Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1915-04-01
Easter Once a
Pagan Festiva

uo tSIh ndSleE 10 uuuOuDJeuly
derived from the old Saxon word,
Ostara, Osterr or Eostre. This Eos
ire was a heather goddess who per-
sonified the spring. April was her
month, and was known as Eostre-
monath just as 1t Is still called in
Germany Ostermonat.
At their Eostre feasts our Saxon
forefathers celebrated the passing OF
winter and the birth of another year;
and they did it in sturdy, boisterous
way, with quaint, rough games and
pastimes, and with much eating and
drinking. When the early Christians
came to the Saxon land they found
this rude festival celebrated contem-
poraneously with their Easter. AS
was their way on going into pagan
countries, they adopted what they
could of the indigenous customs,
shaping them with their own, until
their own absorbed them. And the
absorption of Eostre was a very easy
process, especially since the Chris
tians kept the old name and many OK
the old ways. 1t was a simple mat
ter to change a festival celebrating
the return to life of the world, to one
celebrating the return to life Of the
Saviour of the world.
This explains the origin of many
of the queer Easter customs. The
egg, for instance. Away back among
the ancient Egyptians the egg was
regarded as the symbol of re-crea-
ton. The old Persian tradition, too,
has 1t that the world itself was
hatched from an egg in the spring of
a year long ago. The Saxons be-
lieved that their goddess Eostre was
sprung from q huge egg which de-
scended from heaven and rested far
of in the East, somewhere on the
banks Of the Euphrates. The Chris
uans kept the egg custom, merely
adapting the symbol
On Easter Day the wind should
blow from the east. If 1t does wise
plan is to draw water and wash in 1t.
BY this precaution one avoids any i'll
effects the year through from our
treacherous east winds. In parts of
Germany linen cloths are spread out
on the grass on Saturday evening,
and on Sunday morning early what
ever has fallen into them, whether
dew, rain or snow, is used for the
washing. But the Easter water is ef-
fective only If drawn while the wind
is east.
The connection of rabbits with
Easter has puzzled good many peo-
Pile. 1t is really not the rabbit at all.
hut tho hara Tho hara ia ppt pnpn-
mon in this country, however, and
confectioners are not overparticular
about nice points in natural history.
This is a German custom. The
| white Easter hare Is almost as well
known among German kinder" as
St. Nicholas himself. They believe
that If they are good and obey their
parents, then on Easter Eve the hare
will come. 1t will enter the house
after every one is asleep, and hide in
out-of-the-way corners any number
Of most wonderfully colored eggs.
Sure enough, on Easter morning,
when Hans and Gretel wake up there
are the eggs, in the expected corners,
while the parents look on and smile.
| From remote times the hare has
been a symbol for the moon, and as
the date Of Easter depends on the
moon the connection is natural.
There are several reasons for con-
Meeting the hare with the moon The
hare feeds at night. Young hares
are born with their eyes open (rab-
bits are born blind), therefore they
are tabled never to close them and
are identified with the "open-eyed
watchers Of the skies at night" In
old times the eyes and brains of a
hare were a sure cure for sleepiness.
The Egyptian word for hare also
meant open, so the hare became as
sociated with the opening of the new
season, and therefore with the Easter
egg.
In England there are many queer
customs to-day that date from the
hare belief. One OF the queerest Is
the Hallaton hare scramble and bot
tie kicking. Many years ago, SO long
that no one knows when 1t was, q
piece of land was bequeathed to the
parish on condition that every Easter
Monday the rector should provide
two hare pies, a quantity of ale, and
two dozen penny loaves" to be
scrambled for on Hare Pie Bank
Just outside the village. Lately 8
rector tried to have this condition re,
moved, but 1t could not be done. The
public outcry was too great. He
found chalked all over his house, and
even over his church: mo pie, nc
parson, and job for the glazier!'
And the good people of Hallaton are
probably girding up their loins now
against Mondays scramble.