In the 1990´s my daughter and her husband lived in  the beautiful village of High Easter in Essex, nearby is another village called Good Easter. The Church in High Easter is St.Mary's and in Good Easter St. Andrew's. As both villages have churches, I assumed that they were connected somehow with the Easter Festival. I was wrong - the root of their names is the Anglo Saxon word EOWESTRE a sheep fold or pen. In the Doomsday Book  in 1086 the village is Estra  and the 'Good' derived from Godyth or Godgifu the owner of the sheep fold so we get  'Good Easter'. High Easter is so called because the land was slightly elevated was called  Heyestre in 1254.

The real origin of the word Easter harks back to pagan times and alludes to the goddess EASTRE or EOSTRE. She was worshipped by the Anglo Saxons and German speaking peoples, and was the goddess of Spring, the Dawn and Fertility . The Venerable Bede a monk (later a Saint) writing in the seventh and eighth centuries used the pagan word Eosturmonath instead of the Latin and Greek words for the Jewish Festival of Pesach (Passover) associated with with the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt. Jesus had been judged and crucified at Passover time.

EASTRE /EOSTRE was very often depicted with a hare, but a very special hare that could lay eggs! In German 'Der Osterhase'. The legend was that she found a dead or frozen bird that she brought back to life, but it returned in the shape of a hare, but the hare laid eggs to thank her. This tale from German folklore was brought from Europe to the United States at the time of mass immigration in the eighteenth and nineteenth  centuries but the hare became softened into a rabbit and became the Easter Bunny!

Eggs were not allowed to be eaten during Lent and their shells were often marked or coloured to show that they were not fresh or they were dyed red in memory of Christ's blood being shed. The tradition of decorating eggs for presents at the end of Lent was taken to new heights with Fabergé  designing the most beautiful jewelled eggs for the Russian Royal Family to give as presents.

I remember at school painting and varnishing eggs that the teacher had actually 'blown'; nowadays they are made of polystyrene not very 'green ' but kinder to the teacher. We were told that Jesus coming from the tomb was like a chick coming from an egg. Now I think it was a bit twee but there are plenty of chicks and rabbits on Easter cards and I have seen Resurrection Scenes carved in wood like Nativity Scenes. Saying 'He Is Risen' you can get them on Amazon !
This year our Paschal Candle is a special one made by our Sunday School and Father Tom at an All-the-Church-Family Service, look out for it on Easter Day a traditional time for Baptism. The candles given to the newly Baptised are lit from the Paschal Candle.

This is the most Holy and Blessed time in the Church year enjoy it. Happy Easter!

Barbara Liddell.