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Easter and its customs: a brief study
63 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1961
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About the author
Christina Hole
30 books4 followersAn award-winning British folklorist and author. Born in 1896.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 14, 2024
AN ENGLISH FOLKLORIST PROVIDES HELPFUL BACKGROUND
At the time this book was first published in 1961, Christina Hole was "one of England's leading writers on folklore." She also wrote books such as Christmas and its customs, a brief study. She notes, "There can never have been a time when [Easter's] anniversary was not honored by every Jewish and Gentile convert; and we know that, when St. Paul was preaching and writing to the small scattered communities which then celebrated all Christendom, it was already being celebrated as the Supreme Holy Day." (Pg. 7-8)
She admits, "we do not know on what precise date the first Easter Day fell... But it was in spring, in the season of new life and revival when, from time immemorial, the pagan peoples of Europe and Asia held their Spring Festivals... Inevitably, some of their cherished rites and symbols were carried forward into the Easter customs of the new dispensation. Many of them have survived into our own day, unchanged because of their timeless and universal nature, yet subtly altered ... to bear a Christian significance." (Pg. 9)
She observes, "Even our English name for the festival seems to show heathen traces, for the Venerable Bede tells us that it is derived from Eastre (or Eostre), a northern Goddess of Spring and the Dawn, whose principal celebrations were held about the time of the vernal equinox... There is, however, another theory which suggests that the world comes from 'oster,' to rise." (Pg. 11)
She records, "Good Friday has been observed by Christians everywhere as the most solemn feast of the year... Its various names... all stress its supreme religious importance. In English-speaking countries it is Good Friday, which is usually thought to be a corruption of God's Friday." (Pg. 40) She adds, "Eating hot cross buns is one of the few Good Friday customs that has taken root in America... The cross was a pagan symbol long before it acquired everlasting significance from the events of the first Good Friday, and bread and cakes were sometimes marked with it in pre-Christian times." (Pg. 43-44)
She states, "Easter eggs have a very long ancestry. In their modern chocolate or cardboard form, they date only from the later years of last century, but the giving of real eggs, colored or gilded, at Easter, and also at the pre-Christian Spring Celebrations, is infinitely older. Long before the Christian era, eggs were regarded as symbols of continuing life and resurrection... The custom of coloring eggs at Easter may well be as old as the festival itself, continuing with only a change of dedication from the earlier pagan usage." (Pg. 61-62)
This is an excellent source for information about Easter. (My only complaint is that she does not provide specific citations for all the abundant information in the book.)
At the time this book was first published in 1961, Christina Hole was "one of England's leading writers on folklore." She also wrote books such as Christmas and its customs, a brief study. She notes, "There can never have been a time when [Easter's] anniversary was not honored by every Jewish and Gentile convert; and we know that, when St. Paul was preaching and writing to the small scattered communities which then celebrated all Christendom, it was already being celebrated as the Supreme Holy Day." (Pg. 7-8)
She admits, "we do not know on what precise date the first Easter Day fell... But it was in spring, in the season of new life and revival when, from time immemorial, the pagan peoples of Europe and Asia held their Spring Festivals... Inevitably, some of their cherished rites and symbols were carried forward into the Easter customs of the new dispensation. Many of them have survived into our own day, unchanged because of their timeless and universal nature, yet subtly altered ... to bear a Christian significance." (Pg. 9)
She observes, "Even our English name for the festival seems to show heathen traces, for the Venerable Bede tells us that it is derived from Eastre (or Eostre), a northern Goddess of Spring and the Dawn, whose principal celebrations were held about the time of the vernal equinox... There is, however, another theory which suggests that the world comes from 'oster,' to rise." (Pg. 11)
She records, "Good Friday has been observed by Christians everywhere as the most solemn feast of the year... Its various names... all stress its supreme religious importance. In English-speaking countries it is Good Friday, which is usually thought to be a corruption of God's Friday." (Pg. 40) She adds, "Eating hot cross buns is one of the few Good Friday customs that has taken root in America... The cross was a pagan symbol long before it acquired everlasting significance from the events of the first Good Friday, and bread and cakes were sometimes marked with it in pre-Christian times." (Pg. 43-44)
She states, "Easter eggs have a very long ancestry. In their modern chocolate or cardboard form, they date only from the later years of last century, but the giving of real eggs, colored or gilded, at Easter, and also at the pre-Christian Spring Celebrations, is infinitely older. Long before the Christian era, eggs were regarded as symbols of continuing life and resurrection... The custom of coloring eggs at Easter may well be as old as the festival itself, continuing with only a change of dedication from the earlier pagan usage." (Pg. 61-62)
This is an excellent source for information about Easter. (My only complaint is that she does not provide specific citations for all the abundant information in the book.)
April 9, 2022
Interesting history of Easter traditions in England written in 1961. Some pretty strange traditions had taken place.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews