Tag Archives: easter

Tradition

Nationality: Mexican-American
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Santa MAria, CA
Performance Date: April 28, 2008
Primary Language: English

Holiday Tradition

Easter Confetti Eggs

Every year, a few months before Easter, Antonio and his family start saving up eggs. They crack the tops and make a nickel-sized hole through which they drain the egg, leaving the shell intact. After rinsing them out and letting them dry, they are ready to be dyed.

They dye and decorate the shells and then fill them up with confetti, after which the glue shut the hole. On Easter, they hide the eggs so the kids of the family can go on Easter egg hunts. When the eggs are found, the discoverer finds a victim and cracks an egg on his or her head. The result is confetti—everywhere.

Especially cruel Easter-eggers will fill their eggs with glitter, which leaves residue over everything for weeks and sometimes months. Antonio finds this tradition fun and familiar, since he has been doing it for as long as he can remember.

This Easter egg tradition differs from what I am used to. The Easter eggs I used to hunt were plastic and filled with candy. I like how it combines the creativity of egg decorating with the thrill of the hunt and a humorous finale.

Today, Easter is just like all other commercial holidays. My family usually goes on a shopping spree for plastic eggs, chocolate bunnies, and bags of candy or marshmallow Peeps. After my sister and I opened these gifts, Easter was as good as done.

Antonio’s cost-effective, creative tradition brings the whole family together for months ahead of time in a group effort to prepare for Easter. When the day comes, they spend hours together searching for eggs and smashing them over each others’ heads, which undoubtedly keeps them talking for days. When a holiday like Easter starts to lose its original purpose, it should at least retain its sense of family unity and cheerfulness.

Holiday/Festival – Greek

Nationality: Greek
Age: 17
Occupation: Student
Residence: Portland, OR
Performance Date: March 28, 2008
Primary Language: English

A tradition of Greek Orthodox Easter is for the host of the Sunday night dinner celebration of Christ’s resurrection to dye red eggs and give them to every guest at the dinner table.  After dinner everyone is supposed to tap the wide part of their egg with their neighbors egg, causing only one to crack.  You continue knocking eggs until only one person’s egg is left un-cracked.  The persons whose egg cracks very last, is suppose to have good luck for the coming year.  Peter said that although this is an entertaining game it also has much meaning behind it.  The dyed red egg represents the tomb of Jesus and cracking it open is symbolic of Christ rising to heaven.  Being one of the biggest holidays in the Orthodox Church, the holy week of Easter is a weeklong event.  On the last day, Sunday, there are many activities that symbolize the rise of Christ.

Doing further research on the topic I learned that many people believe the tradition of dying red eggs dates back to Mary Magdalene.  It is said that Mary Magdalene told a Roman emperor about Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.  In response to the story the emperor told Mary Magdalene, “he’d be more likely to believe that an egg could turn red than someone could rise from the dead”.  It was at that moment that Mary Magdalene grabbed a handful of eggs showed them to the emperor as they turned bright red.

Being Greek myself and celebrating Easter with my family I have also participated in this tradition.  When I was younger it was always a fun game to play at the dinner table and was one of the few things I could relate to as child.  Being at the Easter service, although important, was never something I enjoyed as a child.  This game of breaking the red eggs was not only one of the few things I enjoyed of the Easter holiday as a kid, but was also the beginning of my understanding of the importance of this religious holiday. Not only that but the concept of the egg being the tomb of Jesus and cracking it symbolizes his rise to heaven was very easy to understand, even as a child.

Papadeas, George L. Greek Orthodox Holy Week and Easter Services. S.N., 1975. 398-412.

Holiday Tradition

Nationality: American
Age: 60
Occupation: Dental Receptionist
Residence: San Diego, CA
Performance Date: April 12, 2008
Primary Language: English

Diana expressed that the most vivid memory she has of her youth took place when she was four years old. The Saturday night before Easter Sunday she was really excited for the events to come. She was unaware at that moment that her mother had spent days hiding items around the house that she said the Easter bunny had brought. Her mother went to great extremes to make the items very varied. For instance, she hid popcorn bunnies in her shoes, candied eggs in every nook and cranny, and fun little items all over the house. On Easter Sunday she would give all the children prettily decorated baskets for all the items they found. She made it so credible that the Easter bunny had really visited the Smith’s house. For years, Diana believed that this was in fact true. Apparently her mother stayed up really late in the night to hide everything and had to document where she placed all the edibles, in case the children were not able to find them all.

Diana has continued this tradition for her children and her grandchildren for as long as they will continue to believe it as Diana believes that fantasy is a necessary part to life.

I agree with Diana about how crucial fantasy is during childhood. Although at some point there is a time when children need to grow up, there is no need to dampen their imagination and hasten their maturation when they are young. Every child develops at different times but it is important to have a time in life when one’s imagination is allowed to run wild. By spoiling the excitement of the Easter Bunny at a young age won’t assist with one’s development in the future. It will only serve to constrain their imagination at a time when it is essential to be active and vibrant.

Obviously not all people celebrate Easter and as a result not everyone has a period of their childhood where they believe in the existence of the Easter Bunny. However this same concept of imagination and creation can be comparable with children who have imaginary friends. Having an imaginary friend would be unhealthy if it continues past a certain stage later in life but it is deemed acceptable when one is young. Imagination has become such an indispensable fixture in childhood that there are not only religious beings that are said to be existent (such as Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny) but secular beings too (such as the tooth fairy). Imaginary creatures stimulate a sense of excitement that will only last for such a minimal period of time in one’s life and as a result this time period should not be hindered but instead promoted and encouraged.

Annotation:

For more information read the chapter about Easter in the Modern time (the Easter Bunny will be featured).

Bradshaw, Paul F. Passover and Easter : Origin and History to Modern Times. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame P, 1999.

Holiday Tradition – Poland

Nationality: Polish
Age: 87
Occupation: Retired
Residence: Bedminster, NJ
Performance Date: March 21, 2008
Primary Language: English
Language: Polish

Polish Easter tradition

During Easter, hay is laid on the table.

Bruce and his family practiced this Polish custom when he was a child. Bruce’s family, and many of his relatives, immigrated to the United States from Poland in the 1920s and lived in the New England area (he lived in Bridgewater, Massachusetts). At Easter, he would get together with all his Polish relatives, and at the house where the festivities were, they would put hay on the main dinner table. He said this was a Polish custom, not a custom that his family learned in the United States, but one that they carried over from Poland.

This tradition was significant for Bruce as a child because the Easter eggs would all be laid on top of the hay. As a child, Easter eggs defined Easter (more-so than religious reasons), and as a child, he always related the hay on the table to the Easter eggs. However, as Bruce grew older, he discovered another meaning to this custom, the “real adult” religious meaning. Most of his family were Catholics, and he said that the hay on the table was significant for Catholics because it symbolized Jesus being born in a barn in a manger in Bethlehem. He also said that this practice dates back to earlier times in Poland when the church controlled everything in Poland and the country was 100% Catholic. He gives this as a possible way his family learned the tradition.

Bruce gives many reasons and meanings for this tradition, all of which seem valid. It is interesting that this custom exists during Easter, and not Christmas, as the hay symbolizes Jesus’ birth by being born in a barn. A reason for this could be that Easter is a celebration of Jesus’ life, and this could be a way of honoring him. Bruce also makes a good point by saying that the church could be at the root of this tradition. Back in earlier times, church and state were inseparable, and many of the customs and laws of the times came not from the state (or government) but from the church. It is very likely that the church instituted this custom, or played a role in making it a custom throughout Poland.

It is also likely that this custom exists outside of Poland and people of Polish heritage. This custom seems to center around Catholicism more than Poland. Since billions of people all over the world are Catholics, it is likely some Catholics, other than those of Polish heritage, put hay on the table over Easter as a symbol for Jesus’ life and how it started with him being born in a barn in a manger. Yet, I have personally not seen or heard of this tradition before I heard it from Bruce.