Zo loves to dress up, as you probably guessed from her other installments. This time, the idea popped into my head well ahead of spring. My thoughts, though surrounded by winter, were already onto the warm spring and brighter days. Toward the end of winter, I long for colors and celebration. Christmas is long behind, and summer is far out of reach. Although Zo is presented in black and white in most of the drawings, I like to imagine the charming pastels of easter gracing the basket; her bunny slippers and ears in a fluffy pink, dabbed in watercolor perhaps.
Happy Easter, Zo.
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This is the easiest answer ever. Candy. There are two times a year when the candy is a must have: Halloween and Easter. There’s just something about the candy at those times. It tastes better, smells better, and even sounds better. The rest of the year, I am not that interested (unless it’s one of those Godiva raspberry cordials in dark chocolate).
Speaking of bunnies, chicks, duckies—the basket and all the accouterments are symbolic of the fertility rites of the new spring that was celebrated by non-christian Europeans (these rites do show up around the world, but not always associated with the northern hemisphere spring). The church that evolved in Europe struggled to find ways to keep people coming back, and used established holidays to do so. They would appropriate them and associate them with figures from the scripture. Eventually, after a long time and writings done to ensure the erasure of history, people forgot and abided the new status quo. To this day, we still have writers trying to ensure that erasure remains in place, focused on preserving the church and the bible. Adherents would do better by flushing their beliefs clear of all those things, and finding the roots again, because none of it benefits the faith in the first place.
But, traditions are traditions and folks will want to keep them because they enjoyed them. That is there absolute right. I’m going to totally hang onto Easter treats and I’ll definitely make baskets for my little one once she’s old enough. In that, I’ll also teach her about our ancestors and where it all came from, along with it’s appropriation by other groups. The historian in me is compelled.
