Incidentally, this time of year there are plenty of online articles discussing all aspects of Easter celebrations. Many articles are wisely warning moms and dads to refrain from buying their children bunnies and chicks. Others are urging the continuation of such Easter traditions as egg hunts and leaving baskets with fake grass and candy and treats for the little ones on Sunday morning.
One of my favorite Easter articles appeared on the Swazi Observer's website. The Swazi Observer is a Swaziland-based newspaper with all kinds of cool stories. The paper's Q&A on Easter was fascinating. At one point, the FAQ raises the question of "Why bunnies?" on Easter. The answer:
The Easter bunny or rabbit comes from the hare, another ancient, pre-Christian symbol of fertility associated with spring. But it gets even more complicated than that. Anglo-Saxon mythology says Eostara changed her pet bird into a rabbit to entertain a group of children, and the rabbit laid brightly coloured eggs for them. The chocolate bunny, like the chocolate Easter egg, is a much more recent idea, stemming from 18th and 19th-century middle European confectionery traditions, many of which were adopted in Britain.
Makes sense. Check out the Swazi Observer Easter Q&A if you get a chance. They manage to pack lots of cool information into a very entertaining format. Another highly entertaining article comes from Denmark's Copenhagen Post. The headline: "Church Leaders: Fewer Chocolate Bunnies, More Jesus." The article contained some alarming news for the religiously inclined. A key graf:
A recent Gallup poll indicated some discouraging facts about the Christian Easter in Denmark: only a third of Danes said the religious aspect of Easter was important to them, while some 60 percent mainly associate Easter with a break from work. A majority of Danes also placed a much higher value on self-made traditions such as travelling and spending time with the family than on the religious meaning of Easter.
Good for the Danes. Unfortunately, on the other side of the world, New Zealanders have an unfortunate way of getting into the Easter spirit. "New Zealanders go rabbit hunting for the 'Great Easter Bunny Hunt,'" said an L.A. Times headline. The event is scheduled to occur in the Otago region of New Zealand. As one of the organizers explained:
Each team has 12 shooters, so that means we've got 564 hunters, plus their entourage - the 'picker-uppers', the cooks, the supporters -- heading out on to farms throughout Central Otago to do battle with the rabbits.
If I could Blog one parting wish to the bunnies of New Zealand: Be careful. Run fast. Avoid the marauding bands of humans. Actually, let's face it: That's good advice for bunnies and other animals everywhere.
And a great comment about us human animals isn't it? Best advice for dealing with us I have maybe ever heard: "Be careful. Run fast. Avoid the marauding bands of humans."
ReplyDeleteMy Easter wish is that all of our fellow earthlings could avoid us, and that the Earth could avoid us.
Happy Easter to you too.
ReplyDeleteCome on over and link to my Easter Blog Hop