Easter
2021 is all set to be celebrated on the 4th of April this year. The
“movable feast” is traditionally celebrated on a Sunday between March 22nd
and April 25th. There are many Easter activities and traditions that
are loved by Christians and non-Christians alike, and we enjoy talking about
them to make our readers aware of cultures from around the world.
As
outsiders, there’s very little that is known about this event, but religious
scholars and Christians know its history and true significance. You must be
wondering how Easter got its name and how is the date of its celebration
determined? It’s natural to have such questions pop in your mind, as there are
so many decorations, desserts, activities for kids that make you curious!
So,
without further ado, let’s find out everything that there is to know about
Easter. But make sure that you’ve liked our page on Facebook, as we continue to
bring news from around the globe to your screens.
As
mentioned earlier, Easter will be celebrated on Sunday, April 4 this year. Orthodox
Easter, however, will take place on the 2nd of May. Interestingly,
this year, Easter will be celebrated one week after March’s full moon – also
the first full Moon after spring equinox. Do you know that this Moon is known
as Paschal Full Moon in the Christian calendar?
We
briefly mentioned that Easter is usually held between March 22nd and
April 25th, and that is exactly why Easter is known as a movable
feast. In the last 500 years, Easter has coincided on these dates. But it’s
interesting to see Eastern Orthodox Christians not follow the same trend. They usually
follow the Julian calendar instead of the Gregorian calendar.
Thereby, they
observe this event sometime between April 4th and May 8th.
Traditionally,
Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after the full Moon that is seen after
the first spring equinox. Yes,
we realize that these are just complicated words that hold no meaning to you.
We’re going to break it down for you.
We’re
going to take an example of this year’s Easter, okay? The spring equinox
happened on March 20th (last Saturday), so the first full Moon that
will be observed after that date will be on March 28th. Hence, the
subsequent Sunday is supposed to be on Sunday, April 4.
Like
we mentioned above, the full Moon of spring is known as Paschal Full Moon in
the Christian calendar.
Don’t
you wonder about the possibilities that could arise if the Full Moon and Spring
Equinox coincided? Has it ever happened before? Well, if the coincidence happens,
Easter is celebrated on the Sunday after that. This situation, however, is
complicated and is known as caveat.
You
can clearly tell that determining the date of Easter is quite complex. It was
even more complex back in the day, and so, to simplify the calculations, they
established that the spring equinox would be observed every March 21 – knowing
that the date changes every year.
Due
to the discrepancy noticed between the astronomical equinox date and the date
that the church observes can be a cause for confusion at times; at least this
was the case in 2019, because the full Moon and the astronomical equinox coincided
on the same day, causing mass confusion.
If
we had gone by the usual, Easter would’ve been celebrated on March 24, Sunday.
But since the Church observed the equinox on March 21st, there were
issues risen on technical grounds. Therefore, Easter was celebrated on April 21st,
which was the first full Moon on Friday, April 19.
People
often wonder if Easter is a religious or cultural event because of how fun it
looks. So, you should know that it’s actually an incredibly religious event
holding serious significance: it is the day when Jesus Christ was resurrected
from the dead after the crucifixion.
Easter
is celebrated from the beginning of time and it supposedly marks the end of the
Holy Week, of Lent. The Holy Week is comprised of several important occasions,
like Good Friday, Holy Saturday, Maundy Thursday, and Ash Wednesday as well.
The resurrection is essentially representative of the triumphs (of good over
evil), and detoxes our physical being of sins and evil.
Also
known as Pascha or Resurrection Sunday, Easter is known as the festival that
reignites passion ad love for God.
Pascha
itself is a Latin word that stems directly from Pesach, which is a Hebrew word
that means Passover. This takes us back to the Hebrew Bible, in which there’s a
story of the first Passover. Moses shares a story of Israelites where they
slaughter a passive lamb and use its blood to paint their door. In addition,
Lord shields the Israelites from death and does not allow the destroyer to
enter their houses.
According
to the New Testament, Paul refers to Jesus as the paschal lamb who was
sacrificed for his people to serve their salvation. Jesus supposedly celebrates
the Last Supper with his people during the Passover. Hence, the Feast of
Resurrection is also somehow related to the Jewish Holiday.
This
was the background of Easter, but where does the word Easter come from? What is
its exact origin? Interestingly, the history of Easter is not as simple as it
may seem, but it is known to have a pagan origin.
A
lot of people believe that Easter comes from the phrase ‘hebdomada Alba’, a
Latin word meaning white week. This was essentially used to explain the white
garments that the Christians used to wear when they would be baptized during
the Holy Week.
Saint
Bede has said that the word Easter comes from the Anglo-Saxon dawn goddess of
fertility Eostre who was also known as the goddess of dawn. She originated from
a region which is now known as the Scandinavia. The name eventually caught up
and was soon referred to as the Feast of the Resurrection known as the
Eosturmonath.
Easter
is also the name for East in German and it originates from Latin which
translates to dawn. In the early days, Easter used to mean “to turn toward the
east” or “rising”.
In
fact, many would be surprised to know that the word itself had no religious
connotation. Do you know that Easter Bunnies were invented by Germans? They
used to dress up as an Easter Bunny and visit the homes of “good children” just
like Santa Claus!
Fun fact: Easter is one of the oldest
English words.
It
doesn’t matter how we got the word Easter, because today it only indicates
Christ’s resurrection. It’s a reminder of the fact that we’re all mortal and
that death brings life.
Traditions
are there for societies to stay united and connect on an emotional level.
Easter is a great time to come together as a family and create memories to
cherish for years to come. You must know that a family is built on traditions
and values. Thus, we bring to you some of the best Easter traditions – some
that you can start and carry on forever.
DYEING EASTER EGGS
You
must have seen people dyeing and decorating eggs – well, this tradition goes way
back to the pagans. Eggs essentially are representative of rebirth and life,
and so, they’re often closely associated with spring and the idea of growth.
Hence, to celebrate this beautiful event, Christians (especially children)
spend time coloring eggs that are given to them by family as gifts.
Like
we said before, this tradition originated from the ancient pagans, Christians
simply adopted it. The story is quite popular; Mary had brought eggs with her
to Jesus’ crucifixion and that’s when blood from his wound had fallen on the
eggs.
Some
also believe that Mary had brought a basket of cooked eggs to share with women
at Jesus’ tomb three days after his death. And when they were rolled back the
stone, they discovered that the tomb was empty and that the eggs had turned red.
THE EASTER BUNNY
At
first, you’d be lost at the idea of a giant rabbit holding religious
significance. But it seems like the tradition is quite ancient and dates back
to the pagans, again. They apparently celebrated the Goddess of fertility who
was called Eostre.
And
fertility is one trait that the rabbits are most known for. It is said that the
German immigrants adopted the tradition of an egg-laying hare that later became
known as Osterhase in the US.
HOLLOW CHOCOLATE BUNNIES
After
finding out the significance of rabbits, the importance of chocolate leporidae
would make more sense. But don’t you wonder why most of them are so hollow
inside? Well, if you must ask, it’s not there to disappoint kids and spoil
their fun. As per R.M. Palmer, the hollow insides are actually there to
maintain the health of your teeth.
“If you had a larger-size bunny and it
was solid chocolate, it would be like a brick; you’d be breaking teeth” – Says Mark Schlott.
Obviously,
you can count in the “wow” factor that is there to make the confectioner look
impressive at a reasonable cost.
EASTER BASKETS
If
you know about the German Osterhase tradition, you should also know that there
was a mythical bunny that used to stop by people’s houses to encourage
children. The bunny used to come to their houses and lay eggs that were
colorful. In some time, these nests would transform into baskets and that
explains the tradition of Easter egg baskets.
HOT CROSS BUNS
We
mentioned above that it’s difficult to explain the beginning of the bunny and
eggs tradition – the same is the case with hot cross buns. Easter appetizers
have sweet rolls studded with raisins and marked with a cross sign on its top. These
are basically Easter foods that are especially made during the week leading up
to the big Sunday.
This
tradition began in the 12th century and it was all because of a monk
who came up with the idea. The first written evidence of hot cross buns can be
traced back to the 1730s
EASTER FASHION PARADES
There’s
an old saying that wearing new clothes on Easter brings good luck for the
future. Of course, there is also a connection to the concept of rebirth and
growth – at the end of the day, it’s just become a concept that capitalism
cashes on. Do you know that in the mid-18000s, parishioners used to conduct a
post-church fashion show? In fact, the same tradition can be seen today, and it
has been changed to the term finery.
SUNRISE SERVICES
You
may be well-versed with the story where Mary opened up Jesus’s tomb at dawn on
Easter morning and found it empty. To honor this moment in history, many
churches hold services at sunrise so that parishioners could relive it and experience
the event up close. The first time this event was ever held, it was in 1732 in
Saxony, Germany.
The
year next to that, there was an entire congregation, and it started spreading
like wildfire to places all over the world. The first sunrise service in the
United States was observed in Winston Salem, North Carolina.
EASTER HAM
It
may be hard to believe, but the juicy ham in your dining room table also goes
back to the pagan era. They used to observe this ritual to honor the arrival of
spring and praise the goddess, Eostre. The tradition goes way back – Hunters in
Chicago used to slaughter hogs in the forest. They used to leave the dead to
cure all throughout winter. By spring, pork would be the only meat prepared to
start the celebrations with. Just like other pagan traditions, Christianity
adopted this tradition as well.
GOOD FRIDAY KITES
Have
you ever been in Bermuda during Good Friday? If you happen to cross that path
at that time, make sure to look at the sky and see the legions of kites flying
all over. Legends say that a teacher once used a kite as a metaphor to describe
the visuals of Jesus ascending into heavens. This analogy obviously got caught
up, and so people now fly kites to observe the important day.
EGG KNOCKING
Egg
knocking is basically a game in which two competitors tap the edge of their
eggs against one another just to see which one cracks first; the idea is to
identify the one that survives. This game was played back in the medieval
Europe, but it became popular in the US in 1956 when local families started
gathering around to have a battle of the eggs. Do you know that most families
prepare for this match months in advance? It sounds like a waste of time, but a
lot of people take it seriously!
OSTERBRUNNEN
When
did the German tradition of Osterbrunnen start? Do you know what it is all
about? Well, this tradition is quite simplistic yet grand, as you have to
decorate public wells and fountains and light them up with solid greenery. This
tradition started only a century ago and that, too, in Germany.
It
is believed that German villagers were keen on honoring the gift of water as
well as the event of Easter. Water is the cause of life and so it represents
renewal and newness. Soon, other villages also started competing in these
matches, and they would create the most fanciful fountains.
When
the trailer of a new movie releases, experts come out with videos that are
called Easter eggs. The idea is derived from the event where people hunt for
Easter eggs during the festival. What do these people look for in the videos,
like movie trailers? They search for hidden messages, characters, and images.
This “hunt” is to unravel hidden clues that the editors and director have
purposely left for viewers and fans so as to create a vibe. This activity is
actually pretty interesting and a great pass time for fans – like Marvel fans
love dissecting movie trailers and discovering minor details.
Easter
will be slightly different than last year, because the government has lifted
the lockdown so most of the places have opened up. Of course, people are still
recommended to follow the SOPs and take all safety precautions. Hence, we can
say that things will be comparatively better than last year – when everything
happened virtually and the real Easter spirit got spoiled.
However,
countries like Germany are thinking of going on a nationwide lockdown yet again
– the third wave is raging, and it’s even more rigorous than before. Many
countries like the UK might be following suit and might soon announce rules
regarding social distancing – nothing is confirmed yet. America, on the other
hand, has given a clear opening. Apparently, the vaccine is out, so there’s no
need to worry.
People
can stay at home and get in the Easter spirit with Easter worship songs and fun
decorations. You can check out this article on Easter songs 2021 to get an idea
about your playlist for the day.
Easter
2021 would not be complete without Easter lunch, dinner, cakes, and gifts
ideas. We all know that that is exactly what kids look forward to the most.
Also, don’t forget the Easter flower arrangements and Easter baskets! But are
there any discounts that you could count on? Well, we have compiled a list for
you!
Kohl’s Easter Gifts
If
you remember the sales that happened last year, Kohl came out with the best
ones! It famously gave a 50% puff to shoppers on Easter décor and Easter candy
that also included baskets starting from $2. This year, they’ve come up with
yet another sale – this time, only 15% though. You can check out their official
website and get stuff from their Easter selection.
Also,
make sure that you use their promo code (CATCH15OFF). In addition, you also get
free shipping on orders above
$100. However, the shipping is free only till
April 6. Apart from this, you can still make use of Kohl’s free in-store
pickup.
Pottery Barn’s Easter Gifts
Pottery
Barn is offering gifts that are not only to celebrate and mark the Easter
holidays, but also to help you prepare for spring. Hence, if you’re looking for
gifts for adults, this has to be your go-to and most reliable store. You will
get several options, like Easter nail designs 2021, that are available at
clearance price.
Target’s Easter Gifts
Of
course, Target offers plenty of items that are relevant to Easter celebrations.
You can get Easter gear from Target’s Drive Up or simply order them online.
Last year, the same outlet offered its customers $25 off a toy purchase and a
free $10 Target gift card. The sale is up till the 27th of March
only, so hurry up!
Walmart’s Easter gifts
Walmart
is also here to offer you deals that are available both online and in-store, so
you should make your run to fill the baskets of your kids and also the dinner
table. Last year, the discount was so cheap that things were being sold at $3
as well!
World Market’s Easter Gifts
You
may shop for Easter outfits and adorable toys from Shop World Market’s Easter
gifts. One of the toys include plush stuff bunny by Bunnies the Bay, and it is
currently being sold for only $9.99! You can save up to 10% by using its
curbside pickup option!
Deals on Easter Gift Baskets
And
finally, you can’t enjoy Easter without Easter baskets. Go for a hunt, but
carry the baskets provided by Amazon! They are filled with incredible goodies
that your kids will love.
Anyway,
let us know how you’re planning on celebrating Easter this year
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