By Ricardo Zayas

1. Easter in Puerto Rico and USA Presentation by Ricardo Zayas English Language Assistant IES Sierra Sur – Osuna, Sevilla April 2011

5. United States Easter is a major holiday in the West. It is a combination of the sacred (religious) and the pagan. he pagan portion of the holiday includes what many people have come to most associate with Easter, the Easter bunny, Easter eggs and the ever famous Easter egg hunt which occurs in nearly every community in the United States

6. United States The commercialism of Easter has reached record levels. For many people, the holiday is all about the candy, Easter egg hunts and the Easter bunny. Each of these has pagan, or non-religious origins and have nothing to do with the sacred meaning of the holiday mentioned earlier. Easter is one of the most anticipated holidays of the year, especially for young children who are the recipients of delicious chocolates, jelly beans and other assorted candies.

7. Origin of Easter The term Easter, comes from the Saxon goddess Eastre. Eastre was the goddess of the spring, dawn and fertility. Every year, she halted winter and its dark, shortened days. In its place, she helped bring about light and longer days. When she performed her work, the plants would bloom and both Today, few people associate the Easter Bunny with the pagan goddess Eastre. Instead, most individuals, both adults and children, associate it with a fun, family holiday that includes Easter baskets filled with candy, Easter egg hunts for the children and perhaps Sunday church services. human and animal offspring would increase in number. The animal that Eastre was most associated with was the rabbit. This association inspired the term, the Easter Bunny, the character that is most closely tied with the holiday.