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Easter – what’s it all about?
Easter is not just about chocolate eggs and bunnies and has been celebrated for thousands of years. It started as a pagan ceremony marking the equinox – when winter turns to spring.
For Christians, Easter marks the end of the Lent season and the resurrection of Christ. This year, Good Friday falls on March 21st and Easter Sunday on March 23rd.
The name Easter is thought to come from the Scandinavian ‘Ostra’ and the Teutonic ‘Ostern’ or ‘Eastre’, both mythical goddesses of spring and fertility whose festival was celebrated on the equinox.
Traditions associated with the festival survive in the Easter rabbit, a symbol of fertility, and Easter eggs, originally painted with bright colours to represent the start of spring.
The Christian celebration of Easter embodies a number of traditions relating Easter to the Jewish festival of Passover, or Pesach, from which is derived Pasch, another name used by Europeans for Easter.
Easter is celebrated by Christians to celebrate the resurrection of Christ from his death three days after he was crucified on Good Friday. It is observed by Western churches on the first Sunday following the full moon that occurs on or following the spring equinox (March 2Ist). This is why Easter can occur as early as March 22nd or as late as April 25th.