Tuesday, March 20, 2007

 

Easter Fun Themed Parties

Though originally a pagan ceremony, the Easter story is now at the heart of Christianity, and the date of Easter changes each year. Several other Christian festivals are dated according to the reference date of Easter. Easter commemorates the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It’s the most important of all Christian festivals, and the one celebrated with the greatest joy. When you begin planning your easter celebration and shop for your easter party supplies, you will be sharing that joy.

Sentenced to death, on Good Friday, Jesus Christ was hanged upon a cross, between two convicted thieves, and upon the wooden cross, he died. His body was taken down from the cross, and buried in a cave. The tomb was guarded, and an enormous stone was put over the entrance, so that no one could steal his body.

On the Sunday following his crucifixion and death, some women visited the grave, and found that the stone had been moved, and that the tomb was empty. Jesus himself was seen that day, and for days afterwards by many people. His followers realized that God had raised Jesus from the dead.

On Easter, Churches are filled with flowers, and there are special hymns and songs, but not all Easter customs are Christian. Customs like the Easter Bunny are Pagan in origin. You can choose your celebration to be Pagan or Christian or a mix of both, when you decide on your themed easter party. In ancient times, the Saxons celebrated the return of spring with a festival honoring their goddess of offspring and of springtime, Easter. When the second-century Christian missionaries encountered the tribes of the north with their pagan celebrations, they converted them to Christianity, in a secretive and round about manner. It would have been suicide for the very early Christian converts to celebrate their holy days in ways that didn’t coincide with celebrations that already existed. To save lives, the missionaries spread their religious messages slowly throughout the populations by allowing them to continue to celebrate pagan feasts, but doing so in a Christian manner.

Coincidentally, the pagan festival of Easter occurred at the same time of year as the Christian observance of the Resurrection of Christ. Because of that, it made sense, to alter the festival to make it a Christian celebration, as converts were slowl

Monday, March 12, 2007

 

Earth Day Celebration Fun Party Ideas

Earth Day is held each year in the United States on April 22nd. There is an international Earth Day designated and celebrated by the United Nations each year during the Vernal Equinox, which is around March 21st. Whichever Earth Day you celebrate it can be a little difficult deciding what to do. As you shop for your party supplies, you will find fun and educational ideas for your Earth Day party celebration.The simplest answer is to hold an outdoor party.

The day can be celebrated using entirely recyclable materials. Serve drinks in aluminum cans, plastic bottles and glass bottles. Pizza out of cardboard boxes is a great food, especially at a school party. Serve your guests on regular silverware and plates rather than Styrofoam or the plastic coated paper ones which don’t recycle well. Don’t forget to set up marked recycling containers for the guests to place their used items in.

Little kids can decorate brown paper grocery bags and turn them into masks as an activity at the party. Use markers, glue, and even food items like dried macaroni noodles in the decoration, anything that is recyclable or that will biodegrade naturally in the environment.

Another activity for the kids is to plant their own little seed so they can take it home to watch it grow. You’ll need to save up your smaller heavy paper egg cartons, not the Styrofoam ones. The small ones usually only hold four to six eggs and are perfect for incubating four to six seedlings.

You’ll also need a variety of seeds, preferably the bigger types like lima beans and pumpkins which are easier for kids to handle, and a bag of dirt. Make sure you don't forget to get these supplies after you have fun choosing your Earth Day party goods at the party store. Give each of the kids an egg carton and let them choose their own variety of seeds or a couple varieties and help them plant. At the end of the party they can take their planted seeds home with simple growing instructions and watch them grow into seedlings. Later on you can lead a brigade down to the local park or river and pick up trash that has piled up or plant flowers, plants and other trees native to the area.

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Monday, March 05, 2007

 

Passover Celebration For All Ages

The Passover is meant to celebrate the freedom of the Jewish people from the Egyptians nearly 3,300 years ago. Explained in the book of Exodus, God directed Moses and Hebrews to offer and consume roasted lamb to symbolize the Passover sacrifice. They were then instructed to spread the blood of the lamb on the doorposts and lintel to serve as a sign to pass over the home thus protecting them from the last plague - death of the first born son.

The offering of lambs in ritual today has mainly been substituted with the roasting of eggs and shankbone. This celebration has since been recognized as a feast day named Passover Seder. Your Passover celebration will be made more meaningful when you keep the meaning of the holiday in mind as you shop for your Passover decorations and party supplies. Declaring the importance of the Passover procedure, the Passover Haggadah gives a narration in Hebrew of the story as well as prayers and many other resources useful in celebrating the holiday. The celebration lasts seven or eight days and begins at sundown on the 15th day of Nissan in the Hebrew calendar. Why the difference in days of celebration? It has to do with the conversion of calendar days. The Passover in Israel is celebrated for seven days based on scriptures but the Jewish calendar is a function of the lunar cycle and scholars added the extra day to make room for the differentiation in the moons location in the sky.

The importance of Passover today has a tiered level of significance. First, it is a historical and biblical event signifying the escape from Egyptian slavery of the book Exodus. Secondly, this celebration acts as an agricultural marker in that the celebration of spring brings new beginnings in a growing season. You will see this theme carried out in many of the Passover party decorations and ideas you will shop for. Lastly, the religious significance gives God the recognition of as being the redeemer of the Hebrew peoples. One could also argue that another important prospect of the Passover in Kabbalistic traditions notes that the play out of God's commandments in observation of the Passover fulfills the redemption process and highlights his mercy as justice.


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