Back At It
After a 6 year hiatus, a RELAUNCH!
It's spring and the time for rebirth, even here in Wyoming, where mounds of snow still blanket the yard. There are signs of life--birds arriving in flocks, icicles melting, and mud puddle season commencing full tilt.
Easter is right around the corner and the forecast for the weekend is for sun and warmth. Alleluia!
The Easter holiday has been celebrated for many millennia, evolving over time. The roots, however, are the same. The long winter has come to an end and there is rebirth as we emerge from the darkness and feel the warmth of the sun. Ancient Sumerians (Ishtar), Egyptians (Osiris), Greeks (Dionysius), and the Anglo Saxons with their goddess Eostre, all celebrated the holiday and all are released or resurrected much the same as Jesus in the Christian tradition.
Eostre was the goddess of spring and fertility and her name is the source of the word estrogen. The pagan festival of Ostara occurs on the Vernal Equinox and our Easter holiday is always the first Sunday after the full moon after the equinox.
Easter eggs and bunnies are the totems for Easter because Pagan folklore tells the story of Eostre arriving late one year, must have been to Wyoming, and the birds were unable to find food because the snow was too deep. One little bird broke its leg in the deep snow so Eostre--being a merciful goddess--changed the bird into a bunny so it could hop on the snow. She understood that the bunny still had the heart of a bird, so she allowed her to continue to lay eggs--which we celebrate today when we dye them and give them as gifts. Eggs were often hidden because the practices of paganism were persecuted by the Catholic Church--until they finally usurped the holiday and made it their own.
The tradition of decorating Easter eggs started in the 13th century and was elevated to a high art in the Ukrainian tradition of pysanky. German traditions brought the Easter basket to Pennsylvania in the 1700's as German children made nests for the egg-laying bunny, Osterhase, to fill with eggs. The chocolate manufacturers saw a holiday in the making and responded with a line of chocolate eggs, bunnies, and crosses for adding to the baskets. Thank you, Mr. Hershey!
So, yes, we are all reborn out of the season of darkness and will celebrate by dying eggs and making Hot Cross Buns, an Easter weekend holiday bread that is symbolic, for Christians, of the cross that Jesus died on, or for pagans, the quartered year consisting of the four seasons. I found some beautiful eggs in Thayne, Wyoming at The Block that don't need any dye at all. Happy Spring!
