It’s that time of year again! It’s so hard to believe that Easter has come around once again. For me, it just doesn’t feel like its easter time yet. I always associate easter with colder weather, but due to Melbourne’s dyslexic weather with our days starting off cold then warming up and then getting a bit cold at night …I dunno its kind of weird this year.
Being that I am Greek Orthodox I don’t get to celebrate Easter until early May this year. So, let’s just stop right about here…
I was always told not to disclose or discuss my religion/faith/culture on the internet. Hmm yeah ok…but yeah really? You can keep reading as I am not about to go on a tangent about Jesus Christ or anything like that. Religion to me and for me is a personal experience. I am tired of feeling “afraid” to say out aloud or to “admit” that I am religious. I am sick of living in the ages of always being politically correct. That’s a crock of shite in my eyes.
If I offend you, upset you or I’m leaving you feeling insulted then maybe you should find something else to read or maybe just maybe toddle off and you do you and I do me. What I will say is let’s all of us just be respectful and be kind.
Where was I? So, I’m Irene and I am of Greek Orthodox faith and that’s all you need to know. No preachy shit. No trying to convert anyone. Just cold hard facts. What I believe is extremely personal and no one needs to know the ins and outs.
Ok back to this blog. Easter is a wonderful time where we get a 4 day weekend, and it is a time of food and family and fun and a whole lot of chocolate eggs!
Easter is a time of celebration and of joy, a time of togetherness whether that be with family or friends or both. For me Easter time is about renewal and new beginnings. A time for hope, for change, for love, for laughter, for happiness, and for a truckload of cooking and eating! It’s also a time for us all to Egg-scape for a few days (see what I did there?).
Nerdy me wanted to find some interesting facts about Easter and I thought you might enjoy them as much as I did.
- Did you know that the Easter Bunny Legend began in Germany?
Legend has it that the original Easter Bunny story originated in pre-Christian Germany many, many and hundreds and hundreds of years ago. The hare was said to be the symbol of the Pagan Goddess of Spring and Fertility. As Christianity spread across Europe, pagan traditions were “blended” with Christian holidays which saw the Easter Bunny lay a nest of colourful eggs, nowadays chocolate eggs for children who were well-behaved on Easter Sunday. It still doesn’t seem logical to me that a mythical rabbit bringing eggs to children but a fun fact, nonetheless.
- Why do we call Easter, Easter?
According to scholars Easter was named after the Anglo-Saxon Goddess Eostre. Eostre was depicted as a Fertility Goddess and a Goddess of Dawn and Light. Eostre was honoured at Pagan festivals which celebrated the arrival of Spring. I guess its safe to say that Pagan and Christian holidays were “blended” at that time.
- Curious to know how many Cadburys Creme Eggs are produced worldwide every day?
Get this! Cadbury’s makes 500 MILLION Creme Eggs every year! If you were to pile them on top of one another they would be 10 times higher than Mt. Everest. Research says that Cadbury Creme Egg are the world’s most popular egg-shaped chocolate.
- The painting of eggs originates from?
I always believed that Greece invented this Easter tradition. BZZZZ WRONG! Ukrainians have been decorating and painting eggs as a way of calling out the Gods and Goddesses of health and fertility. This colourful custom called “Pysanka” is made by using wax and dyes.
- Did you know that pretzels are associated with Easter?
Pretzels are associated with Easter because the twists resemble arms crossing in prayer! From the 1950’s until today it is tradition for Germans to eat a pretzel and a hard-boiled egg for dinner on Good Friday. When I think about Easter I associate hot cross buns, chocolate eggs, Greek Tsoureki and koulouria!
- Have you ever been curious as to why Easter changes dates every year?
It has to do with The Lunar Calendar and the position of the moon. Easter will always fall on the first Sunday AFTER the full moon that takes place on or after March 21st, which is said to signal the start of spring in The Northern Hemisphere.
I hope these fun facts were an interesting read for you. I was clearly curious and perplexed and amused with what I found.
I guess in every household we all have our own traditions that we like to do for our friends and family. Growing up my parents always bought my brother and I a Humpty Dumpty Easter Egg that was filled with Smarties. You know the ones I’m talking about, right? As a grown arse woman my mum continued to gift me the exact same Easter egg until she passed away in 2015.
The traditions that I have made for my little family is since the day my son was born, I have always gifted him the same Humpty Dumpty Easter Egg that my mum used to buy for me and I have included a tradition from The Hubsters side of the family, and that is gifting our son with two sets of pyjamas. I must add I was left standing there scratching my head when The Hubster mentioned pyjamas. (HAHAHAHAHA).
From my family to you and yours, wishing everyone a glorious long weekend. A time to get together and enjoy one’s company, a day where all the stores, supermarkets, department stores, shopping centres , are all closed. A day of peace and love and laughter and a shit ton of food.
Happy Easter friends!
Much love from me to you all!
Irene
Καλό Πάσχα![Kalo Pasxa!]/Happy Easter
