Easter is a majestic holiday full of deep spiritual meaning. But for children and even many adults, it means good traditions, fun games, and Easter sweets. During our travels, Wander has come across many interesting and colorful Easter customs - you may want to diversify your holiday with them.
Easter traditions of Ukraine
In our country, preparations for Easter are no less important than the holiday itself. For example, Maundy Thursday: on this day, you have to clean the whole house, bathe with the whole family, and bring the holy fire into the house. In some regions, people bake Easter cakes and paint eggs on Maundy Thursday, while in others they do it on Holy Saturday. Good Friday is dedicated to fasting and prayer.
Easter basket
What should be in an Easter basket?
- Easter cake and Easter eggs;
- something dairy: cottage cheese, sour cream, or cottage cheese cake;
- salt - a symbol of prosperity and health;
- horseradish is a symbol of strength of spirit;
- smoked meats and sausages are allowed, except for blood sausage, because the Bible prohibits eating blood;
- no alcohol, the exception may be red wine, by the way, not necessarily cahors.
- Money and other material values should not be blessed in the basket.
People believe that you should not throw away the leftovers of the blessed food, but bury them somewhere. It is said that the most beautiful flowers grow from Easter cake crumbs.
Fun for children
However, Easter is not just about food! Offer children an old Ukrainian game: the participants of the game are placed on a small slope (you can do it on the couch). One of them lets his Easter egg or chocolate Easter egg roll down (you can use any inclined plane), the others let their Easter eggs roll down after him, trying to hit the first egg. The one whose Easter egg breaks the other one takes the broken one as a prize.
Easter traditions in the USA
Americans love family holidays and, of course, celebrate them on a grand scale. For example, if you're going to roll Easter eggs with a huge spoon across a green lawn, let it be the White House lawn. This is not an exaggeration, but an annual tradition since 1878. And it happened like this: back in 1876, Congress decided to ban children from playing on the lawn around the Capitol. But President Rutherford Hayes said that if any child came there on Easter Monday to roll Easter eggs, no one would stop them. Since then, American children have enjoyed participating in the "egg race" and the President and First Lady have hosted them.
Easter sweets in the USA
The traditional Easter dessert for a family table is a fruit cake or an open pie, usually with the first strawberry. For children, Americans buy Easter figures made of chocolate, such as chickens or rabbits. By the way, the Easter chocolate rabbit has become a dessert only recently. Initially, the rabbit was one of the images of the Scandinavian fertility goddess Ostara, whose holiday was in the spring. When pagan and Christian customs mixed, children began to believe that the Easter bunny brought them chocolate eggs.
Easter traditions of Great Britain
Historians believe that the famous egg hunt is a German custom that spread to neighboring France and then to England due to the spread of Protestantism. By the way, onion peels used to be used in Europe to dye Easter eggs. Brightly colored eggs are more often hidden in the garden, less often at home. Children with baskets try to find as many eggs as possible, because the one who collects the most will win a prize. In 1985, the Guinness Book of World Records included an Egg Hunt in the United States, with 950 people participating and collecting 80 thousand eggs!
Chocolate fever
The chocolate Easter egg was invented as soon as solid chocolate was invented. French and German chocolatiers were the first to take up the idea, but the technique of making chocolate in molds was still imperfect. In the 1870s, John Cadbury, the father of the famous Cadbury chocolate brand, created the first chocolate eggs with jelly inside, they were without decoration. Later, chocolate eggs were decorated with marzipan flowers and colored sprinkles.
It is Cadbury that organizes the most beautiful and massive Egg Hunt in the UK: in cooperation with the National Parks Trust, a magical event for families takes place every year at 250 beautiful locations.
Easter traditions in Germany
In our country, we used to burn dry grass and brushwood accumulated after winter storms on agricultural land bordering forests in the spring. In Germany, however, huge bonfires in the spring have long been part of the ritual of spring's victory over winter. The custom migrated to Christianity, and now in the northern lands, the Osterfeuer is blessed by a priest at the beginning of the Easter night service. The fire symbolizes the resurrection.
Easter traditions of Australia
Australia has its own character of Easter fun - not a rabbit, but a bilby. The bilby is a rare local animal that looks like both a rabbit and a mouse, but with a cute elongated face. Chocolate bilbies are welcome gifts for children. But Australians and New Zealanders are even more fond of traditional round cross buns, which are eaten hot on Good Friday! Since Easter in the southern hemisphere falls during the season of bad weather, these Easter sweets made of buttery dough with spices and chocolate are very suitable for the weather.
Easter traditions of Bermuda
On Good Friday, the distant islands traditionally host a kite festival. Bright hexagonal or octagonal kites are painted with crosses. It is said that the tradition was started by a school teacher who flew a kite to show his students how Jesus ascended to heaven.
Easter traditions of Guatemala
Religious processions for Easter are common in many countries around the world, but only in Guatemala do local artists lay out long, colorful carpets of colored sand, flowers, and fruits along the route. They have only a day before Good Friday to cope with the complex ornaments. This tradition is said to be connected to the Mayan heritage. The colored paths are removed immediately after the procession.
Easter traditions in Finland
In Finland, there are "Easter witches". Mostly girls dress up as witches with painted freckles, and they knock on neighbors' houses on Palm Sunday, and in some regions on the Saturday before Easter. Each of them has a willow vine decorated with paper flowers, with which the girls drive away evil forces from people's homes, bless the land for a fruitful year, and families for prosperity. In return, children are treated to sweets.
All Easter traditions are connected to our desire for spring renewal. Using symbols and rituals, we want to celebrate life because light conquers darkness. Let's try to leave room for joy, play, and taste even in the midst of serious challenges.
Store
FOR BIRTHDAYS
SIGNATURE FRUIT PASTE
White chocolate
Milk chocolate
WANDER BAKERY
FOR ST VALENTINE'S DAY