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Christian holy days

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Origins, meanings & practices of Easter

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Sponsored link.

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Overview:

Modern-day Easter is derived from two ancient traditions: one Judeo-Christian and the other Pagan. Both Christians and Pagans have celebrated death and resurrection themes following the Spring Equinox for millennia. Most religious historians believe that many elements of the Christian observance of Easter were derived from earlier Pagan celebrations.

The equinox occurs each year on March 20, 21 or 22. Both Neopagans and Christians continue to celebrate religious rituals linked to the equinox in the present day. Wiccans and other Neopagans usually hold their celebrations on the day or eve of the equinox. Western Christians wait until the Sunday on or after the next full moon. The Eastern Orthodox churches follow a different calculation; their celebration is often many weeks after the date selected by the Western churches.

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Topics discussed in this section:

bulletThe Pagan origins of Easter
bulletPagan and Neopagan celebrations at or near the Spring Equinox
 
bulletThe Christian origins of Easter
bulletHow and when Easter is celebrated today
bulletThe names for Easter in various languages
bulletPast disputes over the date of Easter?
bulletAttempts to find a common date for Easter
bulletWas Jesus executed on a Wednesday and resurrected on a Saturday?

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Some links to other web sites:

bullet

Easter cards:

bullet101 Easter offers Ecards, recipes, jokes, a history of Easter, and other information. See: http://www.101easter.com/history.html
bullet   123Greetings is a premier electronic greeting card website that features Easter greeting cards during the Easter season.
bulletThe Easter-eCards website has an extensive selection of free Easter cards with themes such as: religious, for friends, for family, flowers, birthday, etc. See: http://www.easter-ecards.com/
bulletGoodFridayCards has a broad range of Christian cards for Easter and other events, including some for children. See: http://www.goodfridayecards.com/
bullet

Other topics:

bulletDate of Easter 2006 links to many sites on this topic. See: http://www.easter4u.com/
bulletEaster-Art sells decorated Easter eggs featuring traditional Slavic folk art and craftsmanship. See: http://www.easter-art.com/
bulletEasteri.com maintains a list of links to websites covering a wide range of Easter topics. See: http://easteri.com/easter/
bulletHappy Easter covers a wide range of topics related to Easter. See: http://www.happyeaster.org.uk/
bulletKidMagnet.com has a group of links to articles on Easter: its history, origins, traditions, etc. See: http://www.kidmagnet.com/

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Sponsored links:

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Related essays on this web site:

bullet The resurrection of Jesus: Fact or fable?
bullet The Shroud of Turin - relic, icon, artifact, fraud?
bullet Other essays about Jeshua of Nazareth/Jesus Christ.

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Site navigation:

Home page > Christianity > Practices > Holy days > here

Home page > Christianity > Christian personalities >  Jesus > here

or Home page > Religious information > God >  Jesus > here

or Home page > Spirituality > God >  Jesus > here

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Copyright 1999 to 2008 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Latest update: 2008-JAN-28
Author: B.A. Robinson

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