| It's hard to imagine Easter without Easter baskets. | | | | moon was always significant in determining when to |
| Traditionally, these are filled with candy treats such as | | | | plant seeds. |
| chocolates and jelly beans, usually in the shape of an | | | | The tradition of Easter gift baskets is really most |
| egg. There may also be hollow plastic eggs with coins | | | | closely connected to Western Christianity, however. In |
| or other treats inside. But did you ever wonder where | | | | the Roman Catholic Church, Easter is only part of an |
| the whole idea of baskets on Easter came from in the | | | | entire season of rituals and observances that begin |
| first place? | | | | forty-six days prior to Easter itself. Many who have |
| Like the Easter holiday itself, the basket is the result of | | | | experienced the revelry of Mardi Gras or Carnivale |
| the confluence of several traditions from different | | | | don't realize that the "Fat Tuesday" celebration |
| cultures. Some of these stem from the Judeo-Christian | | | | represents a last chance to party before entering that |
| tradition; others date back to pagan customs. | | | | period called Lent - when the devout are expected to |
| In ancient Europe, the vernal or spring equinox was a | | | | fast and give up meat, eggs and dairy. Lent ends on |
| significant time. In the original home of the Indo-Aryan | | | | Easter, hence the tradition of a large, sumptuous family |
| peoples - ancestors of most of the ethnic and linguistic | | | | meal. At one time, it was a tradition for Roman |
| groups of Europe as well as Armenia, Kurdistan, Iran, | | | | Catholic families to carry the food for Easter dinner to |
| Afghanistan and India - winters were long and bitter. | | | | Mass in a basket, where it could be blessed by the |
| Spring was considered a time of renewal and rebirth. | | | | priest - harking back to the ancient tradition of bringing |
| Among Semitic-speaking peoples of the ancient Middle | | | | first crops and seedlings to the temple. |
| East - who include the Hebrews, Arabs, Babylonians, | | | | German immigrants to the U.S. contributed their own |
| Assyrians and others - it was a tradition to bring the | | | | customs. "Pennsylvania Dutch" children eagerly |
| first seedlings of the growing season to the temples in | | | | awaited the Osterhase to deliver eggs on Easter |
| order to insure a successful harvest. This connection | | | | Sunday, which he would deposit on his "rabbit's nest" - |
| to agriculture is also reflected in the holiday's | | | | hence the tradition of lining Easter gift baskets with |
| relationship to the cycles of the moon; it is always held | | | | grass (or more commonly today, artificial decorative |
| on the Sunday (day of Sol Invictus, or the | | | | grass). |
| "Unconquerable Sun") following the first full moon after | | | | Although considered a religious holiday, Easter is really |
| the spring equinox. To early farmers, the phase of the | | | | a universal expression of renewal and new beginnings. |