As with almost all "Christian" holidays, Easter has been secularized and commercialized.
The dichotomous nature of Easter and its symbols, however, is not necessarily a modern
fabrication. Ince its conception as a holy celebration in the second century, Easter has had
its non-religious side. In fact, Easter was originally a pagan festival. The ancient Saxons
celebrated the return of spring with an uproarious festival commemorating their goddess of
offspring and of springtime, Eastre. When the second-century Christian missionaries
encountered the tribes of the north with their pagan celebrations,
they attempted to convert them to Christianity. They did so, however, in a clandestine manner.
It would have been suicide for the very early Christian converts to celebrate
their holy days with observances that did not coincide with celebrations that already existed.
To save lives, the missionaries cleverly decided to spread their religious message slowly throughout
the populations by allowing them to continue to celebrate pagan feasts, but to do so in a Christian manner.
As it happened, the pagan festival of Easter occurred at the same time of year as the Christian observance of the
Resurrection of Christ. It made sense, therefore, to alter
the festival itself, to make it a Christian celebration as converts were
slowly won over.
The early name, Easter, was eventually changed to its modern spelling, Easter.
Fun sites to find out more Easter facts:
http://wilstar.com/holidays/easter
http://easter.123holiday.net/easter_facts
http://www.factmonster.com/spot/eastercandy1
http://www.holidays.net/easter/
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