Again, just for fun... Daniel, You sly old goat! Your perfidy is discovered sir! By jimminy, it is just that! Easter isn't even a "proper Christian" celebration. It's not mentioned in the Bible, New Or Old testaments. It is an adaptation of pre-christian devotions to the Egyptian goddess Ishtar, and her consort, a rabbit, symbol of fertility. lol Properly, it should be a celebration of the Passover. But I think that you knew that. [ame=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chayyim]L'Chayyim[/ame]! More to read for the interested. EASTER_Origins on Xanga The True Origin of Easter
^ I think that's an oversimplification. Most ritual celebrations draw elements from earlier ones. There's a big Aztec ritual holiday that coincides with a Catholic one. Mexicans dress up in Aztec garb and dance to drums in the public square in front of a church for a week. And more or less constantly, one or another of them leaves the dance to go into the church and worship there for a while. The rabbits and the eggs and the treasure hunts are pure crossovers from pagan celebrations. But that does not mean that Easter is without Christian elements. Even the fact that Jesus is not the first god to be killed and resurrected, does not mean that Easter is not a "proper Christian" celebration. It just means that religions draw elements from older religions. Some Egyptian deities were killed and resurrected. Dionysius died and was resurrected. Captain Cook was killed by South Sea islanders who believed he was one of their gods who had to be killed every year in order to be resurrected. (Just his bad luck that he returned to the island just at the time of year "he" was scheduled to be killed.) That does not mean that it's not a "proper Christian" celebration for them to also have a god who dies and is resurrected. And I doubt our chocolate rabbits have anything to do with Ishtar's consort. I think they come from European pagan spring/rebirth/fertility celebrations, due to the fertility of rabbits. Probably something the Europeans clung to from their pagan past in spite of their conversion to Christianity. For me, raised in a secular Jewish home, it was just an excuse to eat candy. We didn't celebrate any of the Jewish holidays. We had the tree and the presents at Christmas, and candy at Halloween and Easter. I didn't even know what Passover was until I was an adult. And I only knew the child's version of Chanukah, and I didn't believe it. (I figured the rabbis snuck into the temple at night and poured some regular oil into the lamp so it would seem like a miracle.)
Happy birthday Ed! Didn't realize you were so young. Sure wish we would have gotten together last year.
There's a point > ? Who said there was a point > ? Was it the Evil Count, from the Land of Point > ? Did he say there can be only one point >, or can there be many < ^ > ?
No worries D, you will get a chance to meet Him yourself. Just hope your are on good terms when you do.
You know, I really do wish I could meet him. And I know exactly what he'd say if I did: "Sorry about my fan club."
Thanks Spidey! I wish that we could have gotten together also. I still have a visit to Alaska on my to do list but I am not sure when. Okay now back to Easter.... Posted from my iPhone via the Tapatalk app.
