The Elk Mountain pilot., 1919-04-10

direction of Jesus. In the words Of Paul, IF
Christ be not risen then is preaching vain and
your faith is also vain" But" he says. "now II
Christ risen from the dead and become the nrst
fruits Of them that Sleep" Which is to say that
the Christian religion stands the resurrection Of
Jesus.
Pagan Rites Survive.
But the Easter season is observed by millions
who are not even nominally Christians. They do
not celebrate the resurrection of Christ but rather
the end Of winter the approach of spring, the be-
ginning Of life In nature after the long sleep Of
winter. Celebrations Of this kind antedate re-
corded history. When Christianity came Into the
world the Christian church adopted and modified
such Of these pagan rites Of celebration 1t could
not abolish This accounts for the many queer
rites Of the Christian observance of Faster in
various parts Of the world. They are pagan rites
that had their origin in the remOtest past, and
have been modified by time and custom and .
changed meaning
Thus the parade of fashion to Easter morning
church services In the large American cities had
its origin ages ngo In the superstition that failure
to- wear at least one new piece Of clothing would
bring bad luck during the year. The of the
egg q symbol of new life Is far older than Chris
tanity. The Easter rabbit Is a survival Of an old.
old superstition. The of flowers an express
sion of rejoicing is probably almost old ~ man
himself. The pasthnl candles are in another
form the bonhres lighted by our remote ancestors
to celebrate the arrival Of spring.
Just how the rabbits managed to get into the
Easter celebration nobody seems to be able to
find out with any certainty. Anyway, they are
not properly rabbits: they are hares. Undoubtedly
the association OF the hare with Easter and its
eggs introduced here by the Germans. but
where they got the idea Is what none of the anti
Quarians have been able learn to their satisfac
tion. As far they have gone they figure this
way: The relation between the moon and tho
hare Is fairly close. The relation of the moon to
Easter is very close. Gradually In ancient times
the hare seems to have become associated with
Faster and with Easter eggs.
Easter ana the EGG.
Easter without eggs-ffesh laid. dyed and sugar
would be like Christmas without Santa Claus.
the stocking and the tree. And the association q
the.egg with Easter Is easily explained. Many OF
the old peoples Of earth have used the egg from
time immemOrial the symbol Of the germ Of
life. The wise Of old taught that the world
was hatched from an egg. All over the pagan
world 1t sgnlfied fertility and potential lfe The
place of the egg was therefore firmly hxed In the
spring celebrations that long antedated Christ and
the Christian Easter. The Christian church found
the egg 30 firmly established g an Easter symbol
that 1t could not be dtslodged. Therefore the
church adopted the egg and adopted 1t as sym
bol of the In the transition Of Easter
from a heather to q Christian festival the tradi-
ton of the egg stands unbrOken. When tho coa-
oring Of eggs began to the Christian the white
stood for the immaculate conception; the red for
the blood of the redemption, and the yellow for
the dawn Of the resurrection morn.
II Is natural that many queer relics of ancient
egg customs should have survived. while many
have died on the way. For instance. the rulers Of
earth no longer indulge in Easter eggs wholesale.
After the Easter celebration found its way Into
France every hen roost In the country was
searched for the largest eggs. which were taken
as a tribute to the king And after the Easter
high mass in the chapel of the Louvre there were
brought into the royal cabinet pyramids of gilded
eggs decked with verdure. The chaplain. after
. blessing them distributed them among the persons
Of the court in the presence of his most Christian
majesty.
In the time of Henry l. eggs were in great de-
mand on Easter morn. In the tower is an old
royal roll with an account Of entry, "1Sd for 100
eggs to be used for ornamental purposes for
Easter"
That the whole world associates the egg with
Easter is shown by the fact that the Christian
children in Mesopotamia play the same game at
Easter of picking" eggs that American boys do
In England in many places the boys and girls
"roll" their colored eggs just as the Washington
children do on the White House grounds. This
White House egg-roliing, by the way. is quite
celebration and curious spectacle Is worth
seeing.
There are many curious customs that obtain n
Easter that have nothing to do With the day