Easter is the day in which Jesus of Nazareth, who had been crucified at Calvary, rose from his grave after three days. The event reinforces the idea that Jesus was not only a man, but was also the Son of God, the Alpha and the Omega. His resurrection was followed by visitations to his various disciples and followers, until his eventual ascension to Heaven.
Like most children, I didn’t really celebrate this on Easter. Easter for me meant one thing: the Easter Bunny. Easter was like a mini-Christmas, where the giant lupus would leave candy and little gifts in our baskets. The fact that I bought the idea of a giant white bunny, running around the world and delivering presents proves that children are idiots. I mean, who did I think the Easter Bunny was, Santa Claus?
The connection between the Easter Bunny and the story of the Son of God rising from the grave is not an easy one to make. The best (and funniest) explanation that I’ve found comes from Christopher Moore’s Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Friend. It tells the story of the missing years in the story of Jesus, from the time he’s around 7 until he’s around 33, near the time of his death. It’s got the most succinct and understandable clarification of Christian beliefs, and it’s wicked funny without being disrespectful. If you haven’t run across it, drop what you’re doing and read it now. If there is a God, and He has a sense of humor, He would totally dig it.
The explanation was that Jesus was drunk at the wedding of Cana and, gushing his affection for bunnies, says that “Henceforth and from now on, I decree that whenever something bad happens to me, there shall be bunnies around.”
The explanation for the eggs is a little more historical. Because eggs were forbidden during the fasting season of Lent (Easter is the final day of this season), there was an abundance of them stock piled. These were given out to children and to the family as gifts because they were now able to eat them. Why a bunny brings them to us, though…I’m still at a loss on that one.
In any case, I did make sure to dye some eggs to keep up with the tradition. Sadly, Paas was nowhere to be found at this early date. But I made due with some food coloring and vinegar:
I then turned the eggs into one of my favorite Easter snacks, Deviled Eggs. Odd that I enjoy eating deviled eggs on Easter…
My parents did a few things that helped confirm the existence of the Easter Bunny. First, they would leave a carrot out on a plate for the Easter Bunny to eat. They would also put a pile of baby powder on the floor leading to the front door . And somehow, a little piece of his tail always got caught in the door as he was leaving. Why he always managed to leave a footprint and a piece of his tail never seemed to bother me. Now that I've lived in the CSI: era, I think that it's just sloppy to leave so much physical evidence around the scene of a breaking and entering.
So, first, the carrot…
Then, the mound of baby powder…
And, wouldn’t you know it, look who ended up stopping by…
Did you know that in France instead of the Easter Bunny it's an Easter Bell that flies around children's houses to bring them decorated eggs? The only explanation I could find from (of course) Wikipedia: "Church bells are silent as a sign of mourning for one or more days before Easter in The Netherlands, Belgium and France. This has led to an Easter tradition that says the bells fly out of their steeples to go to Rome (explaining their silence), and return on Easter morning bringing both colored eggs and hollow chocolate shaped like eggs or rabbits." However, non-fiction author David Sedaris provides a wonderfully honest and hilarious account of this tradition in Me Talk Pretty One Day (highly recommend it!)
ReplyDeleteAlso, the history of the tradition to dye/decorate eggs may come from another legend I have heard. When Jesus rose from the grave, the news spread rapidly among his disciples; one of them ran out on the street to bring the good news to everyone and he ran into a woman he knew had followed Jesus; he told her the good news but she was skeptical; She was carrying a basket filled with eggs (probably to give out, which ties in with the historical explanation you have), so to express her disbelief she exclaimed: "Well, if God has Risen then may all these eggs turn red" You can guess the ending of this legend.
Back home in Bulgaria we always dye the first egg red, and that egg is dedicated to the home and kept for a full year (usually in the fridge). On the following Easter the prior year's red egg is broken to see how the year had been; if it's rotten and smells, then your year kind of stunk; if, however, it is just dried up and shriveled but overall not spoiled (and it happens more often than you can imagine!) then the year has been healthy and strong, and the family prays for another just like that.
However my favorite custom associated with Easter are the egg battles :) Favorite among children, the egg battles are held on Easter day at breakfast and throughout the day; you pick your favorite egg from the decorated ones in the basket (tip: pick smaller eggs with sharper ends!) and then you battle with other kids or adults by pair; the last egg surviving is called the Fighter and it belongs to you along with all the glory :) If you want to eat the Fighter however, you are not allowed to break it in any other way except smashing it into your forehead to prove that you are stronger than the strongest egg. Can't tell you how many kids walk around with red spots on their foreheads all day on Easter :)
Sorry, I got a little carried away, but as someone raised in the Eastern Orthodox Christian Tradition, Easter has always been the biggest religious holiday for me.
I LOVE that David Sedaris piece, "Jesus Shaves." Sooooo funny!
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