Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-12
QUAINT CUSTOMS OF EASTER
Ancient Beliefs Attached to the Fest.
val Of the Resurrection.
WORK OVER PAGAN OBsERvANCEs
Heather IDEAS Adjusted 90 the Needs
OF the strusRIinE EARLY Chris
ttans-Reason for the
Feast.

Faster is a close second TO Christmas as
a religious festival Of worldwide observ-
anee. II has an equal abundance OF quaint
customs and superstitions. One OF the old
and most firmly rooted is that on Easter
morning the sun dances in the heavens
Numerous instances OF the belief Is men
toned by ancient writer's. One explanation
offered, which will strike moderns similarly
inclined as reasonable, is that the ancfcnts
celebrated too -oopiously throughout the
night or early morning, and the unsteadi-
ness Of their vision gave rise to the super
stltion. Il 10 certain. Eowever, that dane
ing in connection with Easter is very old.
In many parts OF the uncivilised world
heather people TO this day dance at Easter
in honor Of the sun, the given Of light,
heat and power.
The symbolism about the never ending
nirt Gle Of the rebirth OF life runs strongly
through all the religious and poular lore
OF the east. In the east IL is understood,
but In the west not, because its origin has
been obscured. Just as each mornings
rising sun typifies new light and life, so
the r~eawakening Of nature in spring, after
the death OF winter. took on a sacred mean
ing. The season Of the vernal equinox thus
came to be marked by special religious
/ o~bseryances. The custom of presenting col
ored eggs to friends as symbols of the sea-
son became widespread. This custom APP
pears TO have originated among the Per-
SLAMS, and It evidently bore reference to
the mundane egg, for which ormuzd and
Ahriman were to contend till the consum-
lmation of all things.
The egg was suggestive OF recreation
for does It not contain the embryo of all
that is TO come after7 So also the rabbit,
as tho symbol of fertility and prolific re-
production, was adopted into the symbol
ilsm of the season. The Romans used both
the egg and the rabbit in the rites attend
ing their spring festival. We still use the
same things-but how many are there who
stop TO think or inquire why they use
? them? Among the Jews the passover be-
: came the great spring festival; 1t was a
kin OF Thanksgiving day COMMUNICATING
: their deliverance when the angel of the
Lord smotc the first born Of the Egyptians
but passed over the Israelites. The Jews
ate a lamb at Thanksgiving and Christmas,
and in time the lamb became symbolical of
Christ. They also ate ePgs at this time.
Easter Wa q PaROn Goddess.
The early Christian church found these
pagon and other customs too deeply rooted
among the people to be ignored, and with
characteristic tact and judgment the
church authorities adopted them and APP
piled to them a new significance. In
northern Europe the goddess called Easter
was joyfully worshiped as the deity of
spring and the term Easter day was in
accepted use, whereas in the south the
term "Pasch,'' from the Hebrew word APP
-Itoa - tt1 o.snx,ar -,aa auaDln&ad In the
same connection. Numerous variations of
the Hebrew word. such as 'paas," pas
chal." "paque.' ETC., are still commonly
used as synonymous with Easter"
The eastern and southern Christians in
Europe regarded their paas as equivalent
TO the Jewish passover and observed 1t on
the fourteenth day of the first lunar month
OF the Jewish year. This was not necessarily
on a Sunday, of course. The northern
Christians, on the other hand, gradually
came to consider Easter as symbolical Of
the rising of Christ from the dead and
therefore decided that II must fall always
on Sunday. For a long time there was a
fierce conflict In the church over this ques-
ton. But the council of\Nice in 35 A. D..
pronounced the paas idea\a heresy and de-
clared that Easter must be arranged TO fall
on Sunday.
Pope GresOry's Calendar.
II should be remembered that the ancient
custom was to have the year begin in the
spring. 1t is this that explains the APP
parent anomaly of our months of Septem-
Der to December being so named, for In
those days September. for instance, was
the seventh month";" as the name in Latin
implies No doubt the church authorities
would have had the year begin at Easter
had It not been that Easter was a NOV
able and not a fixed feast. being founded
on tho lunar calendar. The date January
/ for the beginning OF the year was purely
arbitrary and 1t was only accepted after
centuries OF experiments with other dates.
AS It was. the reckoning of the year from
Easter was in use in Europe down to as
late as 1900 in some places in spite of the
inconvenience of this system. while in other
sections the new year was begun at
Christmas.
The church authorities, who were nearly
a~ll-powerful in matters affecting the calen-
dar. would likewise have made Easter a
fixed festival, as It logically should have
been. to commemorate the savior's rising,
but the idea Of the day as being con-
nected with the Jewish paschal moon could
not be eradicated from the popular mind.
II was TO remove all uncertainty about
Easter that Pope Gregory XIII revised the
Julian calendar, He tried to devise some
plan that would never allow Easter and
the jewish passover to fall on the same
date. but they do coincide once in a long
while, Easter day was fixed as the first
Sunday after the paschal full moon, that
is In d general way the first Sunday after
the first full moon occurring on or after
March q. The church calculations. how
ever. are founded on the very old moon