Where Did Easter Begin?

This Sunday is Easter!!! 

Have you ever wondered why we celebrate Easter?

Well, I found a cool website that explains it all pretty well. I think you are all smart enough to understand the words so here goes:

Whether you believe it or not Easter in the beginning was a pagan festival. During the spring, the Saxons celebrated the return of spring with a festival in which they commemorated their goddess of offspring of the springtime. This goddess was known as Ostara or Eostre. She was the Anglo-Saxon Goddess of Spring, the East, Resurrection, and Rebirth. Our modern day Easter is derived from the name of Eostre and the celebrations that we join in are also associated with this pagan festival.

The Anglo-Saxons during the festival offered colored eggs to her at what was called the Vernal Equinox. They placed these multi-colored eggs at graves the Egyptians and Greeks were also know to place eggs at gravesites. This was a sign of re-birth. Through legends, the name of both Goddesses Ostara and Eostre played a part in the Easter that we know today. Eostre was said to have been a playful goddess that would rule over the earth beginning when the Sun King traveled across the sky in chariot marking the end of winter. Ostara came to earth after the Sun King rode and appeared as a beautiful maiden that carried with her a basket of colorful eggs. Ostara had a magical companion. A white rabbit that traveled with her to bring life back to dying plants and flowers and hiding colorful eggs in the fields.

There is one myth centered on Ostara that proclaims that she found a bird that was dying of the cold weather and she changed the bird into a rabbit so it would stay warm. Legend has it this is where the Easter bunny originated, but it also could have been from the magical companion of Ostara that traveled with her on her journey to bring life back to the earth.

When the Christian missionaries encountered the various tribes with their own beliefs and attempted to convert them to Christianity, they did so in a manner not to disturb their celebrations. If the Christians had tried to stop all pagan celebrations, it would have been certain death. To spread their Christian beliefs, they decided to allow them to celebrate their pagan festival in a somewhat Christian manner. Since, their pagan spring festival was during the same time that the Christians observed the Resurrection of Christ; it was easier to change this into a Christian celebration. The people were won over through time and endurance.

Easter, prior to A.D. 325 was celebrated on different days of the week. However, during the year of 325 AD, the council of the Nicaea issued the Easter Rule, which proclaims that Easter will be celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon or after the vernal equinox. In essence, Easter must be celebrated on a Sunday between March 22 and April 25. Easter was not celebrated in America until after the Civil War.

 http://thelongestlistofthelongeststuffatthelongestdomainnameatlonglast.com/trivia23.html

Some of us go to church on Easter to Celebrate that Christ rose from the dead and is alive in heaven today. Others just like to hunt for Easter Eggs and get a lot of candy. Some people like to dye real boiled eggs and make them pretty by decorating them. There are a lot of ways to celebrate Easter and I am just glad that everyone can have fun in what ever belief they have about the day itself.   Gramama loves to decorate for all holidays and Easter is a fun one to decorate for. Here goes the tour of the decorations around the house this year:  

Outside I have a flag holder that  holds two

flags. ON one side there is the one with the Celtic cross with a few lilies on it.

The other side has a rabbit on it holding a huge egg!

   

  Here are my tulips that add color to the Easter decor. In the background you can see some tiny plants coming up. They are actual Easter Lillie's and I planted them after taking them home from church a few years ago. We always have left over lilies or some Spring flowers from the decor at church, and when no one wants them I take them home and find a spot for them!

There is a table on the front porch and I always try to have some sort of decoration on it too. This year a found a wreath to set down and put some of that Easter grass inside and placed one of my bunnies that will withstand the weather in the middle.

This is the front door wreath welcoming everyone inside.

Once in the front door the dining table is decorated with more eggs and our Easter Owl, along with a candle and a couple of crosses. You will see a glass with glue sticks in it which is for the Book Study I teach at the house on Wednesday afternoons. I get to be the teacher! I love it!!  I give them a lot of things to put into their book journal, so that is what the glue is for.

   

 Near the dining table I have a little half circle table that holds different things throughout the year. Now it has a Vase with glittery eggs in it with a Easter Chick sign saying Happy Spring on it.

This is on the bottom shelf of the table I talked about above. I have a Globe that when I shake it their is glitter that flies around inside. It is really cute.

This is the table right in front of the front window in the dining room. I have some really cute Easter items on the top of it.

On the table in the entryway I have put egg shaped candles that I just love. They are so cute.

On the coffee table in the game room is the beautiful plant that Lillian and Susan sent me for my 60th birthday. IT is HUGE and beautiful. The bunny gets taken away a few times a day by the bunny stealer: Esme. She thinks it is one of her stuffed animals and she will grab it and want to play with it.

The bathroom has Bunny lights around the mirror and green glasses and soap dispensers plus tiny towels with Easter  things on them.

           This is above the kitchen sink. I have a blue glass bunny and a blue porcelain egg.                                   The kitchen colors are blue and white!

 My baker's rack has quite a few Easter items on it! It also has a photo of all of you guys when we were there in 2012

This is the top of my scrap-booking cabinet that is where our fireplace used to be. We do not have a fireplace anymore.  We found that the money we spent on firewood made it just the same cost to use as when we ran the furnace.
It has a photo of all of you from last Easter on it and a lot of little Easter items on it also.

 The breakfast nook table has lots of Easter decor on it!!!

This bunny is cute and is above the entertainment center where our TV is.

These two bunnies are on the other side of the shelf above the TV.










I sure hope that whatever you do on Easter that you enjoy it and have a great time with family! We will be going over to our friends house to have dinner and just relax. Aunt Sarah and Charlotte will be coming up also and her friend Henry, so we will have a lot of laughter and fun!

Love you all so much!!!!
Gramama

Happy Easter