Easter

Festival Location: All Areas, Worldwide

Festival Type(s): Easter Celebrations , Religious Events

When the Sun Dances

by © Viola Ashford 2008

'The sun's dancing day and the earths' holy day' - this is Jacobean poet Nicolas Breton's description of Easter Day. The British believed in ancient times that the sun danced for joy as it rose at Easter to commemorate Christ's resurrection.(1) In many parts of Wales crowds still climb just before the dawn to the highest point in the area to watch the sun 'dance' as it rises on Easter Day. In the Vale of Clwyd villagers used to dance three somersaults on the top of Dinas Bran, thereby greeting the sun rise.(2)

After the long, bleak, fast of Lent, Easter, traditionally the most important event in the Christian calendar, was historically celebrated with joy and festivity. New clothes were worn to honour the day; feasting could begin; and people were once more allowed to play sports, banned during Lent, and hold fairs. Other festivities included morris dancing, and dancing around the may pole if Spring was early, pace-egging and egg-rolling.

Many of these customs originated from pagan rites to celebrate the coming of spring. Spring festivals, often combined with religious events, are celebrated in many areas of the world. These include the Jewish Passover; Chinese 'Ching-Ming' Day, a festival of ancestors and springtimes; Japanese 'Setsuhin' and many Latin American carnivals.

According to the Venerable Bede, an English saint and historian, the word Easter is derived from Eoster or Eastre, the name of a Teutonic goddess of the Dawn and Spring. Worship of this Goddess originated in Germany and was brought to England by the Saxons. Another theory of historians is that Easter comes from the Anglo-Saxon word 'oster' meaning to rise.

Although Easter was regarded as a feature of the Jewish Passover, still celebrated by the early Christians, by the 2nd century AD it was a Christian festival in its own right. In the West Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after the full moon on or following the Spring equinox.

Mass was held at midnight on Easter Eve, in medieval times. This is still the case in the Eastern Orthodox churches. The church was darkened and fire struck anew from flints by the priest. After the flames were blessed and sensed, the paschal, the largest candle in the church, was lit. This was the centrepiece of the church. In some cases it was 'wreathed with ribbons, or painted and made of coloured wax. It could be given the illusion of greater size by being set upon a wooden stick, painted to resemble a continuation of the candle and nicknamed a 'Judas'. The candle at Durham cathedral stood upon the steps before the high altar and was so tall that it had to be lit from the roof!2 Traditional Easter Foods

After mass the feasting and fun began. Traditional Easter foods included delicious hot cross buns glazed with crosses on the top, eggs, and roast lamb or roast duck.

During the nineteenth century in England: One a-penny, Two a-penny Hot Cross Buns was a common 'jingle' used by street-sellers in the towns. In ancient times the British believed that bread, buns and biscuits baked on Good Friday never went mouldy and contained beneficial powers, such as the ability to cure diseases. They would be hung in houses to protect from misfortune.

This custom also had pagan origins. Greeks, Romans and ancient Egyptians all ate buns with marked with a cross at spring time. The round bun represented the full moon and the cross divided the bun into four lunar quarters.

Eggs, an ancient symbol of resurrection and new life, were a traditional breakfast food on Easter Sunday. During Eastre's festival hard-boiled eggs were painted in bright colours representing the sunlight of spring, used in egg-rolling contests and given as gifts. Eggs with decorated shells used to be blessed in church.

The first chocolate Easter eggs were not made until the early nineteenth century and originated in Europe.

Other traditional Easter foods included roast lamb or duck, often eaten for lunch on Easter Sunday. These were often served with tansey pudding.

Many of these foods, such as lamb, eggs, and sweet wheaten cakes similar to Hot Cross Buns, are also traditional Passover foods. Lamb is then the main dish of the day.

Easter Games

Egg-rolling which may represent the rolling away of the stone from Jesus' tomb is a common game played at Easter. Hard-boiled, brightly coloured eggs were used for this children's pastime. The idea was to see which egg could go furthest without disintegrating. Today this game is played on Easter Monday by children on the White House Lawn.

The Easter bunny, an ancient symbol of fertility, was supposed to lay eggs in the garden. Children would play 'treasure-hunts' looking for them.

In medieval times hare-hunts would often take place at Easter. In Leicester the Mayor and the Alderman went hare-hunting on horseback in their robes of office.

Lifting or Heaving used to be popular on Easter Monday in England. Village lads decorated a chair with leaves and flowers and carried it from house to house in order to lift the women of the house three times. They would be rewarded with a kiss. The girls played the game in reverse on Easter Tuesdays.

Although Easter is often regarded simply as a break or a holiday some of these customs, such as eating eggs, the Easter bunny and treasure-hunts have survived until the present day. It is a pity, however, that many of these traditions have become commercialized. Perhaps Easter will one day regain its place as a primarily religious event.

1. Hutton, Ronald. The Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain. Oxford University Press, p.192

2. Wales on Brittania: Welsh Culture and Traditions http://www.britannia.com/wales/culture2.html

3. Hutton, Ronald. The Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain. Oxford University Press, p.194

by Viola Ashford

Easter Dates and Location

Easter falls in late March or Early April each year (In the West, Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after the full moon on or following the Spring equinox.) and is celebrated in many countries around the world.