The Great Architect
Active Member
Why is Easter held at a slightly different time, each year? How is that time determined?
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The timing of Easter, each year
- Thread starter The Great Architect
- Start date
blackout
Violet.
I can't remember EXACTLY anymore
(because it's been a while)
but after christmas/epiphany on the roman catholic calander
begins a non feast season called "ordinary time".
The specific date that the lent season begins fluxtuates each year
depending on where ordinary time lands it.
If I recal (though I try not to) ash Wednesday kicks off lent.
Then there are the prescribed number of sunday's in Lent
ending in Palm Sunday, which preceeds Easter by exactly one week.
Bottom line, it's the Roman Catholic calander cycle that determines the date of easter each year.
It has to do with counting sundays through ordinary time basically,
then following lent through to easter.
It's the yearly church merry-go-round.
(because it's been a while)
but after christmas/epiphany on the roman catholic calander
begins a non feast season called "ordinary time".
The specific date that the lent season begins fluxtuates each year
depending on where ordinary time lands it.
If I recal (though I try not to) ash Wednesday kicks off lent.
Then there are the prescribed number of sunday's in Lent
ending in Palm Sunday, which preceeds Easter by exactly one week.
Bottom line, it's the Roman Catholic calander cycle that determines the date of easter each year.
It has to do with counting sundays through ordinary time basically,
then following lent through to easter.
It's the yearly church merry-go-round.
doppelganger
Through the Looking Glass
In most western traditions, Easter is the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Vernal Equinox.
Francine
Well-Known Member
doppelgänger;1080213 said:
The problem is the West uses a "church" Vernal Equinox, which is always March 21 on the Gregorian Calendar (the East uses the Julian Calendar), when the real one bounces between March 20-21 and slowly drifts through the calendar at the rate of one month per 2000 years (currently it is moving from Pisces to Aquarius, the dawning of the "Age of Aquarius"). There are suggested reforms which will make it the second Sunday in April every year, but they go nowhere.
http://www.tondering.dk/claus/cal/node3.html#SECTION003132000000000000000
2.13.2 When is Easter? (Long answer)
The calculation of Easter is complicated because it is linked to (an inaccurate version of) the Hebrew calendar.
Jesus was crucified immediately before the Jewish Passover, which is a celebration of the Exodus from Egypt under Moses. Celebration of Passover started on the 15th day of the (spring) month of Nisan. Jewish months start when the moon is new, therefore the 15th day of the month must be immediately after a full moon.
It was therefore decided to make Easter Sunday the first Sunday after the first full moon after vernal equinox. Or more precisely: Easter Sunday is the first Sunday after the ``official'' full moon on or after the ``official'' vernal equinox.
The official vernal equinox is always 21 March.
The official full moon may differ from the real full moon by one or two days.
(Note, however, that historically, some countries have used the real (astronomical) full moon instead of the official one when calculating Easter. This was the case, for example, of the German Protestant states, which used the astronomical full moon in the years 1700-1776. A similar practice was used in Sweden in the years 1740-1844 and in Denmark in the 1700s.)
The full moon that precedes Easter is called the Paschal full moon. Two concepts play an important role when calculating the Paschal full moon: The Golden Number and the Epact. They are described in the following sections.
The following sections give details about how to calculate the date for Easter. Note, however, that while the Julian calendar was in use, it was customary to use tables rather than calculations to determine Easter. The following sections do mention how to calculate Easter under the Julian calendar, but the reader should be aware that this is an attempt to express in formulas what was originally expressed in tables. The formulas can be taken as a good indication of when Easter was celebrated in the Western Church from approximately the 6th century.
2.13.2 When is Easter? (Long answer)
The calculation of Easter is complicated because it is linked to (an inaccurate version of) the Hebrew calendar.
Jesus was crucified immediately before the Jewish Passover, which is a celebration of the Exodus from Egypt under Moses. Celebration of Passover started on the 15th day of the (spring) month of Nisan. Jewish months start when the moon is new, therefore the 15th day of the month must be immediately after a full moon.
It was therefore decided to make Easter Sunday the first Sunday after the first full moon after vernal equinox. Or more precisely: Easter Sunday is the first Sunday after the ``official'' full moon on or after the ``official'' vernal equinox.
The official vernal equinox is always 21 March.
The official full moon may differ from the real full moon by one or two days.
(Note, however, that historically, some countries have used the real (astronomical) full moon instead of the official one when calculating Easter. This was the case, for example, of the German Protestant states, which used the astronomical full moon in the years 1700-1776. A similar practice was used in Sweden in the years 1740-1844 and in Denmark in the 1700s.)
The full moon that precedes Easter is called the Paschal full moon. Two concepts play an important role when calculating the Paschal full moon: The Golden Number and the Epact. They are described in the following sections.
The following sections give details about how to calculate the date for Easter. Note, however, that while the Julian calendar was in use, it was customary to use tables rather than calculations to determine Easter. The following sections do mention how to calculate Easter under the Julian calendar, but the reader should be aware that this is an attempt to express in formulas what was originally expressed in tables. The formulas can be taken as a good indication of when Easter was celebrated in the Western Church from approximately the 6th century.
Looking in Barbara Walker's Encylopedia of Myths and Secrets, Easter was a holiday dedicated to Astarte's north-eastern version, Eostre or Ostara (similar in Egypt to Hathor), a goddess of the peoples who eventually became known as Saxons. She was thought to be connected with the goddess Kali in India. Beowulf spoke of "Ganges' waters, whose flood waves ride down into an unknown sea near Eostre's far home."[1]
At this festival time, the moon-hare sacred to the Goddess, "laid the Golden Egg of the sun. Germans used to say the hare would lay eggs for good children on Easter Eve."[2]
"Easter shows its pagan origin in a dating system based on the old lunar calendar. It is fixed as the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox, formerly the 'pregnant' phase of Eostre passing into the fertile season. The Christian festival wasn't called Easter until the Goddess's name was given to it in the late Middle Ages."[3]
"The Persians began their solar New Year at the spring equinox, and up to the middle of the 18th Century they still followed the old custom of presenting each other with coloured eggs on the occasion. Eggs were always symbols of rebirth, which is why Easter eggs were usually coloured red --the life colour --especially in eastern Europe. Russians used to lay red Easter eggs on graves to serve as resurrection charms."[4]
In Bohemia, Christ became honoured on Easter Sunday, and his pagan rival on Easter Monday, "which was the Moon-day opposed to the Sun-day. Village girls, like ancient priestesses, sacrificed the Lord of Death and threw him into water, singing 'Death swims in the water, Spring comes to visit us, with eggs that are red, with yellow pancakes, we carried Death out of the village, we are carrying Summer into the village.'[5]"
"Another reminant of the pagan sacred drama was the image of the god buried in the tomb, then withdrawn and said to live again. The church instituted such a custom early in the Middle Ages, apparently in hopes of a reported miracle. A small sepulchral building having been erected and the consecrated host placed within, a priest was set to watch it from Good Friday to Easter Sunday. Then the host was taken out and displayed, and the congregation was told Christ was risen."[6]
"Germany applied to Easter the same title formerly given to the season of the sacred king's love-death, Hoch-Zeit, 'the High Time.' In English, too, Easter used to be called, 'the Hye-Tide.'[7] From these titles came the colloquial description of any festival holiday as a high old time."
[1] Goodrich, Norma Lorre, Medieval Myths
[2] de Lys, Claudia, The Giant Book of Superstitions
[3] Smith, Homer, Man and His Gods
[4] Gaster, Theodor, Myth, Legend and Custom in the Old Testament
[5] Frazer, Sir James, The Golden Bough
[6] and [7] Hazlitt, W. Carew, Faiths and Folklore of the British Isles
At this festival time, the moon-hare sacred to the Goddess, "laid the Golden Egg of the sun. Germans used to say the hare would lay eggs for good children on Easter Eve."[2]
"Easter shows its pagan origin in a dating system based on the old lunar calendar. It is fixed as the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox, formerly the 'pregnant' phase of Eostre passing into the fertile season. The Christian festival wasn't called Easter until the Goddess's name was given to it in the late Middle Ages."[3]
"The Persians began their solar New Year at the spring equinox, and up to the middle of the 18th Century they still followed the old custom of presenting each other with coloured eggs on the occasion. Eggs were always symbols of rebirth, which is why Easter eggs were usually coloured red --the life colour --especially in eastern Europe. Russians used to lay red Easter eggs on graves to serve as resurrection charms."[4]
In Bohemia, Christ became honoured on Easter Sunday, and his pagan rival on Easter Monday, "which was the Moon-day opposed to the Sun-day. Village girls, like ancient priestesses, sacrificed the Lord of Death and threw him into water, singing 'Death swims in the water, Spring comes to visit us, with eggs that are red, with yellow pancakes, we carried Death out of the village, we are carrying Summer into the village.'[5]"
"Another reminant of the pagan sacred drama was the image of the god buried in the tomb, then withdrawn and said to live again. The church instituted such a custom early in the Middle Ages, apparently in hopes of a reported miracle. A small sepulchral building having been erected and the consecrated host placed within, a priest was set to watch it from Good Friday to Easter Sunday. Then the host was taken out and displayed, and the congregation was told Christ was risen."[6]
"Germany applied to Easter the same title formerly given to the season of the sacred king's love-death, Hoch-Zeit, 'the High Time.' In English, too, Easter used to be called, 'the Hye-Tide.'[7] From these titles came the colloquial description of any festival holiday as a high old time."
[1] Goodrich, Norma Lorre, Medieval Myths
[2] de Lys, Claudia, The Giant Book of Superstitions
[3] Smith, Homer, Man and His Gods
[4] Gaster, Theodor, Myth, Legend and Custom in the Old Testament
[5] Frazer, Sir James, The Golden Bough
[6] and [7] Hazlitt, W. Carew, Faiths and Folklore of the British Isles
tomspug
Absorbant
THANK you, michel. I can't believe how many people have no idea how Easter is dated. There are even some people out there that actually believe that Easter STARTED with some pagan calender. It's based on Passover, guys. Christ died and rose again on specific days in the Passover celebration, so it's pretty easy to date Easter according to that.
Quoth The Raven
Half Arsed Muse
'Christian' Easter is based on Passover...conveniently it's based on Passover in such as way as it co-incides with the festival of the pagan goddess that it's named for.
It's also handy that according to Michel's source the way of determining the date wasn't really set until about 600 years after Christ supposedly died. Easter as a festival existed before the world was Christian, celebrated by people who probably didn't have the faintest idea that such a thing as Passover existed, let alone when it was.
doppelganger
Through the Looking Glass
And it's still celebrated that way. Sure there's a lot of churchy stuff overlaying it, but the holiday itself is dominated by ancient fertility symbols (rabbits, eggs, lilies, etc.). Easter is a holiday celebrating sex, fertility, the renewing of life and reproduction - just as it always has been.
The Great Architect
Active Member
Cool! The information has been great, so far; thanks, everybody. I'll have to do some research, myself. I have never heard of the 'vernal equinox' before; although, I have a vague idea of what an equinox is.doppelgänger;1080706 said:
So, what does that mean?
That Easter would be connected to the Jewish Passover, makes perfect sense. The capture of Jesus is put on hold, because the Passover is taking place. (In the Bible, I mean)
Katzpur
Not your average Mormon
All "vernal equinox" means is the first day of spring. The "autumnal equinox" is the first day of autumn. The word "equinox" refers to the fact that the hours and minutes of daylight is exactly equal to the hours and minutes of darkness.
Francine
Well-Known Member
If you live in a valley west of a mountain range like we do in the Portland-Vancouver area, you will notice that sunrise appears over a different mountain every day. The position where the sun pokes its bald head over the hilltops goes from south to north during the summer and fall, and from north to south during the winter and spring. The rate at which the position of the sunrise changes is maximum on the day of the equinox. If you were on the equator on that day, the sun would rise exactly due east. At noon on the equator on the equinox, a vertical stick casts no shadow.
Smoke
Done here.
Most of the rules have already been laid out, but to summarize in one place:
1) Easter or Pascha is always the first Sunday after the full moon after the vernal equinox.
2) For ecclesiastical purposes, the vernal equinox is always the 21st of March, regardless of when the actual vernal equinox is.
3) In the Western churches, the ecclesiastical vernal equinox is determined according to the Gregorian calendar. In the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches the ecclesiastical vernal equinox is determined according to the Julian calendar. This is true even in Orthodox churches that follow the Gregorian calendar for all other purposes -- except in the Orthodox Church of Finland, which observes Easter on the Western date.
1) Easter or Pascha is always the first Sunday after the full moon after the vernal equinox.
2) For ecclesiastical purposes, the vernal equinox is always the 21st of March, regardless of when the actual vernal equinox is.
3) In the Western churches, the ecclesiastical vernal equinox is determined according to the Gregorian calendar. In the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches the ecclesiastical vernal equinox is determined according to the Julian calendar. This is true even in Orthodox churches that follow the Gregorian calendar for all other purposes -- except in the Orthodox Church of Finland, which observes Easter on the Western date.
Francine
Well-Known Member
I'd sure like to see Easter given a fixed date, like Christmas. But then, who cares what I think?
Why not the same day as the Spring Equinox, which marks the period of new growth after the land has been three months in the grave of Winter?
Smoke
Done here.
In the early church there were some local churches that did celebrate Easter on the 14th of Nisan -- i.e., on Passover -- regardless of what day of the week that was, and for that reason they came to be called Quartodecimans ("Fourteeners"). There are saints recognized by both the Eastern and Western churches who were Quartodecimans. See Quartodecimanism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
However, the majority view was that Easter should always be celebrated on a Sunday, and eventually the view prevailed that all Christians must celebrate Easter on the same day, and that that day ought to be a Sunday.
Starfish
Please no sarcasm
Good point! Then how about like Thanksgiving (for those of us in the U.S.). It's always the 3rd Thurs. of Nov.
I like the first Sunday in spring. Shall we vote on it?:yes::no:
Smoke
Done here.
Schemes like that have been proposed before, but they usually fall flat in the face of Orthodox resistance. Most of the people who propose reform aren't that concerned about how easy it is to calculate the date; they're trying to arrange for East and West to celebrate on the same day.
The major Orthodox objections to reforming the date of Pascha are that Pascha must always be celebrated after Passover and that all Orthodox (notwithstanding the Church of Finland's practice) must celebrate Pascha on the same day. The likelihood of convincing all the national churches to adopt reform is slim to none.
I have also heard people object that when Easter and Pascha do fall on the same day, which happens sometimes, it's a royal pain for the churches in the Holy Land, because the Eastern pilgrims and the Western pilgrims come at the same time, whereas under the present system they're usually spread out.
