The Grotto Gazette

Volume 8 Issue 8

April 13, 2006

Fun in the Sun

Spring is in the air, flowers are in bloom, allergies run amuck, and the birds are singing a happy tune. You know what that means: it’s time for our annual History picnic!

The picnic will be held at Dr. Miller’s house at 429 High Street at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 29th. As always, the event is free and everyone is encouraged to bring a friend. We’ll be having delicious picnic food, topped off with the department campfire at dusk. Of course there will be singing and much merriment, and Dr. Selby’s annual fire walk.

Young and old, come celebrate another wonderful year for the history department!

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The Strange History of Easter

By Tara Hall

My RA, Kimberly Berndsen, recently put up a great bulletin board about history. She had brief histories of some of the more bizarre Easter traditions. RConnection this week had an interesting take on this as well. Being a history buff, this naturally inspired me.

Why is the date of Easter never the same? Why isn’t it the same everywhere? What does the word “Easter” have to do with the crucifixion of Christ? Better yet, why the bunny and the painted eggs? Easter is probably the most confusing of the Christian holidays – unless you understand the history. Even then, it’s certainly not simple.

On the small chance that some of you don’t know, the Christian part of the holiday known today as Easter comes from the gospels of the New Testament. What is different today though, is when it is celebrated.

Today we celebrate Thursday as the night of the Last Supper, Friday as the day of the crucifixion, Saturday as the day of mourning, and Sunday as the day of resurrection. This is based on the tradition of Roman, Gentile Christians. They wanted to celebrate the resurrection on the first day of their week – Sunday. By Constantine’s method, Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday that falls after the first full moon that is on or after the first day of Spring (the vernal equinox). This causes Easter to fall on the same day of the week (Sunday), but a different date each year based on the lunar cycles in conjunction with the equinox. Today the churches of the West celebrate it on this day.

It is not so in the East. Members of the Jewish community that became Christians celebrated the resurrection as the day after Passover. The crucifixion took place on the day before Passover, and the resurrection the day after, according to the gospels. The reason that Easter is on different days of the week and month each year in this tradition is because Passover is marked by the Babylonian lunar calendar (the 14th day in the month of Nisan, the first month of the year), which is never in sync with today’s solar calendar. Eastern Orthodox churches celebrate Easter in relation to the Passover festival.

The bunnies and eggs come from Pagan traditions. Almost all cultures around the world have a Spring celebration as part of their religious rituals. Hathor was celebrated in Egypt, Kali is celebrated in India, and Ishtar in Assyria as goddesses of fertility. By invoking these goddesses, the people celebrated the resurrected fertility of the Earth. Many of these festivals involved the use of eggs as the ultimate representation of new life, including the celebration of Eostre. Egg-rolling contests, which are still a part of Easter today, were done during these celebrations and eventually spawned the Easter Egg Hunt as well. The use of baby chickens (such as the shape of the ever-so-popular Peeps that lose their marshmallow heads every Easter) is obviously related to this symbol. It is also interesting to note that in the Jewish tradition, families that could not afford a lamb for Passover dinner could use a roasted egg, as the symbols of the lamb and the egg represented the same thing.

The modern name of the holiday comes from the name of the Teutonic goddess of Spring and fertility: Ostara or Eostre, depending on the transliteration. Her festival was celebrated on the vernal equinox by Anglo-Saxon tribes in northern Europe. The concept of resurrection and rebirth was as present in this tradition as it is Christian tradition. Gradually over time the German spelling Eostre was Anglicized into Easter. Today, Pagan groups that follow the Celtic tradition celebrate the festival of Ostara on the vernal equinox to welcome the coming rebirth of the world.

As for the Easter Bunny, he is related to these celebrations as well. The rabbit and the hare are recognized, even today, as the most fertile of animals (hence the saying, “breeding like rabbits”). The bunny symbol originates in Germany, where they also made the first edible bunnies in the early 1800s. They were made of pastries until the tradition was moved to the U.S., where we changed it to chocolate. German settlers arriving in Dutch country in the 1700s seem to be the originators of the tradition in America. Called Oschter Haws in German, the Easter Hare was said to lay colored eggs in nests that children made, usually from their caps or bonnets, and left out Easter night. (I guess the Germans really like surprises; they invented Santa Claus and the Christmas tree as well.) These nests would be replaced by baskets later on. After the Civil War this tradition became widely celebrated throughout the United States.

The ultimate blending of the Christian and Pagan traditions came about in the same way that evergreen trees made their way into Christmas celebrations. When Christians began missionary work in Northern Europe they looked for ways to make conversion easier on Pagan populations. Because the celebration of Christ’s resurrection, then called Pasche, and Eostre coincided, the traditions of the Pagan celebrations were merged with the Christian to make adjustment to a new faith easy.

Today Easter is celebrated by the religious and secular alike. Children love hunting eggs (especially with money or candy inside) and seeing the Easter bunny, even if they aren’t raised in the Christian tradition. Whether you are religious or not, you can’t deny that Easter is a fun and tasty time of year (who doesn't love all that pastel candy?!). And after all, because of this wonderful blending, there is plenty of chocolate in every store to eat at the end of Lent.

Sources:

The History Channel Online

Easter Traditions.com

Religious Tolerance.org

Easter Bunny’s.net

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Summer Opportunities

This summer the History department will be having a variety of summer classes for those of you who will be here on campus. Registration for these classes is still open but filling up fast. For more information contact the professors.

Session 1:

Dr. Willingham (willingham@roanoke.edu, ext. 2422), will be teaching Modern European Film (HIST 290A). The class will be a survey of the history of European cinema, from the earliest days of the silent masters in Germany and the Soviet Union, to responses to the Hollywood machine in the 1930s to the masterful propaganda of the war to agonized responses to that conflict in the 50s and 60s, through the New Wave and beyond. Particular focus will be given the German film industry as a counter-model to Hollywood in artistic ambition and popular appeal.

Dr. Selby (selby@roanoke.edu, ext. 2425) will be teaching a course on the Vietnam War (HIST 268A). The class covers the longest and most controversial foreign war in American history. Through lectures, class discussions, readings, and films, we will explore the roots, course, and effects of this war that divided two nations and has repercussions to this day. It’s a fast run through a complex event, but the intensity of summer school allows students to keep material fresh in their minds.

Dr Gibbs will be teaching two courses: Modern Britain (HIST 243A) and a Renaissance/Reformation Issues (HIST 325A) class. For more information on either of these classes, contact him at gibbs@roanoke.edu, ext. 2202, or come by and see him in the Grotto.

Session 2:

Dr. Miller (mmiller@roanoke.edu, ext. 2412) will be teaching two courses for the second session: The American Revolution (HIST 360A) and the Civil War (261A). The American Revolution is an upper level history course aimed at gaining an understanding of the causes, courses, and the effects of the war through primary and secondary source analysis. The Civil War will incorporate lectures, discussions, simulations, and many audio-visual materials in an effort to understand the causes, events, and consequences of the war.