The Dark Side of Easter

Dark Easter Origins 

In the Christian calendar, Easter is the time of Christ's crucifixion and resurrection.  Christians commemorate Jesus Christ's crucifixion on Good Friday. It is observed by Christians as a day of penance, grief and fasting. Good Friday also marks the end of the 40-day period of fasting for Christians, called lent. The day before called Maundy Thursday, commemorates Christ washing the feet of his disciples and the last supper. Easter Sunday celebrates the resurrection. 

  Some people feel the brutality of what Jesus Christ apparently went through makes this holiday dark enough. Others say a holy holiday being eclipsed by old pagan traditions is dark.  However, for non-Christians and those who recognise the pagan origins of this holiday, we may need something more.

  As we can guess if we don't already know, the Christian Easter celebrations take place at this time of the year in an attempt to replace the Pagan celebration, in the same way Christmas takes place during yuletide. While Christmas managed to implant many Christian aspects into a Pagan holiday, Easter didn't do as well. While Christ Mass became Christmas and we have the nativity and religious carols, Easter, arguably a more important Christian celebration, is practically forgotten over Pagan traditions.

  Easter is named after the West Germanic spring goddess Eostre*. While there is little about her, she is believed to be the same as Ishtar. A goddess of fertility and sex. Often the 'rebirth' of spring is used to celebrate these goddesses. Both eggs and bunnies are symbols of fertility and considering spring signifies the end of winter, it makes sense. 

  Eggs are especially popular, chocolate eggs have become a staple of Easter. Even those who do not know its slightly risqué connotation refer to it as a symbol of spring along with chicks, the world is blooming, life is returning. It's all very wholesome. Of course, as with everything, we can all find some darkness to it if we wish.

Too Late To Save Everyone

  The Goddess Ostara came to banish winter and bring warmth and life back to earth, however, she found she had come a little late. She found dead and dying birds with their wings frozen and their beaks cracked. With the weather so cold and the ground so hard some birds had not been able to survive. While she revived and healed the dying birds, the dead ones were beyond help.

Jealousy: The Easter Bunny

  Ostara revived a bird whose wings were too damaged to heal, she turned him into a snow hare. This hare was either her pet or her lover, stories vary. As he started as a bird, the bunny laid colourful eggs once a year. Eventually, their relationship turned sour. As a pet, he was disobedient and mischievous. As a lover he was unfaithful. Ostara put a stop to his behaviour by throwing him into the sky to be imprisoned there forever. After a time her heart softened enough to allow him to return once a year but the rest of the time he is imprisoned in the sky as the constellation Lepus.

Disrespect

  With the days getting longer and the weather getting better, many people bring out or purchase a spring wardrobe. Bright colours, shorter sleeves, pretty dresses. While this may be seen as a somewhat modern tradition, it is actually a custom with a dark origin. As a goddess was coming, we were to greet her in the right way. It would be considered very disrespectful if we greeted spring in anything other than bright colourful clothes. Disrespecting a goddess could lead to crop failure, infertility, poverty and death. Wearing bright clothes was the only way of avoiding such horrible fates.

While there are not a lot of dark elements to Easter, it is a spring celebration, after all, there are a few for us people who like to have a little darkness all year round. The Easter bunny is little like Santa, delivering eggs to children, does he watch them sleeping too? If you can find or know anymore do let me know in the comments, I always like to learn more about dark origins and traditions. In the meantime eat too much chocolate, mourn the loss of winter and always look for a little darkness in this coming of the light.

*Read about Éostre on Wikipedia.

Creepy Wedding Superstitions

 Wedding Traditions with Creepy Origins

  There are many superstitions and traditions around the happiest day of you life. Nowadays with more themed and gothic weddings, most couples make their own luck and own traditions. However, for the more conventional weddings, there are many traditions and superstitions that are surprisingly creepy, even if some of the traditions aren't followed anymore.

Ward Off The Trolls

  In Norway, trolls are quite benevolent beings that are shy, like cake and are nice to people who are nice to them. In some places, trolls are not so nice. Evil beings fond of carrying off human women, it was best to try to keep them at bay, especially during a wedding. In Ancient Swedish tradition, brides would sew garlic, rosemary and cloves into their dresses in the hope the smell would keep away trolls. I'm pretty sure that would keep a few guests away too.

Never Wear Green

  As most brides these days wear white, this isn't as prevalent as it was, however, many people are careful to wear nothing green when they marry, such as emeralds. Some people say it's unlucky regardless of how many weddings you have. As you're only meant to wear white at your first wedding, some people opt for green at a subsequent wedding  Like many superstitions, people follow it without knowing it's origins. As brides used to wear their best dress to their wedding, white dresses only available to the rich, she had to take care her best dress was not green. The reason being that green is a fairy colour. In a time when fairies were terrifying creatures that could bring misfortune and even switch out your child for a changeling, you wouldn't want to offend them by wearing their colour to your wedding.

Exit The church First = Die First

  In North Carolina, USA in 1964, the order of the wedding also foretold the order of death. Other things also foretold death. If it rained on your wedding day the groom would die first also snow on the bride meant she would be a widow. Whomever left the altar first, exited the church first, sat at the reception first and/or stepped over the threshold of the new home first would be the first to die. A 50/50 chance either way, it is easy to see how these superstition may have had real results.

Bridesmaids

  The brides best friends and female relatives often make up an important part of the wedding party. A bridesmaid's job, especially chief bridesmaid and maid of honour, is to look after the bride; hence bride's maids. As the title suggests, it's supposed to be unmarried women. A way to honour and include your friends in your special day perhaps but it has a sinister origin. Bridesmaids are there to confuse evil spirits, rival lovers or even potential kidnappers about which one is the bride. Bridesmaids used to wear the same or a similar dress to the bride to confuse these would be wedding crashers. Of course this probably worked better before we could all afford white. Pretty obvious who the bride is now, I'm pretty sure the spirits would work it out.

Bad Luck To See The Bride Before The Wedding

  Probably an easy one to guess, this goes back to days of arranged marriages. If a groom saw his bride before the wedding and didn't like the look of her, he could refuse to go through with the wedding. If he did not see the bride until after he could no longer back out, as they would have been joined by God, they could not be separated.

Wearing a Veil

  A veil was  a symbol of the girl's virginity and worn to protect her modesty. Seeing the bride could get the young men's blood pumping. Concealing her from potentially lustful eyes was a must. The veil also hid her from evil spirits and the groom's eyes. Again ensuring an arranged marriage would go ahead.

Throwing the Bouquet Is A Distraction

   A bride was lucky, she had found herself a husband. As such, wedding guests used to try and grab some of that luck for themselves by tearing her dress. Brides would throw her bouquet as a distraction, having the guests tear at the flowers instead of her. These days, the single ladies wait for the bride to throw her bouquet but originally, she threw it almost instantly after vows for fear her dress would be a victim otherwise. 

Throwing of the Garter

  While the bride throws her bouquet to the ladies, the one who catches it supposed to be the next one to marry, the groom throws the men his bride's garter. Seen as a modern tradition it is actually pretty old. In medieval times the bedding ceremony was a big part of the wedding. Possibly to make the marriage valid as soon as possible, the couple would consummate their marriage right after the vows. In a lot of cases, witnesses would even watch to ensure it actually happened and the couple didn't lie. The groom would remove his wife's underthings and toss them to the crowd as both proof and celebration of the marriage being consummated. Not something that would necessarily go down well these days!

Honeymoon

   A period supposed to last a month (hence moon) and a pleasant one, some believe it originally came from marriage by abduction. The groom would hide his kidnapped bride until the family stopped looking, or the poor girl fell pregnant, whichever happened first. Probably a lot longer than even the month long honeymoon, not quite as pleasant an event. As marriage by abduction was common, women were their father's property and an angry family could get violent. It led to another tradition.

Best Man

  Whomever you choose, best friend, brother etc the best man used to be the best fighter. He would be around to help the groom in a fight with the abducted bride's family and also stop the girl from escaping. A best man was basically your back up. Now he just has the job of organising the bachelor party/stag night.

Carrying over the threshold

  A tradition even unconventional couples keep as it is good luck, it has a few origins, First of all we have, again, protection from evil spirits or spells placed to harm the bride. Next is a superstition, if a bride trips while entering her new home it's unlucky, so the groom carrying her makes sure it won't happen. There's also the kidnapping history and the bride's reluctance to leave home, childhood and her virginity. As the bride was not allowed to be happy about leaving her father's home or losing her virginity, being carried over the threshold was the groom forcing her to do so. Not quite as romantic when looked at in that light. 

  So there you have it, the dark side to traditional weddings. Of course there's the darkness everyone can guess, the father giving the bride away, the business transaction it used to be, but here a few you may not have known. I only hope that if you're not married yet I haven't just kind of ruined the magic...yeah...sorry.

Urban Legend or Tragic Fact? Did a young English girl book in alone?

 

  Paris in 1889 was the year of the Great Exposition or World's fair. The event for which the Eiffel tower had been built. As such it was very busy, packed with businessmen, buyers and tourists. Most hotels were fully booked and, in May, two women checked in at a well-known hotel. The mother and daughter had booked two single rooms and checked in having arrived from Marseilles after travelling to France from India. 

  While both mother and daughter were originally from England they had spent time in India, it is not clear why but India was still part of the British Empire at the time with Queen Victoria the Empress of India. It was not uncommon for people to visit it or work there. 

  After signing their names in the register they were shown to their rooms. The girl's mother was in room 342, a luxurious apartment with heavy curtains of plum-coloured velvet, rose-covered wallpaper, a high-backed sofa, an oval satinwood table and an ormulu clock. 

  Almost immediately, the older woman fell seriously ill. The hotel doctor examined her and asked her daughter some questions. He and the manager had what appeared to be a somewhat excited conversation in the corner of the room. The girl did not speak French but when the doctor slowly spelled out instructions she was able to understand. Her mother required a particular medicine available only at the doctor's surgery on the other side of Paris. As he couldn't leave his patient, the girl would have to go and retrieve it. He sent the girl in his own carriage. The streets were busy and it seemed to take a long time. At the surgery, she was forced to wait and by the time she arrived back at the hotel with the medicine, four hours had passed.

  The girl rushed into the foyer and asked the manager "Comment va ma mére?" (How is my mother?) The man stared blankly at her and asked "To whom do you refer mademoiselle?" Taken aback, she stammered an explanation of her delay. He responded, "But Mademoiselle, I know nothing of your mother. You arrived here alone". Distraught, the girl protested: "But we registered here less than six hours ago. Look in the book." When the manager produced the register the girl's signature was there but above it, where her mother had signed, was the name of a stranger. The girl insisted they had both signed and that her mother had been in room 342 and she wished to be taken to her at once. The manager assured her the room was occupied by a French family but took her to the room for her to see for herself. The room was not decorated as she recalled and held nothing but the items of the family the manager said were staying there. Downstairs she questioned the doctor who denied knowledge of her or her mother. 

  The girl reported her predicament to the British Ambassador, but neither he, the police, or the papers believed her. Eventually, she returned to England alone and was lodged in an asylum.

  Similar stories to this one have been seen in books and other publications throughout the years. Some have slightly different details, such as the girl going to the doctor's house instead of the surgery or the doctor and manager speaking English fluently. In some, the girl discovers the reason her mother has disappeared and why both the doctor and manager deny knowledge of her. The explanation put forward in nearly all versions is that the mother had contracted a plague in India. The doctor, recognising the symptoms, conspired with the manager to conceal the news so as not to derail the Great Exhibition. If someone in the city staying in the hotel was revealed as having the plague the whole event would have been cancelled and people would, if they could, flee the city for fear of contracting the illness. If this is the case, could the register have been changed and the room completely redecorated in four hours? What did the doctor and manager do with the woman's body?

  As there is little detail in the story, such as names, there is little to go on in discovering whether or not this is a true story. Some people have claimed it is true but failed to come up with any evidence. People claiming it is nothing more than an urban legend have been reminded that some so-called 'urban legends' do turn out to either be true or based on real events, as legends often are. If it is a true story it is a truly tragic one and I cannot help but feel sorry for the poor girl. If it is an urban legend it has all the right elements, an unfamiliar place, an unexplainable disappearance, the fear of the unknown and being driven mad. Either way, it is a story that brings up many questions and mysteries that may never be uncovered.