Boa Pascoa

The Festival starts with Sexta-Feira Santa and a religious site to remind you of the days and happenings of that first Easter can be found at "http://www.rainhadapaz.g12.br/pastoral/p..."

Those of us with a more secular turn of mind may be concentrating more on the ovos de Pascoa. And the Internet is full of tempting goodies on sale in the traditional Cestas or baskets.

Summaries of the main Easter festivals and traditions can be found at "http://www.archidiocese-sp.org.br/curios..." which is an interesting source of traditions and beliefs. Did you know that eggs laid in Easter week, and especially on Good Friday, could prevent malignant fevers and plagues?

Mediaeval tradition laid down that red meat, sweets and eggs should all be given up for Lent, hence the celebration of eggs at Easter. Eggs too are a symbol of new birth and fertility.

A lovely site with a background of chocolate squares is Pascoa no Mundo which gives short descriptions of Easter traditions and festivals or related festivals all round the world. At "http://www.zaz.com.br/pascoa/mundo.htm" you will find a festive, easy-access site which has interesting snippets about Easter,its customs and its symbols.

A most interesting article, however, is one on the Easter Eggs from the Ukraine. The 2000 year old tradition of intricately hand-painted eggs is still lovingly handed down from family to family and thrives not only in the Eastern block but also in areas of Brazil where settlers from the Ukraine have made their home.

The eggs carry traditional symbols meant to bring good luck. fertility, love and fortune to anyone lucky enough to receive them as a present. So complex are the designs that it can take a whole day to paint one small egg.

The article, again in Portuguese, has some lovely photographs of traditional eggs. "http://www.pr.gov.br/celepar/seet/prtur/..."

Favourite eggs are from the galinha (hen), codorna (quail), gansa (goose) though the article suggested the ganso or gander--an Easter surprise indeed.

The eggs are known as pessansky.

The Easter Bunny, as elusive as Father Christmas, is known in Portuguese as O Coelho da Pascoa. Another symbol of birth and fertility, he is the subject of a new group-writing exercise by a group of friends based at "http://sites.uol.com.br/marcioft/never.h..." . Working through email, the members of the team are adding to the story of the search throughout South America to discover the truth about the Easter Bunny chapter by chapter.

The chapters are short and easy to read for an Advanced Intermediate student of the language. You can also click for translation should you want help.

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