Easter messages can be both religious, secular

Easter is a reflection of the entirety of the Christian message: love, charity, forgiveness, compassion, courage, sacrifice, faith, generosity, nobility and hope.

Easter is also strongly associated with the Jewish Passover, as the last supper according to the New Testament was a traditional Seder. This year the western Christian Easter falls on March 23, but Eastern Orthodox Christians will celebrate on the last day of Jewish Passover, which starts the 15th day of Nissan in this year of 5768. This converts to April 19-27.

Passover (Pesach) is a celebration of freedom and a time of harvest in Israel, a devote season of renewal.

So how did we get eggs and the bunny? That is a bit more complicated. Easter is also an ancient pagan celebration of spring that coincides with the vernal equinox. Rabbits and eggs are symbols of fertility. The word Easter comes from the pagan goddess of spring, Eostre (Ostara in Germanic mythology). It is said that she once saved a bird that had been frozen by turning it into a rabbit and because it was actually a bird it could still lay eggs hence our modern Easter Bunny.

Then there are those eggs. If you are like me you have bought kits from the grocery store to make coloured eggs with your kids. Somehow they never turn out to be the works of art that you envisioned. I have a friend who tried to teach me how to use the beeswax and dye the eggs in the Ukrainian style. However, I always hard-boiled them, as I could never really blow them out. Hence they always got cracked and then devilled.

Besides, the attempt to create perfection always mucked up the purpose of the exercise, to spend some quality creative time with my son.

Regardless of traditions associated with the Easter season it is a good opportunity to gather with family and friends. This winter has been a challenge, with more snow, rain and cold than we have had in recent years. This celebration brings with it hope that the long hot days of summer are just around the corner.