Little known facts about Easter
Easter is a well-celebrated Christian celebration but many of the observances and key traditions relating to it have pagan roots, especially the links to the goddess Eostre who signifies the new birth and awakening we associate with Easter celebrations.
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Once a purely religious celebration, Easter has been a much more secular event since the early 20th century. Whether your Easter is about lamb dinners, church services, an easter egg hunt, or all of the above, we’ve brought together some of the most interesting Easter facts right here.
When is Easter 2023?
Easter 2024 is on Sunday, 30 March. Easter changes every year as it is governed by the lunar calendar. Easter falls on the first Sunday after the full moon which takes place on or shortly after 21st March. This date is said to signal the start of Spring.
Easter is named after the Pagan Goddess of Spring and Fertility
The word Easter is taken from Anglo-Saxon and from the Anglo-Saxon goddess of Spring and fertility, Eostre or Eostrae. However, some scholars still argue it is taken from the Latin, ‘in albis’, which translates as a plural form of the word dawn.
Easter is a well-celebrated Christian celebration but many of the observances and key traditions relating to it have pagan roots, especially the links to the goddess Eostre who signifies the new birth and awakening we associate with Easter celebrations.
The religious tradition of Easter
The resurrection of Jesus is one of the foundational blocks Christianity is built upon, making Easter one of the most important dates in the calendar.
The New Testament tells us how Jesus was arrested by the Roman authorities for his claims of being the Son of God. He was sentenced to death by Pontius Pilate and hung on the cross for his death by crucifixion, marked by the Christian holiday of Good Friday.
Three days later, on Easter Monday, Christians believe Jesus came back from the dead to prove he was the living son of God. Easter is a celebration of Jesus’ life and death and the belief that those who follow him are rewarded with the gift of eternal life.
Christian celebrations of Easter are rich with symbolism to celebrate and remember Jesus’ sacrifice. Even the traditional Easter dinner of lamb is chosen due to the sacrificial connotations of this meal, and the fact Jesus is often described as the ‘Lamb of God’ due to the sacrificial nature of his death.
Secular Easter traditions
As Easter has become secular and commercial, people from all walks of life take the time to celebrate and welcome in Spring. Secular Easter celebrations include enjoying chocolate easter eggs, a gift from the Easter bunny and decorating eggs too.
Eggs are known to represent fertility and birth in traditions that significantly predate Christianity, so celebrating with this symbol of new life at the beginning of Spring makes perfect sense.
Easter trivia
1. Fry’s produced the world’s first ever chocolate Easter egg in Bristol in 1873
Easter would not be complete without a haul of chocolate eggs, but the first one in the UK was produced in Victorian times. The Fry family of Bristol ran the largest chocolate factory in the world and in 1873, they produced the world’s first recorded chocolate egg. Cadbury’s joined in on the act two years later.
2. The Easter Bunny came from German legend
The Easter Bunny is an essential part of many people’s Easter celebrations, and he began life as a Pagan symbol of Spring and fertility in pre-Christian Germany. The Easter Bunny was said to be a representative of the goddess Eostre, laying nests of colourful eggs for children on Easter Sunday.
3. Cadbury’s produces over 1.5 million Crème Eggs every day
Once you see the Crème Eggs on the supermarket shelves you know Easter can’t be far away. Cadbury’s produces over 500 million Crème Eggs every year and that works out at 1.5 million each day to keep us satisfied.
4. No dancing in Germany on Good Friday
If you live in Germany then you need to avoid dancing in public on Good Friday. It may sound a little far-fetched but it’s true, most regions of Germany have a blanket ban on public dancing every Good Friday. The day’s religious significance means many regions even ban the playing of music in bars and clubs, and it’s all to respect those who are mourning the death of Jesus Christ on Good Friday.
5. The record-breaking Easter Egg weighed 7,200kg
Guinness World Records have the largest and heaviest chocolate Easter egg weighing in at 7,200kg. Measuring over 34 feet in height it was made in Italy and shown off at the La Acciaierie Shopping Centre in Corte Nuova.
