I often have mixed feelings about Easter. Like Christmas, this holiday is also commercialized, and most people only see chocolate bunnies and easter eggs. And the immoderate eating, drinking (alcohol) and "sprinkling" (as usual in Hungary). This type of Easter is equivalent to gastric deseases, hangover, and drunk driving accidents.
(My original photo)
When I was a little girl I saw Easter differently because I was waiting for the sprinkler boys and painted many beautiful eggs that I put in a handmade nest. It was a very festive holiday with many flowers, catkins, bunnies and chicks, but I did not know much about the sufferings of Christ. In the family alone, my grandmother was religious, she sometimes talked about Christianity, the life and the teachings of Jesus, his suffering, crucifixion, and resurrection.
As a teenager I was already fleeing from the sprinklers, I hated Cologne water that was sprinkled on my hair that became so smelly. I was only interested in ham and eggs and I did not deal with Jesus Christ, saying I was not religious, anyway, he was a historical person, not a son of God.
I have never become religious, I do not belong to any church, but I am deeply touched by the mystery of Easter, most notably the Resurrection, not the suffering or the crucifiction. Some people may get outraged, but I wonder "when Christ has been taken off the cross?"
(My original photo)
Why are churches full of the pictures and statues of the crucified Christ while we can hardly see the resurrected Christ who is sharing blessings? I'm sure God's power and love are embodied in him. He had to come to earth, to the land where the greatest troubles were, to give an example of how to love each other. Jesus apparently became the victim of barbaric cruelty, assuming the terrible sufferings, then resurrected at the third day and remained in light-body for a few more weeks before he went to Heaven.
(My original photo)
We look at him as a savior, though He just said, "Follow me!" The rest are the responsibility of the individual. He will help you if you really want with your full heart. But if you turn away from him, He'll not drag you back with force. If you do nothing for yourself, you will wait for the future redemption in vain. There is no such way! If you follow Him, you'll become like Him! You are in him and He is in you!
Some words about Hungarian folklore:
Originally, the spring equinox was celebrated this time, which was a fun spring holiday. Flowering branches, bunnies, chicks and eggs symbolized renewal, nature awakening, and fertility. Earth element and East direction belongs to the spring equinox. Celebration of Easter became natural after the Roman Christianity was taken.
This holiday, however, is a moving holiday, as determined by the moon's cycles in the Vatican. It's just on April 1st. Easter was beautifully intergared into Hungarian tradition. At this time, the girls go to church dressed in beautiful folk costumes.They are preparing for weeks before Easter, painting beautiful, colorful eggs.
(Source: Wikipedia)
People didn't eat any meat from the end of the carnival until Easter Sunday. The word "húsvét" means, this is the day (Easter Sunday) when you may eat meat again.
While the Good Friday commemorates the crucifixion of Christ, Sunday is the feast of resurrection. Monday, however, is the holiday of fertility, which has remained from the times before Christianity. "Watering" or "sprinkling" is such a fertility spell from the ancient "pagan" times (note: pagan - Latin "paganus" means "rural", not "without religion"!).
In some villages of Hungary, girls are watered by boys with ice-cold well-water. Boys are given red eggs for the watering in exchange.
(Source: Wikipedia)
In cities, this habit had been distorted. Boys and men are pouring Cologne water on girls' and women's hair, in exchange for chocolate or some cash, and they are even offered with alcoholic drinks. After a few visit, they often become as drunk as a pig. I think this is a horrible habit!
(My original photo)
We always celebrate Spring Equinox, and at Easter we go out to nature. If it's warm enough, we lay on the ground to sunbathe and listening to birds singing. For me, this period is the renewal, the resurrection of nature. In the Sun we see the resurrected Christ, who gives us his blessing hands, and our Guardian Mother-Goddess, Mary Babba (Babba Mária) is smiling in the face of the Full Moon.
(My original photo)