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ORIGI N OF
.
.
Easter Day is always on a Sunday, but the date varies from year to year unlike Christmas
which is always on December 25.
Many years ago Christians decided that Easter Day should be always be on the Sunday
following the first full moon after the first day of Spring on March 21.
.
This means that Easter can be as early as 22 March or as late as 25 April.
Well, it turns out Easter actually began as a pagan festival celebrating spring in the Northem
Hemisphere, long before the advent of Christianity.
"People mapped their whole life according to the patterns of nature.',
Following the advent of Christianity, the Easter period became associated with the
resurrection of Christ.
In most countries in Europe, the
name for Easter is
dgrivgd from the Jewish festival
Passover.
of
"Eostre was a goddess of spring or renewal and
that,s why her feast
is attached to the vernal
equinox,"p@
During the Middle Ages, people began decorating.€ggs and eating them as atreat following
mass on Easter Sunday after fasting through Lent.
Eggs, as a symbol of new life, became a common people's explanation of the resurrection;
after the chill of the winter months, nature was coming to life again," Professor Cusack said.
Rabbits and hares are also associated with
fertility and were symbols linked to the goddess
Eostre.
Today, chocolate eggs and egg hunts are a popular part ofEaster celebrations around the
world.