Easter-time: A different taste
Guyanese Easter
Guyanese Easter

By Daniel Haynes

EASTER has come yet again, and Guyanese are expected to be celebrating the primarily Christian holiday in typical fashion. But what is this fashion, one might rightly ask? That would be the perennial ‘hot cross buns’ found around the city at this time of year, and oodles of kites littering the sky.
T’is this fashion that has become a tradition and proves that Guyanese are nothing if not consistent.
However, as the years go by, Guyana is quickly becoming a hub for different nationalities.
With that in mind, I decided to check out the differences with which each nationality celebrates Easter.

THE EASTER STORY
Easter has had several add-ons to its initial celebration. Despite this fact, the true meaning of Easter has not changed for Christians.
Christians believe, according to the Scriptures, that Jesus came back to life, or was raised from the dead three days after he was crucified on the cross.
As part of the season, the death of Jesus Christ by crucifixion is commemorated on Good Friday; always the Friday just before Easter.
Through his death, burial, and resurrection, Jesus paid the ultimate penalty for sin, thus purchasing for all who believe in Him eternal life in Christ Jesus. On Easter Sunday, Christians celebrate the resurrection of the Lord, Jesus Christ.

LOCAL TRADITION
As Guyanese, we each know what happens on Good Friday: Businesses are closed with the exception of a few bakeries that provide the traditional ‘cross buns’ we have all come to know and love. Kites litter the streets, and parents and kite lovers have an array to choose from. In some cases, persons start making ‘cross buns’ the week leading up to the Easter weekend.
As a young boy, one of my favourite things to do as soon as school closed for the holidays was build a kite with my neighbours.
Having been raised in a Christian home, Good Friday would find me and my friends in church. From church, it would be home to the delicious ‘cross buns’ that were freshly baked and waiting.
Then, as the weekend wore on, the family would look at the many Easter movies reliving the death of Jesus. Easter Monday would bring the kite flying that, as a child, was looked forward to.

IN THE USA

The famous egg roll at the White House
The famous egg roll at the White House

With Easter taking on new meaning over the years, the cross has since lost its uniqueness in terms of symbolism. In its place are such other symbols as real eggs, or eggs manufactured from a range of materials, nests, lambs and even rabbits or hares.
Sometimes, these symbols are combined; for example, in candy models of rabbits with nests full of eggs.
Eggs, rabbits, hares and young animals are thought to represent the re-birth and return to fertility of nature in the spring. The ‘cross buns’ that we usually make, and the annual kite flying are not a feature in the US, something that isn’t a surprise. What is the big thing, then? Egg rolling races, according to Mo Williams. Yes! Egg rolling races! These races are held every Easter Monday, Mo said.
There is a big race held on the lawns of the White House in Washington DC on Easter Monday, and sometimes even the President takes part in the “White House Easter Egg Roll”.
Eggs are rolled down a hill or slope, and there is a variety of activities, as well as food and entertainment, for families.

IN FRANCE
The French are known by most to be extravagant in what they do, and French national, Audriane Adami corroborated this. “Back home, Easter always consists of a long weekend. And in some districts, we even have a week or two of vacation around the long weekend,” she said.
In a more festive spirit, there is the Cloches volantes or “flying bells”. French Catholics believe that on Good Friday, all the church bells in France fly to the Vatican in Rome, carrying with them the grief of those who mourn Jesus’ crucifixion on that day. These Cloches volantes return on Easter Sunday morning, bringing with them lots of chocolate and eggs.
The French also follow the United States in the egg rolling contest. The contest of rolling raw eggs down a gentle slope is an old custom.
As per the legends, the surviving egg is the victor, and symbolises the stone being rolled away from Jesus’ tomb.

IN GHANA

A Ghanaian Easter Concert
A Ghanaian Easter Concert

Easter is celebrated across the board in Ghana by both Christians and non-Christians alike.
For Christians, the celebration starts well before Palm Sunday, but Palm Sunday is the largest, most widely known event before Easter.
Palm Sunday is celebrated by various church congregations with processions through some principal streets.
The next important day of the Easter season for Ghanaian Christians is Good Friday. Nearly everyone tries to attend church on Good Friday, because they believe that their sins from the year before are crucified on the cross with the Son of God.

In most orthodox churches, men and women are dressed in dark-coloured mourning clothes, and are in solemn moods.
“Many people attend church services only this one time during the year,” said Kibwe Tiatum, a Ghanaian currently studying law here.
People in the Pentecostal churches, on the other hand, dress in bright colours and are usually in a happy mood, as they believe that Jesus’ death calls for a celebration because He died for their sins. “Some ethnic groups, like the Kwahus of the Eastern Region of Ghana,” Kibwe said, “see Easter as one of the holidays that they need to travel to their hometown to enjoy.
“A Kwahu-born person will go to any length to travel home to celebrate Easter.”
But whether it is home in Guyana or abroad in other continents, the significance of Easter, at its core, ultimately remains the same.
Easter is a time for reflection on the grace of Jesus Christ, whose death, burial and resurrection paved the way for salvation and eternal life.
So, ‘cross-buns’ or kites, Easter eggs or Easter candy, homage should be paid to the Risen King.

 

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