What is your favorite childhood memory about Easter?
451424
Mom dressing my sisters and me in fancy frilly dresses, lacy anklets, fancy little girl hats with matching lacy purses, and my brothers in little matching suits.\n\nWe'd walk two blocks to church...all eight of us...following Mom and Dad in our Easter Best.\nWe'd celebrate the Holy Day.\n\nAfterwards, when we would get home....we had our egg hunt.\nMom and Dad hid them everywhere.  \nInside and outside the house.  \nWhoever found the silver and gold egg got first pick of the easter baskets [even though they were all exactly the same!]\n\nWow!!  What lovely memories!!\nThanks Mom and Dad!!\n\n\nAnd... thanks Zoya for causing me to remember.\nHappy Easter.
997566
I don't think it is any more wrong than telling them about the Easter Bunny or Santa Clause or the Tooth Fairy.  Childhood is all about make believe and stories.  Sometimes we adults forget that.  My fondest memory is being at my Grandmother's house during a thunderstorm where I was frightened of the thunder.  My Grandma told me the very same thing....That God was bowling and he just got a strike!!!!  It is a memory that I love to remember, and I thank you for the question because that memory came to mind.
938729
i have always thought of Easter as more important.  Jesus was tempted and because he WAS man, he could've NOT died on the cross for our sins.  However, He chose to do so and showed us His ultimate love and sacrifice through it.  I always look at Easter as a more important and more reverant holiday than Christmas.  I love Christmas and enjoy the festivities with a smile, but Easter always brings a certain solemness at first (usually on Good Friday) and then a joyful ending on Easter Sunday - since He rose and is now alive in Heaven.\n\nGood question!
403663
I go to church on Easter Sunday, at my church in Queens, NY.  Then, usually, I go to the Fifth Avenue Easter Parade in Manhattan, NYC.  Often I'm wearing an Easter bonnet I've made myself, and I hand out little tracts and treats.  Then I join my family for Easter dinner, which usually includes ham or lamb.  We might watch an appropriate Easter show on TV.\n\nOften I incorporate a little Passover in my Easter.  I might make up a kind of seder plate on Holy Thursday.  I've also attended a few Messianic Seders.  Last year I attended a model seder for middle-schoolers at a Reform synagogue; this year I've already attended a pre-Passover women's seder at the same synagogue.\n\nGood Friday, I used to go to a Catholic Church, sometimes St Patrick's Cathedral, in the afternoon.  Since my own church started having Good Friday services in the evening, I go there.
471475
eggs are a symbol of resurrection and therefore the official symbol of easter.  people decorate them to give the eggs added meaning as symbolic objects i would guess.
420919
Easter is derived from an ancient Germanic name for the month of April, Eostremonat--or rather Eostre Month, in dedication to the goddess Eostre. Eostre, or Ostara was a German goddess of fertility and her return was marked by the coming of spring and the sun. The Ost in her name refers to the East--the rising of the sun. The rebirth of the day and the rebirth of the spring were her specialties, and her celebrations occured during the vernal equinox--the first day of spring. Of course calendar dates have gotten juggled about for quite a few different reasons over time and now April is no longer where it once was on the calendar at what is now March 21st.\n\nThe rabbit was a traditional symbol of the goddess because of its great fertility, and the fact that the coming of spring marked the time when all of the little bunnies were seen starting to be born.\n\nWhen Christianity became the predominant religion it was an easy transition to introduce the rebirth of the Christ figure into the already extant birth and rebirth tradition. Old ways die hard, and the bunny stuck around. \n\nAlthough there are several explanations for the eggs the Easter bunny brings, (other than eggs are another traditional symbol of birth/rebirth) the most likely is that eggs were forbidden during the fast of lent, and were decorated and eaten in abundance to mark the end of the fast.\n\nGerman protestants, although breaking with Roman Catholocism and the tradition of the lent fast, liked the egg tradition and kept it. And when German immigrants came to America, they brought with them the traditions of the Osterhase (Easter hare) and his eggs.\n\nInasmuch as Christianity has stolen the ancient goddess' name for their own holiday, it seems only fitting that its original mascot still puts in an appearance each year.
353731
The day Easter is is determined this way.  Easter always falls on the first Sunday following the First full moon after the spring equinox.
348118
The Easter bunny is a symbol of fertility and rebirth, so I'm told. And a similar line of thought is also applied to the symbolism of Easter eggs. \n\nThe Easter bunny as an entity of itself does not exist, but it is a way to get kids interested in the holiday of Easter and as they get a little older (7+ or so), the real meaning of Easter can be introduced and comprehended by the child. \n\nI do have a vision of what I pictured the Easter bunny to look like when I was little, and it was something along the lines of the man in the Easter bunny costume that I saw at the mall. \n\nI have a lot of awesome Easter memories from my childhood. It did not hurt me to believe in both the Resurrection of Christ AND the Easter bunny. One I outgrew, the other is still with me. Happy Easter to you and your family!
337977
Eggs are associated with Easter for a very simple reason - the egg is seen as the symbol of life (a young chick, duckling etc will grow from it). Then, it also represents Jesus's grave. So when we break the eggs we are remembering what Jesus did when he resurrected and came to life from the dead and got out from his grave (so breaking the egg is similar to Jesus opening his grave).\n\nThe Easter bunny has its origin in pre-Christian fertility lore. The Hare and the Rabbit were the most fertile animals known and they served as symbols of the new life during the Spring season. (more about this one at the website below:)
335062
I don't believe in the Easter Bunny. That's because I used to BE the Easter Bunny. In my youth, I took a seasonal job playing the Easter Bunny at a store. I had to wear a giant, furry rabbit suit that smelled like the worst body odor on Earth. Some of the little kids liked the big Easter Bunny, but other children were frightened, to the point that they would occasionally wet themselves. A kid piddled on my lap. It was unbelievably hot in the bunny suit, and I was sweating like a monster. Dye from some of the bunny fur seeped into my skin, temporarily discoloring it. It's one of those jobs that's interesting to add to a resume, but I don't think I'd ever do it again.
329486
:{\nIve heard that the Easter bunny is an unfortunate hold over from previous pagan religious celebrations of birth, it goes well however with the concept of Christian rebirth
1140572
We woke up one Sunday morning when I was seven. I actually remember this like it was yesterday because what happened that day left a lasting impression which I honestly believe guides my "religious" beliefs today.  Mom and Dad were getting ready for Church and Sunday School and I obediently did the same. My sister and I were all dressed in our Sunday best armed with crayons and paper to keep us occupied during the sermon. (Doesn't that speak for itself?) So we're in the car driving to church. We are literally 150 yards from the church when we are stopped at a red light. Were we to go straight, we would have entered the parking lot of the church and routinely parked our car and, as with every Sunday morning, gone into this huge edifice to "get saved." Were we to turn right......it would lead us down the road to temptation! You see the road led us to the Great Smokey Mountain National Park only a 30 minute drive away. It absolutely blew my mind when I saw my parents look at each other in the front seat without saying a word, smile and then my dad did something that would change my outlook forever. He turned right. \n\nWe didn't make it to church that day. Interestingly enough, we never went back to church at all. My dad turned right and immediately started beaming while accelerating the car and loosening his tie all in one split second. My mother turns back to us girls just gleaming and saying, "We're not going to go to church today. Let's go the moutains instead!" Ok, surely you had moments where you and your siblings just sat there thinking your parents had lost it. This was one of those moments. You see, my parents were amazing people. The epitome of responsibility. If this is what is expected of you, this is probably how you should do it. If you say you're going to do something, you don't let someone down.........you do it! Were they spontaneous? Hell no! I mean......heck no. (Afterall it IS Sunday.) So for my parents to just turn the car away from church and head out towards adventure, this meant something huge. \n\nWe spent that day hiking up to Laurel Falls. Oh I can not tell you how breathtaking this part of our country is. The mountains all around you with the water flowing off the steep terrain into the stream that runs through the rest of the  park. We took our Sunday shoes off as we hiked to this point. We stumbled over a few rocks and roots in the pathway. We stopped and took in the sights. My dad would teach us a few lessons along the way about flora and fauna. We watched the clouds and made up stories about each one as we pictured the fantasic creatures each air mass formed. It was an amazing journey up to the falls. Once we got there, we all sat on a rock in awe. We didn't speak for quite a while as we all just watched the water tumbling down the mountain. We didn't need to say a word. I'm sure we were all thinking the same thoughts, feeling the same amazement. \n\nI ask you, would have going to church made me closer to God than I actually was at that moment? \n\nAs I said, my parents were amazing people. They had it figured out. And the little lessons they taught me along the way helped me figure things out for myself as well. We all worship in our own way at our own times. We are all in awe of this world we live in and somehow know that the way we have evolved into what we are now was probably jump started by a force bigger than ourselves. What it is and how it manifests itself may become clear in due time. Meanwhile, we can be in awe of it in our own ways. \n\nLater in life I asked my dad about that day and why we never returned to church after that. I knew the answer, but so needed to hear his take. He told me that he knew my sister and I were gaining nothing by hearing "words" at our age. He wanted to help us learn by doing. What better way to appreciate the creation of the world than to be a part of it. People don't have to
452139
:}\nIsn't it interesting that many of these same Correspondences have been retained in the Christian celebration of easter. Not only have they been retained, but they have taken on new and meaningful symbolism. \nEven the name of the Holiday:  Eostre's Day and Easter Day \nEaster bunnies and colored eggs including the Pastel Colours:\nPink, Yellow, Grass Green, Robin's Egg Blue\n\nI for one am thankful that pagan holiday which was as lust oriented as was the Vernal Equinox could have been apropiated to such an important spiritual purpose.
326826
Actually, there is a mixture in your mind. Easter, the Resurrection story as celebrated by the Christians is a Christian celebration. However, when the Holy Roman Empire was making it's way across Europe there were several pagan holiday traditions that couldn't be stamped out, no matter how they tried. Therefore, the Catholics took a page out of the Romans' book and just adopted them into their own celebrations and glossed them over as Catholic rituals. \n\nI could go on forever with examples of these, but I'll limit myself to the Easter rituals. Easter was named after a Norse goddess named Ostara, a goddess of fertility. She had certain symbols sacred to her, the hare and the egg. During the Spring Equinox, the adult women would decorate and hide eggs for the men to find. Whomever found the woman's egg, was that woman's partner for the feasting and activities after (think fertility ritual). For this day, marriages were set aside so that the ritual could be enjoyed by all. \n\nSince the Catholics couldn't get rid of this festival entirely, they kept the Easter Bunny and the Egg Coloring and got rid of the fun stuff like the feasting, drinking and fertility ritual. \n\nAnd that's the story of the origin of the Easter Bunny and the colored eggs folks.
607720
Definitely the Easter bunny.
338325
Rabbits and Easter eggs have about as much to do with easter as christmas and easter have to do with christianity. Absolutely nothing.On December 25 Tammuz was born, the son of Nimrod (who I believe to be Satan)& Semiramis the sun goddess. Tammuz was killed by a wild boar thats why people eat their easter ham.The sun worshipers would weep over his death every year it was celabrated the first Sunday after the first full moon of spring. Eggs and rabbits were used to celibrate new life. Christmas and Easter never were Christian holidays to begin with neither is Sunday a sabbathday. Saturday is the Sabbathday.Most of the world will follow after the beast.
479686
http://www.kidsturncentral.com/holidays/easter/eastbon.htm\n\nhttp://jas.familyfun.go.com/arts-and-crafts?page=CraftDisplay&craftid=10213