April Holidays - Easter and April's Fool Day
Welcome to April! April is one of my favorite months. This is the time when spring comes slowly in full force and we say good-bye to winter. It is also a month of some interesting holidays such as Easter, the rebirth of Christ. Christians all over the world will go to the church, have dinners and paint some pretty eggs. I like painting eggs because you can get really creative and it's a fun family activity. Last Easter I got an egg painting kit with various paints and a sponge and I painted some really nice Easter eggs with different color combinations. They looked like they were straight out of the magazine! I also like to eat Easter bread that my grandmother makes. And I love to watch the religious procession on Easter night. Read more about the history, traditions and associated symbols of this wonderful holiday below.
There is also some information in this issue about April Fool's Day! Did you get tricked? I did. My husband told me that he won $7 million in a lottery but I didn't really believe him. Who gets so lucky? Read about how April Fool's Day originated and what it means in this issue of Irina's World.com Seasons & Holidays.
April Fool's Day
"The first of April is the day we remember what we are the other 364 days of the year. " - Mark Twain
In sixteenth-century France, the start of the new year was observed on April first. It was celebrated in much the same way as it is today with parties and dancing into the late hours of the night. Then in 1562, Pope Gregory introduced a new calendar for the Christian world, and the new year fell on January first. There were some people, however, who hadn't heard or didn't believe the change in the date, so they continued to celebrate New Year's Day on April first. Others played tricks on them and called them "April fools." They sent them on a "fool's errand" or tried to make them believe that something false was true. In France today, April first is called "Poisson d'Avril" (April's Fish). French children fool their friends by taping a paper fish to their friends' backs. When the "young fool" discovers this trick, the prankster yells "Poisson d’Avril!" (April Fish!)
Today North Americans play small tricks on friends and strangers alike on the first of April. One common trick on April Fool's Day, or All Fool's Day, is pointing down to a friend's shoe and saying, "Your shoelace is untied." Teachers in the nineteenth century used to say to pupils, "Look! A flock of geese!" and point up. School children might tell a classmate that school has been canceled. Whatever the trick, if the innocent victim falls for the joke the prankster yells, "April Fool! "
The "fools' errands" we play on people are practical jokes. Putting salt in the sugar bowl for the next person is not a nice trick to play on a stranger. College students set their clocks an hour behind, so their roommates show up to the wrong class - or not at all. Some practical jokes are kept up the whole day before the victim realizes what day it is. Most April Fool jokes are in good fun and not meant to harm anyone. The most clever April Fool joke is the one where everyone laughs, especially the person upon whom the joke is played.
Source: wilstar.com.
Easter - the Clebration of the Rebirth of Christ
Easter, like Christmas, is a blend of paganism and Christianity. The word Easter is derived from Eostre (also known as Ostara), an ancient Anglo-Saxon Goddess. She symbolized the rebirth of the day at dawn and the rebirth of life in the spring. The arrival of spring was celebrated all over the world long before the religious meaning became associated with Easter. Now Easter celebrates the rebirth of Christ.
In fact, Easter is an important Christian holiday. It is the culmination of events during Holy Week beginning with Palm Sunday. Palm Sunday reflects the return of Jesus to Jerusalem. Maundy Thursday commemorates the Last Supper of Christ and Good Friday honors the crucifixion of Jesus. Finally, Easter Sunday celebrates the resurrection after his death.
Easter falls on the first Sunday on or following the spring Equinox after the full moon. The date has been calculated in this way since 325 AD.
Lambs, chicks, and baby creatures are all associated with spring, symbolizing the birth of new life.
Since ancient times many cultures have associated eggs with the universe. They've been dyed, decorated, and painted by the Romans, Gauls, Persians, and the Chinese. They were used in spring festivals to represent the rebirth of life. As Christianity took hold the egg began to symbolize the rebirth of man rather than nature.
A Polish folktale tells of the Virgin Mary giving eggs to soldiers at the cross as she pleaded with them to be merciful. As her tears dropped they spattered droplets on the eggs mottling them with a myriad of colors.
The Faberge egg is the best known of all the decorated eggs. Peter Faberge made intricate, delicately decorated eggs. In 1883, the Russian Czar commissioned Faberge to make a special egg for his wife. Read about and view the Fabergé Easter Egg Collection.
During the 4th century consuming eggs during Lent became taboo. However, spring is the peak egg-laying time for hens, so people began to cook eggs in their shells to preserve them. Eventually people began decorating and hiding them for children to find during Easter, which gave birth to the Easter Egg Hunt. Other egg-related games also evolved like egg tossing and egg rolling.
The Easter Bunny, a cute little rabbit that hides eggs for us to find on Easter. In the rites of spring the rabbit symbolized fertility. In a German book, 1682, a tale is told of a bunny laying eggs and hiding them in the garden.
The Easter bonnet and new clothes on Easter symbolizes the end of the dreary winter and the beginning of the fresh, new spring. At the turn of the century, it was popular for families to stroll to church and home again to show off their "Sunday best".
The Easter Basket shows roots in a Catholic custom. Baskets filled with breads, cheeses, hams, and other foods for Easter dinner were taken to mass Easter morning to be blessed. This evolved into baskets filled with chocolate eggs, jellybeans, toys, and stuffed bunnies for children left behind by the Easter Bunny.
Source: Jerry's Easter page