Google me: From goddess to God - history of a movable feast

By JULIE MIDDLETON

For many, Easter is simply a four-day holiday, even if they know it's a Christian festival celebrating the resurrection of Christ.

But the history of the holiday started well before the Christian era.

According to Parents down under, Easter, like Christmas, is a blend of Christianity and paganism.

The word Easter is derived from Eostre, an ancient Anglo-Saxon goddess. She symbolised the rebirth of the day at dawn, and the rebirth of life in the spring.

The Guardian notes that the origin of hot-cross buns dates back to those ancient fertility festivals when an ox would be sacrificed.

The ox's horns became a symbol for the feast and were carved into the freshly leavened ritual bread. The word "bun" is derived from the Saxon word "boun", which means "sacred ox".

In the Christian world, Easter is the culmination of events during Holy Week beginning with Palm Sunday, which reflects the return of Jesus to Jerusalem.

Maundy Thursday commemorates the Last Supper and Good Friday honours the crucifixion of Jesus.

Finally, Easter Sunday celebrates the resurrection after Christ's death.

People belonging to the eastern Orthodox churches, including Greeks and Ukrainians, have to wait a little longer, until May 5, to celebrate Easter.

The Guardian site mentioned above says that this is because the Orthodox churches follow the Julian calendar, which was replaced by the Gregorian calendar in mainly Catholic Europe during the 16th century.

Easter is a movable feast - Easter Sunday falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the Northern Hemisphere spring equinox. Got that?

If you want to know when Easter will fall in future, check out Ronald Mallen's sterling work for the Royal Astronomical Society of South Australia in calculating every Easter date since the Crucifixion.

His method, he explains, is simple. Use a calculator to divide the year by 19. Obtain the three digits after the decimal point. Find the Paschal Full Moon (PFM) date in his table and ... voila!

So pick a date. How about 2214. Easter will be early that year, with Easter Sunday falling on March 27.

But Christians in 1783 had to wait until late April.

And finally, The Virtual Vine offers Easter inspiration of the non-religious sort.

Everything I Need To Know I Learned From The Easter Bunny

Don't put all of your eggs in one basket.

Walk softly and carry a big carrot.

Everyone needs a friend who is all ears.

There's no such thing as too much candy.

A cute little tail attracts a lot of attention.

Everyone is entitled to a bad hare day.

Let happy thoughts multiply like rabbits.

Some body parts should be floppy.

Sadly, the enlightened author is listed as one U. N. Known.