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APRIL FOOLS! Sorry if that made you happy for a brief moment Does anyone know the history of this practical joke day? Just wanted to see if I could catch anyone again

[ April 01, 2003, 19:18: Message edited by: Sorvo ]

 

damit I felll for it

I think the meaning was in a Simpsons episode.

[This message has been edited by Alienboy (edited April 01, 2002).]

 

I remember that episode(beer can in the paint shaker) I hope they replay that one today

 

That was a great episode.

One theory of the origin of April Fool's Day was because in France, people celebrated the New Year in the olden times. But when the king changed the calendar to the standard one today, some people still celebrated New Year's on April. Those people were regarded as fools.

Or something like that.

 

I believe in that episode they were dancing round a fire worshipping a god. Then the 'ye olde' equivalent of the flanders came up and played a trick on them. They laughed for a while then tied the flanders and sang "now who's laughing!?"
Wait, that was Homer's opinion.

 

Aaaaagh! I am a moron! Completely missed April Fool's day! Oh, what a fool I am!

Well, the good part is that no one managed to pull any pranks on me

Ara
(If Snapes were stones....)

 

Sorry to correct you, but april fools´ day (Or All fools´ day in England, Narrentag in Germany, Verzenderkensdag in Belgium and Poisson d´avril in France) has nothing to do with the introduction of the Gregorian calendar in France.
The custom of fool´s day, widespread through all the indogermanic cultures, is much older than the introduction of the mentioned calendar in 1572.
It´s origin is not known but some have related it to the Quirinalia, a feast for ´fools´ in the Roman period.
It is also said to be be tied to the hither and thither goings of Jesus between King Herod and Pontius Pilate...

 

April Fool's Day used to be known as Easter Monday. The celebration of Easter now moves about on the calendar (don't ask, I can't explain it), but Easter used to fall right about at the end of March. Since religion is a very confusing part of society and society didn't feel like accepting it, it decided to secularize the celebration of Easter Monday. Water fights, feasts, and practical jokes were common themes for this day, and it continues today.

 

Lots of nonsense !!!!

Easter is a catholic celebration related to the crucifixion of Christ.
It is commonly accepted that Christ was crucified on friday 14th Nisan and he ressurected on the 16th.(Hebrew calendar). Nisan the 14th, in those days already an old Jewish celebration known as `Easter` (Memorial of the exodus).
The first christians celebrated their `easter` on the same date of the Jewish easter.
3 centuries later, the celebration of the crucifixion and his resurection was celebrated on various dates and times throughout the places of catholic devotion. On the council of Nicea in 325 the date of the Christian version of easter was set to be celebrated independently from the Jews and for all christians on the same day.
It lasted until the 9th century when this proposed unification was realised on a `easter-calculation´ made by the 6th century abbot Dionysius Exiguus.
Eastern will be celebrated by all catholics on the first sunday after the first full moon after the 21st of march (Springtime)
(The use of the full moon in this eastercalculation is again related to the the Hebrew calendar which is totally dependent on the moon-cycles)
As the mooncycles (months) don´t align with the sunmonths, easter has 35 different and variable dates every 532 years.....

Your statement easter falling right about at the of March is not correct, it moves from the 22th of march (earliest possible) to the 25th of april.

April fool´s day might indeed be connected to the celebration of catholic eastern, but an explanation towards religion being a confusing part of society and that the society didn´t feel like accepting it.... a not acceptable explanation

[This message has been edited by Asmodeus (edited April 02, 2002).]

 

I don't feel like turning this into another religious debate, but since when has society ACCEPTED religion? Separation of Church and State, Armenian Persecution, Jewish Holocaust, Catholic Persecution under Diocletian, praying of any kind banned in public schools, Creche set up on public land banned...

Anywho, I heard a comedian commenting on Easter: How can anybody explain it? Praise the lord, he resurrected today! Let's find some colored eggs.

An original Hebrew celebration, celebrating a Christian event, using an Egyptian Religious device (rabbit).

 

Well Asmodeus, one thing for sure: I doesn't have to be the 1st of April to make jokes about Belgians

 

Dont forget norwegians Marnix! You can always make fun of the norwgians. Do you know why there isnt any lunatic houses in Norway? Too expense to put a roof over the entire nation

 

You lnow, it is sort of funny that Finnish people tell jokes about Swedish people, who make fun of Norwegians, and them in turn mock us Finnish people...

Ara
(If my head explodes, it might hurt a little less)

 

Sapiryl,

Regarding the first three sentences of your last post. It seems you´ve extracted a statement from my last post, misunderstood it and changed it into a completely different topic. Do not do that. If you want to debate about it, start a new topic, I´ll be happy to reply.

Secondly, Easter, Eggs and the Bunny. (you´ve got me going now )

Easter is, As i have explained before, just after the vernal equinox. Therefore it became inextricably bound up with the older spring celebrations of many cultures, not the least of which were the Anglo-Saxons of Britain. A major source for the early history of Britain and the origins of the word "Easter" is the Venerable Bede (673-735 C.E.), a monk who wrote a great deal about Anglo-Saxon mythology and about Easter. According to Bede, Pascha Sunday (the Church holiday celebrating the resurrection of Christ) was called Easter in connection with the Anglo-Saxon goddess Eostre (also called Ostara). Eostre is the goddess of spring, and she is venerated at the vernal equinox. So it's not surprising that she and her accompanying symbolism were incorporated into the new religion's festival, corresponding as it did so well to the already familiar springtime themes of rebirth, new life, new hope, and light.
There is little written lore available on Eostre, but the Venerable Bede and Jacob Grimm both affirmed her existence based on folklore and the traditional German Easter festival Ostarun.
According to legend, she is associated with Spring, as well as with the sunrise. Some of the traditional lore that has been passed down relates the story of Eostre, who saved a bird whose wings were frozen from the harsh winter by turning it into a hare. However, it was a magical hare who could actually lay eggs. In fact, Eostre was nearly always accompanied in legend and art with a hare. It's easy to see the connection between this myth and the story of the Easter Bunny. Also, because rabbits reproduce so rapidly, they are often associated with fertility, so the connection between rabbits, eggs (the means of reproduction for many species) and a goddess of Spring (a time of new life and fertility) rings true for many present-day Pagans who still venerate the old Anglo-Saxon gods and goddesses.
Is that where the eggs came from? Well, yes and no.
The egg as a symbol of new life goes back to primitive times and is found in all cultures and civilisations. Polynesian, Chinese, Japanese, Indians, Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, and Europeans of the Middle Ages, all considered the egg in the nature of the primordial beginning of life. In Greek mythology, the 'black-winged night' gave birth to an egg from which sprang eros, the source of life. The Romans considered red eggs symbols of prosperity and happiness. Roman historians relate traditions by which the birthdays of notable Romans were marked by fowls laying red eggs. A Phoenician myth has Aphrodite being born from an egg, and a similar Greek myth has Helen being born from an egg that fell from the moon. . The Ukraine has perhaps the most famous Easter eggs, the fabulously decorated pysanky. In Poland, Easter eggs are traditionally blessed by a priest before being shared by family and friends.
Eggs have worldwide associations with rebirth, new life, and fertility - for obvious reasons. So the use of the egg as a symbol of Spring need not be directly connected to the myth of Eostre
In many countries, eggs are exchanged on Easter Sunday, with the greeting "Christ is risen." In Britain, the custom of egg-rolling still persists, and gave rise, beginning with President Madison, to the famous White House egg roll in the U.S. So it's easy to see that eggs have a long history nearly everywhere Easter is celebrated.
However, even though the Easter egg is obviously not an exclusive Christian introduction, its significance relates to the birth not of material life but to that spiritual experience enjoyed only in the life in Christ. Its symbolic adaptation to the events of Christ's sacrifice on the Cross, His entombment, and finally His breaking of the bondage of death by His Resurrection, all find a fitting expression in the Easter egg. The red colour of the Orthodox Easter egg signifies the blood of Christ, its shell His three-day entombment, and its breaking His Resurrection by which the 'egg of life' brought forth a life, up to then unknown. The cracking of the red eggs among Orthodox symbolises a mutual wish for breaking one's bonds of sin and misery and for entering the new life issuing from Christ's Resurrection.
The Orthodox custom of decorating the round Easter bread with red eggs at the four edges of the cross on the bread is a custom going back at least to the 12th century. Easter eggs are dyed on Thursday of the Holy Week and in some places a number of them are brought to church to be blessed at the Easter Liturgy. In the Orthodox Prayer Book there is a prayer for blessing Easter eggs.

Easter eggs are common among all Christians but with differences in colour. In recent years, and obviously for commercial reasons, artificial eggs are being made in sizes larger than that of the natural egg and mostly of chocolate usually stuffed with candies or other gifts. This is obviously a continuation of the European custom by which emperors and other rulers used to distribute after the Easter service gold-plated eggs filled with gifts to members of their cabinets.

I guess you and your comedian should have done a little research....

Regards.
Asmodeus.

PS. This one´s for Headbanger.

Op de optiebeurs loopt een Belgische stagiaire rond met een aardappel in zijn borstzakje. Aan het eind van de dag vraagt iemand aan de Belg waarom hij met een aardappel in zijn borstzakje rondloopt. Zegt de Belg: 'Zonder pieper bereik je hier niks.'

 

I would appreciate to read both of your sources. Since it can't be hard to come to an agreement on historical origin.

I got this from the "Encyclopaedia of Britannica"

So; origin unknown, and it resembles roman and indian festivals.

 

Ah, but Noble you know that it all comes back to paganism for Asmodeus.

So, Asmo, I'm curious as to what Eostre's symbolism was if it wasn't the egg.

 

The parts about chronology (The study of calenders) in both replies are extracted from two books I often use in my classes and at my work.
1) Zeitrechnung des Mittelalters by H. Grotefend. published 1891.
2) Historische chronologie des abendlandes, Kalenderreformen und Jahrtausendrechnungen by A.D. von den Brincken. published 2000.
Parts about history and mythology are extracted from the following.
1) In Tijd Gemeten. Inleiding tot de chronologie by C.C. de Glopper-Zuijderland. published 1999.
2)The Blackwell dictionary of historians by R.H.C. Davis, W. Doyle and J.P. Greene. published 1988.

And offcourse I´ve used what I consider to be my own knowledge.

And yes, you´re completely right by saying that it´s origin remains unknown. But one thing´s for sure, it simply cannot be originated from the `King of France story` set in 1572, the tradition itself is hundreds of years older.
Btw, the scotland `gowk´ is totally new for me, nice to read.

Edit to Shralp: I wish I could provide you with that knowledge,
My guess; a lot of symbols where connected to her, especially those who symbolize fertility and birth. Eggs could wel be among them.
Nowadays Eostre is `worshipped´ by the ones who practicise Wicca and she is affiliated with the Rabbit and the Pysanky Egg

[This message has been edited by Asmodeus (edited April 04, 2002).]

 

Well, for crying out loud. What's the basis for your claim "So it's not surprising that she and her accompanying symbolism were incorporated into the new religion's festival, corresponding as it did so well to the already familiar springtime themes of rebirth, new life, new hope, and light." if you don't even know what her symbolism was?

Remind me to give you a noogie at the next SP gathering.

[This message has been edited by Shralp (edited April 04, 2002).]

 

Then I misunderstood your question, sorry, but I am not that proficient in english.
I cannot name the or a symbol(s) that accompanied her, simply because the many appearance's of Eostre seems to be have worshipped by many western european pagan cultures, most of them shrouded in mystery. It therefore can be assumed that she is accompanied by many general symbols tied to the vernal equinox.
Symbolism of rebirth, new life and so on, and yes, eggs could be and will have been among !

But the eggs may have come also from other origins, since the symbolism of eggs around the vernal equinox, are found in cultures which had nothing to do or never even had any contacts with Eostre.

I think your approach is a little bit too Beta-scientifice. In History 1 + 3 isn't always 4, it well could have been 3 or 5. Turning the equation around. 4=1+3, as your're trying to do, is not correct.
There is never THE history of... it's always A history of. Especially when it comes down to very early history as well as such things as cultural behaviour.
I do not claim to have told the truth simply a version of what could be the
the truth. (Thought that to be crystal clear due to the use of words as "might be" and "possible" and such)

Or do we again have (due to language-barriers my guess) a total misunderstanding of each other.

And,..what's a noogie ? Does it hurt ?


[This message has been edited by Asmodeus (edited April 04, 2002).]

 

IIRC a noogie would be putting you in a headlock and rubbing your knuckle hard and fast on your head. If performed correctly it should hurt a lot