FROM EQUINOX TO EASTER: CELEBRATIONS OF SPRING

Welcome to Issue #5 of the eTAP HOME/SCHOOL HELPLETTER.

Thank you for your enthusiastic response to our first four issues. Now, as we enter this season of hope and rebirth, we're taking a look at how some of the traditions of Spring came to be.

Easter, of course, is the most joyous day on the Christian calendar -- the day
that defines the Christian faith.

But there are other things to celebrate this time of year, too -- mothers, flowers and even fools. As Mark Twain said about April Fools' Day, "Let us be thankful for the fools. But for them, the rest of us could not succeed."

So Happy Easter, Happy Passover, Happy Mothers Day -- and may you
succeed at everything you turn your hand to this wonderful time of year.

Blaise Subbiondo, Editor

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Winter Solstice, which took place on December 21, 2004, is the shortest day of the year. Summer Solstice, which will take place on June 21, 2005, is the longest day of the year. In between, we have two equinoxes -- the two days of the year when day and night are exactly the same length. In fact, that's what equinox means: "equal night."

On March 20, at 7:34 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, the Sun crossed directly over
the Earth's equator. That was the vernal (Spring) equinox. The autumn equinox will take place on September 22 at 6:23 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time -- but our topic today is Spring!

People have celebrated the vernal equinox -- the beginning of Spring and the return of the growing season -- for thousands of years.

The ancient Romans celebrated with a feast for Flora, their goddess of plants and flowers. It was called Florialia. Women and girls wearing white robes scattered flower petals in the streets -- and children made dolls representing the goddess and decorated them with flowers.

The ancient Egyptians built the Great Sphinx so that it pointed directly toward the rising Sun on the
day of the vernal equinox.

In Babylon four thousand years ago, families celebrated the return of their god Tammuz, brought back from the underworld by his wife Ishtar (also called Astarte). Mothers baked hot cross buns and served ham for dinner -- and eggs were hidden, searched for and eventually placed into lovely, seasonal baskets.

In Babylon four thousand years ago, families celebrated the return of their god Tammuz, brought back from the underworld by his wife Ishtar (also called Astarte). Mothers baked hot cross buns and served ham for dinner -- and eggs were hidden, searched for and eventually placed into lovely, seasonal baskets.

The ancient Greeks, Persians and Chinese celebrated Spring with festivals during which they exchanged eggs as a symbol of this season of rebirth. And the early Anglo-Saxons celebrated with a festival in honor of Eastre, their goddess of children and springtime. Eastre was worshipped through her earthly symbol, the rabbit.

The vernal equinox is also extremely important to Christians, since Easter
always falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox.

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Easter Sunday
Easter is the most important day of the year for Christians. It celebrates the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and is one of the central doctrines of the faith.

On this day and others, the risen Christ appeared at least eleven times to His disciples and others. He not only spoke and broke bread with them but allowed them to touch Him.

About 3000 years ago, the Israelites were being held as slaves in Egypt. According to the Book of Exodus, God instructed Moses  to go to the Egyptian ruler, Pharaoh Ramses II, and ask him to "let my people go."

Pharaoh refused. So God unleashed 10 terrible plagues on the people of Egypt. The last of these plagues was the slaying of the first-born offspring of both man and beast. To protect themselves, the Israelites were told to mark their dwellings with lamb's blood so that God could "pass over" their homes and spare their children.

This plague finally convinced the Pharaoh to grant the Israelites their freedom -- but they left their homes so quickly they didn't even have time to bake bread. So they packed the raw dough and took it with them. As they fled through the desert, they baked it in the Sun into hard crackers called matzohs, which is why the Jews eat matzohs instead of bread during Passover.

Even though the Jews were supposedly free, Pharaoh's army still pursed them until they were trapped on the shore of the Red Sea. But then, according to Exodus, a miracle occurred -- the waves of the Red Sea parted and the Israelites were able to cross to the other side. As soon as they reached safety, the sea closed back over Pharaoh's pursuing army, all of whom drowned.

The Israelites were finally free. Passover celebrates this flight to freedom.

This year, Passover begins at sundown on April 23. It is observed for 8 days and is a time of family gatherings and special meals called Seders which are held on the first two nights of the celebration.

These Seders are the focal point of the Passover festivities. Special kitchen utensils and dishes are used and only foods that are "Kosher (fit or proper) for Passover" are eaten. A special retelling of the story of Passover is read from the Haggadah (the Book of Exodus) and the youngest child at the table is given Four Questions to read aloud.

The Four Questions are actually variations on one over-all question, which is: Why is this night unlike any other night?

Here are the variations:

Why is it that on all other nights of the year we eat either bread or matzoh, but on this night we eat only matzoh?"       "Why is it that on all other nights we eat all kinds of herbs, but on this night we eat only bitter herbs?"     "Why is it that on all other nights we do not dip our herbs even once, but on this night we dip them twice?" and       "Why is it that on all other nights we eat either sitting or reclining, but on this night we eat in a reclining position?"

The answers to each question illustrate specific events in the Passover story.

For the answers to the questions and a complete description of the special rituals of Passover, go to:
http://www.holidays.net/passover/

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In the United States, Mothers' Day is celebrated on the second Sunday in May.
This year that will be May 8. Other countries throughout the world also honor mothers at this time of year. Those countries include Denmark, Finland, Italy, Turkey, Australia and Belgium.

On Mothers' Day, children honor their mothers with cards, flowers and gifts.

Paying tribute to mothers is nothing new -- although in Greece it was Rhea,
Mother of the Gods, who was given special honor.

Later, in the 1600's, there was an observance in England called "Mothering Sunday" held on the fourth Sunday in Lent.

On Mothering Sunday, servants (who usually lived with their employers) returned to their homes to honor their own mothers, taking along a special cake to celebrate the occasion.

In 1908, Anna Jarvis of Grafton, West Virginia, persuaded her church to hold a Mothers' Day celebration on the anniversary of her mother's death. She and others began a campaign to establish a national Mothers' Day.

Their efforts were successful

In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the second Sunday of May as the official date of the annual National Observance of Mothers' Day.

Here are a couple of things the Bible has to say about mothers:

Deu 5:16 Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has
commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with
you in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

Pro 10:1 A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son grief to his mother.

 

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Druid priests celebrated the Celtic festival of Beltane ("bright fire") on the first of May. People built bonfires on May Day Eve and drove their cattle between them to protect them from disease. Since the Druids worshipped trees, it is thought that the tradition of the May Pole originated with them too.

In any case, May Poles became a common sight in many town squares on May Day.

May Poles are trees that have been cut down and stripped of their branches. Then, brightly colored streamers are attached to their tops. Youngsters take turns grabbing the ribbons and dancing around the May Poles -- weaving these streamers into colorful patterns. This is accompanied by enthusiastic music and song and these patterns are thought to help Nature regain its balance after the long cold winter.

May Day has become more than a Spring Festival. As capitalism spread, workers across Europe and America began celebrating the first of May as a special workers' holiday. On May 1, 1886, workers in the United States took to the streets in a general strike to try and force the acceptance of an eight-hour workday. This effort was initially defeated but the eight-hour workday eventually became law.

But May Day is even more than a Spring Festival. When repeated three times, it becomes the international call of distress, as in

 Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!

This call is used only in cases of "grave and imminent danger." But how did the name of a Spring festival become an international distress call? The answer is, it didn't.

The distress-call Mayday is an English version of the French plea "m'aidez" - help me.

Unlike many other holidays, the origin of April Fool's Day is not entirely clear --
but it may have had something to do with the adoption of a new calendar in 1582 in France.

Prior to 1582, the New Year was celebrated in France for 8 days -- from March 25 to April 1. When King Charles IX introduced the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Day was moved to January 1.

In those days, however, news traveled by foot -- and many people never got the news of the new calendar. Others stubbornly refused to accept it and continued to celebrate New Year's Day on April 1. These "backward" folk were labeled "fools" by the general populace. They were ridiculed and sent on "fools' errands" or made the butt of other practical jokes.

This harassment evolved into a tradition of prank playing on the first day of April. In Scotland, April Fool's Day is actually celebrated for two days -- with the second day devoted to pranks involving the posterior region of the human body. The "kick me" sign is thought to have originated here.

April Fool's pranks range from the simple -- like saying "your shoe's untied" -- to the elaborate, such as a recent British TV documentary on the nation's "spaghetti farmers." No matter what the prank, the trickster usually ends it by yelling "April Fool."

April Fool's Day is simply a fun event -- and anyone can be the next April Fool. As Mark Twain once said, "the first of April is the day we remember what we are the other 364 days of the year."

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During Daylight Saving Time, clocks are turned ahead one hour -- which moves one hour of daylight from the morning to
the evening. So maybe it really should be called Daylight Shifting Time.

Daylight Saving Time is not observed everywhere. There is no Daylight Saving Time in Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, much of Indiana and throughout the state of Arizona (except for on the Navajo Indian Reservation, which does observe it).

Some people love Daylight Saving Time and others hate it. If it were abolished, some people say they'd miss the evening light, while others would welcome more light in the morning.

And there are lots of misunderstandings about it.

Many people say that the purpose of Daylight Saving Time is to "help the farmers" -- who mostly oppose it. Others think it started during World War I to save fuel by reducing the need for artificial lighting. That's true -- although it was stopped after the war and not observed again until World War II.

Many claim that it saves energy, although others refute it.

And one of the greatest misunderstandings of all is that Benjamin Franklin
invented it.

Benjamin Franklin did write the first known essay on Daylight Saving Time (note that there's no "s" at the end of "Saving"). This was while he was living in Paris, where nobody he knew ever got up before noon.

In a 1784 letter to a French newspaper, Franklin made a detailed analysis of how many millions of candles could be saved by moving the clocks ahead. But it was just a spoof. To read this wonderful essay for yourself, click:
http://webexhibits.org/daylightsaving/franklin3.html

The first serious advocate of Daylight Saving Time was a London builder, William Willett, who wrote a pamplet in 1907 called "Waste of Daylight."

Willett spent a fortune lobbying for the adoption of his idea -- but died with his
dream unrealized.

He died too soon.

If you'd like to know more about Benjamin Franklin and the other U.S "Founding Fathers," eTAP has a number of relevant Social Studies Lessons. Check out  Lessons 1  (for 8th Grade). Click: Grade 8 History Lesson 1

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