Easter

Easter is a holiday with multiple origins. Like many other holidays, the origins of Easter date back thousands of years. Easter was first a very important holiday to pre-Christian religions and then later to Christianity. In fact, most Christian holidays take place on days that were once the pre-Christian holidays. We know this from the number of holidays on the modern calendar that are significant to many different belief systems. For instance, there is only one New Year's Day, only one summer solstice, only one fall equinox, and only one spring equinox (vernal equinox). This is also a result of the modern religions' tendency to adapt former holidays for their own use.

Because we are interested in the cultural observance of most holidays, below we discuss the Easter's secular aspects, not its religious ones. Although many non-Christian Americans celebrate Easter in a secular manner, it still is technically a Christian holiday. For that reason, many Jews, Muslims and other non-Christian families do not celebrate Easter in any way.

In the United States, Easter always falls on a Sunday between March 22 and April 25. Easter's date changes every year based upon the lunar calendar.

While Americans, both children and adults, send each other Easter cards, the Easter Bunny is the most important part of the secular Easter celebration. The Easter Bunny is a creature that looms large in children's imaginations and, like Santa Claus, makes appearances at shopping malls where parents line up with their children, waiting for an opportunity to have their tot's picture taken sitting in the Easter Bunny's lap. Of course, the Easter Bunny is some kind person dressed up in a white furry suit with tall floppy bunny ears!

The real Easter Bunny, like the Tooth Fairy, is seldom seen by human eyes. He does his job stealthily at night, fulfilling two important functions, much to the delight of many U.S. children. First, like Santa, the Easter Bunny arrives in the night while little ones are asleep. Then, also like Santa, the Easter Bunny leaves goodies behind for the children. These treats are usually inside baskets with handles stuffed with green grass, although it is dyed straw or green cellophane, not real grass. On top of the grass, and inside it too, are scattered jelly beans, chocolate eggs, and other sweet Easter delights. The Easter Bunny also hides Easter eggs, although children and adults often help him. It is easy to see, from this use of grass and eggs, how the non-Christian origins of this holiday are rooted in the welcoming of springtime!

The big Easter event for children is the egg hunt. Children and adults decorate Easter eggs the day before Easter. This usually involves hard-boiling chicken eggs, dying them a variety of colors, and even further decorating them with stickers or glued on sparkles and beads. Finally, the eggs are hidden, either inside or out or even both! 

The great Easter egg hunt takes place on Easter Sunday. Whoever finds the most eggs is declared the winner, but usually everyone finds some. The great excitement is in finding them, not in eating them. 

Easter also has other games involving eggs associated with it. For example, another game is the Easter egg roll where children race across a grassy lawn, each rolling an egg with a spoon. The first child to cross the finish line without breaking their egg is declared the winner. The most famous Easter egg roll takes place every year on the lawn of the White House (where the president lives) unless the weather is bad or there are other reasons it cannot be held there.

Over time, customs change. The traditional hard-boiled egg is lately being replaced by chocolate eggs and hollow plastic eggs containing items such as jelly beans inside them. We don't know what the future will hold, but we are sure it will be full of children having fun and getting sweet Easter treats!