6 Easter Customs from Our Readers

After the post 6 Easter Traditions You Might Not Know, many readers were kind enough to share their Easter customs with us. Now we will share your customs with everyone!

1. Semana Santa (Honduras)

Chicago ExPat witnessed the Holy Week procession called Semana Santa in Comayagua, Honduras. The traditional stations of the cross are laid out in beautiful temporary artworks made of colored sawdust! The sawdust rugs are made by professionals and by community groups or families. A mist of water is sprayed on the sawdust to keep it from blowing away. After many hours of work to make the sawdust rugs perfect, the procession walks on them. See more pictures of the procession.

2. Les Cloches de Paques (France)

J135 is from originally from France and remembers les cloches de Paques, or the bells of Easter. The story is that since the 7th century, church bells are silent between Holy Thursday and Easter as a sign of mourning between the death and resurrection of Christ. On Easter Sunday, they rang again. Children were told that the bells went to Rome to be blessed by the Pope. When the bells return on Easter Sunday, they bring decorated eggs and chocolates for children, much like the Easter Bunny elsewhere.

3. Egg Wars (Greece)

Lynnie told us how her family fights egg wars on Easter, to find out whose decorated egg is the toughest to crack. Joe and Kate both remember playing that game with their Greek families. I found a reference to the game played in Greece, where family members tap their eggs together. If your egg gets cracked, you are eliminated from the competition. The owner of the one that doesn't break will have good luck all year. Image by Flickr user valkyrieh116.

4. Cascarones (Mexico)

Jgutierrez and Andrea told us about cascarones, a Mexican tradition they've seen in Texas. Eggs are completely emptied, then the shell is filled with confetti. The hole is plugged up with a little tissue and glue. These eggs are decorated and either thrown or broken over someone's head, which will ensure them luck. For children, the eggshells are filled with candy or toys for Easter. The confetti eggs can be a part of any holiday celebration, and are often used at weddings. You can make your own cascarones at home. Image by Flickr user Nieve44/La Luz.

5. Vrhniški Pirhi (Slovenia)

Stripofil commented on this topic at my site and mentioned the Slovenian eggs called Vrhniški pirhi, a fairly recent art form developed by Franc Grom. He uses a tiny drill to make thousands of holes in an emptied egg shell, which form instricate patterns. Grom patented his process in 1995.

6. Peep Jousting (USA)

Bunnie reminded us of that relatively recent but popular US custom of Peep jousting. To joust, you have two marshmallow Peeps facing each other, armed with a wooden toothpick, in a microwave oven. The Peep that swells up enough to burst the other Peep with the toothpick is the winner. If that doesn't happen, the first Peep to explode or deflate is the loser. Image by Flickr user Mr Stein.

There were some Easter customs offered in the comments of the previous post that I couldn't confirm or find information about, such as the tendency for Texans to eat brisket for Easter dinner. They do; we just don't know why. However you celebrate, have a great holiday!