General Chat

Just wondered if anyone had ever stopped to think of the significance of the easter bunny and easter eggs......

Ian

yes Ian read the passage bellow, :o)))


Easter eggs actually have meaning within the Christian church. Eggs symbolize life and more specifically, in the Christian tradition, new life. The egg has been a sign of life for ages. The symbol was eventually adopted by the church and soon after as a representation of Easter; the supposed resurrection of Jesus is now associated with the egg.
As far as the Easter bunny is concerned with Christianity, it also stands for life. Appropriately, the bunny is a sign of fertility and it's basket can be related to stork-like folklore. Bunnies copulate in the spring during the vernal equinox (which also happens to be the supposed best time to balance an egg on its tip). In all, an egg-basket wielding bunny is oddly appropriate for divine resurrection.


xxLynnxx

Well, thats certainly one version!

:-)

And the derivation of the word easter..........?

Ian

in most languages, the Feast of the Resurrection of Our Lord is
known as the PASCH, or PASQUE, or some variation thereof, a word
which comes from the Hebrew PESACH, meaning "Passover." In English,
German, and a few related languages, however, it is known as EASTER,
or some variation thereof, and questions have been asked about the
origin of this term.

One explanation is that given by the Venerable Bede in his DE
RATIONE TEMPORUM 1:5, where he derives the word from the name of an
Anglo-Saxon goddess of Spring called EASTRE. Bede is a great
scholar, and it is natural to take his word for it. But he lived
673-735, and Augustine began preaching in Kent in 597. The use of
the word EASTER to describe the Feast would have been well
established before the birth of Bede and probably before the birth
of anyone he might have discussed the subject with. It seems likely
that his derivation is just a guess, based on his awareness that
there had been an Anglo-Saxon goddess of Spring bearing that name,
and the resemblance of the words. Thus, if the said resemblance
(surely it is not surprising that a personification of Spring should
have a name similar to the word for Dawn) is not in istelf
convincing, the testimony (or rather the conjecture) by Bede does
not make it more so.

Assuming that Bede was right, that would not justify saying that the
Christian celebration (which, after all, had been going on for some
centuries before the name EASTER was applied to it) has pagan roots.
It would simply mean that the Anglo-Saxons, upon becoming Christians
and beginning to celebrate the Resurrection by a festival every
spring, called it by the name that to them meant simply "Spring
Festival."

However, Bede's is not the only theory that has been proposed. J
Knoblech, in "Die Sprach," ZEITSCHRIFT FUER SPRACHWISSENSCHAFT 5
(Vienna, 1959) 27-45, offers the following derivation:

Among Latin-speaking Christians, the week beginning with the Feast
of the Resurrection was known as "hebdomada alba" (white week),
since the newly-baptized Christians were accustomed to wear their
white baptismal robes throughout that week. Sometimes the week was
referred to simply as "albae." Translaters rendering this into
German mistook it for the plural of "alba," meaning "dawn." They
accordingly rendered it as EOSTARUM, which is Old High German for
"dawn." This gave rise to the form EASTER in English.



amazing what you can read on google eh Ian lol

no matter what it is, have a lovely one

xxLynnxx

Yep, google is good, no doubt. Especially for giving a wide ranging choice :-)

Happy holiday to you to :-)

Ian

Thanks for posting this thread Lynn .
Wishing you and everyone many blessings.

Gwyn

Your welcome Gwyn

have a lovely weekend


xxLynnxx

Happy Easter, Lynn,everyone,

Brilliant message,Amen and Amen.

Jean x

Thanks Lynn. My granddaughter was very busy painting a picture yesterday evening. When I enquired, I was told " those aren't trees, they are palm branches, this IS Holy Week you know".
My Dad (a Welsh Baptist preacher) would be so pleased, he wrote an amazing (to me) poem one year, about Pontius Pilate, and his recall of the resurrection, it suggests that Pilate was converted (or thought about it) after the fact. if anyone would like a copy I'd be happy to forward it.
A blessed Easter to all.
Mary

Hi Mary, I'd like a copy please, I'll pm my address to you, Thanks, May.

We always had our Easter Eggs on Easter Sunday, as I was told as a child, that on breaking the egg, it represented Christ breaking out of the tomb.

So we had to wait until Easter Sunday for our eggs.

Tomorrow morning at 8am, we have a lochside service in celebration of the Risen Christ. Afterwards, we have barbequed fish and rolls. It's lovely and very moving.

Lindy

Tomorrow morning at 7.30am, Churches in Southampton, are having a service to celebrate the Risen Christ, at Mayflower Park, Southampton.

Then to the Churches for a family breakfast.

My goodness, ive never had so many replies on a thoughts for the day thread lol

have a wonderful weekend all

xxLynnxx

If only more people realized that when Easter is Celebrated in any religious form, a small miracle happens within us...it enhances our abilty AND WANT to love others. As part of a family of a very loving family practising "Multi faiths" as a Catholic the "Veneration of the Cross" on good friday gives great strength and healing. My love to all people this Easter, I am so glad I have found this site.
May God Bless You all

Fay Frances

Shalom

Thank you again,Lynn for this thread.
A blessed Easter to all.
Mary

I love this time of year, the spring equinox, a time of equal day and night, where everything is balanced in the world.

One of the pagan spring festivals, we can see plants starting to bloom etc - (apart from the snow! lol) and the eggs symbolise rebirth and new life, with the hare representing the goddess

One of my fave times of year too, have just got back from Avebury celebrating

Laura

Thankyou Lynn,


God bless,


Caz xxxxxx

Frances - I find that celebrating any event such as this brings a real sense of love, peace and contentment.
Gives everyone something to smile about, or should do anyhow!
Laura