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EasterEasterIntroduction to Easter

Easter has been known to be one of the most important Christianfestivals. Easter is celebrated world-wide by Christians, no matterwhere they live. Easter is known as a movable feast as the dates ofthe celebration vary from year to year. Initially, there was a beliefthat Easter had got its name from the spring goddess Eostre. Eostrewas a goddess who existed long before es!s was born, and she wassincerely worshipped. es!s Christ was believed to be a son of "odby the Christians. Easter is a celebration which reminisces the last#eek of es!s Christs life.

History and Religion Beliefs

In the present now, we celebrate Easter once each year. $ fewcent!ries ago, there has been evidence that Christians originallycelebrated Easter once a week, every %!nday. &!t at some point, inthe d!ration of the 'rst two cent!ries it became the ordinary ro!tineof celebrating the res!rrection especially on one day each year.(any of the religio!s devotions of this celebration were taken fromthe ewish )assover. *he speci'c day on which the res!rrectionsho!ld be celebrated often came to arg!ments at ch!rches. +irstly,sho!ld it be on ewish )assover no matter what day the celebrationfalls, or sho!ld it always fall on a %!nday ater, the ch!rch maorityo/cially decided that Easter sho!ld always be celebrated on a%!nday. In 0ome, d!e to religio!s beliefs there is a march1parade2preceded o!tside of the ch!rch. *here are no lights on when themarch leaves the ch!rch. *his march cond!cts a symbolic search fores!s Christs body, and later it was anno!nced blissf!lly that3Christ has risen43.

#hen the march ret!rns to the ch!rch, h!ndredsof candles and lamps are lit to symboli5e the magni'cence of es!sChrist6s res!rrection, and the Easter E!charist is taken. *he common

symbol of Easter is mostly brightly colo!red Easter eggs. *his isbeca!se the Christian comm!nity view Easter eggs as a symbol ofoy7fertility and a common practice is for children to 'nd the hiddenEaster eggs.

In my opinion, considering how Easter was originally celebratedonce a week, to Easter being celebrated once a year is a great idea.*his is so more people and c!lt!res can celebrate this eventtogether. *hinking more critically, if Easter was celebrated once aweek, other c!lt!res and religions wo!ld obvio!sly not have thetime to oin in and celebrate this celebration as it wo!ld be too

m!ch commitment for someone who does not believe in Christ or isnot Christian.

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Why and how is it celebrated?

Easter can be celebrated in many di8erent ways, according to yo!r

place of residence and yo!r beliefs.+irstly yo!r place of residencecan greatly a8ect yo! on how yo! celebrate Easter as some placescelebrate it more traditionally than others. 9o!r beliefs also a8ecthow yo! celebrate Easter as some people who believe in es!s morewill celebrate this celebration more, b!t on the opposite side, manypeople also do not celebrate Easter at all4 :n Easter %!ndaych!rches hold special services which celebrates es!s Christsres!rrection.In the present, most people decorate eggs and organi5eEaster egg h!nt6s. *he Easter eggs are s!pposedly hidden by arabbit or a hare for yo!nger children to 'nd. In some areas, Easteregg h!nts are a pop!lar way for local b!sinesses to promotethemselves and gain income, b!t there are also non-pro'tableorgani5ations as-well. *his incl!des organi5ations s!ch as localch!rches. In ;ew 9ork city there is an Easter parade held every year.*his tradition started back in the mid >6s . )articipants wearelaborately decorated bonnets and hats. *his parade is notreligio!sly signi'cant, b!t so!rces note that Easter processions havebeen a part of Christianity since its earliest days. *oday, other than!st ;ew 9ork, more and more cities across $merica are beginning tohold Easter parades.

I think parades are a great way to trigger happiness for the childrenand bring awareness to the ad!lts abo!t the celebration of Easter atthe same time. )arades are so m!ch f!n for the yo!nger children,and by holding a parade it !st gets so m!ch people together tocelebrate this pop!lar event.

Who celebrates it?

)eople from all aro!nd the world celebrate Easter. *he maority ofcelebrators are from the Christian Comm!nity and Catholic

Comm!nity. *he main celebrators are from these two comm!nitiesas Easter is a c!lt!ral Christian celebration to celebrate theres!rrection of the ord, known as es!s Christ. )eople !s!allycelebrate Easter together with family and friends. Easter iscelebrated all over the world by di8erent c!lt!res. *ake ;ew ?ealandfor example. ;ew ?ealand is @!ite a m!lti-c!lt!ral co!ntry, so manyc!lt!res recogni5e Easter. In ;ew ?ealand, people in the localcomm!nity, attend Ch!rch %ervices over the weekend to celebrateboth the death and res!rrection of Christ and to mark the end of theseason of ent. *he stores all carry Aot Cross &!ns and stock

chocolate Easter eggs for the Easter &!nny to 'll his basket on

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Easter %!nday morning. *his !s!ally res!lts in Easter egg h!nts forthe children.

)ersonally, I think it is great how so many c!lt!res celebrate thiscelebration together as one4 ;o matter what c!lt!re, or what beliefs

we have, most people still oin in to celebrate this event, making itthe best celebration as possible.

Changes over time

:ver the past several h!ndred years, it is certain that thecelebration of Easter has developed some big changes over time. Insome co!ntries, there may be larger changes than others. :verall,the celebration of Easter has changed @!ite a bit, all aro!nd theworld. $ signi'cant change is how the main foc!s of Easter hasshifted from celebrating the res!rrection of es!s Christ to Easterb!nnies and chocolate Easter eggs.*here have been @!ite a fewpositive changes, as well as negative changes. $ positive change ishow many more c!lt!res and individ!als are recogni5ing thecelebration of Easter. ;egative changes is how Easter is celebratedmore like a typical p!blic holiday other than the religio!s celebrationit !sed to be a few h!ndred years ago. *he celebration of Easter hasalso become more commerciali5ed over the years. Easter is now!sed more for advertising and marketing schemes rather than forcelebrating es!s Christ and Christianity. ;owadays companies take

advantage of the celebration, !sing it to promote and sell moreprod!cts which relate to Easter, b!t this is what they are onlydoing.

In my opinion I believe that the present companies nowadays sho!ldpromote the real story behind the celebration of Easter more andmore, to pass the knowledge onto the yo!nger generations now,and the f!t!re generations to come. &y doing so we can be certainthat this important celebration will not slowly fade away and beforgotten abo!t.

Conclusion:

In concl!sion, I believe Easter sho!ld contin!e to be one of the mostimportantly recognised festivals. I think this sho!ld happen as thewhole point of Easter is to remember es!s Christ and his sacri'cehe has made for the f!t!re generations, known as !s. I also believeit is important for f!t!re generations to maintain the practices andtraditions of Easter. *his is so that the f!t!re generations candevelop more positive changes over time, other than negatives.

Biliography:

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httpB77www.ay!shveda.com7festivals7easter7easter.htmintroduction to Easter

httpB77en.wikipedia.org7wiki7EasterChanges over time! History"

httpB77www.timeanddate.com7holidays7new-5ealand7easter-mondayEaster in #ew $ealand"

httpB77www.religionfacts.com7christianity7holidays7easter.htmEaster religion and Culture

http://www.ayushveda.com/festivals/easter/easter.htmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easterhttp://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/new-zealand/easter-mondayhttp://www.religionfacts.com/christianity/holidays/easter.htmhttp://www.ayushveda.com/festivals/easter/easter.htmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easterhttp://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/new-zealand/easter-mondayhttp://www.religionfacts.com/christianity/holidays/easter.htm