[MR] Re: Atlantia digest, Vol 1 #606 - 13 msgs

[Ardisszilagy at aol.com]

Balmer eggs: Our fair city had--and has--a large population of Eastern 
Europeans--remeber the festivals? Polish, Estonian, Lithuanian, Greek, 
Ukrainian, and more recently Russian. I believe there is a long tradition of 
"eggs" among all these peoples, since almost all of them "paint" eggs in one 
way or another. Which brings us back to Lord Barre's original query....did 
the Christains consiciously adopt pagan practices?

What seems to happen is this: a custom, once a pagan rite, hangs on long 
after the "religious" reason for it is forgotten. Jeanne d'Arc hung ribbons 
on a "fairy tree" as a young girl. (The New Agers have revived this 
custom--when I was in Britain this fall, I found offerings on the bushes all 
around the Holy Well at Glastonbury)We still say "bless you" when I person 
sneezes, without thinking about why.