“Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered; let those who
hate him flee from before his face!
As smoke vanishes, so let them vanish; as wax melts before
the fire,
So the sinners will perish before the face of God; but let
the righteous be glad.
This is the day which the Lord has made, let us rejoice and
be glad in it!
Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by
death,
and on those in the grave bestowing life.”*
The very
holiday the centre of Christian
faith, and the way to the holiday
is paved by long preparation period ( 40+ days ) marked with repentance,
respect and forgiving and fasting. This journey starts with Pre-lenten Sunday,
over the Great Lent to the Holy week , when it ends.
- Lazarus Saturday ( in Orthodox Christianity ) - commemorating the miraculouresurrection of Lazarus by Lord Christ, when He thus had proved to be messiah from the Old Testament prophecies
- Palm Sunday ( in both Catholicism and Orthodoxy, among latter also called “Triumphal entrance” ) - commemorating entrance of Lord in Jerusalem on the back of the donkey, celebrated by folk, laying down Olive and Palm branches, and flowers, hence the name. Entrance on a donkey symbolizes the coming of King of Peace, as opposed to customary entrance of Eastern kings on horses, when they would win battles or war. Palm branch in Christianity represents martyrdom , and spiritual victory over evil, all sort of calamities and death
- Holy Wednesday – commemorating feet washing and anointment with Myrrh oil, of Lord Christ, by repenting women, and the betrayal of Judas
- Maundy Thursday ( or Holy Thursday ) - is any Thursday before Easter. It commemorates the last supper, and hence the very Secret of communion
- Good Friday ( or Holy Friday ) commemorating Lord’s crucifixion and death, and is a day of utterly strict fasting, when, preferably, nothing is eaten the whole day ( in Eastern Orthodox Christian tradition ). It’s a day of sorrow, and sadness for Christians, though announcing the upcoming resurrection and the victory over the death by Lord Christ
- Holy Saturday ( mostly in Eastern Orthodox Christianity called that way ) – commemorates the day of Lord Christ’s rest, and is a day to dye/color and decorate the eggs in most parts of Balkan peninsula
- Easter ( which always falls on Sunday ) – commemorates the Resurrection of the Lord Christ
On Maundy
Thursday, or Holy Thursday in Orthodox Churches liturgical colors are change
from more sober Lenten, colors, to more festive like red, gold and white. Vine
and oil are permitted to consume, unlike
the rest of the week Friday in particular.
Church services held combine
Vespers and Liturgy of St. Basil the
Great, which are commonly followed
by 12 gospels about Passion of the Lord.
Later in the evening, liturgical colors
are once again changed to black to symbolize the forthcoming events passion, crucifixion and resurrection.
The church bells in Orthodox Christianity are not heard on the Good Friday ( it’s wise to note here that the most frequently used name among the Eastern Orthodox Christians is however “Great Friday” ) , and in some countries this is a rule abided for the whole week preceding Easter. It’s a day of mourning the Lord Christ’s death, a death of Messiah who even upon his last hours, in agony showed love and carrying for all the people, symbolically speaking a “lamb” that took the sins of humanity on itself, to cleanse and deliver us. In the Churches , somewhere in the afternoon, or around 3.00PM, the Epitaphios ( an icon in a form of large cloth, richly embroidered and adorned, depicting Christ’s body after removal from the Cross, laying supine [3] used in liturgical service of Byzantine, or Orthodox Church on the last two days of the Holy week ) is moved to the altar ( more precisely a sepulcher, a table arranged in special way in front of the altar ), where it shall remain throughout the Pashcal season . The faitful people in silence, humbly kiss the Epitaphios ( most often the wounds are kissed ) , and thus paying in this manner respect to the Lord’s sacrifice. It’s a day of sadness and most strict fasting ( neither fish, nor oil , nor vine are allowed ) that is, preferably throughout the whole day, only water is drunk , while no solid food is consumed.
Moreover,
symbolism of the Eastern eggs is in many places today vulgarly deconstructed
and profaned . They are a symbol of New life, and resurrection for Christians, and serve as
symbols of such, that are exchanged on the Easter by pious people, glorifying the gift
of eternal life, and also creating friendly ties, expressing hospitability, and
rejoicing in the time of the most joyful holiday of Christians, commemorating a
cornerstone event of the whole faith, in not the modern human society in
general. This is even more stressed in Eastern Christian Orthodoxy , and folklore,
where the “House-guard” egg, other than being a powerful religious relic, of a
kind, is a unique magickal tool of folk magick, with apotropaic and healing
powers extraordinaire. Example of ritual in which this “sacred” egg is put to
use is given later in the text.
“So the women
hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his
disciples. 9 Suddenly
Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he
said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do
not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see
me.” ( Mathew 18: 8-11) [4]
Lord then
appears to his disciples in Galilee, as he promised, instructing them to spread
his word, all over the world:
16 Then
the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them
to go. 17 When
they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority
in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore
go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and
teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you
always, to the very end of the age.” (Mathew
28:16-20) [5]
With
resurrection lord Christ had defeated Death, and attained keys of Heaven and He*l, while also
delivering humans from their sins. Hence why the event is a quintessential
point in Christian religion, If not world in general. The greeting/s among the
Orthodox Christian on this day, are
expressions : “Christ has risen”! with the other person replying :
“Indeed ( or “Truly” ) he has risen!” mimicking the spreading of the word about
Lord Christ’s resurrection, from Biblical times. The whole week after the Easter is special,
particularly Easter Monday, and Easter Tuesday, the two days that continue
celebration of the Pascha ( Easter ). Among the Eastern ( Orthodox )
Christians, this week is often referred to as “Light” or “Luminous week” and
the Light Wednesday and Friday are fast-free, as opposed to the most of the year.
 |
| Mircale of the Holy Fire or Holy Light |
Yet the
miracles associated with the Easter,
continue to occur even nowadays. One of the most enduring, attested
miracles, is the Miracle of Holy Fire, or Miracle of Holy Light, taking place
in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (
also called Basilica of the Holy Sepulchere,
or Church of the Resurrection ) , in Jerusalem. This breathtaking, and wondrous phenomenon, is
among the most renowned miracles in the
Eastern Orthodox community. The Miracle
occurs for at very least 1000 years,
though probably much more. However, the first written records of it
are attributed to Bernard the Monk, and later by Russian iguman Danill (
Daniel ).
 |
| Chucrh of Holy Sepulchre, in Jerusalem |
To ensure
that the miracle is not some scheme or well-thought-out fraud, as well as to
symbolically represent Romans who once went to seal the tomb of Lord
Christ, the representatives of Israel
authorities, inspect the tomb
thoughtfully and thoroughly, making sure that there are no hidden tools or
instruments that could ignite or spark the flame. Then they seal the entrance
to the Holy Sepulchre with the wax until the ceremony. After breaking the seal, the Patriarch
enters, falls on his knees, and in
humility recites the ancient prayers, handed down to him by his predecessors,
for sole purpose of invoking the Holy Light. The Holy Flame/Light appears most often firstly
as a glowing, sparkling hue of bluish light, and ignites the two candles that
the Patriarch carries and will use to distribute the flame to the pilgrims, that
come from all over the world to attest the miracle. However the Light also
ignites pilgrims candles on it’s own , spontaneously , as well as the oil lamps
hung in the second level of the Church and higher. It dances miraculously all
over the chamber, and touches the hands and heads ( face ) of the pilgrims, without burning them. In fact
the fire ignited by the Holy Light/Fire does not burn, and is reported to
have healed many, restoring their health miraculously.
“While the patriarch is inside the chapel kneeling in front of the
stone, there is darkness but far from silence outside. One hears a rather loud
mumbling, and the atmosphere is very tense. When the Patriarch comes out with
the two candles lit and shining brightly in the darkness, a roar of jubilee
resounds in the Church.
The Holy Light is not only distributed by the Archbishop, but operates
also by itself. It is emitted from the Holy Sepulchre with a hue completely
different from that of natural light. It sparkles, it flashes like lightning,
it flies like a dove around the tabernacle of the Holy Sepulchre, and lights up
the unlit lamps of olive oil hanging in front of it. It whirls from one side of
the church to the other. It enters some of the chapels inside the church, as
for instance the chapel of the Calvery (at a higher level than the Holy
Sepulchre) and lights up the little lamps. It lights up also the candles of
certain pilgrims. In fact there are some very pious pilgrims who, every time
they attended this ceremony, noticed that their candles lit up on their own
accord!his divine light also presents some peculiarities: As soon as it appears
it has a bluish hue and does not burn. At the first moments of its appearance,
if it touches the face, or the mouth, or the hands, it does not burn. This is
proof of its divine and supernatural origin. We must also take into
consideration that the Holy Light appears only by the invocation of an Orthodox
Archbishop.”
The ceremony is
transmitted by TV stations in many countries, and can thus be attested by broad
public, at least indirectly. However, it’s interesting to note that in the
Western countries , extremely little is known of this phenomenon, which is a shame, despite the fact that it occurs only on Pascha ( Easter )
celebrated according to Gregorian calendar, the miracle is there for all the
faithful people, ready to pay proper respect to it, as has been attested by numerous pilgrims over
the years. It is wise to state that the ceremony , above discussed, starts on
Holy Saturday.
Easter in Balkan
peninsula also a time of power, for
cunning folk or folk in general, that regardless, of their religion, see it
as a time of exquisite and unmatched power throughout the year.
Likewise, dyed eggs and other “relics” and tools used in
both family and official church
ritual, are a formidable source of power , and tools with amazing
potential.
One of them being
egg. And not the chocolate kind either J , it's in fact, an actual , hard-boiled chicken eggs, dyed,
and sometimes also embellished with various shapes and patterns.
These eggs, boiled and dyed during the period from the Good Friday to
Easter, are then used by faithful folk
in a sort of game. They knock one egg on another, and the person who’s egg does
not break, is the winner and may ( if they chose so ) claim the egg their opponent held, the one
that broke. But there is much more to these eggs, as they are prepared and
consumed to symbolically commemorate
Christian legend , that appears in host of versions, though each claiming that
an egg ( or eggs ) had miraculously turned red, on Easter Sunday. I have even
briefly mentioned few of them earlier in the text. The hard shell of the egg,
in mind of early Christians represented
the sealed tomb, while cracking it represents the
act of Resurrection. Easter eggs are blessed by the Priest at the
end of the Paschal Vigil, and distributed to the pious. Here is one of the versions of the legend
associated with origin of dying Christian eggs :
“According to
tradition, during a dinner with the emperor Tiberius Caesar, Mary Magdalene was
speaking about Christ's Resurrection. Caesar scoffed at her, saying that a man
could rise from the dead no more than the egg in her hand could turn red.
Immediately, the egg turned red. Because of this, icons of Mary Magdalene
sometimes depict her holding a red egg. Also, this is believed to be an
explanation for dyeing eggs red at Pascha.”
[7]
In Serbia, parts
of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Montenegrin areas, as well as some parts of
Croatia, a peculiar tresure hunt ceremony is appropriated on Easter, much like
it’s done on Christmas. This is usually done in rural, village areas, and is
some form of folk magick-style dedication ritual, which is reported to result
in providential spiritual guidance of the participant towards the buried treasure, which is, upon retrieval
“judged” and consequently liberated from
protective curses, that may have been laid upon it, or simply from bad “karma”,
energies and intangible imprints. More on magickal treasure hunting, and this
Eastern European folk ritual associated with it, hopefully on another occasion
here.
 |
| An example of House-guard eggs |
In modern days,
people hide Eastern eggs, and make
children go “Easter egg hunting” , then again, I’d say that’s hardly a
parallel :-)
The first egg,
that was dyed, most often a red one, is
reserved throughout the year by Orthodox Christian and called “house-guard”, it
has cultic reverence tied to it, and is
believed to protect the home
and family form all misfortune and evil, and possesses healing powers.
Laying the egg on the skin of people who are ill, or under the influence of
evil spell, followed by appropriate prayer or psalm, or rubbing the egg against
the afflicted area, can alleviate or cure the condition. It is used in various
rituals of folk magick, one of which is as follows :
House-guard egg
invigorating ritual
This simple folk
ritual is done on the Eastern ( Paschal ) morning to ensure the health and well
being of household members, and to bless them.
In a clean bowl,
cold spring water is poured, and the petals of Violet, Calendula ( aka Marigold
), some leafs of Basil and Dandelion.
The first red-dyed egg is dipped with
the water with herbs, and used to touch
forehead, chin, right cheek, then left cheek ( in that particular order ) of
each and every member of the household saying:
“So that You are
rosy and healthy as red egg”
Finally each
person is ( using three fingers to
besprinkle ) sprinkled with the water, and the water is, akin to the egg, kept
for all the year, though in the fridge.
On next Easter,
some use the remaining water and the house guard egg , for divination, they simply open the bottle
with the reserved water and crack the egg. If there’s no foul odors, household
members may expect times of joy. [8]
Easter/Paschal light
devotional ritual
Following is a
simple ritual I composed that seems very
befitting ( but alas, I’m bias lol ) for this particular holiday season
It would be ideal
to fast during this ritual ( meaning from Good Friday until
the Pashca ) and refrain from evil thoughts, acts, and try to forgive
Your trespassers. A sincere and often praying is also of great assistance.
Take a brand new
white candle, wash it with some Holy ( or Consecrated, Blessed water ) or
Florida water. Do this on Good Friday.
Than dip it whole in melted red wax,
once or twice shall suffice, You only need a light coating. In fact to even
further separate two layers, You may lightly dress candle with glycerin prior
to the dip. Now keep the candle on the
altar, undisturbed, wrapped in some nice fabric until the Saturday night. On a
piece of paper, write the things that ill You as well as Your good wishes
crossing and covering them, and try to keep it as simple and concise as
possible. This is one of those cases where less is more. Just before Midnight, in almost complete darkness, and silence, take the candle out, and break
the red wax at the top , so that the wick, and a bit of the top part of the
candle are free and exposed. Now light the candle and say the Troparion quoted
at the beginning of this article, then burn the paper where You’ve written
about Your problems and wishes, and then say the Psalm 68th and
Psalm 23rd. which can be followed by heartfelt and sincere prayer of
Your own. Let the candle burn all the way down.
I know the Easter
has passed for my Catholic brothers ( who use Julian calendar ) but
nevertheless , Happy Easter to all, Catholic or Orthodox,
Christ is risen !
Abundance of
Blessings from Shadow :-)
NOTES: This article was composed and written by myself, meaning, If You wish to use any part of it elsweher online, You may, but add them credits; Shadow of Shadows magick place, Shado-333@hotmail.com or a direct link to this post
CREDITS AND REFRENCES:
* Paschal troparion , preceded with
verses of Psalm 67 ( 68 ) as sung on the beginning of the liturgical service on
Easter in Orthodox Christianity,
retrieved here from : http://orthodoxwiki.org/Easter
[5] Retrieved from the same source
as under [5]
[8] Translated and adopted from ( by
myself ) : “Kalendar za srecne dane” ( lit. Calendary for the
lucky days ) by Jasna Jojic Pavlovski, more information on
the book anf author can be found here: http://www.lekiamajlija.com
Other
consulted pages and resources:
IMAGE CREDITS:
Image
source: Resurrection depiction by Noel Coypel is from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Noel-coypel-the-resurrection-of-christ-1700.jpg , Image of the Holy Fire is a photography as found on source given under
[6] both used for illustrative and
explanatory purposes here without any
bad intentions , the second is as
found on: http://www.holyfire.org/eng/ , image depicting Church of The
Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem is from Wikipedia; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jerusalem_Holy_Sepulchre_BW_19.JPG , again used for illustrative and explanatory
purposes only. Image depicting
House-guard eggs, as part of Eastern Orthodox Tradition, is from http://blog.b92.net/user_stuff/upload/843/vaskrs1.6843.jpg
and once again, used here for illustrative and explanatory purposes without
any bad intentions
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