Celebrate Easter Monday the Italian Way!

The Italians have a saying, “Natale con i tuoi, Pasqua con chi vuoi”. It means "Christmas with family, Easter with whoever you like". This especially applies to the Monday following Easter.

Easter Monday or 'La Pasquetta' - literally little Easter - is a day spent when families and friends who have been solemn and pensive get together in a completely relaxed, informal, always noisy way to enjoy each other's company and - hopefully - the warmer spring weather. It is often spent by going on a picnic with plenty of yummy treats, and, of course, wine.

Although it's not really celebrated as a religious part of Easter in Italy,  (though inevitably mass is said in churches all over the country) Easter Monday does have some religious significance. It's also known in Italy as 'Lunedì dell'Angelo' ('Monday of the Angel') - the day to remember Mary and Mary Magdalene visiting the sepulchre and, finding it empty, being comforted by an angel.

The origins of Easter Monday celebrations, like the origins of Easter in Italy, are based in pagan tradition.  The ancient Roman culture feast of 'Lupercalia' was linked to re-birth after the hardships of winter and was a period of several days celebrating fertility and family.

In Old Ireland, Easter Monday was always filled with fun and festivities. Not only was it a favorite day for buying and selling livestock and merchandise at fairs and markets, it was also a time for enjoying sports, games, sideshows, dancing, eating, drinking, gambling, tugs of war, hurling matches, card games and reels and jigs. Those days are long gone, but would that dear old Ireland could go back to the Easter Mondays of long ago. Much more fun than the traffic jams as everyone returns home after spending Easter with extended family!

Easter Monday (Andre påskedag) in Norway is the end of the Easter holidays and is about cleaning, clearing and returning home (including sitting in traffic jams).

To me, the cleaning can wait another day. I like the Italian's idea of going on a picnic and dining casually with a bottle of wine. I think spending the day at a local park with a picnic basket, and incorporating some of the fun of the Irish would be grand. Invite some friends, find someone who can play guitar (or at least bring a portable music player and have plenty of Irish music to play) and play some games - frisbee or softball for the more physical guests or card or board games for the more cerebral.

White Saturday

In the Czech tradition, today is Bílá sobota (White Saturday). I'm not sure exactly why it is called White Saturday other than the fact that the past fews days of Holy Week were spent at cleansing the soul, body and dwellings, so that everything was to be spick and span. Bílá sobota is regarded as a lucky day for sowing. The farmers place ashes on their fields to ensure a good crop, and shake the trees, so that they'll yield a lot of fruit. They say that if it rains on Bílá sobota, it will rain often during the coming year. So we know rain on Good Friday - bad, rain on Holy Saturday - good. I'd hate to be a weatherman during this time!

In Ireland, the people ate a lot of fish during Lent and by the end of Lent were probably pretty tired of it, so on Holy Saturday, the butchers would lead the people in a funeral for a fish. I'm vegan, so I don't get tired of anything we eat, since there's a lot of variety. However, in the German tradition of Good Friday, last night I did fry up a batch of tofu using spices for fish. It was really good. I slathered the slices with garlic paste, then coated them with a mixture of Indian spices and flour before frying them up crispy. Delish!

One of the more amusing things I've discovered in the research, was the penchant in Norway for reading crime stories and detective novels during Easter. In order to cash in on this national pastime, publishers churn out series of books known as "Easter-Thrillers" or Påskekrimmen. TV stations, radio and newspapers also jump on the bandwagon by running detective series based on the works of famous crime novelists such as Agatha Christie, P.D. James, Simenon and Ruth Rendell. Interesting that it was during this time that I stumbled upon my latest addiction - China Bayles mysteries (she runs an herb shop) and Theodosia Browning mysteries (she runs a tea shop). I am currently reading Witches Bane by Susan Wittig Albert and Death by Darjeeling by Laura Childs.

Okay, it's a beautiful day and I'm off to Lowe's to take advantage of their free tree give-a-way today in celebration of Earth Day and then a trip to the library! Get thee to a Lowe's near you to get a tree, and check out a good mystery to lose yourself in, in the Norwegian tradition!

Celebrating a Good Friday Earth Day!

It both fascinates and amuses me that Good Friday this year should also fall on Earth Day.  Why? The continuing saga of my tradition research. According to an old Czech saying, for example, farming should not be done on Good Friday. Na velký pátek zemi nehýbej. ("On Good Friday, do not move the soil.") And yet, in Ireland, little or no work was done on the land, except for the planting of a small quantity of grain or potatoes to invoke a blessing on the crops. Czechs believe turning the soil is a bad thing on this day, but the Irish believe turning the soil to plant potatoes is a blessing. I love this stuff!

For the Czechs, the weather for the whole year is foretold from the weather on Velký pátek (Good Friday). For instance, if it rains on Velký pátek, then the rest of the year will be dry. They have a saying, "A rainy Good Friday makes for a thirsty year." Another belief is that on Velký pátek, according to legend, anyone can look upon the sun without being blinded by its glare. In folk tradition this day is closely connected with the belief in the magic powers of the Earth - how appropriate, then, that it should fall this year on Earth Day! Many believe that on this day the Earth gives up its secret treasures before sunrise.

It was believed that Mt. Blaník opens up for a couple of hours on this day. Mt. Blaník is famous among the Czechs as it's said that an army of Czech knights lies asleep within the mountain, waiting to come forth and help the nation in its hour of greatest danger, that when the Motherland is in danger in its darkest times and close to ruin, the equestrian statue of King Wenceslas will come to life. He will raise the sleeping army in  Blaník, and upon crossing the Charles Bridge his horse will stumble and trip over a stone, revealing the legendary sword of  Bruncvík.  With this sword, King Wenceslas will slay all of the enemies of the Czechs, bringing peace and prosperity to the land.

Kind of reminds me of King Arthur.

On a more mundane level, the day was spent making sure the house, yard and out-buildings were clean and tidy.

Sounds like an ideal way to spend  Earth Day!