NOTE: My 8th grade students spent only one class period on this, and not all students completed the handout. We will briefly discuss this on Easter Monday. Although it looks rather dry at first, almost every student worked the entire period and seemed interested in learning about familiar and unfamiliar customs and their meanings and origins.

EASTER and PASSOVER

Fill in blanks & answer the questions with short, complete answers using the information on the web.

EASTER OSTERN ostern.htm

1. Easter Christians celebrate the _________________________________________________________.

2. As Passover celebrates the central event of the Old Testament, the _________________________, so Jesus with the Resurrection accomplished a new supreme deliverance, the redemption from _____________.

3. Vocabulary Tip: The English word “Lent” comes from the German “Lenz” or “Frühling” = spring

4. In general, the number of churchgoers is ________________ at Easter than at Christmas.

5. The Resurrection of the Savior, Jesus Christ, is reflected in the resurrection of _________________.

6. The Christian doctrines (teachings, beliefs) and feasts (holidays) were being worked out at the same time as Christianity was _____________________________________.

7. Very often Christian missionaries in central, northern and western Europe deliberately used ___________ rites, holy places and holy times of the year to make the new creed meaningful to the people, by enhancing the ______ customs with _______________________ beliefs and meaning.

8. Easter is the oldest Christian holiday, first introduced in the _________________________________.

9. The Germanic peoples were very dependant on the waxing (increase) and waning (decrease) of ______.

10. The early Christian Church and its missionaries placed Christian celebrations and symbols on top of the ________________ ones. But the older symbols refused to ________.

11. Where do the words Easter/Ostern come from? ____________________________________________

12. Lunar means “relating to the ___________. A “lunatic” supposedly goes crazy when the ______ is full.

13. Easter is always the first Sunday after the first _____________________, after the Vernal Equinox.

Click on Vernal (Spring) Equinox -

14. According to folklore, the vernal equinox is the one time of the year that eggs can be ______________, because ____________ and _______________ are also in balance.

15. The Vernal Equinox is the ___________ and is on or about March ________.

16. It is the point at which the sun ___________________________________________________

17. The word equi-nox comes from Latin and means ____________________________________

GO BACK to the Easter webpage ostern.htm

18. The goddess Eostre’s symbol were the _______, both for ___________ (fruitfulness) and because her worshipers saw a hare in the _________, and the _______, symbolic of the cosmic __________________.

19. Eggs were used in these celebrations because they represented the ____________________________.

20. The hare (Osterhase -Easter bunny), eggs, and newly hatched chicks are __________/____________ symbols and not religious ones.

21. At the Vernal Equinox, there will be ______________________ and decorations brought into the home.

22. Osterwasser - If a girl was able to sprinkle her lover with Easter water, there would be a ____________

soon. Easter is also a time for Easter ________. Click on the next link for a picture of an Osterfeuer.

23. While many Easter customs most likely date before the Christianizing, they have been given new

meaning by the Christian Church, and new traditions were added. The ____________________ of the Old

Covenant (Testament, agreement between God and man) became the symbol for _______________. Easter music plays a large role in churches and an Easter _______ may be performed.

24. Colorful, painted, hard boiled eggs, but also wrapped ___________________________, Easter bunnies, sweets and other gifts will be hidden in the garden, so that children can _____________________________.

THE CHANGING ROLE OF EASTER EGGS

25. The first historical mention of colored eggs (although not Easter eggs) goes back to the _______

century. We know that in the __________________ centuries colored eggs were given as Easter presents. In the Baroque period (1600s) it became customary for young people who wanted to become engaged, to

give each other _________________.

26. One reason why the Easter egg custom became popular may be, that around Easter time the rural household had _____________...Another explanation would be that Easter marks the end of the time of ________________________ during which eggs and meat were ________________________.

27. The Easter Bunny is less of an "educational" figure than is St. ___________, for the eggs are not given as ______________.

28. The custom of the "Easter Bunny" (____________) hiding Easter eggs can be traced back to ________.

29. In the ________ century, the rabbit gradually became popular as the bringer of Easter presents, and in the first half of _______________________ he finally won out over all competitors.

30. Children try to outdo each other in rolling ___________ down grassy slopes, or they knock the _______ together (Eierpecken) and the child whose egg does not _________________________ too.

31. And the family would ______________ hard-boiled eggs for weeks afterwards.

32. Eggs with ________________________ (German Grüne Sosse or Beiguss) is a post- Easter favorite.

Click on Video and further info on Easter egg customs.

32. How did the egg come to Easter? Briefly describe: __________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

33. Like newborn nature, newly hatched chicks became a symbol for _____________________________.

34. What is Eiersuchen? ____________ Eierwerfen? ______________ Eierticken? _____________ Eierlaufen? _______________. Which one of these would YOU like to try?

RETURN to Easter webpage ostern.htm

DER OSCHTER HAWS / DER OSTERHASE

35. It must be remembered that the vast majority of the early ________ settlers in the Commonwealth--the Quakers and the Presbyterian ______________--did not celebrate Easter. In fact, they even "shunned" it." 36. So who brought this custom to American? The ___________.

37. Ornately decorated eggs were "_______________”, that is with a ____________ or instrument one would _____________ through the __________ to the natural color of the egg shell.

38. The Easter Egg _________ appears to be an extension of a custom of impaling / skewering / sticking brown eggs on a __________ at Eastertime and is known in Germany and Switzerland.

FURTHER RESOURCES

39. Hasenpfeffer? Hase = _________ and Pfeffer = _________. Would you try this? _________________

40. Go get a recipe fro Mimi’s Cyber Kitchen. Describe what it is, a few ingredients, etc.

41. What is an Easter nest made of? Would you eat this? _______________________________________

42. YOUR CHOICE: For more on Easter symbols, click on “Catholic Easter pages”.

43. YOUR CHOICE: Go to European Easter Customs for Games, puzzles, quizzes and comparisons.

44. Calculate the date of Easter for the Year 2000, Western. It will occur on __________________, 2000.

45. Try any of the other links. Try to look up info on customs, history, different countries, etc.

PASSOVER jewish.htm

1. According to tradition, Passover commemorates the story told in Exodus of the Jewish people's ____________________________________________________________________________________

2. Look up foods and info at the Jewish Communication Network Passover website.

3. Surf some of the other sites for info and customs.

4. Describe Passover: What does it remember/commemorate? What foods are eaten?

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

5. What was “passing over” the Jewish people in Egypt? ________________________________________