Easter is celebrated by roughly 80% of Americans – are you one of them? From eating tons of chocolate bunnies to attending church services, Easter can mean a lot of different things to everyone involved. How will you be celebrating this Easter?
Although most Americans celebrate Easter, apparently not all of them view it as a primarily religious holiday. Even though Easter doesn’t hold a candle to the bigger Christmas holiday season with its strange and wonderful traditions, celebrations are taken pretty seriously.
Can you believe that every year Americans decorate and dye up to 180 million eggs every year? My Granny was a fan, but I seriously doubt our household ever decorated more than 50 eggs over the years.
This obsession with eggs comes from the Christian tradition of Lent. For those of you who haven’t stepped in a church in centuries, Lent is a period where Christians commemorate the forty years it took the Jewish people to go through the desert following Moses. Healthy individuals are supposed to abstain themselves from indulging in carnal pleasures and live their lives as similar as possible to the lives of those first believers. During the Middle Ages, eggs were considered to be a treat, and as such, they were strictly prohibited during Lent. Eating them on Easter became a tradition and a celebration that we continue to this day.
Whether you’re pro-Easter candy or would rather not celebrate it at all, here’s everything you’ve ever needed to know about Easter celebrations.