CHOICES SHAPE YOUR FUTURE
By Judith Ashton
Like many people I never know when Easter will be because it moves every year. The Christian reasons for this were determined centuries ago by The Council of Nicea. It decreed that Easter had to fall on the first Sunday following the first full moon of the spring equinox. This aligned it with astronomical cycles as well as with the Jewish Passover. Easter in the Christian tradition celebrates Christ’s resurrection 3 days after he was crucified and for some Christians is the most potent of all their festivals, coming after 40 days of Lent and fasting.
However, there are underlying hints of old pagan traditions… In Ireland the ancient equinox ceremonies at Newgrange and in UK at Stonehenge pre-date any Christian theological determinants.
Like so many Christian festivals, including Christmas, they were superimposed on ancient rituals.
Our pagan ancestors celebrated the beginning of Spring with festivals dedicated to the Anglo-Saxon Goddess Eostre or Ostara. (root of the word Oestrogen, female hormone!) She was young, beautiful and fertile. She was full of light, wore flowers in her hair and danced like a soft breeze. She was symbolic of all things new, the promise of the future, lighter days and hopes of abundant harvest.
Eggs were always a potent symbol of pre-Christian Easter; also representing new life and fertility. Later, they were adopted by the church to symbolise Jesus’ empty tomb after his resurrection. In mediaeval times, it was forbidden to eat eggs during Lent. Tucking into eggs after Lent, was something to celebrate!
Where did the Easter bunny come from? Again, hares and rabbits were long associated with spring and fertility by ancient cultures, and the hare was sacred to Goddess Eostre. The idea of a gift bearing rabbit was started by German migrants to the USA about 250 years ago!
Our ancient ancestors enjoyed ritual bonfires, called “Osterfeuer” to represent transformation and cleansing to welcome the spring and the warmer days.
Communities feasted on lamb on Easter Sunday as a reminder that Jesus was “The Lamb of God”. Roast spring lamb and all the trimmings is still traditional Easter fare.
As a time of renewal, it was the custom to dress up in best clothes to go to church and girls would wear Easter hats (bonnets) adorned with flowers in the hope of attracting an admirer!
Like so many good things, the commercially minded, saw Easter as a celebration to be exploited especially when it came to Easter eggs. Chocolate eggs originated in France and Germany in the 1800s by chocolatiers who saw an opportunity to make money.
When I was a kid, chocolate tasted like chocolate and an Easter egg was a very special gift. Generally, I only got one. The egg itself was wrapped in silver foil and was hollow, often with little chocolates inside. It was a treasure. I would inhale its chocolatey smell, feel the surface and when I could wait no longer would crack it open carefully and slowly eat a piece. I would then wrap it up and ration myself to a small bit every now and then. The egg could last for weeks!
I used to love bars when they tasted of chocolate and not of wax! Most mass-produced chocolate bars these days are full of sugar and oils and very little cacao. Originally chocolate was made with lots of cacao and very little sugar or oil.
Lower quality cheap chocolate, tastes waxy, comes from inferior beans, has lots of oils, sugar, additives, preservatives and fillers. Sometimes it is not chocolate at all! REAL chocolate has cacao butter!
High quality chocolate is made from premium cacao beans and cacao butter and is sourced from reputable suppliers. It’s often organic, has a rich flavour and chocolate-like appearance.
Quality chocolate releases feel-good brain chemicals. Oxytocin, dopamine, serotonin and endorphins are triggered by pleasure centres in the brain, creating sensations of happiness and feelings of love! No wonder we all love good chocolate!
Good quality cacao is getting scarce. Luckily, I live in Thomastown, home of The Truffle Fairy Cafe and chocolate maker, Mary Teehan. She is a master chocolatier, and Mary’s cacao comes from Swiss chocolatiers, Felchins, who have produced the highest quality chocolate for over 100 years.
I will be buying my Easter chocolate locally, from The Truffle Fairy secure in the knowledge that it is 100% real chocolate of the highest quality and 100% tastes like real chocolate is meant to!
Happy Easter and watch out for the Easter Bunny!
