Easter Time – Its History And Most Popular Symbols And Traditions

Have you ever wondered why we send Easter flowers or and Easter basket?

Yes, Easter bells bring eggs in European children baskets, people bless their homes with Easter water… But do you know where these Easter symbols and traditions come from?

On Easter weekend those of the Christian faith (Catholics, Orthodox, Protestants, Anglicans, Baptists…) celebrate the crucifixion and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

In the past, the Easter Sunday was generally reserved for the baptism of a large number of catechumens. Also, the council of Lateran (1215) ordered that those who reached the age of reason had to take the Holy communion at least once a year (in French "faire ses Pques").

So Easter is the most important Christian celebration of the year.

In Romance languages, Pques or Pascua… is derived from the Greek word "Pascha".

In the Germanic languages, "Easter" – also called "Pascha" – was taken from "Eastre", the Saxon goddess associated to the Spring. Indeed, many years ago, the Saxons celebrated the god of the Spring, called "Eostre" and held festivals every year to celebrate the Spring Equinox, when the day and the night were equal length.

These festivals were celebrated to ensure fertility across both the land and people.

The Saxons converted to Christianity and the name of their celebration became "Easter" in order to celebrate both the Spring and the religious Pascha times. The idea behind the two occasions is different, but they share common symbols and traditions that people still use today.

Briefly explained, the Christian Easter occurs as follows: the first Sunday after the full moon that follows the spring equinox (according to the Gregorian calendar). Except for the Orthodox church that still refers to the Julian Calendar (13 days behind the Gregorian calendar).

So Easter is a mobile holiday that oscillates between March 22nd and April 25th. Regarding Easter Monday, it is just a bank holiday and it has no religious meaning.

Since many centuries, in addition to the religious Easter traditions people celebrate the festive Easter season by organizing family gatherings, giving presents, sending greeting cards and much more.

Easter, both religious and popular has its symbols. Here are a few ones:

The Easter Bells

In some European countries, Easter bells have a great symbolic aspect. In the ancient times, the bells of our churches were ringing every day of the year to invite people to attend the mass, to celebrate a royal wedding, the birth of a prince, or for any other public event.

On Maundy Thursday, all the bells will stop ringing: they leave our countries for Rome where the Holy See is located and they will be blessed by the pope.

Since Jesus died on Good Friday and resurrected on Easter Sunday these days of silence are a symbol of mourning and recollection. Therefore, the bells will ring again on Easter Sunday, returning from Rome where they brought Easter eggs that they will drop in our gardens.

Besides Jesus’ resurrection, Easter bells also symbolize the rebirth of the Spring.

To a child who makes bad faces, we say: "If the bells ring in Rome, your bad face will remain all life long."

The Easter Eggs

The use of eggs in celebration existed long before our modern day observance.

Indeed, in Egypt and ancient Persia, people were used to dye eggs with the colors of the spring and gave them to their relatives. Eggs were considered as symbols of rebirth.

Centuries ago, Christians gathered on the public places and were looking for eggs: after the privations of Lent, Christians appreciated to eat those eggs. It was the forerunner of our Easter egg hunt.

Another custom was that, at the end of the Easter Mass, our kings distributed eggs (usually made in a luxurious material, painted, engraved …) to the noble of their court. The most famous eggs are Faberg eggs. Thus the tradition of Easter eggs is not just commercial but well an old tradition.

The Easter Chicken

Where do the eggs come from? From the chicken… so, as the chicken gives her eggs (decorated or not) it’s an essential Easter symbol.

The Easter chicken custom is popular in many countries but originated from Austria. Today, it is often symbolized by a chicken made out of chocolate.

Depending of the country, the Easter chicken is replaced by chicks, cock, stork, cuckoo, etc.

The Easter Bunny

The first animal that has been associated to Easter was not the rabbit but well the hare. The hare is an animal symbolizing abundance, proliferation and renewal. He was regarded as an animal very prolific, especially in the spring and was a symbol of life and fertility. It may have its origins in an ancient oriental culture.

The rabbit was the symbol of Eastre, the Saxon goddess. The idea of the rabbit as a part of Christian tradition was introduced in colonial days by the Germans.

The hare and the rabbit were associated to the Easter eggs for the first time in Alsace and Germany six centuries ago.

In some countries, Children are taught that the Easter Bunny brings treats on the night before Easter.

The eggs, rabbits and chocolate are closely linked!

The Paschal Lamb

In the New Testament, Jesus is often identified with the lamb, and especially the paschal lamb, as there is a parallel between his death and that of the paschal lamb – the lamb, is sacrificed in both western and eastern religions. By the blood of Jesus Christ, the people of God is released from death and can enter into a new life.

And so, in many countries, people eat a leg of lamb on Easter Sunday.

The Cross

The symbol of the cross has been associated with Christianity and Easter since the first centuries after Jesus’ death. The cross was a symbol of Jesus, who died to save all those who receive baptism, it was also a symbol of cruelty throughout the Roman Empire.

Today Christians view the cross as a symbol of courage and salvation.

In Anglo-Saxon countries, people bake "hot cross buns" (buns marked with a cross) that they eat on Good Friday.

The Easter Lily

This flower; which is also an Easter symbol, is a Japanese flower. The lily is the symbol of the arrival of the Spring, purity and holiness. This flower is known for its beauty and its pride.

A legend says that at the time Jesus went to a place, all the flowers, plants and animals bowed to his passage, except the lilies: they were too proud.

But when the lilies saw Jesus on the cross, their head bent and since that day, they continue to bend their head as a sign of respect.

Nice legend, isn’t it?

The Easter Water

It is an old custom that disappears…

Unknown today, the Easter water was an important Easter element for our ancestors as it was deemed to have very beneficent virtues.

Early in the morning, before the sunrise, people went to the river and brought several gallons water. The Easter water and a branch that people received at the church on the Sunday before Easter Sunday were used the bless the home and protect it against inclemencies. People also drank this water to cure diseases.

Now that you know the origins and symbols of the holiday of Easter, I wish you a happy Easter!

Easter Bells
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Ukrainian Easter tradition

Despite the profound meaning to Christians of Easter, there is no doubt that there is a strong thread of pagan tradition that runs through the Holiday. The name “Easter” itself may come from an Anglo Saxon goddess of Spring.

New Easter Traditions

My parents always tried to help us remember to focus more on Christ at Easter than on the commercialized holiday. The Easter Bunny always came on Saturday, so as not to distract us on Sunday.

The Easter Bunny 

Easter tradition after Easter tradition is invented as Sunny attempts to evade Gadzooks (the grumpy lonely bear who lives on Big Rock Mountain) and outsmart Lilly Longtooth’s laws against anything fun. Songs include "The Easter Bunny is Comin’ to Town".

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Romanian Easter Customs, Beliefs and Rituals

Loaded with traditions, the Easter in Romania is celebrated with great respect for Christ given to the fact that almost all Romanians are Christians. From the Easter Bunny to the special Easter lamb meal, the Romanians make this celebration colorful and highly cherished.

Easter is highly celebrated worldwide in the Christian world. Yet each country has its own traditions, rituals, beliefs. Such is the case of Romania, where people have different customs, depending on the region. Thus, in Bucovina, on Resurrection night, young ladies go to the church steeple and wash the bell clapper with fresh water. Then they wash their faces with this very same water on Easter morning, in order to look beautiful all year long and to attract young men the same as church bells make people run to the Easter morning mass.

The Easter Bunny’s appearance within the Easter traditions is due to the remains of pagan rituals and deities worshipped in ancient times, this lovely animal being seen, the same as today, as a symbol of fertility. There is an old northern legend which says that, one winter day, the goddess Eostre found a wounded bird in a forest. In order to save the bird, the goddess turned it into a female rabbit, yet leaving it with the capacity of laying eggs.

There are different customs and traditions for celebrating Our Lord’s Jesus Ascension into Heaven, the Ispas and the so-called "Horses’ Easter". Ispas is the mythical character that is thought to have witnessed the moment of the Lord’s (together with the resurrected ones) ascension into heaven.

Starting from the Easter day to the Ispas day, people greet each other by saying "Christ is risen!", and the answer to this is "He is truly risen!" On the day of the Ascension, people say: "Christ has ascended into Heaven!" and the answer to this is: "He has truly ascended into Heaven!" This custom lasts until the day after the Ispas.

There are some more Romanian customs and beliefs that may appear unusual or interesting. Such is the habit of people wearing nut leaves around their waist, because Christ is said to have worn such leaves during His ascension. Also, according to the popular belief, those who die on the Ispas day go straight to heaven. Another uncanny ritual consists of cutting hair from the cows tail and burying it in an ant hill while uttering the following blessing: "May God give you as many lambs and veal as the ants in this ant hill!"

Another superstition says that it is forbidden to give away any fire or salt on the day of the Ascension. If one gives away fire, one will be despised the whole year through, and the people in that house will be as mean as fire; and if one gives away salt, his cows won’t produce any sour cream. Whatever is planted after the Ispas does not blossom or bear fruit. On the day of The Lord’s Ascension, women who have recently deceased people in their families give away warm wafers, green onion and brandy for the souls of the dead, as they believe their souls would travel to heaven and they would need some supplies.

Still part of the Romanian tradition, the art of painting Easter eggs is quite developed in certain country regions. There are a lot of motifs in painting the eggs, each of them having several versions, depending on the exact region. They may also vary within the same village, or at the very same artist. Among the most frequent motifs we could mention: animal representations: bees, frogs, snakes, lambs; vegetal motifs: fir leaves, carnations, wheat ears; home and field tools: rakes, spades, ploughs; industrial ornaments, motifs taken from home industry: the cleavage formed when sewing shirts and sleeves; other: the cross, the lost way, etc. The cross, a symbol of Christianity, is represented in the Romanian tradition the same way as the Russian or Moldavian one-by a cross having other small crosses at its four edges.

Other largely spread motifs are the star and the monastery, other reminders of Christianity. At any rate, the painted eggs are meant to give us feelings of joy, astonishment, humility, reconciliation, because their decoration operates with Christian symbols or natural motifs (sun, moon, plants, animals, tools), together with all their sacred significance.

However, all the Easter traditions span around the historical fact that Jesus Christ, the Son of God is alive. Come and visit Romania for Easter!

Romania Easter

Easter is probably the most special time of the year in Romania. Easter eggs , Easter Rabbits and flowers adorn the shop windows, they are beautifully arranged and look very tasteful.

Romanian Orthodox traditions

Mihaela Lica has a wonderful introduction to Lazarus’ Saturday, part of the Romanian Eastern Orthodox celebration of Easter (or Pascha). This year, Lazarus’ Saturday will take place on April 11th.

Easter Eggs

Decorating Easter eggs is a popular tradition throughout Central and Eastern Europe. Many countries like Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Hungary, Romania, and Germany each have their own traditional methods of how eggs are to be decorated and painted.

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Easter is one of the highest holy days in christianity that celebrates the resurrection of Christ from the dead.  It is a time of year where friends and families gather together to celebrate this occasion with food and festivities.

It has become a tradition in our family to get together with very close friends and their family at the patriarch’s home on the suburbs.  This home has an extensive backyard which extends approximately 300 yards back.  Most of this yard was a former pasture where my friend family raised goats asnd sheep when she was a growing up.  The yard has since been coverted into a nursery which contains a creek and various trails that are surrounded by differient varieties of azaleas, rhododendrons, flowers and other fauna.  This layout has provided a venue for a world class Easter egg hunt.  

Tradition has it that the now older children and their friends (the Easter Bunnies) hide some 300 plastic eggs filled with different candy treats and morsels in differnt places around the backyard earlier that morning. After the families arrive, the younger children get baskets and are then challenged as to who can find the most eggs around the nursery.  They charge off and scamper around the lot scooping up eggs as fast as they can as the adults saunter behind watching this joyful activity. 

After an hour or so and the eggs have been counted, the adults and the rest of the family search for those missing eggs that have remained hidden from those youngsters gaze. Sometimes the squirrels have found an egg or two and grabbed the little treats before this children find them.

Following the hunt all of guests gather around the table and the rest of the house to enjoy the food brought by the families attending and the fellowship that comes when seeing good friends.  If the weather is nice, croquet in the back yard is always in the offing and there is nothing more fun than a cut throat game where siblings smash each others ball around the yard.

All in all this has become a great Easter tradition that we look forward to every year.  As the younger children grow up it will be time for next generation to partake in the the famous Easter Egg Hunt – rain or shine the hunt goes on.

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