by Phyllis Meshel Onest, M.Div.
Last year, on the day after western Christians celebrated
the Resurrection of Christ [Easter], I made my annual pilgrimage to the card,
gift & candy story for the 50% off sale of Easter goodies. I also looked
for an appropriate card in Russian to send to our adult godchildren in
California. [Vladimir and Olga came to the U.S. to study, met, fell in love,
and wanted to marry as Russians "used to do" in the Church. Jim and I
became their sponsors.] To my surprise the foreign language "Easter"
cards all used a form of the word, Pascha! Cards in Russian, Slovak, Spanish,
Hungarian, Polish! Later I read that "Easter" is used only in English
and German. And here I thought that only Orthodox Christians had the
"inside track" on the correct term for this holy day! Pascha is the
Greek form of the Hebrew word, Pesch - "Passover" in English. We know
that Passover is the Jewish feast commemorating the Israelites freedom and
exodus from Egypt. After all, who doesn't have the image of Charleton Heston as
Moses engraved in their mind? When I close my eyes I can see him standing on
the rocky edge of the Red Sea, arms spread open in the form of a cross, and the
sea parting. Thus the Israelites passed over from "death and slavery"
in Egypt to "life and freedom" in the Promised Land. For Orthodox
Christians - and apparently for non-English and German Christians - Pascha best
identifies our passover from sin's "death and slavery" to "life
and freedom" through Christ's Resurrection. Christ not only fulfilled the
Old Testament prophecies, but became the "Passover" Himself. What
Moses, the prefigure of Christ in the Old Testament, inaugurated for the people
of Israel on the temporal level, Christ inaugurated for all people on the
eternal level. So where do the term "Easter" and the Easter Bunny
come into play? We have spoken before of the pagan heritage or influence on
holidays such as Halloween and May Day. Well, it occurs here as well. According
to the Venerable Bede (673-735 AD), a monk who wrote about Anglo-Saxon
mythology, Pascha Sunday was called "Easter" in connection with the
Anglo-Saxon goddess Eostre/Ostara. Eostre, the goddess of the spring, is
venerated at the vernal equinox. It's no surprise that she and her accompanying
symbolism were incorporated into the new religion's festival, since
Christianity corresponded so well to the already familiar springtime themes of
rebirth, new life, new hope, and light. Her existence is based on folklore and
the traditional German festival Ostarun. Although Eostre was nearly always
accompanied in legend and art with a hare, it was a magical hare ("the
Cadbury bunny") who could actually lay eggs. It's easy to see the connection
between this myth and the story of the Easter Bunny. [I always wondered why the
Easter bunny, a mammal, brought eggs!] Since rabbits reproduce so rapidly, and
are associated with fertility, the three became connected - rabbits, eggs and a
goddess of Spring (a time of new life and fertility). Eggs, though, have a
worldwide association with rebirth, new life and fertility. The custom of
egg-rolling came from Britain and gave rise to today's egg hunts. Most famous
are the red eggs of Pascha which remind us of the blood of the risen Lord. In
many Orthodox churches the red eggs are blessed by the priest and distributed
at the Resurrection service. Before eating the eggs, people tap their eggs
against one another's as they say "Christ is Risen! Truly He is Risen!"
Cracking the egg represents breaking the seal of Christ's tomb. According to
custom, the person who cracks the other's egg first will have the blessing. St.
Mary Magdalene, who is often depicted in icons holding a red egg, may have been
aware that the Romans would know the meaning of the egg as something that
brings forth life from a sealed chamber. After Christ was crucified and rose up
to Heaven, Mary was in Rome. When she met with the Roman Emperor Tiberius, she
gave him a red colored egg and announced "Christ is Risen!" She then
went on to preach to Tiberius about Christ. It was an intelligent choice on her
part because it was something the Romans would have understood. The Christian
Church realized that while some pagan customs could be eliminated, the new
religion would be wise to give new significance and blessing to other
established symbols, like the Christmas tree, and the Paschal egg. So while
Christians are celebrating the birth or resurrection of Jesus, modern-day
pagans are celebrating the return of light or the goddess of spring and
fertility. Thus, when we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ,
let's call it Pascha! Since the "Easter Bunny" really has nothing to
do with Pascha, but has everything to do with pagan gods, let's play it down.
Hopefully the Easter Bunny does not visit our parishes. If you want to carry
this even further, if your child gets an "Easter basket" or
"Pascha basket," rather than fill it with lots of chocolate bunnies,
cellophane grass that gets everywhere, and marshmallow chicks that are 100%
sugar, consider filling it with some chocolate candies (I prefer sheep, eggs
and crosses), an icon, a book about Pascha, a good book, or a small toy. For
those who bring Pascha baskets of food to be blessed after the Resurrection
service, consider including these chocolate delights among the other items.