 |
 |
|
|
|
Welcome to Animated CyberKisses |
Easter Fires On Easter Eve in many parts of Europe huge bonfires are lit on
hilltops and churchyards. Sometimes they are called Judas fires, because frequently
effigies of Judas Iscariot are burned in them. These Easter fires predate Christianity and
were originally intended to celebrate the arrival of spring. The burning of an effigy
once symbolized the end of winter.
In Great Britain, housewives bake hot cross buns on each Friday during Lent. The English like
to buy new
clothes for Easter Sunday. In early days, boys and girls formed a circle around
the local church with their
backs to it.
In Ireland, people dance on Easter day to win prize cakes. They eat eggs at dawn on
Easter to
break the long fast of Lent.
In Belgium and France, mothers sometimes tell their
children that the Easter chimes bring their eggs.
Belgian children like to make nests of hay and hide them in the grass for the Easter bunny to fill.
In France and some other Europeans countries, church bells do not ring from Good Friday to
Easter Sunday. One
legend says that the bells fly to Rome until Easter and drop eggs on the
way back for boys and girls to find.
In Italy, a priest blesses the Easter eggs before the holiday.
Housewives place the eggs at the center of the Easter table and arrange other food around them.
In Mexico, at noon on the day before Easter, thousands of people fill the streets. They beat, hang
and
burn images of Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus. In many places, the Judas figure is a
piñata,
a jar
filled with candy which breaks and scatters the candy for the children.
In the Middle East, Armenian and Syrian churches hold foot washing ceremonies on Maundy Thursday.
Church officials
invite beggars inside, wash their feet and give them gifts in memory of Jesus
who washed his disciples' feet.
In India, they have a Spring festival called
Holi. Holi is a happy time when people who
belong to
the Hindu religion remember the story of how the god, Krishna
appeared, dancing
and playing
the flute. People make special food, and visit each other, tasting the food. It is the
custom for the
owner of the house to mark the guests' foreheads with
colored powder.
In Finland, at Easter, the Finns welcome spring, though in March or even April, winter still
reigns here in the northernmost corner of Europe. Well before Easter, children plant rye-grass
seeds in little pots. Green grass is a sure sign of spring, even if it only grows on the windowsill.
Pussy willows are ancient Easter decorations, and birch twigs are placed in vases, where they
soon start budding. Nowadays tulips, lilies and daffodils are flown in from the Continent, but
that
doesn't mean Finns didn't always have Easter 'flowers'. These were made by hand, out of
tissue
paper and dyed feathers.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
