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[[File:B12279.jpg|thumbnail|left|600px|Figure 2. While eggs were a pre-Christian symbol for fertility, decorating eggs may have begun as a tradition by Christians from Mesopotamia or possibly Iran.]]
Admin moved page How Did Easter Become an Important Celebration? to How Did Easter Become an Important Celebration
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[[File:Ostara by Johannes Gehrts.jpg|thumbnail|left|Figure 1. The goddess Eostre, whose name may have led to the term Easter developing in Germanic languages. ]]
Easter is the most important event in the Christian calendar, as it reflects the resurrection (and thus salvation offered) by Christ for all those who accept him. While this is true to many Christians today, the story of Easter is complex and it is a period of celebration that is very ancient, having origins from pre-Christian periods. As with many other holidays, the early Catholic church often combined pre-Christian traditions and Christian ideals to make it easier for conversion and facilitate the rise of Christianity.
====Christian Developments====
[[File:B12279.jpg|thumbnail|left|300px|Figure 2. While eggs were a pre-Christian symbol for fertility, decorating eggs may have begun as a tradition by Christians from Mesopotamia or possibly Iran.]]
The importance of the spring equinox could not be understated, given the importance of agriculture. For the early Christian church, the time of the Passover was seen as the most important period in the Christian calendar. The importance of Passover, falling near the time of the pagan spring celebrations, may have influenced the Church to decide in 325 AD, in the Council of Nicaea, to have Easter fall on the Sunday following the first full moon after the spring equinox.
The fire used in Mass, for instance, may have connections to worshiping of the sun but in Christian traditions the meaning and importance of the sun was transformed as symbols for the importance of Christ giving light and salvation. But as the Church's influence spread the holiday began to develop its own new symbols and traditions. Traditions such as staining of eggs appear to be initially done by Christians in Mesopotamia or Iran, with that tradition later being adopted by the Western Church (Figure 2). Church writings from around 1610 indicate the importance of eggs as symbols of Christ's resurrection, although this tradition likely starts much earlier in late Antiquity in the 4th or 5th centuries CE. The coloring of eggs seems to have been done only in red initially, as it was to symbolize the blood of Christ.<ref>For more on transition to early Christian symbols in Easter and coloring of eggs, see: Aveni, A.F. (2004) <i>The book of the year: a brief history of our seasonal holidays</i>. Oxford, Oxford University Press.</ref>
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====Modern Tradition====
