Easter started off as a celebration of the resurrection of Christ, but by now most of us mark the occasion with chocolate and bunnies. According to the Bible, Easter Sunday was the day Jesus Christ rose again after being crucified for humanity’s sins. The religious origins are still acknowledged by people all over the world, but like Christmas, Easter has been combined with Pagan celebrations and Western commercialism.

For most of us in North America, Easter brings egg hunts, sugary treats and baskets filled with plastic grass. How do people in other parts of the world celebrate Easter?

Belgium

One Easter tradition particular to Belgium is “Stille Zaterdag” or “Silent Saturday.” The day before Easter, it is said that the bells of Rome bring the Easter Bunny his eggs. Because the bells have all “left for Rome” there are no bells rung in Belgian churches that Saturday.

Norway

Norwegians spend their Easter holidays skiing in the mountains and painting Easter eggs.  It is also a tradition in Norway to solve murders during Easter. Books, newspapers and television channels feature murder mysteries and even the milk cartons have murder stories on their sides. It is thought that this custom of crime solving stemmed from the violent nature of Christ’s death.

Sweden

It was once thought that witches rode their broomsticks up to church bell towers on Easter Eve. Now children dress up as witches and go door-to-door giving out decorated pussy willows or Easter cards in exchange for coins or candy. Willow branches are significant to Orthodox Easter celebrations. During the holiday they are kept in vases and decorated. 

Finland

The meal on Holy Saturday in Finland features herring, salmon, potatoes and eggs. The Lutherans of Finland have mammi, a traditional malt porridge dessert made of water, malt, rye flour and spices, for their Easter celebrations.

Netherlands

Easter fires called Paasvuur are lit on Easter Day at sunset in eastern parts of the Netherlands.

Central Europe

In The Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia, Easter Monday sees a tradition of spanking or whipping being carried out. A whip is used, called pomlazka (in Czech) or korbac (in Slovak) that is made of 12 or 24 withies (willow rods), one to two metres long and decorated with coloured ribbons at the ends.

In the morning the males throw water at the females and whip them. The whipping is not intended to hurt or cause harm. In fact, if a woman is not whipped she may feel offended. Legend has it, spanking the females will ensure health and beauty during the coming year. The whipped female will give the male a coloured egg or small amount of money in thanks.

A similar tradition called Dyngus Day existed in Poland for many years, but now it is basically a day long water fight. In Hungary it is called Ducking Monday and Easter eggs are exchanged for a sprinkling of perfume or perfumed water.

The origin of such traditions seems to be biblical.  When Jesus rode to Jerusalem, the people waved palm fronds to greet him.  In the north, palms were replaced with willow branches.

Latvia

A Latvian Easter game is played with hard-boiled, coloured eggs. Two people tap their eggs together first with both wide ends, then both narrow ends, and finally, one narrow and one wide. If a player’s egg cracks, they are out of the game. The game continues until there is only one person with an uncracked egg who becomes the winner.

Mexico

Each Easter in Iztapalapa, near Mexico City, an elaborate passion play is held that draws one million visitors each year. All of the townspeople participate, but the leading roles are restricted to those that meet strict appearance criteria.

Costa Rica

Until very recently, Costa Ricans thought that the use of vehicles during the holy time of Easter was a sin, so there was no vehicle traffic on Thursday or Good Friday. People got around on foot or horseback.
 
Wales

The Welsh Easter celebration starts before sunrise with a procession to the highest point in the area. Here the people watch the sun “dance” as it rises in honour of Christ’s resurrection.

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easter candy

Despite the diverse history of Easter traditions, here at home we mostly look forward to the candy. Before you pig out, keep these interesting statistics in mind. Ninety million chocolate Easter bunnies are made each year. In America alone, more than 700 million marshmallow Peeps are purchased for Easter. The amount of jelly beans consumed each Easter lined up end to end could circle the globe nearly three times. Happy Easter!