In the past month, the Main Quad has been covered with Easter eggs twice. Two weeks ago, the sports marketing competition “The Big Shot” saw one competitor blanket the lawn with silver eggs filled with game pieces promising chances to win fabulous prizes. Tuesday, the Great Egg-scape, sponsored by campus Baptist ministry group The Vine, had students greedily sprinting past five year olds to collect as many eggs as they could for a chance to win an iPod.

All this leading up to one of the holiest days of the Christian calendar. For those of you (and you know who you are) who were pushing the youngsters into the fountain on the main quad Tuesday evening, Ed Board would like to give you a little refresher course on the traditions of this springtime celebration known as Easter.

In Christian regions of the world, Easter Sunday is the day in which people commemorate the resurrection of Jesus Christ after suffering three days to atone for the world’s sins. For a full recap of this event, please refer to the writings of Matthew, Mark, Luke or John (the four books of the Gospel, remember?). Easter also marks the end of the Lenten season.

Christianity is not the only religion that celebrates at this time of year though. The Hebrew religion celebrates Passover, an eight-day festival that commemorates the flight and freedom of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt many years ago. For more on this story, refer to the book of Exodus, available in any Old Testament.

But what about those traditional symbols of Easter that we are all so comfortable with? The Easter bunny and his cornucopia of colored eggs filled with chocolates and jelly beans? Many scholars believe that the word Easter itself is derived from the Scandinavian word “Ostra,” and the Teutonic word “Eastre,” both mythological goddesses that signify spring and fertility, whose festivals were celebrated by early Saxon pagans on the day of the vernal equinox. The traditions of these celebrations survive in the form of the Easter bunny, a symbol of fertility, and colored eggs, originally painted with bright colors to represent the sunlight, and given as gifts.

Ed Board would like to encourage you, armed with your newly gained knowledge, to attend any of the services this Sunday celebrating Easter. And please be courteous on those egg hunts.