April 4, 2010, Multiply, Easter with a 9 yr old

Easter Sunday with a 9 year old

Apr 4, '10 4:48 PM for loretta's network

EASTER SUNDAY

Think I’ve already mentioned that I had my granddaughter staying over last night. We painted boiled eggs and she happily rolled them down my driveway. We dunked toast soldiers into runny boiled eggs (yes I know the health police insist eggs are NEVER served runny!) for breakfast followed by copious amounts of chocolate in the form of Easter bunnies and Easter eggs.
This is when, with as much solemnity as can be achieved by a 9 year old with a chocolate covered face; she informed me that Easter eggs are always hollow because they are a very old symbol of the empty tomb of Christ. At the tender age of 9 she has found ‘God’, which is fine. In fact in many ways it is probably very good for her, but I couldn't help feeling she wasn't quite seeing the bigger picture. She’s a pretty bright 9 year old so, we embarked on an internet fact finding mission, and this is what we came up with from all sorts of different sites.

Early Christians Did Not Celebrate Easter
By COGwriter

All who now claim Christianity as their faith celebrate Easter, but it was not observed by the second century Christians in Asia Minor. They observed Passover as they were reportedly asked to do by Jesus. The Bible does mention that Jesus was resurrected, but it never once suggests that the resurrection be observed as a holiday. Jesus specifically said that Christians were to observe the Passover as he did. (Luke 22:14-20). But now few if any who claim Christianity celebrate Passover as they were specifically requested to do. Instead they appear to have adapted ancient symbolism and rituals and somehow Incorporated them into Christianity. The introduction of Easter appears to have occurred in Palestine after Emperor Hadrian ruthlessly crushed the Barkokeba revolt (A.D. 132-135)...
Apparently Emperor Hadrian introduced repressive measures against Jewish religious practices which led to the Gentile hierarchy changing the date of Passover to the following Sunday, which became Easter Sunday, in order to show some degree of separation from the Jews and the early Jewish Christians...
http://www.cogwriter.com/easter.htm

Pagan Easter Eggs

The egg has been a symbol of fertility and renewal for millennia. The ancient pagan spring tradition of painting hollow egg shells to be hung on a branch has been transformed into the modern day chocolate Easter egg. One traditional symbol of Ostara begins with the egg itself. The shell is seen as the universe, which surrounds everyone and everything. The white is the Goddess, while the golden yolk represents the Sun God, and the egg as a whole is a symbol of rebirth.
source;http://americanfiction.suite101.com/article.cfm/easter-symbols-with-pagan-origins

Those Smelly Lilies

Easter lilies are also associated with Pagan beliefs and rituals. They were viewed as fertility symbols ( because of their resemblance to male sexual organs but I missed that bit out for the 9 year old). Many myths also use lilies in association with various gods and goddesses. With the advent of Christianity, the lily became a symbol for Mary and represented her purity, hope, and eternal life. As a result of its association with Mary, the lily became a prominent symbol in Christian art.
source;http://americanfiction.suite101.com/article.cfm/easter-symbols-with-pagan-origins

The History of the Easter Bunny

Some believe that the rabbit was the earthly incarnation of the goddess Eastre. According to others, the Easter bunny can be traced back to ancient tribes who believed the rabbit to be a symbol of fertility due to its ability to procreate frequently and in multiples.
source;http://spiritual-growth.suite101.com/article.cfm/the-history-of-easter-symbols-is-rich

Ancient hot crossed buns

Versions of the hot cross bun have existed in many cultures. The ancient Greeks used to serve up a bun (called boun) marked with a cross—the circular bun represented the moon with the cross dividing it into its quarters. Other ancient cultures used to worship the goddess Eostre in spring by serving tiny cakes with crosses. “When archaeologists excavated the ancient city of Herculaneum in southwestern Italy, which had been buried under volcanic ask and lava since 79 C.E., they found two small loaves, each with a cross on it, among the ruins.”
source;http://www.eggs.ab.ca/news/nokneadhotcrossbuns.html

What can I say?, she went home a happy bunny with lots of new information to share :-)

Tags: easter, symbols, pagan

Prev: Song saturday, music from the past
Next: Poetry Wednesday; Nest Eggs, Robert Louis Stevenson

reply edit delete

9 Comments

Add a Comment

delete reply satshanti wrote on Apr 25, '10 forgetmenot525 said At the tender age of 9 she has found ‘God’, which is fine. In fact in many ways it is probably very good for her, but I couldn't help feeling she wasn't quite seeing the bigger picture. I love it! and your meanderings about Easter. :))

delete reply hedgewitch9 wrote on Apr 5, '10 Wonderful! I went to a catholic primary school and temporarily found god too but soon reverted back to my pagan roots ;) Brilliant post...it does indeed look as though we were on similar websites on the weekend! Your granddaughter is very lucky to have you :))

delete reply brendainmad wrote on Apr 5, '10 What a nice Easter Sunday. As for the runny eggs, tell that to the Spaniards. They love them this way even in omelettes.

delete reply veryfrank wrote on Apr 4, '10 Most interesting, Erin and I spent quite a bit of time searching out the meaning of Easter Eggs and the linkage of Easter/Spring to eggs. She was fascinated and now wants to know about the pagans. Oh well, maybe next weekend. Glad that you had a good Easter .day

delete reply kathyinozarks wrote on Apr 4, '10 enjoyed your post-thank you

delete reply mitchylr wrote on Apr 4, '10 Learning and fun.....a good combination :-))

delete reply bennett1 wrote on Apr 4, '10 A little known fact about Easter lilies is that they are poisonous to cats. Your blog is absolutely fascinating with facts I had mostly not heard before. Your granddaughter will grow up to be a critical thinker. Good for you both.

delete reply nemo4sun wrote on Apr 4, '10 my eight year bunny is happy too he got a super soaker water cannon not sure how that plays into easter though :)

delete reply sandycaar wrote on Apr 4, '10 SOUNDS LIKE YOU AND YOUR GRANDDAUGHTER HAD A VERY HAPPY, COLORFUL, INFORMATIVE EASTER. THANKS FOR SHARING THE INFO!