With any holiday, be it religious or secular, there are accompanying traditions. These traditions can range from the type of food to people eat, to particular activities that are enjoyed over the course of the celebration. These holidays and their related activities form the cornerstone of the modern world calendar, even among those who does not practice the religion themselves.
One of the biggest of these such holidays is Easter, the time when Christians celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Although devoid of the somewhat distasteful consumerism that surrounds the other famous Christian holiday - Christmas - Easter does have its own traditions, habits, activities and surrounding indulgences to mark its place in the modern social world.
Due to its position on the calendar - occurring in March or April - Easter is associated with spring time, the birth of a new fertile year. Tied in with its religious foundations of new belief and triumph over what is seemingly impossible, it is a hopeful time of year. Easter traditions tend to follow this same pattern of thinking, and centre around things and customs that are new or celebrate birth and fertility.
Eggs, an old Pagan symbol of fertility and new life and beginnings, are synonymous with Easter - be they of chocolate and wrapped in brightly coloured foil, or hard boiled then hand painted. Many families like to enjoy spring lamb as their Easter meal, as well as indulging in vegetables and other foods that mature at the same time of the year as the holiday falls.
DANIELA OLIVEIRA
APRIL / 2022
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