Showing posts with label Equinox. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Equinox. Show all posts

Easter Traditions New and Old

There are millions of people in this world who celebrate Easter every year. This is actually one of the major Christian festivals in this world which is enthusiastically celebrated everywhere. The Easter celebrations include the Easter egg, the Easter basket, Personalized letter from the Easter Bunny and the Easter games. The basic idea of the Easter festival is to have fun with your loved ones and welcome the spring season after the cold winter. However, have you ever wondered why these traditions associated with the Easter are and exactly is the connection of eggs, Bunny and the basket with Jesus? Also, have you ever wondered why exactly the date of this festival tends to vary widely? Well, for finding answers to these questions please do keep reading.

Before 325 A.D, people celebrated Easter on different days in a year. However, Emperor Constantine put forth different Christian issues in front of Council of Nicaea and one of those issues was to fix a date for the Easter celebrations. Therefore, it was decided that Easter should be celebrated on the first Sunday after first full moon which falls after spring equinox. This is the reason why Easter falls in between March 22 and the April 25. Easter was first known as Eastre which was basically celebrated by Germans. It was celebrated for the goddess of springtime and fertility known as Oestre or Eostre. Among many Christian denominations like Catholics, Easter is considered as the last day of the festival of Lent. Christians are supposed to fast and make other kind of sacrifices during the 46 days of Lent. The day before the fasting period is called as Mardi gras and also as fat Tuesday.

The Easter Bunny is one of the oldest traditions of Easter which was followed since the ancient pagan religions. Easter is the time when winter comes to an end and the spring season begins. Therefore, it is a time when new plants grow from the mother earth and therefore symbolizes fresh and new life. Therefore, this day was an occasion to pay tribute to the fertility goddesses and that the rabbit or hare is thought as the manifestation of fertility. The tradition of the Easter Bunny was brought by the Germans to America but it was not incorporated in the Easter traditions until the Civil War. Nowadays most people put the chocolate bunny into the Easter baskets along with the Letters from the Easter Bunny himself - especially for children. The reality is that the Easter Bunny has become almost as popular as Santa Claus – thus, letters from the Easter Bunny are treasured keepsakes for kids.

The Easter egg symbolizes rebirth all through the history of mankind and also in the mythological traditions. Even in the ancient cultures people exchanged colored eggs a long time before this practice was employed in the modern celebrations of this festival. In the olden times and nests were used instead of Easter baskets and the Dutch children especially for this tradition of filling the bonnets and caps with grass and placing them out overnight. If the offerings were good enough, brightly colored eggs were left in the nest by the fertility goddess. This tradition was adopted and changed into the Easter basket filled with the fake grass later on. I hope you have understood the Easter traditions old and new and their origins.

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Fun and Creative Easter Crafts

Easter is a popular Christian festival of Resurrection of Christ. It is celebrated since the ancient times on the Sunday which follows the very first full moon that occurs after the March equinox. It is also celebrated to welcome the spring after a cold winter. It is therefore considered as a spring holiday and the bouquets of flowers, Easter baskets which are filled with jelly beans and chocolate eggs and embellished Easter eggs along with the Easter package from Easter Bunny are some of the essential parts of the fun. Writing letters to The Easter Bunny is a household tradition for many families and the personalized Letters from The Easter Bunny add a magical touch to the holiday. The number of Easter crafts, are also source of added enjoyment to the festival. You will find a number of websites and books which offer different ideas about the Easter crafts.

The Easter egg can be considered as one of the greatest examples of the tradition which began thousands of years ago. The egg was a symbol of a novel life for the ancient community. A fresh life comes into this world when the shell of the egg is broken. There are some myths which state that the world actually originated in the form of a huge egg. The upper half of the same turned into heaven, while the lower half into earth. For centuries together, the tradition of gifting eggs on the location of spring festival has been followed. Nowadays, people have fun decorating the eggs with colors and embellishing the same with simple patterns.

There are a number of craft ideas available for Easter. The Easter eggs, Easter decorations, Easter activities and Easter baskets and Letters to the Easter Bunny are among the popular fun and creative crafts for Easter. The paper baskets are one of the simplest things to make for kids and fill up with pretty things. These paper baskets are actually suitable for any occasion throughout the year. You can just change the shape of the basket according to the occasion. You can also decorate your basket and going to the people which best suits the idea of the baskets.

Making some unique Easter baskets for Easter and it ensures that your children will definitely cherish this memory forever. Another advantage of this same is that you can decompose the baskets very easily after the festival. The patterns in which you can make those baskets are plenty like a colored Easter basket, a plastic basket but even a wickerwork basket. You can therefore choose any pattern, as any pattern will work and do not fret if your basket is not absolutely water tight as a liner can always be put by you in the basket. Children can also enjoy making colorful Easter eggs with no warranty and confusion. However, this activity can be quite messy as different water colors and paints are going to be used for converting the eggs. Thus, the children will completely love to color their own eggs on Easter. Apart from this you can also make the Easter Bunny, paper butterflies and flowers for Easter. These are some of the fun and creative Easter craft ideas you can employ to have fun with your children.

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The History of Decorating and Using Eggs during Easter Time

Personalized letters from the Easter Bunny and Easter eggs are omnipresent during the time of the Easter festival naturally, which ranges from chocolate delicacies to the hard-boiled eggs which are colored. But, have you wondered what exactly the history of the Easter eggs is and why exactly do people decorate and use them during the Easter holiday. Well, it is believed that all life originates from the egg. Many cultures follow the conviction that life actually starts as an egg. Thus, eggs basically symbolize the spring and new life which emerges after a cold, long winter.

During the Passover, an egg which is hard-boiled is dipped in the salt water which symbolizes new life along with the Passover sacrifice which was made in the Jerusalem temple. In olden times, it was the Persians who began coloring eggs for the New Year celebration that happened at spring equinox. Also, in medieval Europe the eggs were actually forbidden during the 40 days of privation of Lent. When Easter came eggs were finally permitted and therefore they became symbols of celebrations and new life. Also it is believed that the eggs which are laid on the Good Friday should be voided and to do so up until Keystone as they protect against sudden deaths and increased the tree and crop fertility.

Clearly, there are religious beginnings as well as others that relate to the significance of eggs and why they are decorated during Easter? There are a number of ways in which you can decorate the Easter eggs. This is a very popular tradition practiced across the world. This is actually a family activity in which everybody takes part and has plenty of fun while doing it, especially the kids. You can use any bird egg for decorating the Easter eggs; however, the large eggs which have strong shells are just perfect for it. Most people prefer doing this activity at home, but you can also buy the decorated eggs from stores. These stores tend to have a wide collection of the Easter eggs with different prints, and designs and patterns. If you are short of time and don't want to leave out the eggs in the simulations, this is the perfect option for you.

You can apply a number of techniques while decorating your Easter egg and the simplest way to do this is dipping the respective eggs in a colored dye. This technique is especially useful if you do not have time for decorating the egg. Ensure that you purchase some artificial eggs as decorating the real eggs can be challenging and messy – but it is a lot of fun, especially with kids. Keep whatever material you need for decoration handy as it can be that the inconvenient for you to be running around the house once you start with the egg coloring. If you want to give your get a dazzling look should use plenty of rhinestones and sequins. Also, ensure that your kids carry out the decoration work under adult supervision – this can help prevent some of the mess and in some cases the kids may need and want your help.

The truth is that decorated Easter eggs and Letters to the Easter Bunny can add a lot of fun to the holiday. And if you really want to make the holiday memorable for everyone, then order personalized letters from The Easter Bunny. Your kids will cherish them forever!

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