Easter in other Nations

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voguy
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Easter in other Nations

Post by voguy » 03-26-2016 06:42 PM

Interesting page I found on Easter in Poland.

In a few hours the bells will toll here, first from the outside the city churches, then slowly to the center of town. Easter is known by the name of Ostern. Easter holidays for children last for about three weeks. Good Friday, Easter Saturday and Easter Sunday are the days when people do not have to work, but most do. On the day of the festival, people greet each other Frohe Ostern, which means 'Happy Easter' in German. Easter holidays for children last for about three weeks. Good Friday, Easter Saturday and Easter Sunday are the days when people do not work at all. Green dishes are prepared on Maundy Thursday, one of them being the "seven herb soup" that contains spinach, parsley, leeks, chives, dandelion and sorrel. Good Friday dinner mainly consists of fish that is consumed among the family. Lamb forms the main dish on Easter as it represents innocence and humility.

A festive breakfast, lunch and dinner is prepared on Easter Sunday. The most popular treats include roasted lamb, lamb stew, fried, scrambled or boiled eggs; sweet bread loaves with frosting and candy eggs, chicks, eggs and lamb-shaped cookies and various salads. Huge bonfires are lit on Easter Saturday evenings. These Easter fires are burnt to symbolize the end of winter and bad omen. This is a very popular tradition and large numbers of people assemble to enjoy it.

Easter trees, known as Osterstrauch, have been a part of Easter celebrations in Germany for a long time now. Hollowed-out eggs are dyed and hung with colorful ribbons on these trees throughout the week of Easter. Easter baskets full with delicious assorted sweets, chocolates, handmade truffles, pralines, candies and brightly colored eggs are presented to children. Colorful Easter eggs made of chocolate, candy, plastic, fabric or wood are decorated with traditional designs and are exchanged amongst friends.
"I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them." - Thomas Jefferson

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Re: Easter in other Nations

Post by kbot » 03-26-2016 08:43 PM

Not sure exactly how Easter is celebrated in Poland, but somewhere around ten years ago, I started writing to a cousin of mine (found him while doing some family history, and we've been writing back &forth ever since..). Many of the customs are the same as the neighborhood I grew up, which makes sense due to the population. They had a tradition of making Easter eggs using a combination of waxes and dyes, as the the Ukrainians, called pisanki. My cousin once sent me an oplatki, which is a rectangular, very thin, tasteless wafer (similar to a communion wafer used in Catholic churches) imprinted with a religious scene. Food features prominently in Polish Easter traditions, and in al cultures.........
There you go man, keep as cool as you can. Face piles and piles of trials with smiles. It riles them to believe that you perceive the web they weave. And keep on thinking free. (Moody Blues)

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Re: Easter in other Nations

Post by voguy » 03-27-2016 07:57 AM

kbot wrote:Food features prominently in Polish Easter traditions, and in al cultures.........
As does it in many cultures. I can think of hell being going through a German Easter lunch, then having dinner with Italians. Both have HUGE meals, easily 10,000 calories combined. And I don't have the f___g sense to say no to good food.
"I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them." - Thomas Jefferson

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Re: Easter in other Nations

Post by kbot » 03-27-2016 06:22 PM

I read this story earlier today and thought it was great. I love the idea of children doing this, and i such as wonderfully positive way....... Is it your typical "Easter" message? Perhaps not. But a great story nonetheless.......

Little witches in Finland cast good spells

Helsinki - The witches are out, but don't despair. Instead of casting evils spells, they wish you well, although you'd better have some chocolate or candy handy just in case.

Every year before Easter, small colourful witches appear on Finnish doorsteps in a blend of eastern and western religious traditions related to spring. They hand over catkin branches, reciting healthy wishes in exchange for payment that is traditionally chocolate or other candies.

"A twig for you, a treat for me!" 8-year-old sorcerer Isara chants, waving her magic catkin wand decorated with coloured paper strips and feathers. In exchange, the red-and-black spotted-faced witch eagerly receives a handful of chocolate eggs, which she stuffs into a copper coffee pot.

"The most important thing are the sweets," her 8-year-old friend Linda said on Sunday, swishing her catkin branch.

On the northeastern periphery of Europe, the Finnish version of trick-or-treat reflects the Nordic country's straddling of East and West, combining the Russian Orthodox tradition of blessing cattle and farms with branches of pussy willow and the Swedish custom of dressing up as witches before Easter.

On Palm Sunday, little girls don long, flowing skirts and wrap bright scarves around faces freckled with soot and red spots.

Ethnologists say Finland's Easter practices came from the eastern region of Karelia, where Russian traditions were strong even when it was a part of Finland. Farmers in Karelia for centuries have taken pussy willows in lieu of palm leaves to their neighbours on Palm Sunday as a gesture of blessing.

The tradition of children dressing up as witches came to Finland from Sweden, where since the early 19th century they went door-to-door with drawings that were exchanged for treats.

Finland, which shares a 1 300km border with its huge eastern neighbour Russia, was a semi-autonomous grandy ducy in the Czarist Empire for a century before gaining independence in 1917. Before that, Finland was part of the Swedish kingdom for seven centuries.

But it wasn't until the 1970s that the two traditions blended, with witches reciting a rhyme wishing good health for all in the household, reminding them of their duty to repay them with Easter eggs or other treats.

Today's witches, instead of traditional scarves, often wear pointed witch hats in the Anglo-Saxon tradition. Some even don masks, aping Halloween costumes.

http://www.finlandnews.net/index.php/sid/242394739
There you go man, keep as cool as you can. Face piles and piles of trials with smiles. It riles them to believe that you perceive the web they weave. And keep on thinking free. (Moody Blues)

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