Easter: A rather unusual saga
Maria Ljungström
What actually is Easter??? More than just eating eggs, shooting up skyrockets and decorating with twigs and feathers. My b/f Jon from New Zealand doesn't get our weird traditions here in Sweden. That's why Inredningsvis has now found out all the facts about Easter…
Easter is a pretty bizzare story…
1. The Easter bunny lays eggs…why???
So howcome a rabbit can suddenly lay eggs? Well, the story goes that the Easter bunny was originally a bird, and comes from a mythological saga where there is also a forest goddess called Ostara. The bird did something that ticked off the hunter Orion, and therefore the bird asked Ostara to change it into a faster creature. Ostara changed the bird into a hare, which was never captured by Orion the hunter (Jon says: "yeah, cos that makes sense…" :P ) Anyway, once every year Ostara allows the hare to lay eggs, like he used to when he was a bird. This happened in the Spring time (Jon says: "never mind that it's Autumn in the southern hemisphere…" :P ), and that's why the Easter bunny brings us eggs every Easter. (Jon says: "none the wiser" :P )
2. Why is Easter celebrated on different dates each year?
According to Christianity, Easter has something to do with a crucifixion. Judaism wanted to celebrate Easter on the 14th of March (Jon says: "Sure, why not?" :P ) but the Christian priests moved Easter to the Sunday after (Jon says: "Oh ok, guess thats why…) because they thought that's when Jesus was raised from the dead. However, some people say that Easter MUST land on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the equinox on the 21st of March. CONFUSING. Hmm, ok… Just one of the reasons why I'm not religious. No one can get the story straight and it just doesn't make sense :)
3. Who are the Easter hags???
(Jon says: "It's a Swedish thing, don't ask…)
In Sweden we have witches at Easter that are called "påskkärringar" (Easter hags). They have a broomstick, black cat, and fly to a place called "Blåkulla" (Blue hill). All of this comes from the awful witch hunts that took place during the 17th Century. Young women were burned and accused of being witches because they liked things likes herbal medicine. Once again the priests were there and decided that the 'witches' flew to the Blue hill where they had an orgy with the Devil. They had sex with the Devil whom, according to the history books (Jon says:"Maybe the authors of those books had a bit much 'herbal medicine' when they were writing them…" :P) had a big, blue, and ice cold penis. (Jon says:"I told you not to ask" :) A question: Why cold, and what did they do with the cats? Hopefully they went mouse hunting when the orgy was taking place! :)
Hahahhaha When I started studying the bizarre mix of stories I just had to laugh at all of them. Quite simply, we celebrate a bird in a rabbit suit that lays eggs. We also celebrate on a dubious date which follows the full moon and the idiotic theories of old priests. We then finish (in Sweden at least) by getting lost in an orgy of witches, cats and the Devil's big, blue and ice cold BEEEEEEP!!! :)
Hmmm For me, Easter makes Alice in Wonderland look pretty plain in comparison :) And Jon has never laughed so hard after hearing the crazy mix of why we celebrate Easter.
In my view, Easter is and will always be a pastell-coloured celebration of Spring. Now, lets eat some chocolate eggs (Jon says: "What had that magical rabbit-bird been eating to lay those things anyway? haha :) and enjoy the rest of our most bizarre holiday :)
HAPPY EASTER, from Maria och Jon
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About Inredningsvis
Inredningsvis is one of Swedens largest magazines on home decoration, with thousands of readers each month. Maria Ljungström behind the blog has an eye for making your home look more luxurious and personal.