Easter Eggs and Bunnies
Easter is a festive event from my childhood, I remember fondly. We took beautifully decorated baskets filled with dyed eggs and ham and bread and Potica walnut role cake and horseradish root to church. The food had to be blessed before we could eat it. My big brother and I would go dig the horseradish root out of the ground in the fields behind our house. Easter service was usually painfully long for us youngsters, but nostalgic memories of the good ol’ days make us forget that. All dressed up fidgeting in pews, we were anxiously waiting to rush out of the church to my aunt and uncle’s farm, so we could start playing all the easter egg games and eat the sumptuous foods, so lovingly prepared my grandmothers, my mother, my aunts for days. Afternoons after church, feast and games, were spent in a food coma. It is the traditions that give us roots. Roots are belonging. Roots are family. Family is who we are.
Why do we decorate the eggs? What do eggs symbolize? What is Easter? What is Passover? Is there a connection? What about the bunnies? Do we ask ourselves those questions or do we just blindly follow what we are told?
My Mother’s beautiful Easter Egg basket. Eggs dyed with skins from onions. Bird pastry made with her hands
Easter 101: Jewish people commemorate the liberation of the Jews from slavery in Egypt with Passover. Jesus and his followers celebrated the Passover meal the day before his crucifixion. Easter eggs symbolize the empty tomb of Jesus and in one ancient tradition, eggs were stained red to symbolize the blood of Christ, shed at the time of his crucifixion. The Custom of Easter egg is traced back to early Christians of Mesopotamia and from there it spread to Eastern Europe, Siberia through Orthodox churches and later into Europe via Protestant and Catholic church. Not quite sure when Easter bunnies, chocolate eggs, and plastic eggs came into the picture, besides that we manage to over-commercialize everything to the end degree.
Just plain boiled eggs with salt
This morning we arose early. Mars, Saturn, and Jupiter were in a perfect alignment chasing the remains of the moon. Sirius, the brightest star in the sky, was just about to set behind the mountain ridge West of us. We had enough light by the remaining moon, to show us the way up the mountain, following the narrow sandy trails on our bikes. The air was crisp, the light soft, outlining the gnarled Torote trees, Cardons, Biznagas, and Pitaya cacti. The bunnies were darting in all directions. We arrived at the prayer flag hill just in time to witness the sun rising.
This is my religion to be here, standing on this mountain, overlooking the sea. I am surrounded by friends and next to me, sits the man I love. In my heart, I have my kids and family, and friends who are far away separated by the space but connected to me by deep love. Yes, we are apart this Easter due to special circumstances. But today, this is my way to worship the birth of a new day. This is my way to worship Mother Earth with all its wonders, and all the peoples of the World. No matter what god we worship(or not) and what traditions we observe, we are all in this together on this planet under one sun.
We are One under the same Sun
Peace, Love, Happiness, and Health to you all!
