Hello and happy Easter everyone.

How are you all enjoying this wonderful Easter Sunday? Easter here in our home was quiet. We slept in a bit. Got up and checked out what the Easter Bunny brought us. My basket was filled with wonderful gifts from Bath and Body works. John’s basket was overflowing with lots of healthy snacks and of course, the kiddos basket was filled with lots of yummy candies and a few chocolates scattered throughout.

As promised, I said I’d come back today to wrap up our discussion regarding the different aspects of Easter. Today, we’ll talk about how candy, the parades, the lamb and of course, the lilies came about.

Before we talk about those fun Easter traditions, I forgot to tell you about the Easter eggs and how they came into play with Easter and of course, the infamous, Easter Bunny.

According to History.com, the Easter eggs are more than likely linked back to the pagan traditions as the egg is an ancient symbol of new life. New life is often thought about in pagan festivals that celebrate spring.

So you maybe wondering, how did the pagan traditions creep their way into Christianity? Easy, you see, from the perspective of Christians, Easter eggs represent Jesus’ emergence from the tomb and resurrection.

The whole decorating of the eggs dates back to at least the 13th century. Some figure the tradition began with the thought that at one time, eggs were a forbidden food during lent, therefore, people would decorate them to mark the end of penance and fasting, then eat them on Easter as a celebration.

Decorating was a fun way to end a fast and make celebrating a little more fun with colorful eggs.

The candy. Easter Candy is the second best selling holiday candy next to Halloween candy of course. Chocolate eggs are still one of the most popular dating back to the 19-century in Europe. Another popular candy is the egg-shaped jelly bean which came onto the Easter scene in the 1930’s and it’s thought that jelly beans origins date all the way back to a Biblical-era creation called the Turkish Delight.

Onto the history of the Easter Parade and how it came about. The Easter Parade began back in the mid-1800’s in New York City. The upper crust, or class of society attended Easter services at many of the Fifth Avenue churches and afterward, they’d venture outside to show off their new spring outfits and hats.

With so many new and extravagant outfits and hats, the common folk began taking notice, thus showing up along Fifth Avenue to check out all the bling. This was becoming so popular, to the point where it was becoming a tradition and by the mid-20th century, the popular movie was released, “Easter Parade.” This famous film starred Fred Astaire and Judy Garland, with music by Irving Berlin. “In your Easter bonnet, with all the frills upon it. You’ll be the grandest lady in the Easter Parade.”

The Easter Parade has no religious significance, however, sources state that the Easter processions have been a huge part of Christianity since early on.

Regarding the Lamb and other traditional foods related to Easter, how did they come about and why lamb? Christians refer to Jesus as the “Lamb of God.” Lamb does have it’s root in early Passover celebrations. The lamb was sacrificed and it’s blood used to paint the doors of the Israelites, thus, it is believed, God would pass over their homes. Doing this would spare the first born son from being killed. So, the lamb makes sense since Easter is essentially the Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the wiping away of sin.

Easter lilies and flowers, oh how I love Easter Lilies and flowers. Maybe it’s because in a way, they signify spring for me and I do love spring when all the flowers bloom, I know for some of you, spring is a difficult season with all the pollen in the air. Allergies!

According to History.com, the Easter Lily symbolize the purity of Christ to Christians and they are most definitely, a common decoration in churches and homes around the Easter Holiday season. Lilies are bulbs that are dormant in winter months and grow into beautiful flowers in spring, which symbolizes the rebirth and hope of Christ’s resurrection. After WWI, the Lily became the unofficial flower of Easter celebrations across the United States.

And there you have it folks, a little bit of history regarding this very special day, Easter.

I do hope you enjoyed the blog and I can’t wait to see what your thoughts are regarding this blog or any others I’ve written.

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Until next time, don’t forget, open your hearts, listen and evolve today++