Page 2 - Easter The Untold Story

Chapter One
THE ORIGIN OF EASTER
No more important day exists in Christendom than Easter. Millions consider the Easter season the most sacred time of the year.
For many, Easter marks the climax of weeks of preparation involving special rites, various degrees and durations of fasting or abstinence and other traditional practices. Regional customs accent the observance of the day worldwide.
Depending on where a person lives, celebrating Easter may include customs as diverse as watching the sun rise, parading fancy clothes, going to a bullfight, ringing bells, baking hot cross buns, burning special candles, picnicking or general feasting. In some areas Easter bunnies or rabbits have a prominent part. In most areas colored eggs are featured, as are gifts of sweets.
Some of the customs are of comparatively recent derivation and have no religious significance. Others are easily traceable to ancient non-Christian religious origins.
"Around the Christian observance of Easter... folk customs have collected, many of which have been handed down from the ancient ceremonial and symbolism of European and Middle Eastern pagan spring festivals brought into relation with the resurrection theme" (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 15th edition, article "Easter").
Jesuit researcher and author Francis X. Weiser explains, “Just as many Christmas customs and similar observances had their origin in pre-Christian times, so, too, some of the popular traditions of Lent and Easter date back to ancient nature rites." He goes on to specify: "The origin of the Easter egg is based on the fertility lore of the Indo-European races... The Easter bunny had its origin in pre-Christian fertility lore. Hare and rabbit were the most fertile animals our forefathers knew, serving as symbols of abundant new life in the spring season" (The Easter Book, pages 15, 181, 188).
Various other customs hearken back to ancient annual spring celebrations of the death and revival of vegetation and various gods associated with vegetation. Few Christians stop to ask why such customs have become popularly associated with the crucified and resurrected Christ.
All such embellishments aside, however, Easter remains the Christian world's preeminent festival. Churchgoers the world over assume that the observance of the Good Friday-Easter Sunday tradition is the way Christians ought to remember Jesus' death and resurrection. But is it? Where did the festival itself come from? When did it start? The answer is truly surprising.