Easter Sunday

2021 egg hunt

Easter is the most important and joyful of all Christian holy days because it marks the resurrection of Jesus. Easter always comes after the spring equinox, when lots of things in nature are returning to life; specifically Easter falls on the first Sunday after the full Moon on or just after the equinox.

The English word Easter comes from the Old English Eastre, which was the name for the spring season.

Easter is the penultimate time of hope, renewal and new life, which is at the heart of the message that Christians wish to proclaim and live in the world. I see this as a reminder to live each day as a new day, and to have faith that the actions I take will have transforming power in the world.

Agenda today:

1. Read "Revolutionary Witchcraft"

2. Greet the Easter sunrise with joy
3. Love meditation

4. Egg hunt

1. Read "Revolutionary Witchcraft":

I'm reading this sweet little book by Sarah Lyons (2019) that I got from my daughter for Christmas. The subtitle is A Guide to Magical Activism.

Chapter 3 is Dream Big, about cultivating our imagination so we can change the world. "Our ability to dream a different world is the foundation of magic, and quite frankly, it's the only hope we have." Some of what she says in this chapter is New Age positive-thinking BS, but under it is a hopefulness that I can embrace. We do need to have an idea of the future we want, no matter how fantastical we think it is. And I don't want to squash anyone's big dreams. 

I'm reading a section called Other Worlds are Possible. "The goal of activism is to change the world into one you think it should be." She goes on to tell us all to have an open mind and work at getting "a better perspective on what it is exactly that you're fighting for and against." 

Next is a look at Standing Rock.

2. Greet the Easter sunrise with joy
To the old pagan tribes of northern Europe, spring was the time of the triumphant sun, the sun reborn to light the dark valleys. It has been a tradition since the Middle Age for folks to gather on hilltops to watch the sunrise on Easter morning. According to legend, the rising sun dances on Easter morning to honor Jesus’ resurrection. 

I haven't managed it lately, but I have deep memories from my childhood of the walk up Coxcomb Hill on Easter morning to see the sunrise, followed by breakfast at our house for anyone from our church who cared to come, and a big egg hunt for all of us church kids.

This morning I will greet the sunrise in my backyard, with the ducks, as I do most mornings, and hunt for the eggs they have been hiding for me.

3. Love Meditation:

Every month after the full moon, in the quiet-energy yin time of the waning moon, I practice a love meditation that progresses from receptivity, to gratitude, to generosity:

Day 1: Practice a love meditation, and open to receive blessings - send a prayer to the universe asking to be showered with love, kindness, health, and happiness.

1. 1 minute - Relax your body, and focus on the tender emotion of generous love. Allow a smile to settle on your face and in your heart.
2. 1 minute - Visualize love as soft, tingly, warm, pink light, and see it move from your heart to every part of your body so that every cell is glowing and vibrating.
3. 1 minute - Now see the pink light of love radiating to fill the whole room, then the whole city, and the whole planet earth.
4. 1 minute - See that all people, plants, and animals feel warm and happy.
5. 1 minute - Send an extra dose of love light to those people you want to have a better connection to.

4. Egg hunt:

2023 egg hunt

We will have an egg hunt again at the Meeting House.

2024 egg hunt (at home)