Easter

Easter
Introduction to Easter
Easter has been known to be one of the most important Christian
festivals. Easter is celebrated world-wide by Christians, no matter
where they live. Easter is known as a movable feast as the dates of
the celebration vary from year to year. Initially, there was a belief
that Easter had got its name from the spring goddess Eostre. Eostre
was a goddess who existed long before es!s was born, and she was
sincerely worshipped. es!s Christ was believed to be a son of "od
by the Christians. Easter is a celebration which reminisces the last
#eek of es!s Christs life.
History and Religion Beliefs
In the present now, we celebrate Easter once each year. $ few
cent!ries ago, there has been evidence that Christians originally
celebrated Easter once a week, every %!nday. &!t at some point, in
the d!ration of the 'rst two cent!ries it became the ordinary ro!tine
of celebrating the res!rrection especially on one day each year.
(any of the religio!s devotions of this celebration were taken from
the ewish )assover. *he speci'c day on which the res!rrection
sho!ld be celebrated often came to arg!ments at ch!rches. +irstly,
sho!ld it be on ewish )assover no matter what day the celebration
falls, or sho!ld it always fall on a %!nday, -ater, the ch!rch ma.ority
o/cially decided that Easter sho!ld always be celebrated on a
%!nday. In 0ome, d!e to religio!s beliefs there is a march1parade2
preceded o!tside of the ch!rch. *here are no lights on when the
march leaves the ch!rch. *his march cond!cts a symbolic search for
es!s Christs body, and later it was anno!nced blissf!lly that
3Christ has risen43. #hen the march ret!rns to the ch!rch, h!ndreds
of candles and lamps are lit to symboli5e the magni'cence of es!s
Christ6s res!rrection, and the Easter E!charist is taken. *he common
symbol of Easter is mostly brightly colo!red Easter eggs. *his is
beca!se the Christian comm!nity view Easter eggs as a symbol of
.oy7fertility and a common practice is for children to 'nd the hidden
Easter eggs.
In my opinion, considering how Easter was originally celebrated
once a week, to Easter being celebrated once a year is a great idea.
*his is so more people and c!lt!res can celebrate this event
together. *hinking more critically, if Easter was celebrated once a
week, other c!lt!res and religions wo!ld obvio!sly not have the
time to .oin in and celebrate this celebration as it wo!ld be too
m!ch commitment for someone who does not believe in Christ or is
not Christian.
Why and how is it celebrated?
Easter can be celebrated in many di8erent ways, according to yo!r
place of residence and yo!r beliefs.+irstly yo!r place of residence
can greatly a8ect yo! on how yo! celebrate Easter as some places
celebrate it more traditionally than others. 9o!r beliefs also a8ect
how yo! celebrate Easter as some people who believe in es!s more
will celebrate this celebration more, b!t on the opposite side, many
people also do not celebrate Easter at all4 :n Easter %!nday
ch!rches hold special services which celebrates es!s Christs
res!rrection.In the present, most people decorate eggs and organi5e
Easter egg h!nt6s. *he Easter eggs are s!pposedly hidden by a
rabbit or a hare for yo!nger children to 'nd. In some areas, Easter
egg h!nts are a pop!lar way for local b!sinesses to promote
themselves and gain income, b!t there are also non-pro'table
organi5ations as-well. *his incl!des organi5ations s!ch as local
ch!rches. In ;ew 9ork city there is an Easter parade held every year.
*his tradition started back in the mid <=>>6s . )articipants wear
elaborately decorated bonnets and hats. *his parade is not
religio!sly signi'cant, b!t so!rces note that Easter processions have
been a part of Christianity since its earliest days. *oday, other than
.!st ;ew 9ork, more and more cities across $merica are beginning to
hold Easter parades.
I think parades are a great way to trigger happiness for the children
and bring awareness to the ad!lts abo!t the celebration of Easter at
the same time. )arades are so m!ch f!n for the yo!nger children,
and by holding a parade it .!st gets so m!ch people together to
celebrate this pop!lar event.
Who celebrates it?
)eople from all aro!nd the world celebrate Easter. *he ma.ority of
celebrators are from the Christian Comm!nity and Catholic
Comm!nity. *he main celebrators are from these two comm!nities
as Easter is a c!lt!ral Christian celebration to celebrate the
res!rrection of the -ord, known as es!s Christ. )eople !s!ally
celebrate Easter together with family and friends. Easter is
celebrated all over the world by di8erent c!lt!res. *ake ;ew ?ealand
for example. ;ew ?ealand is @!ite a m!lti-c!lt!ral co!ntry, so many
c!lt!res recogni5e Easter. In ;ew ?ealand, people in the local
comm!nity, attend Ch!rch %ervices over the weekend to celebrate
both the death and res!rrection of Christ and to mark the end of the
season of -ent. *he stores all carry Aot Cross &!ns and stock
chocolate Easter eggs for the Easter &!nny to 'll his basket on
Easter %!nday morning. *his !s!ally res!lts in Easter egg h!nts for
the children.
)ersonally, I think it is great how so many c!lt!res celebrate this
celebration together as one4 ;o matter what c!lt!re, or what beliefs
we have, most people still .oin in to celebrate this event, making it
the best celebration as possible.
Changes over time
:ver the past several h!ndred years, it is certain that the
celebration of Easter has developed some big changes over time. In
some co!ntries, there may be larger changes than others. :verall,
the celebration of Easter has changed @!ite a bit, all aro!nd the
world. $ signi'cant change is how the main foc!s of Easter has
shifted from celebrating the res!rrection of es!s Christ to Easter
b!nnies and chocolate Easter eggs.*here have been @!ite a few
positive changes, as well as negative changes. $ positive change is
how many more c!lt!res and individ!als are recogni5ing the
celebration of Easter. ;egative changes is how Easter is celebrated
more like a typical p!blic holiday other than the religio!s celebration
it !sed to be a few h!ndred years ago. *he celebration of Easter has
also become more commerciali5ed over the years. Easter is now
!sed more for advertising and marketing schemes rather than for
celebrating es!s Christ and Christianity. ;owadays companies take
advantage of the celebration, !sing it to promote and sell more
prod!cts which relate to Easter, b!t this is what they are only
doing.
In my opinion I believe that the present companies nowadays sho!ld
promote the real story behind the celebration of Easter more and
more, to pass the knowledge onto the yo!nger generations now,
and the f!t!re generations to come. &y doing so we can be certain
that this important celebration will not slowly fade away and be
forgotten abo!t.
Conclusion:
In concl!sion, I believe Easter sho!ld contin!e to be one of the most
importantly recognised festivals. I think this sho!ld happen as the
whole point of Easter is to remember es!s Christ and his sacri'ce
he has made for the f!t!re generations, known as !s. I also believe
it is important for f!t!re generations to maintain the practices and
traditions of Easter. *his is so that the f!t!re generations can
develop more positive changes over time, other than negatives.
Biliography:
httpB77www.ay!shveda.com7festivals7easter7easter.htm
introduction to Easter
httpB77en.wikipedia.org7wiki7Easter
Changes over time! History"
httpB77www.timeanddate.com7holidays7new-5ealand7easter-monday
Easter in #ew $ealand"
httpB77www.religionfacts.com7christianity7holidays7easter.htm
Easter religion and Culture