Ancestry.com recently ran an article about the Easter Traditions of the various countries around the world, which got us considering what traditions we’ve got here, that our own ancestors began agest past, and in countries the world over.

The United States Traditions of Easter, those things we do each year, quite often without thinking about it, are hold overs from other countries, whose Easter, or springtime traditions we brought with us when those ancestors boarded the boats to come to the United States from their place of birth.

In the US, we quite typically hide our childrens baskets, color and hunt for Easter Eggs, and wait for an Easter Bunny to bring them goodies for their baskets. Where did those traditions come from? Are they Christian faith traditions, or that of a pagan race, somewhere down the line, or are they not of a religious nature, but that of a race of people?

The answer is, of course, a bit of both. Our religious beliefs give us some of the traditions of Easter that we celebrate and remember, while our race, or our country of origination gives us another aspect of it, much like christmas or any other holiday that we celebrate.

Dying Easter Eggs–
Where did this tradition come from? The origination of of Easter egg coloring is supposed to have been begun long before the advent of Easter per se, about 3000 BC and it isn’t known for sure if it began with the Keltoi or the Persians, both of whom celebrated the first day of spring. The egg was a symbol of fertility and dying them bright colors made it that much more festive we have to assume.

The first time we know that Easter Eggs were dyed in the US was in the early part of the 1700, when the Pennsylvania Duth, or German settlers began to do it, using materials such as skins of onions and tree bark to color the eggs.

The Easter Bunny

The Easter Bunny is certainly nothing that is a modern day invention and has in fact been with us since long before the Easter holiday.
THe symbol of the Easter Rabbit began many centuries ago, with a pagan festival, Yostre, or some say, with the celebration of a festival for the Goddess Eastre, who was worshipped by Anglo Saxons through a symbol , the rabbit.

Today we dye our eggs, hunt our baskets, and celebrate with the Easter Bunny.
what traditions did your own ancestors have in their original countries?
Can you think of anything we left out?
Leave us a comment about your own Easter Traditions.

Tags:  easter in other places United states easter traditions