Lower coast gazette., 1914-04-04

w in the ancient, belief,
ceremonies and observ.
.@|Y c that are brought
6N{EGNR together in the celebra.
$3.50 ton Of the modern festi'
val. These include such things as
eges. cakes, flowers, presents and the
Easter hare, to say nothing OF other
items obsolete in our times. Individual
notings of n or another Of the cere-
monies or observances have there
been, but it Is by no means easy "
Law hand on any assembling OF tnen'
Authorities agree that the remote
ancestor of Easter was a ceremony Oh
pagan worship. Distant as are tne
origins of the old religious forms anu
intertwined as are the threads con'
Meeting them with the present. II -
not now easy to disentangle them' ~
that it may be said that Easter oo'
seryances among the people lncluoe
remnants of the ancient worship u
The sun. the moon and fire and water.
The keynote of the festival has oeen
from the very beginning resurrection
the re-awakening Of the vernal worlo.
The name Is that of a goddess Oh
spring. and certain of the emblems
have had a correlation that Is remark
able, and through thirty centuries
they have come down to us together:
preserving the early significance OF
resurrection, although the faith that
originated the ideas had ages ago
been forgotten. The idea Of Easter
sprang truly from a tomb; that tomo
q however, the tomb of winter
The strong angel that rolled away the
stone from the door Of the sepulchel
was the April sun.
Although Lent has the claim o
Christian origin, there are antiquar
ians who assert that it is of far more
ancient origin. It arose, as nearly a
has vet been determined, in the fast
ing that was customary among TN
B~abylonians, whose worship forme'
the starting point Of Easter. The fas
was n Of sympathy with the goddess
of reproduction, who mourned her col
j sort, and the period was marked D.
: fasting and an abstinence from mirt
and social festivals. Fasting has bee
a widespread custom. Humboldt no
ing fasts in Mexico, where, curiousi
enough, the invading Spaniards foun
d the natives practicing baptism, wit
c an invocation to Cioacooatl that TN
j sin which was given before the b
q ginning Of the world might not Wis
= the child, but that cleansed by thes
waters It. might live and be Dol
= anew"
Easter was at first a c%ontinuatic
of the Jewish Passover and came
the fourteenth OF the month Nlsa
When the revulsion Of feeling IN II
. church against the Jews occurred
was changed and deliberately fx'
SO that it could by no possibility IL
on the same day as the Passove
This matter was settled in A. D. ~
Easter vas set for the first Sund'
following the full moon that com
after March 81. This relation to &
vernal equinox brought it to the til
Of the pagan festival of the godde
Of spring, dating back to the Astar
worship Of Babylonia. The nan
Easter, is comparatively modern, b
the principle Of the story and t
emblems and o%bservances are of Il
ancient date.
i. Easter fires continue even now
northern Europe" wrote Grimm
generation ago. On the Weser a
barrel was tied to a fire tree a
lighted in the evening and the N
: and the maidens sang and dane
about 1t. There was a fire on evt
= hilltop. There were professions
these fires and hymn singing and
bearing Of white rods were featur
The people liked to carry the
home with them; 1t was a sacred
and embodied, elements Of the
fire worship. 1t was produced
friction, a natural method, and to !
die it two boys were selected Y
knew nothing Of the vanities Of
world. Within a quarter Of q cent
in Hildesheim the Easter fire
been struck with the steel. Here
people take the FIRE home to rekin
their extinguished hearths. The
sacred fires were lighted by matt
means, some Of them by %concentrat
Of the suns rays through mirrors.