Many many happy returns of the day
and happy Easter to you all

The most ancient Easter gifts, as far as my exploration goes, are the Easter eggs. Even the concept of Easter itself is ancient. The tradition of Easter eggs, much less the giving of Easter gifts, did not begin with Christianity at all. Rather, it started much earlier, at the time that ancient human societies first observed the cycle of birth and rebirth, the cycle of endings and beginnings, the cycle of life and death (both in nature and among humans), and the cycle of the seasons. It started with ancient societies' joy for the arrival of spring. It wasn't known as Easter yet.


Easter and the Joy of Spring

In areas that go through long and bitter winter, the coming of spring is a much-anticipated and wildly reveled moment. Imagine months of coldness, ice, and snow. Imagine everything around you coming to a seeming halt, or appearing dead and desolate, or showing no signs of growth. Crops do not grow in winter, so no harvest can be reaped. Many animals either perish in the cold, or hide from it. Nature is asleep and snoring loudly. It's a sad picture, really. Then, imagine all of that sadness melting away and nature waking up from its sleep when spring comes—and in full color at that. Oh, joy!


Ancient peoples celebrated the joy of spring. The coming of the vernal equinox, also known as the spring equinox, plays a pivotal part in the celebration, since most cultures pin their spring celebrations on the day when spring is at its peak; that is, during mid-spring, which coincides with the vernal equinox, at which time the sun casts its rays right above the earth's equator. The position of the sun during this time of the year gives rise to approximately equal number of day and night hours.

For ancient Persians, most of whom were Zoroastrians, the spring equinox signals the beginning of a new year, a time of renewal and regrowth. Thus, they celebrated Nowrooz—the Zoroastrian New Year—on the same day as the sun divides time into two equal parts. Do you know how ancient Persia and modern-day Persia (Iran and nearby states) have been celebrating the coming of spring for the past 2,500 years? With painted eggs! The bas relief sculptures on ancient Persepolis walls show priests bringing eggs and other gifts to the king for the Nowrooz celebration. The Persians are probably the very first people known to offer eggs and other Easter gifts to their gods in exchange for an abundant and bountiful year.


Word Origins of Easter

Easter has always been about spring, literally and/or symbolically. It is about bountiful harvests, abundance, and fertility. The very word Easter itself comes from the Old English Eastre or Eostre, which, according to the Venerable Bede (Beda Venerabilis), is also the name of an Anglo-Saxon pagan goddess of spring and fertility. According to Bede, the month called Eostur-monath (alternately spelled Esturmonath) in the Germanic calendar was named after the goddess and was equivalent to the month we now know as April. The practice of giving Easter gifts to one another may have come from the more ancient ritual of offering Easter gifts to the goddess of spring.

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