Easter
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Origin of the word
"Easter" = [[ M.E. (Middle English)
ester < O.E. (Old English) easter, spring, Easter, original name of
English Spring Festival < Eastre, dawn goddess < IE
(Indo-European) base, EAST ]]
(From Webster's New
World Dictionary, Third College Edition, 1986)
Brief History of Easter
No one knows exactly
how old the vernal festival (EASTER) is. I can tell you that it is
older than the Christian religion (i.e. B.C.). It probably
originated in northwestern Europe as a festival that celebrates the
renewal of life. It was held on the vernal equinox (first day of
spring), which is March 21.
The Easter Holiday,
which exists today, is quite different than the original Easter Holiday,
but some rituals still exist, even though the meaning of the holiday has
changed.
This is how things
changed:
While people in
Europe were still celebrating Easter, the Emperor Constantine of the
Roman Empire (around 600 A.D. (just a guess)) made Christianity the
state religion of the whole empire. Then, the idea was to
"ease" conversion by incorporating as much of the local
traditions as possible into the new state religion. Easter was one
of the traditions that was incorporated. Easter nearly coincided
with the Catholic festival of "Pasch" ("Pascua" in
Latin), which also coincides with the commemoration of Jesus's
resurrection. So, in essence, modern day Easter is a combination
of at least three festivals: (1) Festival of Easter, (2) festival
of Pasch, (3) festival of Jesus's resurrection. We still practice some very ancient rituals in England,
America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Please
let me share...
Easter Tradition: Coloring Easter Eggs:
On the night before Easter, children color hard boiled eggs and set them
out for the Easter Bunny. While the children are sleeping the
Easter Bunny comes and hides the eggs around the home. When the
children wake up, they hunt for the eggs and then eat them for
breakfast.
Since Christianity
came to England, Easter has been chiefly a Christian holiday,
commemorating the resurrection of Jesus Christ. But even
non-Christians can (and often do) participate in the ancient rituals of
coloring and hunting for Easter eggs. In fact, it is very common
for schools and various organizations to hold special Easter egg hunts
before Easter day, in America.
Why Eggs and Bunnies?
Well, eggs and
bunnies are symbols of fertility. And originally the Festival of
Easter was done to insure fertility of crops and families. Eating
eggs and carrying rabbits feet around were thought to insure fertility.
When is Easter?
Nowadays Easter is always
celebrated during the Catholic Pasch, which is always on a Sunday, but it was originally celebrated
on the day of vernal equinox (춘분). Equinox is when the sun passes the
equator, making day and night of equal length in all parts of the earth.
The vernal equinox occurs about March 21.
The actual day of
Pasch is
different every year. So, people usually have to consult a
calendar. Furthermore, Easter is always on a Sunday because
traditionally, Christ was resurrected on a Sunday. IN
2008, Pasch (new, Christian Easter) will be on March 23.
Easter is a
very important day to Christians, especially Catholics.
Clip art From: http://www.coolarchive.com
For more info. about Easter check out this website:
http://www.holidays.net/easter/
번역:
EASTER:
어근: [[ M.E. (중세 영어로는) "ester" 입니다.
O.E. (고대 영어로는) "easter" 입니다. Easter는
원래 영국에서 행해진 봄축제의 이름 이었습니다.
바로 전에 "Easter"는 여명의 여신 이었습니다.
"Easter" 어원은 "EAST" (동쪽) 입니다. ]]
(웹스터 세계 대사전에서 발췌)
간략한
역사:
앵글로 섹슨 족들이 얼마나 동안 봄
축제를 행해 왔는 지 아무도 모르겠지만... 천주교의
영향이 영국에 미쳤을 때 많은 것이 변했습니다.
그 중에 하나가 Easter 이었습니다. Easter는 Pasch
혹은 Pascua 라고 하는 천주교의 Passover 기념일 와
날짜가 가까웠습니다. 영국이 천주교를
받아들였을 때, 천주교의 기념일 또한
받아들였습니다. 그렇지만 어떤 풍습은 사라지기
힘들었습니다.
아직도 영국, 미국, 캐나다, 호주와 남
아프리카에서는, Halloween, Christmas, Easter와 같은 아주
오래 된 풍습을 지키고 있습니다. 그렇지만 Easter는
봄을 즐기는 축제에서 예수 그리스도의 부활을
기념하는 축제로 바꿨습니다.
Easter의
풍습:
부활절 계란 색칠하기: 부활절 전날
밤에 아이들은 부활절 토끼님을 기다리며 삶은 계란에
색칠을 해서 부활절 토끼님께 줍니다. 아이들이
잠자는 동안 부활절 토끼님이 나와서 집 구석구석에
색칠한 계란을 숨깁니다.
아이들이 깨자마자 숨은 계란을 찾고 그
것을 아침식사로 먹어요.
왜
하필이면 계란과 토끼 인가요?
글세요... 계란과 토끼는 다산과 비옥의
상징 입니다. 원래 Easter 계란 먹고 토끼 발을
가지고 다니면 확실히 가족과 농작물이
번성한다고 믿었습니다.
