Easter, Spring Equinox, Resurrection!

Pagan

Christian

Secular

Rather adorable

Or whatever else you want. I am unbelievably fascinated by Christian holidays that have Pagan origins and/or aspects! Easter is completely pagan (right down to the bunnies, eggs, and even the name!), and still you get virtually every church in the nation plastering "Easter Egg Hunt!" signs around town. I think it's neat. Some other modern Christian holidays that bear striking resemblance to old Pagan ritual days include: Christmas (trees, yule logs, etc. Saturnalia "the birth of the unconquerable son" is the Roman pagan holiday), The vigil of St. Walpurga (held on the eve of May Day [Beltane; an ancient pagan fertility holiday), The Annunciation (same day that the Babylonians held a festival in honor of Cybele), St. George's Day (same day as the ancient festival of the Parilia), Feast of St. John the Baptist (very close to the day of a pagan festival of water- it included purifying followers with water [baptism?]), and- just for fun- Groundhog Day is February 2nd- the same day as Imbolc which is the Celtic Pagan festival in honor of one of their major goddesses: Brighid (Brigit, Bride; also a little known fact: the St. Brigit canonized by the Catholic church was actually the goddess Brighid [the Catholic church knew how important she was to the Celtics and knew they'd be more easily converted if they didn't have to give up one of their most important deities]). Anyway, I find this beyond interesting! Now, onto some lighter topics:) As I write I am listening to Laura Marling and eating Quinoa, shrimp:(, and mushrooms. I put a sad face by the shrimp because I feel bad about eating them. And that slim jim I had earlier. But I had Jamba juice for lunch and rice for breakfast so... not so bad! Tomorrow, I am celebrating Easter at my grandparents house with a lovely brunch. I have a pretty coral-colored dress! Then, I'm celebrating the Resurrection at my dad's with a spectacular dinner (maybe). I hope we eat ham. Even that has it's roots in the pagan Easter. I don't really want ham. I just want my dad to make it. So I can secretly laugh at his paganism. Mwahaha. I was planning on doing an Earth Day (on the same day as Good Friday. Kind of a backwards twist on things, eh?) post but instead I went to my bud's house after school and this morning we stopped by a quaint Earth Day fair downtown and hiked on Tubbs Hill. Such a beautiful day today! I can only hope tomorrow will be the same!
Love,
Belle
P.S.: check out this post on Finish Easter, it's super cute!