Thursday Thirteen - 101 - 13 Victorian Easter Greetings

- 1















"When you start with a portrait and try to find pure form by abstracting more and more, you must end up with an egg." - Pablo Picasso


- 2















"Where man sees but withered leaves, God sees sweet flowers growing." - Albert Laighton


- 3









"The Germanic Goddess of fertility and spring, Eostre (pronounced yo'ster) symbolizes new growth and rebirth.

Once, when the Goddess was late in coming, a little girl found a bird close to death from the cold and turned to Eostre for help. A rainbow bridge appreared and Eostre came, clothed in her red robe of warm, vibrant sunlight which melted the snows. Spring arrived. Because the little bird was wounded beyond repair, Eostre changed it into a snow hare who then brought rainbow eggs. As a sign of spring, Eostre instructed the little girl to watch for the snow hare to come to the woods."

- Angelfire


- 4










"And Spring arose on the garden fair,
Like the Spirit of Love felt everywhere;
And each flower and herb on Earth's dark breast
rose from the dreams of its wintry rest."

- Percy Bysshe Shelley


- 5















"Hope is the word which God has written on the brow of every man." - Victor Hugo


- 6














"The first edible Easter bunnies were made in Germany during the early 1800s. They were made of pastry and sugar.

The Easter bunny was introduced to American folklore by the German settlers who arrived in the Pennsylvania Dutch country during the 1700s.

The arrival of the Oschter Haws (a rabbit spirit) was considered childhood's greatest pleasure next to a visit from Christ Kindl (Christ-child) on Christmas Eve. The children believed that if they were good the Oschter Haws would lay a nest of colored eggs.

The children would build their nest in a secluded place in the home, the barn or the garden. Boys would use their caps and girls their bonnets to make the nests. The use of elaborate Easter baskets would come later as the tradition of the Easter bunny spread through out the country." - Celebration of Easter


- 7















"For I remember it is Easter morn,
And life and love and peace are all new born." - Alice Freeman Palmer


- 8















"Awake, thou wintry earth -
Fling off thy sadness!
Fair vernal flowers, laugh forth
Your ancient gladness!" - Thomas Blackburn


- 9









"Come and see! Oh, hurry, hurry!
For the Rabbit, kind and furry,
Has been here again and laid
Eggs in every nest we made!"

- Evaleen Stein


- 10















"The promise of the resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in spring-time." - Martin Luther


- 11















"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle." - Albert Einstein


- 12










"Not the maker of plans and promises, but rather the one who offers faithful service in small matters." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe


- 13















"And in the solemn night I watch
Before the Easter morn.
So pure, so still the starry heaven,
So hushed the brooding air,
I could hear the sweep of an angel's wings
If one should earthward fare."

- Edna Dean Proctor