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Monday, April 21, 2003
Estremera: Bunnies, eggs and pagan Easter
By STELLA A. ESTREMERA
COMMENTARY
THE scorching heat has driven me indoors, almost immobile except for regular visits to the bathroom for yet another quick shower.
The two-day break we had, that was a few days before filled with plans on how to make the most of those two precious days, were simply spent lying down and dozing off in front of the television.
That’s what single adulthood is all about.
The heat of the sun never bothered me as a child. I would be out all day doing what every child does during summer vacations. Biking, playing tag, basketball, volleyball or flying kites, fishing, and simply getting “purply” around the nape from all those sun exposure, and yes, driving my mom nuts kay perteng itoma na sa iyang anak.
Headaches were never a problem.
Sunday I should be on the beach or hunting some Easter eggs we painted the night before, just for fun. Easter egg hunts in some posh hotels were never a part of my childhood. They were too expensive and we really didn’t mind.
Rabbits? I never had one. But I do remember wishing for one. Even until now I couldn’t help but stop and pat those small bunnies sold along the sidewalk. But like the posh hotels, there must have been not enough cash on hand to spare for my rabbit-whim. I never felt deprived though. I had my cats, dogs, goats, pigs and guinea pigs to keep me (and my mom) busy.
Now, I’m simply lying down, sweating and getting very familiar with what a throbbing headache is. It’s time to feed my brains in an air-conditioned Internet cafe.
Easter, Easter eggs, Easter bunnies... that should be interesting reading in time for today’s celebration, I thought.
A few tippy-tap on the Google search engine and voila! Millions of entries on Easter were all lined up for the picking.
Interesting stuff really, especially those written by some seemingly paranoid Christians all set to strike fear in my heart and deliver me to eternal damnation for having celebrated Easter with bunnies and eggs.
Bunnies and colored eggs are pagan practices, the doomsayers write. They then spewed off really pagan names like Semiramis who was married to some grandson of Noah who turned away from God and built the likes of Babel, Nineveh and several other cities and who encouraged devil worship or something to that effect.
For something I really could no longer comprehend because the air-conditioning of the Internet cafe wasn’t really up to the scorching heat, this Noah’s grandson died somewhere in the story and from his wife came a bastard son named Tamuz that she was passing off as some spiritually begotten being, or something to that effect. As if wanting to make me wallow in my stupidity and lack of comprehension further, this woman who begot this illegitimate son was soon enshrined as a goddess of fertility.
And because rabbits procreate profusely, somehow Semiramis the Goddess of Fertility was scratched out of the picture and what is left are rabbits as the symbol of fertility and shortly became not just any rabbit, but the Easter rabbit... and I go AAARGHHH!!!!
Escaping from the confines of the now warm Internet cafe, I rushed home straight to the showers to knock some sense into my head.
I would understand if those who care for our souls would somehow try to instill some fear in us. The Jesuit priests instilled a lot of fear in me as a kid; the fear of God and the fear of going the way of the devil are enough to make one ordinary child behave. But trying to link pagan rituals to present-day practices and say that it’s the work of the devil is something else.
Puh-lease! I still have to meet somebody who became a pagan (a very politically incorrect word, I would say) all because he went on an Easter egg hunt and had an Easter bunny as a kid.
So much for feeding my brains. I’d rather feed my soul this Easter. And yes, I would not mind joining an Easter egg hunt today. For me, as for all the kids around going hunting today, those eggs are simply brightly colored eggs that have to be located to win some prizes. Forget about the goddess of fertility and paganism and whatnots. As one of the recent best-selling inspirational books say, “Don’t sweat the small stuff.” What matters most is what is in the heart. For as long as those eggs and rabbits remain just eggs and rabbits, then, your faith is safe.
(Stella A. Estremera writes for Sun.Star Davao) |
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