So
most of us have been celebrating the resurrection of Christ this Easter by
mainly hunting Easter eggs and gobbling them up. But in other countries Easter
is celebrated in rather different ways. National Geographic has this year
highlighted Slovakia’s tradition of whipping and drinking, Norway’s Easter
crime fest and Jerusalem’s flam of Christ’s tomb. Enjoy!
Historically,
young women would entertain a procession of visiting male friends and family members
who douse them with cold water and lightly whip them with decorated willow
branches. Women, in turn, give their visitors eggs, food, and perhaps a drink
of vodka. The custom is linked to Pagan type folk traditions welcoming the spring
season and purifying the body and soul. It was also hoped that the young twigs
would transfer vitality and fertility to the women.
However,
modern society has ended this unique tradition in some areas and greatly
watered it down in others. Where women were once dunked in the river, they're
now subjected to the use of a squirt gun or a perfume bottle, and whipping is
often skipped altogether. The communist government's discouragement of
religious rituals played a role in this, as did movement of rural peoples to
cities where such provincial antics aren't in vogue.
Norway
Norwegians
devour Easter crime stories, or Påskekrim, like candy each year in the form of
books, shows, and even cartoons adorning their favorite brands of milk cartons.
According
to Visit Norway, the nation's official travel guide, this unique secular
tradition dates back to 1923 and sprang from the hopes of two young and broke
authors who needed their crime novel to strike gold. On Palm Sunday of that
year, the authors' publisher Gyldenal ran the book's title on the front page of
the Aftenposten newspaper.
Most
readers thought the advertisement for the book, Bergen Train Looted In the
Night was news, not fiction. The resulting sensation not only sold many books,
but launched the tradition linking Norwegian Easter with crime—one that's been
happily embraced and embellished by publishers ever since.
Jerusalem
On
the day before Orthodox Easter, the faithful gather at Jerusalem's Church of
the Holy Sepulchre on the site where many believe Jesus was crucified,
entombed, and resurrected, to see an annual miracle they believe has occurred
for more than 1,200 years.
Orthodox
church leaders annually perform a ceremony in which they receive a flame that
is said to form at Christ's tomb, and bring it forth to light candles that
spread the flame—and the faith—among the audience. The flame is then taken by
special airplane to Russia, Greece, and other countries across the Orthodox
world.
Original
story from National Geographic here.
