Some Easter Observances.

Hastings Standard, Issue 298, 15 April 1897, Page 4

Some Easter Observances.

Many of the popular observances connected with Easter are doubtless of Pagan origin. The goddess Ostara or Eastre appears to have been the personification of the opening year or spring. The Anglo-Saxon name of April was Ostermoneth. The worship of this deity was brought into England by the Saxons ; and it continued to be celebrated in many parts in the north of Germany down to the beginning of the present century by the kindling of bonfires and other religious rites. The bonfires can be traced in the great " Paschal tapers," sometimes weighing as much as 3001b5., with which churches were lighted on Easter Eve. In the ancient church disbursement of St. Mary at Hill, in the city of Londcn, is an entry " for a quarter of coles for the hallowed fire on Easter Eve, Gd." But the most characteristic Easter rite, and the one most widely diffused, is the use of Pascha (or Easter) eggs. These in " Chambers's Encyclopedia," are usually stained of various colors with dye-woods or herbs, and people mutually make presents of them. Sometimes they are kept as amulets, sometimes eaten. Games are also played by striking them against one another. In seaie moorland parts of Scotland it used to be the custom for young people to go out early on " Pasch Sunday " and to search for wild fowls' eggs for breakfast, and it was thought lucky to find them. " There can be little doubt," continues the writer, " that the use of eggs at this season was originally symbolical of the revivification of nature—the springing forth of new life in spring. The practice is not confied to Christians. The Jews used eggs in their feast of the Passover; and we are told that the Persians, when they keep the festival of the solar year (in March) mutually present each other with eggs." The origin of popular customs generally is a subject hard to unravel; but the subject of " Easter eggs " appears to be less so than most. Some authorities content themselves by supposing that, in the infancy of Christianity, the old pagan emblem, and the proceedings by which expression was given to it, were adapted to symbolise and commemorate the Resurrection and the new life. What EasterEggs were really intended to typify in Christian festivals is clearly shown by the words of the benediction for these eggs, which was- sanctioned by Pope Paul V.—namely, that they were used to signalise ths belief in the Resurrection. Dr. Brewer, in his " Dictionary of Phrase and Fable," remarks that " the practice of presenting eggs to our friemls at Easter is Magian or Persian, and bears allusion to the mundane egg, for which Ormuzd and Ahriman were were to contend till the consummation of all things. It prevailed not only with the Persians, but also among the -Tews, Egyptians, and Hindus. Christians adopted the custom to symbolise the Resurrection, and they color the eggs red in allusion to the blood of their redemption,"

There is a tradition, also, that the world was " hatched" or created at Eastertide Let us glance at the practice observed in different countries of distributing eggs, and the various artistic imitations of eggs, at this Easter season. There can be little doubt that the mere act of making presents at this time of the year throughout the Christian world is traceable to the offerings (or, in ecclesiastical parlance, the " customary dues") which were, and are still, made to the Church at Easter, by all sorts and conditions of the Catholic laity. The practice of interchanging eggs was popular in Persia more than a century and a half ago. Lo l>run states that, on the 20fh March, 1701, the Persians celebrated, during several days, the festival of their solar new year ; and that, hit, >■ iilia. the people made presents to one another of colored eggs eggs, it may be assumed, which presented that rich brilliancy of color and variety of ornamentation which is conspicuous in the decorative works of Eastern nations. Travellers who stop at Smyrna at Easter time arc unmercifully pestered by boys who crowd around them with strings of eggs, streaked, dotted, stripe*!, and chequered in all sorts of gaudy colors. In Greece the inhabitants have some pretty ceremonies illustrative of the season, orange and citron bud> and jasmine flowers 1-. inir introduced ; the presents colored t ltu- au.l Easier i ivad. In Russia. Ea-ti-r i- nl.hraul in a manner dilit-rt nt :o ar.y <»tLur country. Hakluyt. w ho wrote hU "Voyages and Discoveries ' about, the end of the l(Hh centnry. hn-» n some account i f the procvt-di!j_'. t!'t -uhjett <>f whi'-h i- foil"\t- - A- tK i v y -lp; r. ilI:thi p.-ij.l. Iv• ,i u*r- * ' •n'b r "f . r d.' • _r i'.i.i. I f 'h. i ir t M>>otk" i,f .i.'t ; ■« morn to thf The peop:^ carrv eo-n.' of th- i:j- about wi:h t* r <ul\ en 1. ■-:< r-»iay, H*. f -r br *• r K'-tr iU>- afterwards. To hta e*n con:invutun of the re-

port of the festival: —"The gentlemen and gentlewomen have eggs gilded, which they cany in like manner. They use it, iv, they say, for ' a gro-.tt love,' ana iu token of the Eesiii-reetiOii, where they rejoice. For when t'.vo friends meet, during the Easier holidays (after the salutations of the (lay have been passed between them) they kiss and exchange their eggs, both men and women continuing in kissing four days together." "An Eye-witness," in describing the " Feast of Paque" as kept at Moscow on the sth of April, 1702, says that the bells were rung duriug all the night which preceded the fete, and likewise during the gala day, and the morrow The eggs were distributed for fifteen days, the practice prevailing among the rich and the poor, the young and the old. The shops were filled on all sides with tinted eggs, many of which were incribed with the sentence " Christ is risen." Persons of distinction kept their eggs within doors, and made gifts of theiii to visitors, ejaculating as they did so the words given above, which are reiteration by the visitors with emphasis. The ordinary people gave their eggs in the streets. Domestics offered them to their masters and mistresses, and received presents in return.

Iu Germany the Easter egg is a very popular gift. Among the middle classes in Naples, the merry making at Easter includes presents of eggs arrayed iu baskets or trays of pasta legera casatiello ; whilst among the wealthy inhabitants the Easter egg belengs either to the class confetti, or to the toy magazine. In Vienna the natural egg has been almost entirely superseded by the artificial one—at any rate among the well-to-do residents. Gold, silver, bronze, and other metals are used in its as well as various other matenals, such as mother-of-pearl, ivory, and scarce woods ; and the interior is handsomely fitted up and furnished with toys, jewellry, and other articles of infinite variety. Paris has now become the rival of Vienna in the fabrication and display of the Easter egg. In England the custom of distributing Easter eggs was once general, and it still survives in some parts. It can be traced back with certainty to the thirteenth cantury, and there are doubtless records of the practice at an earlier period. An entry in the roll of the household expenses of Edward I is to the effect that 18d were disbursed for 400 eggs at Easter—for the seasonable gifts, of course. Tradescant, the Dutch gardner of Charles I had in the museum which he established at Lambeth specimens of the "Easter eggs of the Patrarchs of Jerusalem." The custom of holding festivals in honor of the Pasque, Peasch, Pace, or Paste egg (as it has been variously called in this country) seems to have been most prevalent in the Northern countries, such as Northumberland, Cumberland, Westmoreland, Yorkshire, Lancashire, and Cheshire. From the records of these observances the eggs appear to have been dyed or stained or painted in different colors, and sometimes gilded. The exterior was frequently ornamented with trucery, and the interior frequently divided into compartments, which were filled up agreeably to the taste and skill of the designer.—Antiquarian Magazine.