washes the feet of as many poor people as she is years old every Easter.
Easter eggs are an important part of Easter in many parts of the world. The egg has represented new life for a very long time. Primitive people saw that eggs are the same basic shape as a drop of water, and a grain of sand, which were both important parts of their lives. Christians use the egg on Easter because it represents life emerging from the tomb of a shell. In Middle Age England, members of Royal families exchanged eggs wrapped in gold. In Russia and Poland, women would draw complicated designs on eggs, while the middle class English would wrap eggs in leaves or flowers, and then boil them, leaving the patterns imprinted on the eggs. In early America, children dyed eggs using dyes made from plants. Today, eggs are still decorated all over the world. Fortunately, you no longer have to forage the wilderness to find quality dye. Easter egg decorating kits are sold in many stores in the weeks before Easter.
How To Make An Easter Egg
Step 1.
Materials raw eggs needle small bowl paper towels white glue
1. Holding the egg firmly but gently, with the needle pierce a hole in each end of the egg. Make one hole larger than the other. 2. Pass the needle through the larger hole and, breaking the yolk inside, stir the contents. 3. Blow into the small hole and force the contents out of the large hole into the bowl. 4. Clean out the egg by running a little water through the large hole. Gently shake the egg as you rinse until the egg is completely clean. If you don't do this the eggs will begin to smell after a while. Let dry on a paper towel. 5. After the egg is dried, you can put a few drops of glue over the holes to protect the egg from further cracking. Now it is ready to decorate.
OR
To make the eggs edible, cover eggs in cold water and bring to boiling. Turn off heat. Let sit in covered pan for 20 minutes. Drain water, and refrigerate eggs until cool.
Step 2.
Before coloring eggs, you can draw designs on them with a crayon. If you do not have access to a crayon, use melted wax from a candle. You can buy Easter Egg coloring kits at many stores, or you can use a few drops of food coloring mixed with vineger to make some nice dyes. Dip the eggs in the dye in any way you want. The longer you hold an egg in the dye, the darker the color will be. Wherever you color with the crayon will not be affected by the dye. Let dry and display if you blew out the contents of the egg, or peel the shell and eat if you boiled it.
