New Ulm review., 1900-04-04
THE SPRING. Sc son.

THE SPRING SEASON
ss zs:s -s.-Ss=- -.-.Es-sH ~ s,ss
sEAsTEa slNn5AY TsaE oAxis ssoR ON
ERAt REJOICING IL ss.I
The ChareA OriSin o1 the Movsble
s. leeaAiyaA--De DlIlestera raPleasantraesaanA
s Intsrsstine SD Not Uninterestins
zsCussollssof Celebratie.- 0 4.
EasteT - unique among the WorlRs
festival periods In having its origin
claimed by many nations and races.
The English name Of the day is de-
rived from that Of the Teutonic God
dess of Spring Ostera, whose name
signifed '"rhe Arisen a mythical be-
ing who was worshiped before Chris
tianity was thought of. s>.,g-- -.ss=--.s. sss=-z.-.ss
# The SDruids, who seem to have been
the only religious sect in Britain be-
fore the Roman conquest held yearly
a spring celebration In honor Of the
vernal resurrection OF the vegetable
world, and religious rites were part Of
the ceremony.
Similar observances We're general
among the older Asiatic races, and the
Egyptians, Greeks and Romans, as
well as the Teutonic tribes of Europe
in pref Christian times.
The Jewish Feast Of the Passover
had for about thousand years been
celebrated in the early spring, and the
early Christians, most of whom were
of the Hebrew race, continued to cele-
brate it in token of the saving of their
race from the tenth great plague which
Immediately preceded the EXODUS.
IT was easy, therefore. for the early
Christians when they became organ
lied and began to celebrate certain an
niversaries Of special meaning to them
to have Easter and it's symbolism
adopted by all converts.
The first name by which the church
designated the day was Paska. or Pas
cha, a word the root of which is found
in both Hebrew and Greek and signify
ing sacrifice. and some derivative of
this word is still used in all European
countries. The word 'Easter" is Pc
culiar to English speaking nations only
and shows that the Christian festival
was combined in early days with the
earlier ceremonies Of the heather Cod
dess Of Spring.
For some time those believers in Je-
sus who were also Hebrews and loyal
to their race celebrated the anniver-
sary of the resurrection and the Feast
of the Passover on the same day, find
ing in the incidents some signifcances
which seemed related to one another
but the more precise of Christian faith
and the stricter adherents of the older
religion disagreed as to dates when
these chanced to be different, as often
they are, as both are determined by
phases of the moon after the verna]
equinox. The differences became sc
great and earnest that not until the
fourth century Of the Christian era did
the church, which by that time had be-
come compact organization, settle
upon the present method of determin.
ing the date.
Like all other holy days, Easter soon
became. a holiday. According to the
dictionary, the words have the same
meaning; yet. according to the people
their meaning is very different IL
some countries the people dance about
heap Of flowers at Easter; in others
they distribute colored eggs and have
great egg fights" in which the owner
OF the hardest egg wins, and the other
egg is eaten by the victor So a man OF
boy with a very hard egg is able to &C.
cum ulate the basis of an Easter Mon.
day headache.
In some parts of England it is the
proper and necessary thing for women
to play ball on Easter Sunday. In other
parts Of the same island a man has
the right to lift three times from the
ground any woman whom he may
meet, and the woman must pay six.
pence or kiss for the attention, SO
the local Sandows find themselves in
great luck, but on Easter Monday the
like manner
In Ireland and elsewhere some good
people believe that the sun dances on
Easter morn. and those who stare long
enough at the glowing ball find their
eyes nervous enough to see anything
of which they may be thinking.
In Russia many men and women
greet whoever they may meet on Eas.
ter morning with kiss and the an
nouncement THE Lord is risen" A
distinguished American civil engineer
was thus greeted few years ago by
an innocent and sweet faced chamber.
maid at hotel at St. Petersburg, and
no explanations would pacify the gen.
tlemans wife.
One of the most significant and pic.
turesque celebrations of the day is that
of the Moravian Christians, of whom
there are many congregations in the
United States. At Bethlehem, Pa, and
other towns where Moravians abound
some, musicians with brass inStru