Flowers, Bunnies, Eggs, oh my! THE EASTER TRADITION SCAVENGER HUNT
Over the course of my life so far, I have been struck by the shear variety of our Easter & springtime traditions. Beyond the individual traditions, even our culture around Eastertime feels riddled with oddities of a past era - the Easter Bunny, anyone? What do decorated eggs have to do with any of this? Beyond the food & decor elements, what about the clothing? I was born after wearing hats fell out of fashion, but I do remember the floral pastel fashion show that was Easter brunch - everyone piling in after services festooned to the hilt in new spring finery. What is it all about & where did it come from? My inquiring brain demands an explanation.
Some Context . . .
The first thing I discovered in my research was that the traditions & evolution of those traditions is very much defined based on regionality and religious observance, more than the passage of time. As much as I prefer to be egalitarian in my reflections on society & history, Easter is a fundamentally Christian holiday with deep roots in European Christendom. Many of our Easter cultural traditions also bear the signs of Europe’s pre-Christian roots along with it’s modern religious reforms. The “New World”, the Americas, Australia, New Zealand, etc. evolved their traditions based on the cultural heritage from their homelands or colonial influence. This has resulted in some interesting pockets where traditions have almost been “preserved” in time, due to immigrant communities across the new world. Easter in the deep southern USA is still very much an event, with all the trimmings. In contrast with the northern or western USA, that treats Easter with a bit more religious simplicity. Leaving the US, you find a wide variety of traditions. In Latin American countries who experience Spanish colonial influence, Easter is the closing act of the larger cultural event that is Holy Week (Semana Santa), with elaborate weeklong processions taking cultural precedence over Easter, which is simply a holy day.
Photo credit: TIME MAGAZINE; Jackie Kennedy with John F. Kennedy Jr. on Easter Sunday April 14, 1963, in Palm Beach, Fl
However, leaving the Americas for the “Old World”, and you will begin to discover the framework for our medley of modern Easter traditions. Spain and Portugal of course, celebrate Semana Santa (Holy Week) starting the Sunday before Easter. Semana Santa is still a national religious spectacle marking the biblical events of the the passion - historically led by the King & his court, along with the religious elements.
The tradition of Easter eggs seems to date back to the western European Lenten tradition of fasting, where eating eggs & meat were forbidden, so Easter was a time to indulge in them. Records of decorating eggs date back to royal courts of the 11th century (in England to be precise) - where eggs were decorated with colored dyes and gold leaf. Easter egg hunts are recorded happening in France, but nobody is clear on when they actually got started. It is in Germany where we begin to see the blending of pre-Christian traditions with Christianity. In ancient times a bonfire was lit to mark the victory of spring over winter, on the spring festival of May Day (May 1st) all across Europe, Britain and Ireland. After the arrival of Christianity, Germany held onto the bonfire tradition and it eventually evolved into the Easter candle tradition still part of the Easter service in Catholic churches today. Evidently, we can also thank the Germans for the Easter Bunny - an anglicization of the ancient tale of the “Osterhase” or egg-giving hare, that put eggs in nests (which eventually evolved into baskets).
Historians debate the full extent of the Easter traditions connection with Europe’s pre-Christian culture, but its safe to say that old habits die hard, and there’s probably more than a little bit of our ancient past still actively part of our lives today.
The fashion . . .
The earliest understanding of our traditions around Easter fashion stem from the early medieval period. Converts to Christianity would wear new, white gowns to symbolize being born anew through baptism - a tradition that still continues with christening gowns, though instead of being “new” they are usually heirlooms. As time progressed, people honored that baptismal custom by wear their best clean clothes to Easter services. There are records of medieval & renaissance nobles and royalty having new clothes made for the Easter celebration, an opportunity to be extravagant after 40 days of Lent & sobriety. During the 1600s and the rise of the Reformation, protestant leaders like Calvin & Luther denounced any trappings or religious traditions that could not find basis in the scripture - which particularly with Easter, ruled out almost all cultural traditions. The reformers also discouraged bright colored garments that distracted the mind from God, instead preferring somber solid colored garments. This all might sound like a matter of personal preference, but as the European Wars of Religion became more deadly, you saw cultural traditions around holidays, feast days and their dress die away altogether. It wasn’t until the English Revolution (1642) however, that you saw an outright ban of these traditional feasts. Oliver Cromwell and the Puritan-led parliament (that cut off King Charles I’s head), banned the celebration of Christmas & Easter, with the view that they were days for quiet prayer instead. This time of revolutionary upheaval in British society left a mark, that can still be seen in the British & American WASP cultural perspective on religious holidays today.
But where do the pastels, ribbons and florals come in? This where I see another pre-Christan tradition crossover into a modern one. The ancient festival of May Day marked the victory of spring over winter, it celebrated the rebirth of the world with all the bounty of spring. You might think that May Day is purely an ancient festival, but May Day celebrations were had all over Europe up to the 19th century. Marked by flower crowns, maypoles, feasting, and a celebration of young life & rebirth, May Day traditions remind me the most of our general cultural attitude towards Easter today. Like with Easter, May Day was also prohibited under Puritan rule - it is said that upon the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, maypoles were erected to celebrate. After religious differences in Europe became less violent, is when you see more similarities developing between the two holidays. May Day was seen as a harmless day of fun (albeit in tribute to an ancient fertility goddess) and the celebration of new life, a complimentary celebration to Easter, and the resurrection of Christ. White gowns or dresses were worn by maidens to dance around the maypole with ribbons & flowers in their hair - a blend of the Easter baptismal custom with a touch of spring adornment. As time has progressed May Day celebrations have all but disappeared, a fragment of a bygone time. However, many of the most wholesome parts of the celebration of spring have evolved into the western Christian celebration of life over death - with people getting dressed in their spring finery, and maybe adorned with a flower or two.
