State Library of Queensland - Young Peoples Activities

The following description of Easter is from the Culture and Recreation Portal

Easter is the most significant event of the Christian calendar. It is a period of intense sorrow for Christians, brought about by the death of Christ on the cross (Good Friday), but also of great spiritual happiness through the miracle of the resurrection (Easter Sunday).

The date on which Easter falls varies from year to year, but Easter Sunday is always the first Sunday after the first full moon following the vernal equinox - for the western church. The vernal equinox signals the beginning of Spring (in the Northern hemisphere).

Palm Sunday

Easter follows the month of Lent, when some Christians fast. As Lent ends, Holy Week begins with Palm (or Passion) Sunday. It is on Palm Sunday that Jesus arrived in Jerusalem on a donkey and the people of the city laid palm fronds on the road, and joyfully cried out to him, "Hosanna; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord" (Mark 11:9).

Maundy Thursday

On the Thursday, known as Maundy or Holy Thursday, Jesus was arrested and on Friday he was crucified at the place of the Skull, Golgotha. And on Easter Sunday, Jesus rose from the dead and walked amongst his disciples.

Our Easter rituals

Easter eggs delivered by the Easter Bunny are an ubiquitous part of Easter - supermarkets and department stores start stocking Easter chocolate around the end of February and children everywhere love an Easter egg hunt. You may wonder what connection Easter eggs have to Christ's crucifixion and resurrection. The simple answer is - none. Easter, the Christian festival, did not begin until some 300 years after the death and resurrection of Christ and overlaid pre-existing festivals celebrating the beginning of Spring. Some even argue that Easter is still a pagan festival and should not be celebrated by Christians.

Eostre: Goddess of Spring

The Easter rituals have distinct histories - one explanation for Easter is the story of Christ. Another has its origin in celebrations which took place around the vernal equinox - that is when (in the Northern hemisphere) days began to get longer; the beginning of Spring. These celebrations were based around Eostre, the Anglo-Saxon Goddess of Spring and fertility, or Eostare, the Norse pagan festival of Spring.

Rites of Spring and celebrations to do with rebirth and renewal were common all through the Northern hemisphere and the Christian story of Christ's death and resurrection fitted in with this.

The Egg

The egg is a symbol of birth and life. The ancient Persians and Greeks gave eggs at Spring festivals to indicate that nature was beginning to bloom again after the harshness of the winter. The colouring of eggs also began in pagan times.

Some of the world's most famous eggs are the Faberge eggs which are decorated with gold leaf, precious jewels, satins and brocades. The first Faberge egg was produced as a gift for a member of the Russian royal family.

The Rascally Rabbit Versus the Endangered Bilby

For obvious reasons the rabbit was also a symbol of fertility and fecundity and became associated with festivals dedicated to celebrating the arrival of Spring. In Australia the rabbit is a pest, and celebrating it in any form denies the reality of Australia's rabbit plague and the damage rabbits do to Australia's fragile environment. The CSIRO estimates rabbit damage costs the Australian economy $AU600 million each year.

Because of this, a strong movement to replace the rascally rabbit at Easter with one of Australia's own - the bilby - has developed. The bilby is a cute-looking creature with big eyes, big ears and a long tail and is a member of the bandicoot family.

The push for an Easter bilby was begun in 1991 by the Anti-Rabbit Research Foundation of Australia when they registered "Easter bilby" as a business name and began licensing the use of that name for bilby-related products. The sale of the products was to fund research into wildlife conservation - an issue of importance to the bilby. Bilbies are endangered largely because of competition from rabbits and loss of habitat. So instead of an Easter bunny delivering Easter eggs, they are now often delivered by a bilby and Australian shops stock chocolate bilbies alongside chocolate eggs and rabbits.





The following description of Easter is from the Culture and Recreation Portal Easter is the most significant event of the Christian calendar. It is a period of intense sorrow for Christians, brought about by the death of Christ on the cross (Good Friday), but also of great spiritual happiness through the miracle of the resurrection (Easter Sunday). The date on which Easter falls varies from year to year, but Easter Sunday is always the first Sunday after the first full moon following the vernal equinox - for the western church. The vernal equinox signals the beginning of Spring (in the Northern hemisphere). Palm Sunday Easter follows the month of Lent, when some Christians fast. As Lent ends, Holy Week begins with Palm (or Passion) Sunday. It is on Palm Sunday that Jesus arrived in Jerusalem on a donkey and the people of the city laid palm fronds on the road, and joyfully cried out to him, "Hosanna; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord" (Mark 11:9). Maundy Thursday On the Thursday, known as Maundy or Holy Thursday, Jesus was arrested and on Friday he was crucified at the place of the Skull, Golgotha. And on Easter Sunday, Jesus rose from the dead and walked amongst his disciples. Our Easter rituals Easter eggs delivered by the Easter Bunny are an ubiquitous part of Easter - supermarkets and department stores start stocking Easter chocolate around the end of February and children everywhere love an Easter egg hunt. You may wonder what connection Easter eggs have to Christ's crucifixion and resurrection. The simple answer is - none. Easter, the Christian festival, did not begin until some 300 years after the death and resurrection of Christ and overlaid pre-existing festivals celebrating the beginning of Spring. Some even argue that Easter is still a pagan festival and should not be celebrated by Christians. Eostre: Goddess of Spring The Easter rituals have distinct histories - one explanation for Easter is the story of Christ. Another has its origin in celebrations which took place around the vernal equinox - that is when (in the Northern hemisphere) days began to get longer; the beginning of Spring. These celebrations were based around Eostre, the Anglo-Saxon Goddess of Spring and fertility, or Eostare, the Norse pagan festival of Spring. Rites of Spring and celebrations to do with rebirth and renewal were common all through the Northern hemisphere and the Christian story of Christ's death and resurrection fitted in with this. The Egg The egg is a symbol of birth and life. The ancient Persians and Greeks gave eggs at Spring festivals to indicate that nature was beginning to bloom again after the harshness of the winter. The colouring of eggs also began in pagan times. Some of the world's most famous eggs are the Faberge eggs which are decorated with gold leaf, precious jewels, satins and brocades. The first Faberge egg was produced as a gift for a member of the Russian royal family. The Rascally Rabbit Versus the Endangered Bilby For obvious reasons the rabbit was also a symbol of fertility and fecundity and became associated with festivals dedicated to celebrating the arrival of Spring. In Australia the rabbit is a pest, and celebrating it in any form denies the reality of Australia's rabbit plague and the damage rabbits do to Australia's fragile environment. The CSIRO estimates rabbit damage costs the Australian economy $AU600 million each year. Because of this, a strong movement to replace the rascally rabbit at Easter with one of Australia's own - the bilby - has developed. The bilby is a cute-looking creature with big eyes, big ears and a long tail and is a member of the bandicoot family. The push for an Easter bilby was begun in 1991 by the Anti-Rabbit Research Foundation of Australia when they registered "Easter bilby" as a business name and began licensing the use of that name for bilby-related products. The sale of the products was to fund research into wildlife conservation - an issue of importance to the bilby. Bilbies are endangered largely because of competition from rabbits and loss of habitat. So instead of an Easter bunny delivering Easter eggs, they are now often delivered by a bilby and Australian shops stock chocolate bilbies alongside chocolate eggs and rabbits.