EASTER MYTHS,
SYMBOLS AND
WHAT THEY
MEAN
T
By Sheena Mpungu
he world is a global village.
What this means is that most
holidays celebrated worldwide
tend to share the same practices. Before traditions would remain
within the countries from which they
stemmed. However, with the continents growing more and more accessible every year, holiday traditions and
practices are being passed on from nation to nation.
Easter is known as a Christian holiday to many and celebrated as such by
Christians all over the world. However, there are things used to symbolize
Easter other than the cross, more so in
this day and age of the global village.
Heard of the Easter Bunny? Has anyone ever asked you to go hunting for
Easter eggs? Do you know where those
practices came from? Here’s a little lesson on some Easter symbols that we
see around this festive season.
Easter Bunny
Easter falls around springtime in the
Northern Hemisphere of the world.
Spring comes just after winter so it’s
when plants begin to bloom again and
animals mate. One animal in particular
is renowned for its ability to proliferate:
the rabbit.
The Easter rabbit is therefore seen as
a symbol of fertility. However, this is
not only due to its high multiplication
rates. The rabbit was said to be the favourite animal of Eostre, a mythological goddess of fertility. This may also
be pointed out as an origin of the name
‘Easter’.
The Name Easter
The Christian holiday imitates the
Passover, in particular, the Last Supper
shared by Jesus Christ and his disciples.
Nevertheless, this holiday is also greatly modeled after pagan celebrations of
spring and fertility. This explains the
relation to the name ‘Easter’ and the
Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring, Eostre
as well as Ishtar, the Babylonian goddess of love and fertility.
“Consider
the lilies of the field, how they
grow: they toil not, neither
do they spin; and yet Solomon in all his glory was not
arrayed like one of these.”
(Luke 12:27)
Easter Eggs
his glory was not arrayed like one of
Eggs are a symbol of new life, which is these.” (Luke 12:27) Lilies are said to
closely related to the Christian story of have been found growing in the garden
resurrection. Easter eggs were originalof Gethsemane after Christ’s agony.
ly painted with bright colours to represent the sunlight of spring. In some
parts of the world, they are given as Tradition states that the beautiful
gifts or hidden for children to find.
white flowers sprang up where drops
of Christ’s sweat fell to the ground in
Easter Bells
his final hours of sorrow and distress.
This is a tradition practiced mainly
Christian churches in some parts of the
in France and Italy, countries that are
predominantly Catholic. Bells are rung world continue this tradition at Easter
throughout the year but they are not by filling their altars and surrounding
rung on the Thursday before Good their crosses with Easter lilies to comFriday. They are left silent as a way to memorate the Resurrection and hope
remember the death of Jesus. They are
of life everlasting.
then rung on Easter Sunday as a way of
telling people Jesus is alive again.
The Easter Lily
The lily is one of the flowers referenced
in the Bible during the Sermon on the
Mount, when Christ told his listeners: “Consider the lilies of the field,
how they grow: they toil not, neither
do they spin; and yet Solomon in all
Pussy Willows
Flowers native to European countries,
pussy willows are