Tag: traditions (page 1 of 1)

May 7, 2019 / 0 Comments

Misconceptions about Lunar New Year

Although Lunar New Year is most well known in its celebration in China, it is important to realize the distinction between how it is celebrated in China and how it is celebrated in other Asian countries. A lot of people mistakenly refer to Lunar New Year as Chinese New Year, even though it is not specific to just China. Even the time and duration of each holiday differs from each ethnicity. The holiday commemorates the beginning of the lunar calendar, which many Asian cultural groups celebrate.

Fireworks for celebration

The Chinese word for Lunar New Year is “chun jie” which also translates to “spring festival.” There is nowhere in the Chinese language that refers to the holiday as a Chinese New Year. As the holiday was introduced to the Western civilizations, it quickly became known as the Chinese New Year, yet in truth is celebrated by many. For example, in our interview with Calvin Huynh, he expressed his concern about how many Vietnamese people feel this separation and the sense of detachment from the holiday. Not only that, but when asked about celebrating the holiday, people always tend to address it as a Chinese tradition.

Festival in Chinatown

Something else that seems concerning is that a lot of the online sources lacked specific information that we were able to gather from interviews with people who experience the holiday at first hand. Sources lacked on how a lot of Asian-Americans seemed to be unaware of many traditions as well as how it is actually celebrated in China. The sources were very broad and had similar information that is presumably self implied for many families. Our interview with Liyi Lin really helped clarify how many people in China went about celebrating. For example, online sources insisted that the holiday is celebrated uniformly for 15 days. However, Lin said that most people only celebrate it for the first for and the following days, up until the 15th, are left for receiving red envelopes. Another misconception is that it is celebrated completely different in many regions of the world. So immigrants, of course, celebrate it in a different sense in comparison to those who live in that respective country. However, immigrants do incorporate new aspects of culture into the celebration and observation of the holiday. It shouldn’t be labeled as “watered down,” but instead recognized as a unique way of unifying different attributes to the holiday.

May 6, 2019 / 0 Comments

Overview and History of Orthodox Easter

Every year, Orthodox Easter is celebrated on a Sunday, however, the precise date varies. Not only does it vary each year, but it also varies between Catholic and Orthodox Easter. This is because Catholics follow the Gregorian calendar while Orthodox Christians follow the Julian calendar.

The celebration and observation of Greek Orthodox Easter begins with a 40 day fast during which people are meant to give up eating all meat. This continues until the arrival of Holy Week (the week before Easter) which carries many traditions with it. For most religious people, they give up all animal products this week. On the Thursday before Easter, Greeks prepare for the festivities by baking a sweet bread called Tsoureki. This is eaten on Easter day as the three twists or braids in the bread represent the Holy Trinity.

Tsoureki (on the left) and Dyed Eggs (on the right) with some traditional Greek cookies

On Good Friday, the atmosphere is somber as people mourn Jesus’ death and crucifixion. In Greek towns and even in many Greek Churches around the world there are elaborate tombs that are decorated and carried throughout the town. People of the neighborhood walk with the tomb, in Greek the επιτάφιο (“epitafio”). This represents a funeral procession of sorts.

Late on Saturday night, the night before Easter, everyone heads to Church around midnight. Once the clock strikes twelve everyone welcomes in Easter by singing the hymn χριστός ανέστη (“Christos Anesti”).

Greek Version:
Χριστὸς ἀνέστη ἐκ νεκρῶν
θανάτῳ θάνατον πατήσας
καὶ τοῖς ἐν τοῖς μνήμασι
ζωὴν χαρισάμενος.

English Translation:
Christ is risen from the dead,
Trampling down death by death,
And upon those in the tombs
Bestowing life!

At the same time, the Priest brings out a lit candle, in Greek the φως (“fos”) which means light, and is meant to represent Jesus’ eternal flame. Everyone brings their own candles to receive this light and take it back to their homes. They then use it to bless their home and themselves.

The “light” received early Easter Sunday morning

In one of the most notable traditions, Greeks also dye hard-boiled eggs red on Thursday before Easter. This is meant to symbolize the color of Christ’s blood. Once Greeks head home from Church on Saturday night/early Sunday morning the egg cracking begins. Each person chooses an egg that seems the strongest and everyone takes turn smashing their eggs against the others. One person says “Christos Anesti” meaning “Christ has risen” and the other responds with “Alithos Anesti” meaning “Indeed he did.” Whichever egg remains uncracked at the end is the winner and is said to have good luck for the year. Also on early Sunday morning, Greeks eat a traditional soup called “Magiritsa” which contains lamb offal and different vegetables. This is the first breaking of the meat fast.

The traditional “Magiritsa” soup

Finally, on Easter day it is a huge celebration with a lot of meat to break the forty day fast. It is traditional to have a lamb roasting on a spit as well. In Greek culture, most people give their children names that are represented by a saint in the religion in order to honor the saint. Therefore, each saint has a day that corresponds with the name given which is the day that the saint died. That is someone’s “Name Day” and every Easter is the Name Day for anyone names “Anastasia” or “Anastasios” because that name means resurrection.

Overall, Easter day is a huge celebration for those who celebrate and it has a lot of traditions leading up to the day of.

May 6, 2019 / 0 Comments

The Commercialization of Orthodox Easter

Traditionally, Easter is a holiday that is focused more on the religious aspect of things. There are many traditions leading up to Easter Sunday, however, in America, it has become a holiday that deals with a lot of fun colors trying to entice children to force their parents to buy food and toys. In other areas around the world, there is a much heavier emphasis on the religious basis and celebration of Easter. For example, in Greece around Easter time, there is constant excitement and preparation, yet you will not find any of the traditional commercialized products as in the United States. In the United States, there is commercialization in the use of chocolate bunnies, the Easter Bunny as an entire figure, and colored eggs (not including the ones dyed red which do exist in Greece). This is largely true for both Catholic Easter and Orthodox Easter. The Easter industry is a lucrative market in terms of the huge amount of money consumers spend.

According to NBC News, in 2017 Americans spent over $18.4 billion on Easter-related products.
According to The Morning Call, not only is the money spent on candy, but also many other elements. The breakdown includes $5.7 billion on food, $3.2 billion on clothing, $2.9 billion on gifts, $2.6 billion on candy, $1.3 billion on flowers, $1.1 billion on decorations, and $780 million on greeting cards.
Americans bought 146 million pounds of candy in the week before Easter according to WGAL News.

All this money spent on Easter detracts from some of the more traditional elements but does create a lot of profit for companies. Not only that, but some people also argue that commercialization can help create more fun, positive attitude towards Easter. Of course, candy, bright colors, and fun characters can make the entire holiday seem more appealing not only to kids but also adults who can become tired of the strictness of the holiday.

A typical display of Easter candy

However, on the other side of things, people also believe that this can take away from how somber the holiday is traditionally supposed to be. Despite these differing opinions, the commercialization will no doubt continue because of how popular the marketing techniques are among parents. It can be very difficult to excite children with the idea of heading to church, but candy can be sure to help with that.

Cally Mushka, an observant Greek Orthodox Christian and mother of two says, “The Easter bunny, chocolates, egg hunts, and candy take away from the religious importance of the holiday.” This further demonstrates that while there is some value to the commercialization, it can also hurt the traditional elements of celebrating the holiday.

May 5, 2019 / 0 Comments

Celebrating Orthodox Easter in New York Versus Greece

There are some differences, mainly in terms of the traditions followed, in how Orthodox Easter is celebrated in New York versus in Greece. The forty days fast leading up to Easter, also known as Lent, is followed significantly stricter in Greece. Many people do not eat any animal products for the entire forty days. The religious aspect of attending Church and understanding the basis behind the holiday is extremely important.

This can be seen in the ornate and elaborate nature of the Easter celebrations all over Greece. One of the most infamous is the events of Good Friday which has the επιτάφιο (“epitafio”). On the islands of Hydra and Spetses, it is a huge event in which the young people in the community actually carry the ornate tomb through the water (Chrysafis 2017).

The “epitafio” in Greece

There are even differences extending within Greece to how different areas celebrate Easter. In addition to the different ways in which the “epitafio” is carried, there are also different ways in which Holy Saturday (the day before Easter) is celebrated. One of the most famous is from the island of Corfu. On this island, they drop massive, red clay pots to create the “earthquake” that occurred once Jesus was resurrected from his tomb (Kokkinidis 2018). These types of huge celebrations do not occur to such an extent in the United States because the majority of the population is not Orthodox Christian.

Dropping clay pots in Corfu, Greece

In addition, Good Friday and Orthodox Easter are not federal public holidays in the United States. However, since it is always on a Sunday it usually is not a problem except that sometimes people have to work on these days. Sometimes Good Friday may fall on another holiday which can lead to some businesses being closed. In Greece, everything is closed for at least Good Friday until the Monday after Easter. According to Father Nektarios, a Priest at The Cathedral of Saint Markella in Astoria, Queens, “On Good Friday in Greece, starting at around 3 pm, the bells toll to indicate the passing of Jesus. This goes on for the entire afternoon. In New York, the Church bells do not ring at all.” He gave the overall sentiment that in Greece the holiday is much more widely celebrated and observed from Friday through Sunday, while in New York there is more emphasis on Easter day.

Furthermore, typically everyone leaves from the large cities to return to their families in the smaller villages. In general, Orthodox Easter is a much lesser known holiday compared to Catholic Easter in the United States because the amount of people who celebrate is smaller. In Greece, it is a huge national holiday that is celebrated in an extremely ornate way.

May 5, 2019 / 0 Comments

Tensions Within Orthodox Easter

There are some tensions between the Catholic and Orthodox communities, especially overseas where there are countries dominated by one of those religions. In recent news, Pope Francis visited Bulgaria and North Macedonia from May 5th to the 7th. These are countries where the majority of the population is Orthodox Christian. According to Reuters, this visit is in an effort to encourage the small Catholic populations in those countries to create a better relationship with the Orthodox church. This is all in a larger movement towards trying to foster more Christian unity.

Pope Francis during his trip to Bulgaria and North Macedonia

However, this is not as simple as it may seem because there is already internal conflict within these majority Orthodox countries. Also according to Reuters, Orthodox leaders of the churches in both Bulgaria and North Macedonia have told clergy members not to take part in services with the Pope saying that laws do not permit it. This creates even more growing tensions between the groups because of the history of issues.

This is also true in the Russian Orthodox Church which has recently seen some splits and tensions. BBC says that these issues stem from the recognition the independence of Ukrainian Orthodox worshippers. There have been growing tensions between the two groups as they have each accused the other of attacking churches. The bad blood between these two groups has continued to grow over time, largely extending into the religious elements of the discussion.

Finally, there are also some tensions between the different generations and how they view the importance of the holiday. Elderly people especially tend to be much more dedicated to the traditional elements of celebrating Easter.

Overall, while there are some tensions within different groups or sects within Christianity the belief systems between groups are largely very similar.