Easter is around the corner, and as always, it’s a much-anticipated long weekend to spend with family and friends. It’s also a time for pickled fish, chocolate eggs and hot cross buns (although not in that order) and while we all have our own special way of celebrating Easter – I’m sure for many of us it begins with home hygiene services and making sure everything is spotlessly clean in preparation for all those visitors – it’s always interesting to look into the origins of different Easter symbols and also to see how other cultures celebrate the holiday.
The Easter Bunny
Have you ever wondered why a rabbit is the symbol for Easter – why not some other animal; and why eggs – why not another food? Turns out both have their origins, which can be traced back to the 1200s, in Germanic history. As the European spring approached, the goddess, Eostra, was seen as a symbol for growth and fertility and, due to its ability to procreate rapidly, her chosen mascot was the rabbit – hence the Easter bunny we know and love today. By the time 1680 came around, the tale of the Easter Bunny had evolved into a rabbit laying eggs (another representation of birth and fertility) and these stories eventually became legends which the German immigrants took with them to the Americas in the 1700s and the rest, as they say, is history.
Easter in the Nordic Countries
While traditions are different around the world, it’s the Nordic countries that have a particularly unique way of celebrating Easter. The Norwegians have something they call Easter-Crime. A nation that loves a murder-mystery, they enjoy spending the long weekend reading new crime novels or watching newly made and specially created for Easter weekend, crime detective series on television. And then there’s the Swedes, for them it’s mostly a secular holiday and they prefer to celebrate with traditional foods like potato and pickled sardines baked in cream.The children dress up as witches and then go house to house trading paintings for treats and chocolate eggs – sounds a bit more like Halloween doesn’t it?
However you choose to spend Easter, we wish you a blessed long weekend; and if you need help with spring cleaning before your guests arrive or if you’re not up to that post-visit clean, QClean, Cape Town’s cleaning specialists are just a call away – be safe and Happy Easter everyone.
Sources:
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/12/top-5-easter-traditions-a_n_185687.html
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